If you are looking to downsize your own record collection, we do buy vinyl! We pay you 35% of what we will price the records at, and our price is dependent on the condition the items are in and the scarcity/demand for the music.
- The owner of Hemingway’s Books (Dave Kyle) can make house calls for large collections of books and/or records. Call us at the store to set up an appointment! Our phone number is 604-855-1894.
- Please note that the condition of your records is important! We will not buy anything that is scratched or warped, and we will not buy albums that do not have the sleeves. Each album will be individually assessed for condition
- WE DO NOT TAKE EVERYTHING! We have limited space, so we only buy what we need. If you bring in a collection, we will buy what we need and you can take back the rest: we do not accept donations.
VINYL WE DO WANT:
- Classic rock and pop from big name bands and artists: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Tom Waits, Heart, Simon & Garfunkel, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Prince, Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Boston… the list goes on and on!
- Hard rock/Metal: AC/DC, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Kiss, Black Sabbath, etc.
- Punk: both new and old, from hardcore to post-punk. The Clash, The Cure, Dead Kennedys, Ramones, Black Flag, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, etc.
- Electronic: We’re looking more for the electro LPs pre and post 80’s. There is some synth pop we do take in, like Depeche Mode, The Human League and Eurythmics (dependent upon the album), but for the most part we’re more interested in the non-pop artists such as Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre, Aphex Twin, Bjork, etc.
- Blues/Soul/R’n’B: Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, J. J. Cale, Stevie Wonder, B. B. King, Etta James, etc.
- Contemporary bands: Artists are issuing vinyl once again, so pressings from the last decade across all genres. Adele, Bieber, Panic! At the Disco, Lana del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, etc.
- Some Jazz: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Bill Evans etc. **Some jazz is sought after, much of it isn’t: if you’ve got a lot, feel free to contact us and we can give you a clearer breakdown!
- Soundtracks to popular films, or Broadway/theatre soundtracks with the original cast recordings: Grease, Ghostbusters, Sound of Music, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Phantom of the Opera, Disney stuff, etc.
- Rap/Hip-Hop: Though we are predominantly looking for the LPs, as opposed to the 12 inch singles, we’ll certainly check out anything you’ve got!
- Experimental: Perhaps you have an indefinable record! We’re interested in these too. Some well known examples of this would be artists like Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, and Captain Beefheart.
- This list is by no means complete: we can’t list everything we want, and we are always on the hunt for new additions and uncommon artists, bands, and genres to add to our collection! If you’re not sure about what you’ve got, just call or send an email!
Records we DON’T want:
- Old country music. With the exception of Johnny Cash and some Willie Nelson, we take very little country! Same goes for folk music.
- Classical. There are definitely exceptions, and we do buy some classical, but extremely selectively. If you’ve got a lot of classical records, please know that we usually pass on about 90% or more of what we see.
- Christian/choir music: Again there will be exceptions, but for the most part we don’t take religious and choral music.
- Easy listening: This is the genre most consistently across the board that we will turn down. It includes artists like Englebert Humperdinck, Barbara Streisand, Herb Alpert, Roger Whittaker and Nana Mouskouri. Generally speaking, the only exceptions we will make is for Exotica records.
A note on 45s: Generally if you have 45s by artists in the “Records we Do Want” section, they are worth bringing in.
Please note that the condition of your records is important! We will not buy anything that is heavily scratched or warped, and we will not buy albums that do not have the sleeves. Each album will be individually assessed for condition.