It’s the time of year for saving money!
Last month I received a press release from a new firm offering what appears to be a unique combination of professional grading and archiving services “that enhance your audiophile vinyl record collection.” Based in Hagerstown, Maryland, according to their initial press release Audiophile Archive and Grading Services, “No longer will collectors be forced to rely on the seller to grade their vinyl records. Additionally, grading a vinyl record is no longer a two-dimensional process that restricts the buyer to only knowing the visual grade of the vinyl record and outer sleeve. AAGS is a vinyl record grading and archiving organization that not only deep cleans and grades vinyl records, but they provide restoration and hi-res audio backups with each album and certification that is like no other.”
What this company offers could be a sort of middle-man service between buyers and sellers of higher-ticket priced LPs. And while they don’t act as a financial middleman by holding the money until both sides are happy, they can serve as a mediator or disinterested third party to establish value during the grading process. In addition to the traditional Goldmine-standard excellent-to-poor rating system, AGGS uses their own proprietary scale, “AAGS inspects the outer sleeve, inner sleeve and disks visually. Additionally, we take into consideration whether or not the inner sleeve is original and appropriate for the iteration of your album. We also take into account the liner notes, posters, and lyric sheets to determine if they are present and define their condition. We go even farther and listen to the entire disk and establish an audible grade for the disk. By entering these factors into our proprietary AAGS scoring index, we assign the AAGS score for your album with a single number.”
While this appears to be a more scientific methodology than a one-word rating, there is also a lot of room for interpretation here – does a perfect condition record without liner notes get a better rating than a near perfect one with notes? If they get the same numerical rating will they be of equal value to two different collectors?
And what does AAGS charge for their services? They have a sliding cost scale based on the value of the records being processed and services performed. For records valued up to $100 each, for $25 AAGS will do a “hands-free” ultrasonic cleaning, Multi-level grading on Goldmine standard, certified grading certificate, high-rez 192/24 digital copy made and delivered on a USB card, and archival inner and outer sleeved added. If your LP is worth between $100 and $300 the charges increase to $50 per LP, $300 to $500, $75 per LP, and for $100 per LP AAGS can reduce the turn-around time from ten days to only five. AAGS will do a deep cleaning only for $5 per LP and a sleeve vinyl record and digital restoration for $35 per LP.
Obviously, grading and cleaning records is a process that’s been around awhile, probably since the first records were produced. There are many resources for both cleaning and grading LPs. During the course of writing this blog I did some searches and came up with a list of resources about grading and cleaning LPs that I’ve placed at the end of this article.
I’m sure that do-it-yourself types will have already concluded that AAGS offers little in the way of physical operations that they can’t do by themselves. Grading, cleaning, and archiving are all well within the skill set and means of most audiophiles. What AAGS does offer that is unique is the ability to offer a third-party grading service that can be used to establish the condition and value of pricy collectable vinyl.
While I lack the necessary time-traveling apparatus to conclude whether AAGS venture into LP grading will prove to be successful or become some kind of industry standard (which would appear to be one of AAGS’s goals). I wish them all the best, because as we all know, a clean, properly stored and respected LP is a happy LP…
And if you want to do some research toward your own grading and cleaning, here are some good starting points:
https://thevinylfactory.com/features/a-comprehensive-guide-to-grading-vinyl-records/
https://www.rarerecords.net/vinyl-records-value/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJVQGSMFXyM
https://lp.reverb.com/pages/condition-guidelines
https://blog.discogs.com/en/how-to-estimate-the-value-of-a-record-collection/
https://www.iguide.net/price-guide/records/78rpm/
I’d like it if they offered a lower-cost option of just grading (and maybe cleaning) and certifying the record in the same way that’s done for comic books. Maybe that’s a service to be considered down the road.
I wonder why someone hasn’t done this before. Collectible coins, baseball cards, and comic books have a standardized rating system and professional graders, such as PSA for baseball cards.
Doing the same thing for records makes perfect sense to me.
Yes FDRroadrunner and all, there is a grading system for coins, baseball cards and comics BUT the graded collectibles are then ENCAPSULATED to preserve the integrity of the item. AAGS doesn’t encapsulate the LP’s permanently. The LP’s and sleeves and Inserts can be removed and that can be a problem. A lesser grade disc and sleeves can be inserted and resold at the higher grade.
All grading services and graders are not, and will never be, born equal. I purchased the comic of my dreams that was graded and encapsulated. It was mailed to me. It was every thing I wanted……except I did not want a dark brown/yellow cover and back cover. The browning should have been noted in the grading. It was returned.
Here is the comic. Girls, boobs, and guns…you can’t go wrong.
https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/845957.jpg
The first graded/encapsulated coin I purchased had a scratch on the obverse. I saw the scratch but wanted the coin anyway. So I bought my first “slabbed” coin, un-noted scratch and all. The slab was just ‘oh so new’ that I had to have one.
Believe it or not, a slabbed item will sell for more money, much more than the price of the grading service charges. We collectors seem to think that the graders have the wisdom and integrity of supreme court justices.
Slabbed collectables are cool. But if you have seriously collecting LP’s for some time, you do not need a third party to tell you the condition of your collectible.
One last thought….the AAGS claims that each album is listened to from beginning to end. Really!!!! Doesn’t anybody nod off to opera or “Dark Side Of The Moon”??????…..Snoooze!
It sounds a bit like what the Better Records guy is doing short of selling the record. As for the digital copy, I’m not sure that’s legal. I do like the idea of a service where you can have your “rare” records cleaned.
If you own the record, you are permitted to make, possess, and play a digital file of that record unless the copyright laws have changed…and while third parties are not permitted to copy records they do not own, I suspect that you can designate someone as your source for making that copy as long as you own the original.
The third party part was what I was referencing. I should have been more clear with my statement.