Most collection trackers are a list. This one does the arithmetic collectors actually argue about.
Grade the record and the sleeve separately, type in what a near-mint copy is worth to you, and the workbook works out what your copy is worth in the condition it is actually in. A Very Good record in a Very Good Plus sleeve is not worth near-mint money — this is the file that says so, and says by how much.
Two grades in, a real value out
The Collection tab takes the two condition grades every collector already gives a record and turns them into a number. A grade factor looks up an editable multiplier for the media and another for the sleeve, applies both to your own near-mint reference figure, and hands you an estimated value and a gain or loss against what you actually paid.
It is the difference between a shelf valued at near-mint prices and a shelf valued honestly. A record you would pay $80 for in near-mint condition, in Very Good media and a Very Good Plus sleeve, comes out at $18.00 — not $80. Across a collection of play-graded copies, that gap is enormous.
Every column a collector actually uses is there: catalog number, label, year, pressing (first press, early repress, reissue, audiophile), variant (colored, splatter, picture disc, half-speed master, numbered), genre, where it lives on the shelf, and where you bought it.
A verdict before you reach for your wallet
The Wantlist is built to be used standing up in a shop.
Set two numbers at home, in a calm moment: what a near-mint copy is worth to you, and the most you will pay. Then, when a copy turns up, type the grade it is in and what they are asking. The workbook prices that exact copy at that exact grade and gives you a verdict — Under your fair value, Near your fair value, Above your fair value, or Over your ceiling, which is checked first because a price you have already ruled out is settled whatever the grade math says.
And before any of that, the Own It? column checks the record against your collection — catalog number first, then artist, title and format — so “you own it on another format” turns up before the money leaves your hand, not after.
What your listening is actually costing you
Log what you put on. Sides are enough; the workbook turns them into minutes, looks up the artist and title from the catalog number, and rolls the result back onto the Collection tab as plays, cost per play, last played, and a rotation flag — In rotation, Occasional, Shelf sitter, or Never played.
Cost per play is the most cheerful number in the file. The expensive record you play constantly quietly becomes one of the best-value things you own; the bargain you have never put on stays a bargain you have never put on.
The same log feeds Gear and Care, which accumulates stylus hours per deck since the day you fitted it, adds the hours that were already on it, and flags Fresh, Half its rating, Replace soon or Past its rating against the rating you type in for your own cartridge. A worn stylus is a record problem, not just a gear problem — and this is how you see it coming.
The grading scale, in plain language
The Grading Guide tab writes out all eight condition grades in the words you would use with the record in your hands, not a table of letters. It also covers how to grade a record yourself, how to read a grade on someone else’s listing, and what the runout groove, the catalog number and the label design tell you about which pressing you are holding.
Every multiplier on that tab is an ordinary cell you can edit. Collect somewhere that prices condition differently — sealed stock, picture discs, 45s where the sleeve carries most of the value — and you change the numbers. Every value on every tab recalculates.
Works where you work
One workbook, three apps. It opens natively in Excel, in Google Sheets, and in LibreOffice Calc. Prefer Sheets? Your download includes a one-click “Make a copy” link to a ready-made native Google Sheets version, with every dropdown, color and live count already working. No importing, nothing to fix afterward.
Own it, don’t rent it
No account, no subscription, no monthly fee, no app deciding what to show you. It is a file you own — on your own computer or in your own Drive — that will still open in ten years. A cataloging app charges you every month for a list you typed in yourself, and takes your catalog with it when it shuts down.
Try it first
Want to see how it feels before you buy? The free vinyl collection starter is a one-tab taste of the full workbook — a row per record, a have/want flag, and three counts that keep themselves current. No email, no signup. And if you collect more than records, the rest of the Trackers line catalogs the other things you love the same way.
An honest note on value
This workbook does arithmetic on numbers you give it. It does not look up, fetch, or estimate what anything is worth — there is no price data inside it and no connection to any price guide. It is not an appraisal, a price guide, or investment advice.
The condition scale follows the convention record collectors have used for decades, and that Goldmine’s grading standard made the common language of the hobby. The sleeve multipliers, and the sealed and mint premiums, are this workbook’s own starting point rather than part of that convention — and all of them are cells you can change.
The example collection built in is fictional: every artist, album title, record label and catalog number is invented to show the math working, and the labels are invented too, so the catalog numbers cannot be mistaken for real ones.
