As a regular buyer of vinyl LP's on Ebay I get so fed up with sellers who either overstate the condition of the LP's they are selling, give incomplete or inaccurate descriptions, charge too much for delivery or who are reluctant to give a discount on their p&p charges for multiple purchases. Other sellers who annoy me are those who cannot be bothered to clean their records before sale. After all, if you were selling a car, wouldn't you expect to describe it as accurately as possible in your advert and then present it to your potential buyers in its best condition i.e. clean and tidy?

Here are a few hints and tips on how to gain more satisfied customers when selling your old vinyl LP's, and get the best prices for them.

Preparing LP's for sale

All it takes is five minutes per LP to do the following:

1. Check the LP first. Make sure that the catalogue number on the record is the same as on the cover. If it says 'stereo' on the cover, make sure (as it usually does) that it also says 'stereo' on the label. Try to ensure that the LP is not in an obviously incorrect inner sleeve e.g. a Decca record should not be in an inner sleeve with Columbia records advertised on it! 

2. Clean the record using a damp, lint-free cloth with only a very small drop of washing up liquid on it. This will remove fingermarks and dust. Dry the record off immediately using a clean piece of kitchen roll or soft clean dry tea towel.

3. Clean the (usually) laminated front of the sleeve in the same way. You can carefully remove any stickers and glue residue with a little 'Zippo' lighter fluid. Also, if you take care, you can quickly clean the unlaminated back cover but do not use lighter fluid on it.

Ebay Descriptions of Vinyl LP's

Always quote the label and catalogue number. If you know that the album is a later re-issue (maybe on 'budget' labels like Fame, Wing, Sunset, MFP, Marble Arch, Contour etc.) of an earlier released album (on the original labels like Columbia, Decca, Philips etc.), you must say so. If you are not sure, again you must say so. Record collectors can usually tell from a picture of the record label, so it's a good idea to include this within your description.

You must say honestly whether you have tested the record or not, and ensure that the condition of the record is as accurately described as possible. You cannot say that a record 'plays excellently', nor can you give it a Rare Record Collector Price Guide condition rating (e.g. 'EX') if you haven't cleaned and played it yourself!

Putting it another way, if the album is in poor condition (badly scratched or there are jumps or sticking points) or it is a bad pressing and does not play well to you, then it probably is no good for anyone else - my best advice is to throw it in the bin rather than risk your good eBay reputation.

Postage and Packaging

All vinyl LP's should be posted in stiff cardboard rather than 'Jiffybags'. It also helps to take the record out of its sleeve and place it on top to avoid potential damage to the sleeves. Whilst it is perfectly OK to use recycled corrugated cardboard from old boxes, with lots of 'Gaffa' tape, there are excellent card mailing envelopes and card stiffeners available from covers33 dot co dot uk which are much better for the multiple seller. If you receive records packed in this way, open them carefully as the packaging can easily be re-used just by sticking a new address label over the old one.

Whilst you must of course cover your costs of sale (including Paypal charges), you should not, under eBay rules, try to make more money by making 'excessive p&p charges' (see eBay's own guide on this in their 'Help' section). I find that a £2.50 charge will easily cover your expenses to mail one album provided you use 2nd Class Post, which as a buyer I find is quite quick enough. It is not necessary to use Recorded Delivery, but do ensure that you get a receipt/proof of posting slip from the Post Office, just in case.