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The lost Beatles tapes! |
As part of my occasional series I call, "Stuff I sold from around my house," I bring you this blast from the past...long lost 8-Track tapes! Anyone remember these things? If you do, you're probably amazed as I am at how far we've come since those days. The glove box in my first car was loaded with these little plastic boxes. Each tape was ready to be plugged into my Panasonic tape deck which dangled precariously underneath the car dashboard. Looking back, the technology was pretty archaic. For example, an extended tune like Billy Joel's, "Scenes from an Italian restaurant" would be interrupted right in the middle of the song as the tape
Ker-plunked over to the next track to continue! Other times, you could hear two songs playing at once. This was usually because the tape head was not lined up perfectly. The fix? Wedge a piece of cardboard under the 8-track to force it to align correctly. This stroll down memory lane probably makes me sound like someone's grandfather. But as the old folks like to say, "That's how it was in the old days!"
Back in the day, I accumulated a pretty good collection of 8-tracks. But as timed moved on, I left 8-tracks behind and transitioned to cassettes, followed by CDs. Nowadays, I have all my music loaded on my Apple iPod. So other then serving as a reminder of my epic teenage years, I had no use for my old 8-track tape collection. Although I have to admit, it wasn't an easy decision for me to sell them. Normally, I am pretty cold and calculating when it comes to selling stuff on eBay. In this case though, I had some emotional attachment to my collection. But I shook off the fond memories and made the hard decision to part with them! The decision was made a little easier knowing that as 8-tracks age, they become brittle and can easily break when they're played. Recognizing this, I knew it was better to make a few bucks by selling the tapes now, before they became completely worthless!
Large lots of 8-tracks can sell for a ton of money on eBay. But value has everything to do with a band's popularity. As an example, just check out this huge
lot of 8-tracks. Nearly $80 dollars for a collection of Kiss, Rolling Stones and other great bands! Not bad, right? Seeing this, I decided to auction off my Beatles collection and go for the big money first. My eBay research reinforced this decision. Out of all the Sixties era bands, Beatles 8-tracks sell for the most mucho dinero! (Elvis and the Rolling Stones come in a close second.) Pulling my dusty collection off a basement shelf, I laid out all the tapes for a photograph, then I posted the Fab Four on an Ebay auction. After seven days, the tapes sold for $43 dollars. Talk about a ticket to ride!
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Elvis, Elton and more! |
After doing so well with the Beatles tapes, I decided to assemble another 8-track lot to sell. Although nothing nearly as great as the Beatles, the lot included many popular Seventies acts like, Elton John, James Taylor and Billy Joel. I also had a few oldies including, Johnny Mathis and the great Eddie Arnold. (My parents loved that guy.) While I knew I wasn't going to make the kind of money the Beatles netted me, the collection still did well, selling for a respectable $23 dollars. Pretty good money for a bunch of tapes that I hadn't played for thirty years!
Between the two auctions, I made $66 big ones! There's still a few more 8-track tapes I have laying around the house. I plan to auction them off on eBay soon. I'll also be looking to score more 8-track collections at the garage sales this season. While 8-tracks may seem as outdated as a polyester leisure suit, they sure can bring in the money!
Ever sell 8-tracks or CDs on eBay? How'd you do? Share your story in the comment section below....
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