Is there a website where you can determine how “rare” vinyl is?

Not really. The landscape has changed drastically in the last decade regarding vinyl collectibility. If you do find something, it probably won’t be accurate.

Unless you have something that is a very limited pressing, a small run audiophile pressing (ex: original 180g Mobile Fidelity, CBS Mastersounds, SuperDisk, etc.pressings), or you have original Blue Note pressings from the New York plant from the ‘50’s, or original Decca or RCA Living Stereo classical pressings.

Still, even if you have these, the issue now is that you have to have a “collector”, not an audiophile, that is interested in paying the premium, as most of these classics have been repressed on 200g vinyl from the original master tapes within the last 10 years...you need a buyer that wants the original.


BTW...your old Led Zeppelin and Who records aren’t worth but around a couple bucks (in great condition). I hear people all the time reference their dads old classic rock or Beatles LPs as being worth a mint—they aren’t—they pressed millions and millions of them—they are ubiquitous!

Example: six years ago, Widespread Panic’s “Space Wrangler” debut album from 1988 was selling for $600. It was pressed once in a batch of 1000 on Landslide Records out of Macon, GA. Then CDs became the only medium for releases in the 1990’s. Then, a decade ago, the hunt was on for their original pressing and it garnered a high price tag.
Then, 4 years ago, it was finally repressed on 180g HQ vinyl, and the prices of the original and until that point, only vinyl copy of that album, plummeted.

If you have Journey Escape on the 1982 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab pressing, it will fetch around $1500 today. Why? Well, because MoFi didn’t press as many for pop/rock as they did for the adult contemporary and classic rock genres. Then, as the young ones grew up and gained an interest in the songs of their youth, along with a new found love of vinyl, the demand for the smaller number of pressings for that LP skyrocketed. It actually didn’t sell well among the audiophile folks back in the day as it wasn’t their type of music. Now, the next generation wants it and there aren’t many around.

There is also a demand for some old 45rpm limited runs from small, independent record labels from the ‘50’s and ‘60’s...swamp pop, alligator boogie, New Orleans R&B—artists that were locally popular but unknown on the national scene.

But again, you have to find that needle in the haystack that is looking for it.

Look up the sales history for the record you're looking for in Discogs. That will get you in the ballpark. Make sure you're paying attention to the pressing and condition. These drastically influence value.

Goldmine Magazine