The Most Expensive Record Store Day Releases of All Time

Record Store Day 2020 is just around the corner, so we’re taking the time to look at the RSDs of days past. The limited-edition nature of this annual event — broken up into three different drops for this year — creates an aftermarket of seismic proportions. The following ranking explores the most expensive Record Store Day releases of all time (or at least, since 2008 when RSD began).

This list is determined by the median sale value on Discogs. This means that you might find a copy for more — or less! — in the Marketplace. If you do spot one with a higher price tag, that could be an indication that the album will appreciate in value.

Obviously, the popularity of the album or artist will cause the resale value to increase. Usually, the original price tags are on par for the format or number of releases, but the latter is what tends to influence price over time.

For example, take a closer look at that album sitting at No. 1. There are supposed to be six copies in existence, only four of which have been claimed. The Boards of Canada 12-inch was dropped on RSD 2013 purely as a promotional stunt. The actual record contains mostly dead space, a really short clip of music, and someone reading the numbers “936557” aloud. Is it the most rapturous song to come from the electronic duo? Not by a long shot. But its scarcity has ensured a top spot in this ranking (and the band eventually released a full-length later that year).

Another example is The Shuttered Room movie soundtrack, which was first developed in 1967 (the film is also known as Blood Island). Apparently, there are only 29 copies in existence and a test pressing was raffled off by Trunk Records.

Most of the other expensive RSD releases don’t even come close to breaking the $1,000 mark, but the median sale values are still impressive. These weighty price tags are the cause of many collectors’ ire towards Record Store Day, which was created as a celebration of the vinyl community but has spawned a resale market that emphasizes exclusivity over quality.

That being said, Discogs sees some big-ticket items with big-ticket price tags roll through the Marketplace every month (nine “normal” albums sold for more than the most expensive RSD release in June 2020 alone).

We expect this ranking to change as newer releases begin circulating more or interest in the items waxes and wanes. For comparison, that Boards of Canda 12-inch was still No. 1 in 2019, but we saw quite a few RSD albums go up in price in just one year. Additionally, you won’t see some of the records from the 2019 list make it the 2020 ranking.

The following list includes box sets as well as RSD Black Friday drops. We’ve rounded every median sale price up to the nearest dollar amount. If you see an exceptionally pricey RSD release missing below, let us know in the comments! We love learning more about the info floating around in the Database.

And if you’re looking for more information about Record Store Day 2020, you can track all of our coverage and the releases on Discogs here.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect a change in price for the Dave Matthews Band item, therefore a change in the ranking. We added a note to the Frank Ocean release.

Interested in seeing more articles like this one?

Don’t miss a beat!

Subscribe to Discogs Newsletters for music news, contests, exclusive vinyl & more.

Want to join the Discogs community of music lovers?

Sign up for an account.

––––