THE BEATLES - PLEASE PLEASE ME - 1st UK PRESS BLACK & GOLD - DICK JAMES CREDITS

	£		460
	$		610

Please read the Terms and Conditions lower in the listing about payment, postage costs and insurance BEFORE placing a bid. Thank you.

I am happy to answer any questions, but please read the listing carefully before sending a question or placing a bid. I try to provide comprehensive details and information in every listing so the answers to most questions should be found below.

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During nearly eight years of trading on ebay, I have received around 2,600 positive feedbacks from over 2,000 individual customers, almost all from the sale of vinyl records.  Until recently I had 100% positive feedback, but I have recently received a totally unjustified negative feedback. Please see my page if you want the full story.

I take great pride in ensuring that my items are always described accurately and fairly. All my items come with a full money-back guarantee - if it's not as described, you can return it for a full refund. 

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THIS ITEM CLOSES ON SATURDAY 6th JULY. THE SELLER WILL BE AWAY FROM MONDAY 8th JULY.  

ITEMS PAID FOR WITHIN 36 HOURS OF THE AUCTION CLOSING [i.e. by 8 a.m. (UK time) on Monday 8th July] WILL BE POSTED ON MONDAY 8th JULY.  ITEMS NOT PAID FOR BY THEN CANNOT BE POSTED UNTIL THE FOLLOWING WEEK.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 12 PHOTOS IN THIS LISTING. USE THE SCROLL BAR BESIDE THE THUMBNAILS TO SEE THEM ALL AND USE THE 'ZOOM' FACILITY TO GET A CLOSE-UP VIEW.

Nice example of this 1st pressing which is complete with its original poly-lined Emitex inner sleeve and first-press cover with the Angus McBean credit at the extreme right of the cover.

This has the following 1st press matrix numbers:

Side 1: XEX 421-1N

Side 2: XEX 422-1N

Side 1:           2                          RG

Detailed description
Vinyl: The very heavy (171 gram) vinyl looks great and has retained its original high sheen with relatively few marks - this does NOT have the 'birds-nest' of lines and scratches often seen on copies of this record. Altough it has obviously been played many times it has been well-treated. Under bright light, hairlines, sleeve-removal lines and fine marks were visible, as well as a handful of slightly more prominent lines, but nothing with any significant audible impact. I have played the entire record (several times, including a play-grade through headphones) and it sounds great. There is some background noise and crackle which can be heard in the quiet parts but generally the fades, silent grooves and intros all play very quietly. I noticed the occasional random click and there were a handful of places where I heard a few short-lived clicks, but there is absolutely nothing loud or intrusive anywhere and nothing which lasted longer than about half-a-dozen revolutions. If I were grading this copy based purely on background noise or clicks and crackle it would easily grade around Excellent or better.  However, there was also some top-end distortion, mainly on some of the vocals (more at the end of each side and more on side two than side one) but it was not intrusive or unpleasant and was largely confined to the right-channel (although it was much more-prominent when listening through headphones). However, because it is predominantly in the right channel its impact can be significantly reduced when listening through the speakers, by biasing the balance to the left channel (the record is mono so this makes no difference to the music). When listening to the record in this way, the distortion was really only noticeable in the final track of side one and several of the tracks on side two, especially the vocal harmonies on 'Twist and Shout' where it was still fairly prominent.  However, despite this, it was still enjoyable to listen to and the lack of background crackle and absence of any significant clicks meant that listening to this copy was much better than most I've experienced, and the distortion mentioned above was the only detrimental issue. Without the distortion I would play-grade the album as EASILY Excellent (Ex) and possibly higher, but the distortion needs to be taken into account and this reduces the grading to around Very Good plus (VG+) for side one and Very Good (VG) for side two.
Labels: Both labels have typical spindle marking and signs of wear and use, but nothing prominent or unsightly.
Cover: This is the correct, original first-press cover with the Angus McBean credit at the extreme right of the cover, lining up with the 's' in 'songs' [on later covers it is slightly further to the left and lines up with the 'g' in 'songs']. The laminated front of the cover is nice and clean with no damage, writing, splits, tears or stickers etc and just normal signs of use, with some creases around the edges and corners, shaping around the disk, corner-wear and a few minor marks. At some point in the past, the cover has been re-inforced with sellotape and this has led to some discolouration from the sellotape residue which is particularly noticeable on the unlaminated rear where it can clearly be seen along the top and bottom flipbacks (note that the sellotape is long-gone, it is just the discolouration that remains). Other than this, the unlaminated rear has some typical grubbiness towards the opening and three or four horizontal wrinkles/creases near the opening (clearly visible in photo 9) and a small surface graze/tear near the Parlophone logo. The top and especially the bottom flipbacks have some small nicks and creases and they have been touched-in where the sellotape has discoloured the unlaminated edges. The rear flipback is almost perfect except for some minor discolouration from the sellotape, but this is not very noticeable. Despite the obvious marking on the rear, it is all complete and intact. The front cover is one of the best I've seen with the only detrating issue being some wear to three of the corners. All-in-all I would say that this is better than most original first-press covers that you see.
Edge wear: top/spine/bottom/opening: light/light/light/moderate. There are no seam-splits. The laminated top and bottom edges each have a handful of laminate creases, but there is very little wear apart from at the corners. The spine is solid and firm, with wear at the corners and a couple of laminate creases but the text is all readable. There are normal signs of use at the opening.
Corner wear: There is very light wear to the top-spine corner and light wear to the top-opening corner. The bottom corners are more-heavily worn and the bottom-opening corner has worn through to a small (5mm) corner split.
Inner sleeve: Original poly-lined Emitex inner sleeve. No splits, tears or damage just normal signs of age and use.

Detracting features not covered above:  None. This is a very presentable and playable example of this famous record.

Please check out my other items and take advantage of reduced postage costs for multiple buys.

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Information about descriptions.
My items are always described accurately and fairly. I always do my best to point out any blemishes which might detract from the item and all photographs are of the actual item you will get.

Play-graded vinyl: I play grade records where possible but I don't have time to play them all. I always state in the listing if I have played a record prior to describing it.

Visually-graded vinyl: Unless specifically stated in the listing, vinyl is visually graded.  A visual grading will identify physical flaws (such as scratches) and can help determine whether a record has been cared-for properly. I always do my best to give a fair assessment of any visible marks on the playing surface, but a visual grading will not identify noise or crackle caused by non-visible sources. Most of the records I sell are between thirty and fifty years old and so it is likely that there may be some background noise even if they look perfect. Please see Terms and Conditions below for my refunds policy for visually graded records.

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I have some very simple terms and conditions. Please read them and ensure that you understand them before bidding. Thank you.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

• My items are fully guaranteed - if it is not as described you can return it for a full refund, including postage. Refunds for visually graded records which are returned based upon the buyer's assessment of the record's playgrade, will not include postage costs in either direction.
• Your bid is binding, so please make sure you have READ and UNDERSTOOD the WHOLE LISTING before you bid. I will not accept returns where the buyer has not read or not understood something which is stated/shown in the listing.
  
• I accept Paypal and postal orders (in UK Sterling GBP) for all purchases.  I also accept cheques (in UK Sterling GBP) on orders OVER £50.
• Please pay for your item within three days of the auction closing. If you are intending to bid on other items and wish to pay when they have closed, please contact me to let me know. I reserve the right to cancel any transactions and offer the item to the second highest bidder if no contact or payment is made within three days.

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POSTAGE & PACKING

I care about the records I sell and believe that they need to be carefully and securely packaged to ensure that they survive their journey through the post. Vinyl is removed from the sleeve for posting and the contents will be protected with rigid cardboard stiffeners. All packages are labelled "Do not bend" and securely sealed with "FRAGILE" parcel tape.

I support the use of recycled materials and so I may send some items in packaging which has been previously used or which has been made from other cardboard packaging. If you wish your item to be sent in entirely new packaging please let me know before paying for it. Thanks.

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P&P charges

I need to cover the cost of postage and packing materials, but I try not to charge more for packing and posting your item than it actually costs me. I do not view P&P costs as a means of making money.

However, to quote an exact cost for every LP is difficult because of the wide variance in weight (e.g. Abbey Road weighs around 230 grams whereas Led Zeppelin III weighs around 390 grams). But the majority of single LPs, when packed, will weigh around 500-550 grams and I have based my P&P rates on this.

Occasionally, you may end up paying a few pence more than it actually costs me and occasionally you may end up paying a few pence less than it actually costs me. If there is a significant discrepancy in your favour I will refund the difference.

Double LPs will be charged as two LPs, triple LPs will be charged as three LPs. Box sets etc will be charged according to weight.

UK P&P costs

UK Standard service - items valued below £50 are sent using first class recorded post. The cost for this is as follows:

One to four LPs (with a combined total value below £50) = £4.50.

First 7" or CD = £2.50, each additional 7" or CD add £0.50


UK Special Delivery - Any order valued over £50 will be sent fully insured using Royal Mail Special Delivery and the total cost of this will be £8.55 for one to four LPs and £11.40 for five or more LPs . Please wait for my invoice before paying.

Any order valued below £10 can be sent using second class standard mail, free of charge.

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Airmail (with tracking and insurance) to any country OUTSIDE the UK

Europe

First LP or 12" = £11.95, each additional LP or 12" add £2.00.

First 7" or CD = £8.80, each additional 7" or CD add £0.60.

Rest of the world (anywhere outside Europe)

First LP or 12" = £15.95, each additional LP or 12" add £3.50.

First 7" or CD = £10.00, each additional 7" or CD add £0.90.

Overseas orders weighing more than 2kg or valued over £500 may be split into two or more packages as appropriate so they can be sent using Royal Mail's Small Packet Rate, so please wait for my invoice on larger multiple purchases.

Customs declaration for overseas orders: Please note that for overseas orders outside the EU I need to complete a customs declaration and must enter the value of the package on the declaration.

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 If you have any queries please email BEFORE you bid.