[78-L] Cost of buying records over time

[Benno Häupl]

.
Being also a collector of 16th to 19th century books, I found that the development of market prices 
of 78s follows the same pattern as that for antiquarian books. 

In that respect there is an interesting article by a bookseller, to be found here: 
http://oakknollbooks.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/the-oak-knoll-repricing-saga/ 

In short, with the advent of the internet, the availability increased dramatically, resulting in lower prices. 
He took every one of his 24,000 books off the shelf, looked up current market prices for identical copies 
on vialibri.net, and had the price adjusted or re-affirmed. 

The result: 
14% went down to $5. 
58% decreased in retail price with the average price decreasing by 51% 
25% stayed the same 
3% increased in retail price 

Of course, the books with increased price were the most desirable and expensive ones. 
I wished we 78s collectors had a website like vialibri.net, as popsike.com is not nearly comparable, as they 
only list auction results. As we all know, in auctions, a comparable mint copy may go for $50 one day and 
$100 the next. 

Benno