Record & CD Buying

You may be lucky enough to own some items of memorabilia that cannot be tangibly valued. Alternatively, you may have records in your collection that other people would pay to have. The Music Master Price Guide for Record Collectors and its follow-up, the Penguin Price Guide for Record & CD Collectors have a number of records listed by David Ackles that are considered worth collecting. These are listed below, along with the price they are likely to sell at (in UK Pounds Sterling). The present exchange rate is £1 = $1.60. The prices given are for vinyl albums in exceptionally good condition. Used second-hand albums ought to cost less, depending on supply & demand. All items listed below are on vinyl; the CD re-releases have not been out long enough to become collectors' items.

Please note that I am not an expert in record values and there is no point in e-mailing me to ask what the value is of an old 78 you found in your grandmother's attic or an Elvis picture disc that you've had since the 70s. The answer is: I don't know. If you want this information, go to a dealer, buy one of the above-named books or see if your valued possession is on sale at Gemm (see below).

If you are looking to obtain any albums by David, you might try your local record store for the three CDs that were re-released, although I am aware that they may again no longer be distributed. Alternatively, www.magpiedirect.com and http://www.blahdvd.com have good websites and are reliable retailers with an interest in older material. Other retailers that might help are www.amazon.co.uk, www.hmv.co.uk, www.101cd.com and www.towerrecords.co.uk while if you are looking for a non-UK site, try www.cdwow.com or www.amazon.com as the biggest retailers. Stuart Lord has access to specialist items and can send you a list if you e-mail him at stuart.lord@wanadoo.fr.

For second hand albums (vinyl and CD), many people have managed to get lucky by bidding on www.ebay.com while the biggest collective of second hand dealers is www.gemm.com but I would also try:

This might be the only way to get David's material and you may have to be prepared to pay a lot of money for material that is becoming rare and difficult to obtain. Be aware of the fact that packing and delivery charges will also apply. I would advise that you try to negotiate prices, especially if buying several items. The people who run these sites are only human and they want a sale as much as you want to make a purchase. Incidentally, unlike many websites about singers/performers, I do not gain any benefits whatsoever from the above links. Indeed, I may be competing with you to buy some of the items on sale! Good luck.