top 25 78's on eBay last week

Here's this week's high priced 78's on eBay:

Columbia 14439 Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie When The Levee Breaks 3549
Victor 21066 Memphis Jug Band Beale Street Mess Around 1702
Paramount 12594 Dixieland Thumpers Oriental Man/Sock That Thing 1676
Gennett 6056 Tony Preer & the Cotton Club I Found A New Baby 1335
Okeh 8959 Charlie Burse w/Memphis Jug Insane Crazy Blues Go 971
Okeh 8889 Bo Carter Howling Tom Cat Blues 789
Melotone 07-06-7 George Noble Seminole Blues 783
Vocalion 1094 Henry Thomas John Henry 750
Vocalion 15728 Joe Mannone & Club Royale FareThee Well Foxtrot 750
Victor 221/222/223 Winnie The Pooh Winnie the Pooh Story Book 700
Victor 23342 Bennie Moten Kanas City Band Small Black – stomp 687
Columbia 14426 Peg Leg Howell & Jim Hill Chitlin' Supper 676
Okeh 45468 Walter Jacobs & Carter Bros. Dear Little Girl 622
Edison 52646 Eva Taylor West End Blues 611
New Bourbon Finocchio's World's Foremost Female Impersonators 562
Mercury A-22 Frankie Laine Wrap Your Troubles In Dream 537
Sun Elvis Presley That's All Right/Blue Moon 511
Vocalion 15819 Jimmie Noone & Apex Club Ain't Misbehavin' 500
JVB 34 Gales Killer 462
Victor 38145 Missourians Two Hundred Squabble 450
Columbia 14358 Johnny Dunn You Need Some Loving 450
USA Radio R Elvis Presley What I'd Say/Nothing 441
Columbia 14203-D Blind Willie Johnson Dark Was the Night 411
Meteor 5035 Wayne McGinnis Rock Roll & Rhythm 404
Okeh 8772 J.C. Higginbothan Higginbothan Blues 400

Look for my 78 rpm price guide coming out next month - based on sales figures...not "I'd like to get this for my record".

this week's roundup of the top ten selling 78's

Roundup of the top ten 78's on eBay last week...

1)Sun 184 Big Memphis Marainey Baby No No $3056
2)Paramoun 12955 Arnold Wiley Spider In Your Dumpling/Jumping Blues 2083
3)Okeh 45289 Carter Brothers & Son Old Jaw Bone/Fiddler a Dram 1252
4) Brunswick 7087Jabbo Smith Rhythm Aces Lina Blues/Croonin' the Blues 954
5)Okeh 8960 Memphis Jug BandMary Anna Cut Off/Memphis Showdown 954
6)Black Patti 8040 Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon Can't You Wait til You Get Home/I'm Gonna Steal You 811
7)Victor 40324 Grayson & Whitter I Saw a Man at the Close of Day/I've Always Been A Rambler 787
8)Brunswick 7132 George E. Lee OrchestraPaseo Strut/If I Could Be With You 750
9)Melotone 5.11.58 Buddy Moss See What You Done Done/Going to Your Funeral in a Vee Eight Ford 711
10)Sun 209 Elvis Presley That's All Right/Blue Moon 625


Speaking of Sun & Elvis, a lot of all 5 Elvis Suns went for a shade over $2000...prices have dropped. I sold a Sun 209 about 12 years ago for 2600 in excellent condition.

Also note, I have excluded classical 78s from the above list, as I know very little about classical 78s.

Top ten 78's on eBay

Since I'm always dogging '78s, here's a compilation of the top 10 78's sold on eBay in the last 2 weeks.
1)3000 classical 78's $3269
2)Robert Johnson Terraplane Blues 1276
3)Bix Beiderbeicke 1927 Okeh master 1259
4)Sam Kelly Ramblin' Around Blues on Von 1226
5)Frankie Yankovic polka on Jolly 515 915
6)Frankie Yankovic polka on Jolly 509 915
7)Elvis Presley Sun 217 900
8)Beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand (Phillipines)899
9)Beatles All My Loving (Phillipines) 899
10)Beatles Can't Buy Me Love (Phillipines) 899

A Sun Elvis of Mystery Train went for 850. Can't be surprised at the Robert Johnson, but jeez, the Bix? Yeah, it'a unique piece for sure, but it's Bix. Frankie's moving on up, Elvis- well, no surprise there. Of course, the Beatles 78's always do well for all you completists out there.

Happy Hunting!

free mojo nixon downloads on Amazon

That's right - for the next few days, you can get free Mojo Nixon downloads on Amazon. This includes most of his albums, including Otis, Free Drunk & Horny, Whereabouts Unknown, and his new Whiskey Rebellion. Big missing one for me was Horny Holidays. Also included are a few oddball singles - Christmas Christmas (only on a punk comp from the 90's) and I Just Stopped In to Check What Condition My Condition Was In. Rave on and enjoy!

Cult artists - don't overlook these gems...

Cult artists - sometimes not listed in price guides, sometimes way underpriced. Jandek, singer/songwriter from Houston way, goes for $25 topping out over $100 - my partner and I found about 25 of his albums at a college radio sale. Townes Van Zandt lps book under $10 each - but his albums on Tomato top out for over $100. If you're in Texas, it may be worth posting ads on your local craigslist looking for those guys. Mojo Nixon - his cds generally go for a lot more than the vinyl. Look for his first cd with Skid Roper - it's self-titled, but popularly known among fans as the Free Drunk and Horny lp. Jimmy Buffet's first 2 lps on Barnaby - Down to Earth and High Cumberland Jubilee can do well - I've bought lps on eBay by misspelling his name in the search engine, then turning around and reselling it on eBay (of course, correctly spelling his name!)

Do a complete auctions search in 45's using "Northern Soul". Keep an eye out for some of those titles - especially if you live around Detroit or Philly. Type in rare funk to come up with some more names. Don't forget to list high price to low price on these searches.

hope you have good luck searching this weekend!

Selling those damned 78s

If you're reading this, you've already realized selling 78's is a tough proposition.

Here's a quick overview -

If you have any blues (and I mean real blues - Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, etc = not Lonesome Shepherd Blues from the Willy Mack Honkytonk Band)definitely auction them - true rarities like Robert Johnson or nearly anyone else from the prewar era - 1930's - go for big bucks generally. We're talking a couple grand and up. These you would probably do better selling to a dealer like John Tefteller outright, who has the customers for that kind of material. Other,later blues, auction on eBay (after researching completed listings and on GEMM)

Early rock can do decently. Some classic country (Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash)And some bluegrass.

So what do you do with the rest? I suggest sorting by label and genre, since that's how a lot of people collect them. Stick them in your eBay store at maybe $1 per 78, and check the best offers box. Consider listing on bonanzle, ecrater, or even Craigs List.

The advantage to the other sites is no charge AND you can set your own s&h fee - 78's are a pain to package - you absolutely have to double box them. Make sure there's no shifting in your first box, then put it in a second box with a minimum of 2" packing material all the way around. Make sure you charge enough for this - most 78 collectors understand.

save those old sleeves!

When going through a collection I bought, I always strip the paper sleeves from the ones I'm junking. The generic paper ones I put in one box - for putting one on a record that doesn't have one before I sell it. Generic record company ones I put in a separate box - nothing like a 60's Columbia sleeve to spruce up that Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin. If you seem to be getting an excess of these, you can put 'em up as a lot on eBay and get 25c to 50c apiece. The album specific ones I usually trash - how many Billy Joel lyric do you really need?

The LPs that are thrashed - strip the paper sleeve, save the jacket for packing - one top and bottom in the box - and save the lp for craft projects. Make bowls, flowers, and much more. Check out etsy.com for ideas - type in lps or albums to get ideas. Other stores put 'em in a box outside - craft project lps 50c each! A few stores around here sell bowls for $4 each - spraypainted flowers for $10 - $20 apiece - the spray-painted flowers go for 10 to 20 bux apiece.

Hope these ideas help you pay for your next collection.