Digital music may be the most popular way to listen to your favorite songs but recently vinyl has been making a comeback. There has been a resurgence of interest in owning actual records. This means now is a great time to check the attic and other storage spaces to see if any of your relatives are holding on to any recordings by popular artists. You may decide to invest in some records yourself. Either way, a great home inventory system like Stockpile can make cataloging your collection easy.
Old Records
Start with any records you already own. You'll want to include details such as date of the pressing, condition of the album, any additional materials such as inserts or liner notes and their condition, in addition to just the artist and title of the album. Having all this info at your fingertips can save you some headaches later on. A vintage Beatles album is a real find but it won't play well if it's all scratched up. Whether you decide to sell your vinyl or hang on to it you'll want to know what condition it's in.
New Purchases
New albums can be easier to enter in the system for several reasons. You'll presumably know their condition without having to try each one. There may be fewer of them at any one time unless you buy a bulk lot from another collector. You may also focus on one artist or genre as you buy new which will allow to get on a roll inputting information. Including extra details is always important so don't get in too much of a hurry and be sure that you are accurately entering the data for each record. Your Stockpile results will only be as good as the information you put in the system.
La-la-location
Now isn't the time to just hum to chorus. You want to be very specific when you're entering location details for each album. If you just say on the shelf in the living room you'll have to shuffle through the entire row looking for the disc you want. Thanks to areas and locations you can pinpoint exactly where a record is stored. You can even add additional fields that indicate what sort of filing system you used when organizing your collection. Many collectors use an alphabetical by genre method. This can make it easy to find a rap record by Eminem but it can be tricky if you can't remember whether you put Bon Jovi under pop, rock, or 80s hair bands. Adding a field that specifies which genre you categorized an album under can make it easy to find what you're looking for quickly.
e-Value-ation
The price you paid for a record probably has little bearing on what it's currently worth. Today's value is based on the rarity of the find, the condition of the record, and the current popularity of the band. You can look up the going rate for albums and include it in your item record but you may also want to include any sentimental attachment you may have to that particular cut. I own an original Sister Hazel Somewhere More Familiar album that was recorded before they had a record deal. The quality of the Universal Records cut is better, but the version they recorded on their own holds more meaning for me so I place a higher value on it. Other family members might not realize that and would be willing to sell that record for a literal song. Adding your own personal notes into records can avoid any heartbreaking situations like this.
Singing Stockpile's Praises
If you have stuff, you need a great home inventory system like Stockpile. Stockpile makes it easy to track everything you own. Adding items to our system is quick and easy. Once you have data in the system you'll be able to "see" what you own whenever you'd like. Just a few clicks and you can access all your information. You can even search by different fields which makes it easy to see how many items of a particular type you own. Get organized and stay that way with Stockpile. Our solution is the great home inventory system you're looking for. Ready to get started? Try Stockpile now! What to learn more about what we can do for you? Keep checking back. We'll have more blogs with great tips.
