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60s-70s
Rock
Psych
Prog
Folk
etc.
A-E 70s Punk, New Wave & Power Pop Metal, Stoner & Hard Rock CD Cure
F-L DVD REM
M-R 80s Punk, Hardcore, Thrash, Emo, etc. Modern Classical
Avant Garde
Jazz & Blues David Bowie
S-Z
45s 80s&90s Indie/C86
LP&12"  7"
Experimental
Industrial
Soul & Funk Irish Artists
East European

Legal

I am a private individual, not a professional dealer or business. I do not offer any warranty or right of exchange of any kind. If you buy anything from me, you are agreeing with these terms.

I am a reasonable person with many years experience buying, selling & trading records, and I've dealt with 100s of people over the past 20+ years. I've run into the occasional rip-off a*hole (or fruitcake) but 99.9% of people I've dealt with have been honest (some have perhaps been a little too enthusiastic about using a M- grade!) and I've had no complaints about the condition of my records either.



Grading

All items are graded (sleeve/record) using Record Collector magazine's grading system. As their site no longer seems to reproduce this system anywhere, I include it here. (Anyone picking up a copy of Record Collector now probably wonders why it's not called Q or Mojo, but there was a time it was indispensible, like a print version of ebay with well researched articles to boot!) All records have been played (no visual gradings) with the exception of some New items.



	Record Collector Rare Price Guide
	
	
	Grading System
	
	
	In order to assist everyone who buys and sells rare discs, Record Collector 
	magazine has originated a set of standards for the condition of second-hand 
	records, cassettes and CDs. Anyone buying or selling records through the 
	magazine must use our conditions to state what amount of wear and tear the disc, 
	its sleeve and/or contents have been subject to. The seven standard condition 
	categories, and a description of what each one means, are listed below:
	
	MINT: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or 
	deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric 
	sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed 
	or Unplayed should be Mint.
	
	EXCELLENT: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very 
	little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight 
	wear and/or creasing.
	
	VERY GOOD: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no 
	major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the 
	occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, 
	without any major defects, is acceptable.
	
	GOOD: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably 
	deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and 
	contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, 
	etc.
	
	FAIR: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and 
	displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents 
	will be torn, stained and/or defaced.
	
	POOR: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, 
	etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.
	
	BAD: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a 
	collection-filler.
	
	CDs & Cassettes: As a general rule, CDs and cassettes either play perfectly - in 
	which case they are in Mint condition - or they don't, in which case their value 
	is minimal. Cassette tape is liable to deteriorate with age, even if it remains 
	unplayed, so care should be taken when buying old tapes. CDs are difficult to 
	grade visually: they can look perfect but actually be faulty, while in other 
	cases they may appear damaged but still play perfectly. Cassette and CD inlays 
	and booklets should be graded in the same way as record covers and sleeves. In 
	general, the plastic containers for cassettes and CDs can easily be replaced if 
	they are broken or scratched, but card covers and digipaks are subject to the 
	same wear as record sleeves.

Additional Note on the grading of CD covers housed in jewelcases with non-transparent trays:
My grading of CD covers is restricted to their exterior appearance only, i.e. to the CD booklet and to the printed side of the CD inlay. I do not remove non-transparent CD trays to check if there is anything on the reverse, non-printed side side of the CD inlay. This side is only visible if you physically remove the non-transparent CD tray. Otherwise, it is completely invisible. My grading does not include any issues with the non-printed side of the CD inlay. I do not have time to open every CD tray to see whats there -- life is too short.



Abbreviations

I use the usual abbreviations for describing records.
If anything is unclear, simply ask me for further details.
Scans of record covers, etc, are available on request.
cocutout
cccut corner
dhdrill-hole
fc / bc / focfront cover / back cover / fold-out cover (i.e. gatefold)
ew / rwedgewear/ringwear
(s)to(b)c(small) tear on (back) cover
tss / bss / ssstop / bottom / side seam splits
napnot affecting play
OSTsoundtrack
ppprivate pressing
v/avarious artists (compilation)
innerinner sleeve
[500]means 500 copies pressed
[#333/500]means this is a numbered copy of an edition of 500


And for the sake of clarity:
LPlong playing vinyl record (album)
12"single or EP on 12" vinyl format
7"single or EP on 7" vinyl format
CDcompact disc (album)
CDScompact disc single (normal 5" size)
CD3compact disc single (small 3" size)
K7cassette tape (from the French "Ka Sept")



Bid items

BID or OFFERS means you are invited to make me an offer for this item. There is no ebay-like auction and there is no end date. Just email me your best offer for the item in question.
Usually these BID items are vastly expensive items or they are specialist items which are either under-valued or not mentioned at all in current price guides. If you send me an email asking me to suggest a price, I will ignore it. If you send me an email with a bid that is too low, I will send you a reply letting you know. If you wish to trade, then tell me your trade value offer and please make sure your trade list is PRICED.



Postage Rates

Rant=On.
Rant=Off.



Nederland:
Een pakket tot 10kg (of 30-40 LPs) = € 6,75

Europe/Overseas:

  • Priority Airmail is used by default.
  • Standard Airmail which is much slower and only a small amount cheaper, is available on request.
  • Registered Mail is Strongly Advised for all orders paid through Paypal.
  • Surface Mail is not available so don't even ask.
  • Other shipping options such as Recorded Delivery, Registered (signed for), Insurance, etc, all cost extra.

    + IMPORTANT + PLEASE READ + IMPORATANT + PLEASE READ +

    I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOST OR DAMAGED PACKAGES.

    IF YOUR PACKAGE IS LOST OR DAMAGED, THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO
    except PACKAGES SENT BY REGISTERED MAIL, WHICH CAN BE TRACED.

    IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT THIS, THEN REQUEST REGISTERED MAIL
    (AND POSSIBLY INSURANCE).


    Attention customers in France... I lost my first ever package inside Europe in April 2005. It was sent by Standard Airmail. The two month investigation carried out by the Post Office into the disappeance of this package yielded the laughable verdict that they couldn't say what had happened to it because it wasn't registered . . . (duh!). I strongly advise anyone living in France to request registered mail and I remind everyone that once a package leaves me I take no responsibility for it.

    Attention customers in the USA... Packages are taking longer than usual to reach destinations in the USA. Whether this is due to more vigilant customs checks or increased security measures I cannot say. So please be patient, especially if you have not opted for registered or priority services. I use clearly printed labels and fully comply with customs requirements, so your package shoud not be delayed too long.

    As the Post Office System of Europe goes to hell... thanks to privatisation and the market for mail over 100g being open to 'competition', perhaps everyone should consider Registered mail, wherever you live. Otherwise be patient. I have lost only ONE package in over 10 years.

    Approximate Shipping Costs for Priority & Standard Airmail are given in the following table. This is based on Post Office data and gives some idea of what to expect, but be warned, prices and delivery times fluctuate all the time (thanks to 'competition'):

      Europe
    USA
    Rest of World
      Priority Priority Standard Priority Standard
    duration   4-6 WD 10-12 WD    
    1 LP € 7 € 11 € 8 € 11 € 8
    2-6 LPs € 12 € 21 € 18 € 21 € 18
               
    1-2 7"/CD € 3.25 € 6   na € 6   na
    3-4 7"/CD € 6.25 € 11   na € 11   na
    5-8 7"/CD € 9.50 € 20   na € 20   na

  • WD = Working Days, i.e. excluding weekend and public holidays.
  • Registered mail may be as little as €3 euro extra.
  • Actual shipping costs will be calculated  per order.



    Packaging

    There is no explicit charge for packaging. Instead I round up any totals to the nearest euro.

    Here's a brief description of how I send out items. If you are sending me something as part of a trade, I expect you to follow these simple packaging guidelines, which are designed to avoid problems like split seams (the horror!) and water damage:

    LP/12" vinyl is generally packaged as follows:

  • to avoid split seams, the disc is shipped outside the main cover.
  • the disc (in paper or plastic inner) and main cover are placed inside a plastic bag
  • this plastic bag is then sealed with tape

    This sealed bag is then placed inside the mailing envelope with cardboard stiffeners where appropriate. I usually use mailing envelopes specifically designed for LPs. I recycle them as long as they are still strong and robust.

    7" vinyl is packaged as follows: as 7inch records tend not to have inners. This is usually not a problem as singles have flat sleeves rather than LP-style box sleeves (i.e. with a spine). So split seams are less of a risk. However, if the PS is thin paper, or it seems in any way vulnerable to split seams, then I will supply a plain white sleeve and send the vinyl + PS the same way as described above for LPs.

    Note that I will use my judgement on how much packaging to use and this will include keeping an eye on the overall weight of the package to minimise postage costs. If you wish to have extra packaging, then please request it but remember that you may incur extra postage costs.

    For customers outside the EU, I always fill in a low value (max 5 USD per item) on Customs declarations. Obviously I cannot do this if you request insurance.



    Payment

    Nederland:



    Europe/Overseas:









    Trading

    I'm a collector and I am always interested in trading. I prefer to do 1-for-1 trades for items of similar rarity rather than strict price/value based trades. Prices are a useful guide of course but they are not the last word. I price my records to SELL for CASH which is usually well below book value. A record may be 'worth' €100 but I know from experience that I won't be able to sell it for more than €50. This does not necessarily mean that I will trade it for €50 worth of your records, especially if you use book values. As I said already, I prefer to trade for items of similar rarity.

    Here is my want list.


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