Rare Suburban Reptiles vinyl sells for more than $1100 on Trade Me, hits all-time record

A record from punk band The Suburban Reptiles sold for $1180 over the weekend. Photo / Paul Hartigan

A rare, New Zealand-pressed vinyl record released in 1978 has sold on Trade Me for more than $1000 - smashing an all-time record.

The Suburban Reptiles' Saturday Night Stay at Home 45rpm received nine bids on the New Zealand auction site on Sunday and sold for $1180.

The Trade Me listing described the product as a "very rare original NZ pressing 6036 924, released in 1978" and that a student radio survey had rated the record as "the best NZ single of all time" in 2000.

New Zealand punk band the Suburban Reptiles never released an album, making the record "one of only a couple of recordings they released", they were one of the first two punk bands to form in New Zealand.

Trade Me spokeswoman Millie Silvester said classic New Zealand vinyl records were rare and often came with a hefty price tag.

"This is the most we've seen a New Zealand vinyl record sell for in recent memory and it's great to see the love for New Zealand music is still alive," Silvester said.

"This listing in particular was from one of the first NZ punk bands and it was very popular, fetching $1180 after a bidding war between two keen members."

Vinyl records were "hugely popular" on Trade Me, Silvester said, receiving approximately 35,000 searches on its site per month.

The vinyl, which sold for $1180, was the most a record had sold for in recent memory, Trade Me said.

"Since 2012, there has been a vinyl revival and we've seen a huge increase in the number of searches and sales of vinyl records on-site," she said. "Between 2012 and 2017 we've seen a 69 per cent jump in the number of vinyl records sold on-site. Between 2016 and 2017 alone there was a 15 per cent jump in sales."

There are currently 38,232 listings for vinyl records on Trade Me.

A Suburban Reptiles vinyl sold for $1180 on Trade Me over the weekend.

"Vinyl seems to be part of a revival, and love, of more tactile and analogue ways to enjoy our spare time. We've seen the same move back towards books when many people thought they were on the way out."