Record collection sells for $3 million

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pittsburgh-area man says he can now retire because someone bought his massive record collection on eBay for the asking price — $3 million.

A buyer from Ireland agreed to shell out $3,002,150 for the collection of close to 3 million vinyl albums, singles and CDs, owner Paul Mawhinney said Thursday. The winning bidder has already deposited $300,000, and the bank has confirmed that he has enough money to buy the collection, Mawhinney said.

The price tag is one of the highest recorded on eBay, company spokeswoman Karen Bard said. A Gulfstream II jet once sold for $4.9 million, she said.

On Thursday, Mawhinney, 68, closed Record Rama, which opened in Ross Township in 1968. He said he now wants to spend time with his wife, three children and five grandchildren.

“I am legally blind. I had a couple of strokes a few years ago ... and it’s time at my age to think about doing something else with my life,” he said.

The collection includes more than 1 million albums, 1.5 million singles and 300,000 CDs, Mawhinney said. He said he wanted to sell it as a whole so it would be preserved for future generations.

“These kids today are playing MP3s and iPods and they don’t even know what good music is,” Mawhinney said. “One of these days they are going to realize what they missed and there it is going to be — the Record Rama Sound Archive.”