LIGHTNIN'S IN TOWN - Lightnin' Sam Hopkins

$

144

My blues albums were purchased 35-40 years ago by a friend who treated them with care and respect. Condition ranges from brilliant to occasional light paper scuffs. I searched 30 albums for scratches, found two with small ones, and put them aside. I took pictures of jackets but not the vinyl records because record pictures can be very misleading, depending entirely on how the LP is illuminated.

I've never sold LP records before but I have sold lots of rare and collectible books, and I am reliable about describing what I see. Records are shipped to conform with standard practices. I made the starting bid $5 because the albums are easily worth it, and so that there would be some minimum compensation for the work that goes into listing and shipping them. Feel free to contact me with questions or requests.

Lightnin's in Town - Lightnin' Sam Hopkins

Folk Art Recordings, Inc.   FLP 5003

Record Condition: VG++

Jacket Condition: VG+

Front cover is really clean and sharp. Back cover shows minor rubbing and a faint, dime-sized stain in the print at the lower right corner. Paper record sleeve clean and without crinkling or dog ears.

For USPS Media Mail = $2.82

For priority mail and other USPS shipping options use the shipping calculator at the USPS website (http://postcalc.usps.gov/). Using the weights indicated below, you can find prices for delivery from my zip code (04101) to your zip code (_____) for various levels of service. Then just add the shipping fee to the price of your item for payment.  

1 lbs 6 oz - Standard package weight (Add $1 for standard shipping materials)

2 lbs 8 oz - Double package weight (Add $2 for double shipping materials)

Payment:  Please email within 3 days of winning an auction to confirm that you know you have won the item and that you have made arrangements for payment if payment is still pending. Please don’t send cash or personal checks.

Shipping Information: For immediate shipping use PayPal. Items usually go out next business day, two days at most. As you can tell from my feedback I'm a safe shipping fanatic. LP albums are packed in poly sleeves outside their jackets to avoid seam splits. There are two levels of packing listed below. The first is the standard, sturdy LP mailer used by thousands with good results. The second is this standard mailer inside still another box with even more padding. Please choose whichever suits you. There is no "handling" charge, but I do ask for either $1 (single box) or $2 (double box) for packaging (which still doesn't quite pay for the materials). 

Combining Auctions: If you wish to combine multiple auctions for shipping, let me know before paying so that I can accurately adjust shipping cost in your favor.  The shipping price for a combined auction is whatever the carrier charges me for shipping the weight of your package in your preferred way. For an extra album or two the extra cost, if any, would be negligible.

Problems: Just email me with your concern, and you’ll hear back from me within a day, usually sooner.

Feedback:  Once you have received your item and are satisfied with it please leave positive feedback. Once I see that you are happy I'll know that we have completed our transaction, and I will then leave positive feedback for you.

Returns: Upon receiving and inspecting your item if you feel that it has not been represented correctly and wish to return it, please send an email, and I'll arrange for a return at my expense. However if you wish to return it simply because you've changed your mind, please do the reasonable thing and take care of shipping.

                                         Condition Explained

The vinyl LP blues albums in my auctions had only one owner and were gently used and cared for.  I can't possibly play through them all to see if there is a skip, so I look for visual imperfections and point out any that I discover. Since these records are generally in quite good condition, and since there seems to be so many strong opinions about how best to clean vinyl records, I've decided to not even touch dust motes. I would like you to be happily surprised so I try to be conservative in all my condition descriptions.

                                  My Adopted Grading System

MINT (M):  Perfect! This record looks like it has just left the manufacturer, with NO flaws what so ever. It looks as though it has never been handled. No scuffs or scratches, blotches or stains. No stickers address labels, writing on the covers or labels. No tears or seam splits. No wear to the cover or record period! Age of the record has nothing to do with it.

NEAR MINT or NM, M-: This record appears virtually flawless A very minor scuff and very little else can appear on the vinyl. It should play without any noise over the flaw. The flaw is very hard to see. The cover looks as close to perfect with only minor signs of wear and or age. Minor impressions to the cover (due to the outer edge of the vinyl resting inside) may be acceptable, however the artwork is be as close to perfect as can be.

EXCELLENT or EX or VG++ : Minor scuffs which are only slightly visible. There may be more than a few scuffs and NO Scratches. COVER: Artwork is still as close to perfect as can be. Some impression to the cover (minor outer ring wear) but no ink wear! Some slight creases to the corners, but not wrinkled and obtrusive to the eye. The corners can show white (where the artwork pasted slick was) meaning, slight wear. No seam splits or writing on the cover or taped repairs can make this grade.

VERY GOOD PLUS or VG+ Record shows wear, surface scuffs. The vinyl still has a great luster, but the flaws will be noticeable to the naked eye. If the flaws don't cause any surface noise, the vinyl can still make the VG+ grade. COVERS: A virtually clean cover, but may have small writing on it.The artwork looks clean with slightly more aging. The back of the cover usually gives away the age of the cover. Flat white paper will be somewhat yellow yet no stains or mildew from water damage. Some minor wear to the seams or spine, but no tears or holes popping through. The corners will be slightly dog eared yet no crackly bends, defacing the artwork. In essence, a VG+ cover should have no more than 3 flaws mentioned.

VERY GOOD or VG: This record is good enough. It is not going to look very good, but it will STILL play very good. There will almost always be some surface noise. The Dynamics should still be excellent, overpowering the surface noise. A VG record will appear well have been played but still have some luster. VG covers will look worn, used. There may be some seam splitting . There will be some ring wear, where the ink has begun to wear off. Giving the cover a look of snow falling. If the artwork looks snowy all over, it is less than VG condition. There may be some writing on the cover (still, no Large letters in magic marker). It will look aged and more yellowish due to contaminations in the air (sometimes looking like cigarette smoke). Still it should be decent.

GOOD or G: A good record will look very well played, dull, grayish and possibly abused. However a Good record should still play. It will have distracting surface noise. Such as crackle that is continuous or some hiss. Will also have some loss of dynamics caused from grooves being worn. It should play without any skips or any obtrusively loud pops or repeated clicks, caused by deep scratches. Good means that it will play with some form of decency, so one can still enjoy the music even though you can still hear noise caused from the wear. A Good cover will have just about everything wrong with it. It will have seam splits, possibly taped repaired, but only with scotch tape. No duct tape or masking tape repairs. These are big turn offs. May have magic marker writing on the cover but still if they are in huge letters, it is a big turn off.In essence, the cover will looked virtually trashed, but some artwork will still be noticed. If the artwork is worn, it is POOR and the cover is worthless.