Shop Talk: Jackson's death means big bucks for some sellers

YAKIMA, Wash. -- I bought my vinyl copy of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at a used record store for a mere 99 cents a few years ago.

It didn't cost much, but it had high sentimental value for me, mainly for the memories I had of my friends and I having dance parties in college and grooving to songs like "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" "Thriller" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)."

Prior to Michael Jackson's death, Richard Murphy sold just a copy or two of his vinyl records for about $2 or $3 each at his Union Gap shop, "Somewhere in Time: That 70s Shop."

But the day Michael Jackson died, Murphy saw that the same records he once sold for just a few dollars being sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

"If you were there in the first 24 hours and had the right Michael Jackson stuff, you would've made big money," he said.

Murphy got into the act a few days later. The prices dropped dramatically, but he still got $100 for five Michael Jackson records. Not bad for records he would've sold for 10 bucks in his shop.

He's been getting a lot of requests for Michael Jackson records at his shop, but they're all gone. Someone managed to get all of them the day he died.

Murphy said he easily had a whole stock of records earlier, but at the time, it didn't seem like a good idea.

"Michael Jackson was not a huge seller," he said.

That obviously has changed since Jackson died on June 25. It seems that people now can't get enough of all his albums. Michael Jackson or Jackson 5 records have had nine of the top 10 spots Billboard Magazine's Top Pop Catalog chart.

According to the magazine, Jackson's solo albums collectively sold 422,000 during the week ending June 28, compared with just 10,000 the previous week.

More than half of the total came from digital downloads.

Financial documents from March 31, 2007, showed Jackson had a net worth of $236 million, according to The Associated Press.

'They never even hit the floor'

Rich Koch, owner of Off the Record in Yakima, happened to be on the phone with the store supplier when he saw the news that Jackson was in cardiac arrest.

Anticipating a boost in demand if Jackson died, Koch managed to get some product into the store the next day. He got about 30 copies of different Jackson records. He sought more, but they were tough to get, as other stores also were demanding copies.

Off the Record sold out its existing stock -- about two dozen new records along with a bunch of used CDs -- in the hours after his death was announced.

A day later, the store got more records, and those too sold out.

"They never even hit the floor," Koch said. "People were standing in line as we were checking in that morning."

And fans were going for depth -- not only were they buying Jackson's popular solo albums, such as "Thriller," they were also venturing into Jackson 5 albums and even some of Jackson's early solo albums from the 1970s.

"People were buying everything," he said.

Easier to find

Now that it's been nearly two weeks since Jackson's death, it's a little easier to get his records.

Koch has been getting supply daily and has a few albums in stock. Online, Michael Jackson albums still lead the Top Albums and Top Songs chart on iTunes.

And Murphy expects that if he gets more Jackson vinyl records in his shop, he'll be back to selling them for a few dollars.

But hey, there always will be the sentimental value and memories.

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Did you go and buy a Michael Jackson record? Do you think Jackson's music will be more popular after death? Join the discussion over on the Shop Talk blog (www.yakimaherald.com/shoptalk). Or speak your mind over at Shop Talk's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/YHR-Shop-Talk/54463033365) and Twitter page (www.twitter.com/shoptalkexpress).

Until next week, happy shopping.

* Want to reach blogger Mai Hoang? E-mail her at mhoang@yakimaherald.com.