mikeychlanda

I’m finishing up the second edition of “A MFSL LP Price Guide” and I’ve noticed some mistakes people are making in their listings. Here are some tips on getting top dollar for your MFSL lps.

First, condition. Put it right up in the headline. If it’s sealed, say so. Use the record collector’s acronym SS (for still-sealed), but also write out “Sealed”. Don’t say new and leave out sealed, or worse yet, leave out the condition altogether.

Along with this, if the condition is vg+ or less, you might want to think about listing the lps in a lot. VG+ or lesser condition just don’t sell as well. There might be 200 lps of that title sold in the past 5 years, but only 1/2 dozen will be vg+. I haven’t run across any sales in lesser condition. Just lot ‘em up and be done with it.

Next, test pressings do well, even if the lp isn’t a great seller. There are very few listings for them, but many go for over $100. Think about starting at $24.99, with a Buy It Now of $150 or so. Or a Buy It Now of $95 and hope for a quick sale. Your call.

Promos sell, but not for big bucks. This is probably due to the fact that the promos were just gold-stamped on the jacket, not the white label promos that other labels used. Not really that special. The one exception I noticed to this was that vg+ lps will sell if they’re promo-stamped, while a stock vg+ copy will languish.

Third, put MFSL in the title. Many collectors look for the whole run of MoFi lps and use that as their keyword search. Spell the acronym right. So many sellers put MSFL. Actually , if you’re looking to buy MoFi lps, it would behoove you to search for MSFL – might pick up some bargains that way.

If you have enough room in the headline, put MoFi as well. And definitely put the catalog number of the album in the headline too. Do I have to tell you to spell out the complete title of the album and name of the artist as well? You’d be surprised how many sellers fail to do this.

Do your price research. Ebay completed listings don’t go far enough back. Use Terapeak or Collectors Frenzy. Be willing to leave some money on the table by starting low – say 24.99 – and letting the market decide. Prices are drifting downwards and you are not going to get the same dollar for the sealed MFSL lps that you were getting 3 or 5 years ago. There are some sealed copies that are the exception, but by and large this is true.

Good luck, and go sell some records!