Sold Date: April 2, 2021
Start Date: April 1, 2021
Final Price: $15.50 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 4626
Buyer Feedback: 80

Greetings everyone, and welcome to another of my ebay record listings. Glad to have you here, and I hope you will enjoy your stay and perhaps like what you see, perhaps enough to have a desire to have it for your own! Hard to believe I’ve been doing this for just about 10 years now-I know my older listings say 8, but yep, I got started about 10 years ago now, and just don’t feel like giving up. So, thanks to all my previous customers, your business is always appreciated, and I do appreciate your taking a look at what I have for you. Now, on with the show. 

NOTE!-All records I list on ebay are all play-graded so I can give an accurate description, or at least let you know that yes, I have listened to them. All 78s are played on my late 1960s GE Wildcat portable record player. This table has a good history of being able to play 78s in rough shape, but in doing so-my results might be a bit better than those who use turntables that are of higher quality, so, in other words-your mileage may vary.

This time up, I have a 1923 12" 78rpm release on the Vocalion record label, label #70006, by Armand Tokatyan. This is the single of "Cielo E Mar" b/w "Tarantella Sincera". I figured I'd give myself a break and see if any the 12" 78s I got from the same collection. Since I don't see 12" Vocalions very often, especially not the non-black shellac ones I kind of went random in an album book and this popped up. This is pretty neat as one side, "Cielo E Mar" is from the opera "La Giaconda". I'm pretty sure I've heard it before, thanks to my late Mother, who loved opera. But Armand here has a nice strong voice, but he's got a certain gentleness to his singing which I really did like. He's not going for the full tilt "I'm going to blow you away with the sound emanating from within!". No, he actually sounds human, and sounds really good about it. The other neat thing about this is that "Tarantella Sincera" isn't even from an opera. And it has some percussion that sounds like woodblocks. Odd for this style, but really it's an enjoyable disc, and you don't have to be an opera fan to enjoy it! The playing surface is in great shape, only a few very light needle marks and it could stand a bit of cleaning. Both sides played through for me without any problem for the needle, and I heard no background noise either. So this very easily gets my E+ grading. That’s my grading though, and my grading is considered non-standard. If you are considering placing a bid, please read the paragraph that follows this one, as it will show you the gradings and their respective descriptions. It won’t take long to read, please do.  The labels have some creasing/wrinkling on one side, but that's pretty much it for wear, the text is still clean, clear and not at all difficult to read (although some of it is really tiny. If you need more pictures or description, I can and will be happy to provide. If you have any comments or questions, please send them to me, and I will reply as soon as possible.

My Grading is as follows: M (Mint)-ONLY for Still Factory Sealed Records ONLY! No 45 nor 78 will ever get this grading. E+, minimal wear, perhaps only needs cleaning. E, a few light marks, maybe some minor background crackle and/or hiss. E-, light marks, crackling (nothing major), scuffs, etc.. Not great, but still quite playable. V+, More marks, scuffs, needle marks, scratches-but nothing that would make the needle skip. Will have background noise that even with a cleaning will still be around. V. Worn. Scuffs, scratches, can be noisy, but still (probably) won’t cause the needle to skip nor get stuck. V-, Noisy? You bet! Worn? Oh yeah. Playable? Sure, but don’t expect it to sound all peachy keen. P. Bleah! Playable perhaps, but do so at your own risk. Don’t trash a new needle on it. Only used on records considered rare enough for “fill in” purposes to a collector-or to those who do digital restoration. 

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IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NON-U.S. BUYERS!!!!
All items I sell will be sent with postage printed up from eBay. This way, the prices are automatically listed for customs purposes and cannot be altered. Yes, this does mean that the customs people will know the value, but since I get a bit of a price break on postage, I can keep the prices low for you-the buyer.  I will not "mark item as a gift", just so you can evade import rules.  The people at my post office know me, and they will check overseas packages for inspection.  I hope you will understand my position about this, my apologies if you are not able to comply.

Also, international bidders, the price listed for postage on my listings are for domestic mailing.  I wish I could send overseas for that price, but reality speaks different.  I place a fair price on all international postage.  Watch for the invoice if you win.

ALSO-I need to let international bidders know of a certain problem that doesn't always happen, but will arise from time to time.  All International mail sent from this region has to go through the U.S. Postal Service sorting center in Sandston Virginia, by our local airport.  This sorting center has been named the least efficient sorting center in the entire U.S. Postal Service.  They prove this from time to time by mis-routing packages.  If this happens-and I will monitor the delivery-usually it will add at least an extra week for it to arrive.  If there are any problems, please contact me first, and I will do what I must to make sure you are satisfied with the order.
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All items that are sent to a U.S. address will have delivery confirmation (at my cost) attached, as I have found that it helps...a lot!....to ensure that packages are truly en route to the customer.  This is for both of our sakes.  I will be using USPS "Media Mail" as my primary shipping method, however, if needed, and for an extra charge, I can ship with "Priority Mail", and if i can get away with it for the price, I really like 1st Class, but that's weight-dependent.

Oh yes, if you are the winning bidder, and you are in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I'm afraid you are going to have to fork over the 5.3% Virginia State Sales Tax.

Paypal is my preferred method of payment, if you need another way, please contact me before bidding.  Or, if you have any other questions about this listing, or any of my listings, please feel free to contact me.  I will answer any & all questions as quickly and concisely as possible.

Also, I do have other listings available as well, and if you would be interested in more than one item, I have no problem with holding onto wins in case you would like to combine wins to save some money instead of multiple p&h costs.

Ebay has mandated that I include a "handling time" something I had thought was already included.  I usually get records mailed out the day after payment arrives.  But I will let you know that if any listing that is paid for after Friday mornings will have to wait until the following Monday, since I do the majority of packing at work-I have my packing stuff there.  Plus-I won't hound you for payment. As long as people stay in touch, and let me know the interest is still there, don't rush on my account. I don't mind waiting a bit and usually won't send any kind of reminders until after a week-at least-has gone by.  In this economy, the last thing anyone needs is for a seller to come off like a bill collector.  I'll work with you!

Folks, I have lots of records for sale/auction here on ebay, but I also have another outlet that I use as well, where items I haven’t listed elsewhere, and occasionally things that have been listed (but not anymore) here as well. I work for a record store as you may already know, and my boss has been putting out one of the largest, if not the oldest record auction in the Mid-Atlantic area. If you look online for RecordSmith auctions in Richmond, VA, you can easily find the site. If not, or if you’d like any information, you can always contact me through the ebay message system, and I will be glad to get that information for you. Hey, I love my boss, and love working there. So I don’t mind doing some “shilling” for him, and I’m certain he (and I!) would enjoy your participation and business!

I hope that there's someone out there who might like to make this part of your own collection, since that's what I'm here for!  I do appreciate that you did click on my listing and had a chance to check out the goods, thanks again for stopping by!