Roots Archives Forum

I used to buy a lot of reggae on ebay but find nowadays the prices, particularly of lps ,has gone through the roof.Often original pressings can go into 3 figures. Do you think this is reasonable due to rarity of items or do you think bidding wars cause prices to reach mega heights?How rare is "rare" when used to describe original items anyway?

It's not only the case with Reggae records, but with Rock and Jazz alike. The rarest of the rare records fetch incredible prices.
Me too go for rare Dub records and sometimes pay big money. But sadly I'm not rich and ebay seems to be full of millionaires.........

I'd say rare is probably the second most over used word on ebay, after excellent, but having said that a lot of Reggae LPs are scarce and extremely hard to find in genuinely excellent condition.

I don't think £100+ is excessive for a nice copy of record which was pressed in the hundreds 30 or 40 years ago and for which no tapes exists and a decent reissue is unlikely. Reggae records are generally under priced compared to Rock, Classical, Northern Soul or original '50s Jazz.

It's a shame that illegal downloading etc., has had such a negative impact on reissue labels as there are plenty of worthy records that it's just not economical to reissue.

I wonder how long the reissue industry will be alive when it comes to reggae. I wonder if it will survive the coming 5-10 years.

Dubmart wrote: I don't think £100+ is excessive for a nice copy of record which was pressed in the hundreds 30 or 40 years ago and for which no tapes exists and a decent reissue is unlikely. Reggae records are generally under priced compared to Rock, Classical, Northern Soul or original '50s Jazz.

It's a shame that illegal downloading etc., has had such a negative impact on reissue labels as there are plenty of worthy records that it's just not economical to reissue.

I agree with Dubmart, one must consider the quantity of these items that exist in order to assess "rarity" - an original copy of "Pick A Dub" is (IMHO) WAY rarer than a "radio station copy" of an Elvis Presley 7" - but then your market is WAY smaller of people who WANT an original "Pick A Dub" vs. "Elvis"... I wish I could afford some of the gems I see on eBay, but for me it's really about enjoying the music - I'm NOT a collector any longer, and do NOT illegally download music. Just doing my time with the classics and LOVING IT!

100+ is surely not overpaid for a rare old record in decent condition. And considering the smaller market I agree that prices for Reggae records are generally not too high. But talking of the rarest of the rare Reggae records we come close to Rock and Jazz.
Generally I think prices for rare records at least doubled in the last 10 years - no matter what kinda music you're after.

Will a kid being born today spend 1500$ in 35 years ? providing we are still living the shopping aquisition dream.

kalcidis wrote:I wonder how long the reissue industry will be alive when it comes to reggae. I wonder if it will survive the coming 5-10 years.

If you ask me, the reissue industry has already died, or at least suffered a mass extinction.

But are the artists benefiting out of these prices?

No, they are not. They've never profited from the second hand market...