As the UK marks Record Store Day, Oxfam says its online vinyl sales have reached a record high, raising nearly £100,000 for its work to save lives and tackle poverty in the world’s poorest countries.
The charity says it has seen a 55 per cent increase in sales for records bought from the Oxfam Online Shop for 2017/18 compared to the previous year, with classic albums being the most popular choice for shoppers. The top five most searched for artists were: The Beatles; Bob Dylan; David Bowie; Pink Floyd; and Elvis.
Whilst online record sales have been booming, Oxfam says its high street shops need more donations to help meet the demand from customers.
Andrew Horton, Oxfam’s Trading Director, said: “We’re really grateful to the public who have kindly donated so much fantastic vinyl and helped us raise so much money for our life-saving work. Ten pounds spent on a record is enough for us to get safe, clean water to a family in a humanitarian emergency.
“But we’re struggling to keep up with the level of demand, and our shops are urgently asking for donations of vinyl so they can keep raising vital funds.”
The Oxfam Online Shop is the UK's biggest charity shop, offering more than 150,000 unique finds, with new products being listed everyday by volunteers. There are 13,000 music products currently listed, including 7,800 records, 4,300 CDs and hundreds of cassettes as well as sheet music and musical instruments.
Last year (2017/18), Oxfam’s network of high street shops sold almost £6.2 million worth of music items which equates to more than 2.8 million CDs, DVDs and records, all kindly donated by the British public.
