An emergency late night drive to Boston strikes a chance at reflection on shitty days past. Hurt feelings of harsh vinyl prices echo the distaste of greed from the latest generation. Tense moments ramp up as the time before the big day arise: excitement and excrement alike.

Here comes the science. I took a look at a random handful of 25 releases from RSD 2015 and compared them to how they are doing now, at the time this is written. My sample source is small and I likely have some bias one way or another as to the outcome. Basically, I am a terrible researcher and should be publicly shamed for this. I want you, dear reader, to confirm or refute my claims. Here’s my source, the data is median marketplace price for sold items, prices are in GBP.

This all stinks of manufactured scarcity. After the initial glut of flippers attempting to get beyond top dollar, prices seem to pretty much crash back to list price or slightly lower. Now seems like a good time to be buying previous year’s exclusives.

Some wise guy once said that the value you should be getting out of records should be to your ears, not your wallets. Not only are vinyl records a bad investment, but you’ve sacrificed the point of owning music in the first place. If money is your thing, collect gold bullion or something. Get out of my hobby and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

The problem isn’t just flippers though. We have to take our hobby back from the same major labels that tried to destroy it 20 years ago and were suing our grandmother’s for mp3s ten years ago. Support your independent local record stores by buying used and buying independent. Avoid manufactured rare and remember: nothing marketed as a collectible ever is in the end.

I want you to go out and do your own research and show me some releases that have increased in resale value from the previous year. I know they’re in there somewhere. Find them and report below.



