What's your record really worth?
Two copies with the same cover can be a $15 reissue and a $150 original. The difference is scratched into the dead wax, so that's where we start.
The smooth band between the last song and the label. Tilt it under a lamp and copy all of it: letters, numbers, symbols. Side 1 is plenty.
I'll look it up on Discogs. Can't read the dead wax? Start from the label.
Can't type a symbol? Tap it in.
More symbols
How I read your dead wax
Type what you see and I'll point out any plant or mastering marks I recognize.
Think I read it wrong? Tell me.
Now find your exact pressing
Your run-out and what's on the label pull up the matching releases from Discogs. Pick yours. If I've sold that pressing, I start from my own prices. If I haven't, you bring back what it sold for and the math happens right here.
What's on the label?
The catalog number is on the spine and the label. Add it, or the artist, and I'll search with your run-out too. Matching the pressing is the whole game.
Add a catalog number, an artist or the run-out, and I'll look it up.
Not here? Search Discogs yourself
Add a catalog number or an artist to build the searches. eBay may ask you to sign in before it shows sold prices.
That doesn't look like a Discogs release link. It should have /release/ and a number in it.
What it sells for
On its Discogs page, find the Statistics box. Low, Median and High come from the last 30 copies of that exact release that sold.
eBay sold prices work too, as long as they're your pressing. Leave shipping blank if it was about $5. Put 0 if it shipped free.
Grade the vinyl
The record itself, not the jacket. What the grades mean
Came with anything?
Only things that belong to your copy. The biggest one counts. They don't stack.
Something else? Give it your own number.
A percentage on top, from 1 to 200. It counts like the others, so the biggest one still wins.
First pressings, colored vinyl and promos aren't on this list on purpose. They're their own releases on Discogs, so the median you brought back already prices them.
Saw an asking price somewhere?
Optional. Put in a price you saw on Google or a live listing and I'll tell you how it compares to real sales.
Where the numbers come from
The release details come from Discogs, looked up when you search. The only prices this page fills in are mine: what I've sold that pressing for, or what I'm asking for a copy on my shelf. Anyone else's prices you read where they live and bring back. When you search, the run-out, catalog number, artist and title go to Discogs through my site to find the release. Everything else you type stays in your browser, unless you send me a note about a reading.
My own sales are from my store's records, pressing by pressing, after any discount or refund. A copy in a different grade gets evened out to VG+ with the same grade numbers below, and nothing gets scaled up by more than half. If I've only got one on the shelf, I take my 10% Buy It Now premium off the asking price first. Copies I listed or sold at my minimum price are left out completely. That minimum is my rule, not what a record is worth, and plenty of good records are worth a few dollars.
Discogs keeps a Statistics box on every release page: Low, Median and High from the last 30 copies of that release that sold. The median is my starting point. If you've matched the right release, it's already the right pressing.
eBay sold listings are real sales too. I even out shipping to $5, about what it costs to mail a single LP, so a $4.99 record with $12 shipping counts as the $16.99 it really cost.
My rules do the rest. The vinyl's grade sets a multiplier, from 1.30 for sealed down to 0.15 for poor. Extras that belong to your copy add a premium, and only the biggest one counts. Then the range runs from a quick sale at 75% to a patient one at full value.
Why not asking prices? Because anyone can type any number into a listing, and the fair ones sell and disappear. I wrote the whole method up, including the time I got it badly wrong: How I price a record.
Release data provided by Discogs. Discogs and eBay are trademarks of their owners. This page isn't affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by either.
A box of these from a parent's house?
If you're in the Bay Area with 25 or more records, I'll come to you, look through them, and make an offer right there.
Sell records yourself?
I'm building a listing tool for record sellers. It reads the dead wax, helps you price from real sales, and lists to eBay. Want to hear when it's ready?