How much is a new vinyl record actually worth?

Vinyl sales in the US enjoyed an incredible 41% increase in the first six months of this year, so why does the industry seem so confused about how much to charge for it?

The standard price for Neil Young's newly released live album, A Treasure, is £34.99. OK, it's double vinyl but the CD version costs less than a third of that price. Meanwhile, fellow heritage act Brian Eno's new Drums Between The Bells double LP costs a relatively meagre £12.99, which is a 30% mark-up on the CD version, rather than 350%.

Bon Iver's high praised new album will cost you £13.99 on vinyl but the equally lauded Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues is priced at £19.99. The Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Pt.2 comes in at £17.99, which presumably gives you enough change for your busfare home - exactly the same at Tyler The Creator's Goblin, except that's a double LP.

TV On The Radio's Nine Types Of Light is a budget-friendly £7.99 but Josh T Pearson's Last Of The Country Gentlemen is an eye-watering £25.99, so clearly chivalry doesn't come cheap nowadays.

There's no logic to the pricing on reissues either - fancy a 180g re-press of Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction? That'll be £28.99, please (which rather belies the album title, in my opinion). If that's a little steep, then most of the White Stripes back catalogue is available at £7.99 (first two albums) or £9.99 (Elephant, Icky Thump). But just to add to the confusion, White Blood Cells will set you back £29.99.

My copy of Sonic Youth's Master=Dik EP from 1987 has 'Pay no more than £2.15' stamped on it but a 180g re-press of Sister or Bad Moon Rising will nowadays set you back a rather less fan-friendly £34.99.

Then there are the second-hand record shop staples where we'll apparently be willing to fork out a small fortune for a pristine re-press - try the Grateful Dead's Shakedown Street at £30.99, otherwise easily available in used condition for under a tenner (I saw one priced at £3.99 only last week). On the other hand, The Fall's New Real Fall LP has been reissued at £9.99 when original versions having been selling second hand for at least double that on the rare occasions when they've come up on eBay.

Some labels seem to be getting smart to the idea that if you still want people to buy your product rather than downloading it for free, then selling a smartly priced aesthetically pleasing vinyl version with a card inside giving you an access code for the MP3s is a smart way to go.

Other companies seem to have the view that vinyl is bought by middle-aged blokes trying to recapture their youth, so you can charge a premium - which is exactly the sort of short-term thinking that has got the industry in such a mess in the first place. At £25.99 for Black Lips' Arabia Mountain, I'd want a insert promising they'd come round and perform the whole thing in my lounge.

Five years ago, the idea that vinyl could be an important element in keeping the record industry afloat would have seemed laughable but perhaps those latest sales figures will kick start a few boardroom discussions.