Suggestions on disposing of a collection of jazz vinyl

Yeah, that will help.

There are big buyer type stores in NY, LA and Chicago, but they are going to need a rough list of high value records to determine if it is even worth their while (and of course, once you go down that rabbit hole, it's about particular pressings). 

A local store, depending on where you are, may be an outlet but most stores, even the higher volume specialty places, are going to pay a fraction of retail. 

The only way to maximize return is to retail them (giant PITA) or have someone do the work (cataloging, listing, shipping and handling payment/returns) and cut you a check. I unloaded thousands of records using a guy outside of NY--he came to my house, picked them up, did all the heavy lifting and sent me periodic payments. I trusted him implicitly, it was largely "found" money for me-- since many of the records I got rid of had been purchased decades before. 

So, convenience v. maximizing return-- a common quandary, no?

@bdp24 I am in Seattle.

Okay @goose, you may be in luck. There is a very reputable record collector and Vinyl Community YouTube video maker named Norman Maslov (with I believe about 20,000 subscribers). When a dear long time friend of his passed away a few years back the fellas wife sold his record collection to Mazzy (the name Norman answers to) and another friend of the fella, and Mazzy held a number of auctions live on YouTube, selling the titles Mazzy and the other friend didn’t want to keep and add to their own collections (Mazzy has I believe around 6000 LPs).

After that a record collector in the Seattle area contacted Mazzy to inquire as to his interest in auctioning that guys LPs. Mazzy was, and held another bunch of auctions live on YouTube. Mazzy might be willing to do the same with your friends collection.

Mazzy moved to Seattle 12 years ago, after living and working in San Francisco his entire life (he had his own business, representing photographers in commercial enterprises). You can contact him through any one of his YouTube videos. Do a search on the YouTube website for Norman Maslov.

When I place.a vintage drumset for sale in one of the good drum shops I have a relationship with (Professional Drum Shop in Los Angeles, Revival Drum in Portland Oregon), I give them a 20% commission, which works well for both myself and the shop.

Perhaps you and Mazzy can agree to some sort of arrangement. Mazzy retired a while back, and now has free time on his hands. He is also fairly knowledgeable about Jazz music and Jazz LPs, and has a very good reputation. I trust him---Eric.

You may check on Discogs every album and edition you have. There are data about the each sale, date and price of any particular album sold there. That will help you to form the price of every album you have. Of course you can compare the prices with other albums that are on sale there now. So, you, or the lady in question may try to sell them there.Its more time consuming, but you will probably get the best price there, even more if you have some rare editions. The Discogs is followed all around the world, both by sellers and buyers. Best of luck

Hi,

Mazzy is a good suggestion.

I would also be willing to help. Along with a colleague I recently assisted a collector in triaging a 100,000 LP collection (the former vinyl holdings of Voice of America), extracting a sub-inventory of valuable and collectible jazz from what was a multi-genre inventory. He was seeking to keep that and dispose of the rest in appropriate sales and donations, as not all the collection had meaningful resale value.
 

I am based in Victoria, BC and run a YouTube channel (Ten-Minute Record Reviews) principally concerned with jazz record collecting. My own jazz collection is approximately 1500 LPs, principally early pressings. Would be happy to have a Zoom call to learn more and offer you what advice I can. Reply here or send me a message if interested. 
 

Allan