Who says musicians don’t make the same sort of money as they used to, that the Internet is destroying artists’ bank accounts.

On Sunday it was reported that a pressing of the Velvet Underground’s first album, “The Velvet Underground and Nico” sold on eBay for $155,401.

That’s right. The album that was rejected by Columbia Records more than 40 years ago because it lacked commercial appeal had a final bid on the online auction site of more than 10,000 times what the compact discs cost in most stores. To be fair, Columbia was right. The album wasn’t a commercial success when it was released, and has only grown into a seminal record over the slow pace of four decades.

But why was this specific album such an eBay cash cow?

Because the album wasn’t actually the first Velvets’ record at all. Well, actually, it was the first Velvets’ record – and that’s why it was so rare.

The album was an in-studio acetate made in April 1966, during the first four days the band was in a New York studio. In fact, it is one of only two known copies of the rare vinyl pressing. The song order is unique. The mixes are unique. And the questions surrounding the winning bidder are unique.

Who the hell is “mechdaddy”? Whoever he or she is, the person paid a heck of a lot of money for the rarest of material from one of the most influential rock’n’roll acts to come out of the Big Apple. This “mechdaddy” – that is the user’s official eBay handle – has not been able to be reached nor made any comments about the auction publically.

It’s probably a good thing. Just imagine how enormously foolish he or she would look if it came out that the bid was, say, $145K too high. Or worse yet, that this is a phony pressing.

As it stands, though, the seller of the record verifies its authenticity. Warren Hill, a collector from Canada, stumbled across the vinyl while at a flea market in 2002.

Upon returning home after buying the record, Hill put on his purchase with friend Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records in Portland, Ore. Yet, the opening track was not “Sunday Morning,” as it has been since the album’s official release. It was “European Son” – typically the last song on the album – and it was a version that neither of the two music buffs had heard before.

At this point the men could have just packed up the find and shelved it, writing it off as some cheap rip-off. But they were too smart for that, they’re collectors after all. So they photographed the album, backed up the music with a digital copy and waited to see what happened.

On Nov. 28 of this year, the two put the rarity up for auction on eBay. Good thinking. Why have a collectors’ item if you can’t turn a profit? It’s like being the world’s most famous Eskimo – if nobody knows, what’s the point.

The first bid raised the price $20,000. And the rest has been history.

Well, not everything. No word if the flea market seller has had a nervous breakdown or tried to commit suicide; after realizing a record that was priced for nothing more than some loose change could have made a small fortune. Certainly that $155K would have kept him or her off the flea market circuit for a while.

This is why scouring flea markets and garage sales isn’t as pathetic as it seems.

A few years ago Jimmy Eat World drummer Zach Lind lost a box of home video footage while he was moving into a new house. The box contained hours of material shot on his personal camera of the band’s rise-to-stardom tour following “Bleed American.” He sent out a cry for help via the band’s Web site, urging fans to keep their eyes open at yard sales in the area.

It seemed like a funny move then, until a few years later when a suitcase full of original U2 lyrics was uncovered at an estate sale. Bono said he lost the pages sometime prior to recording 1983’s “October” and was forced to rewrite and make up many of the lyrics that ended up on the final version.

It was a similar situation to when an unknowing patron sold a suitcase full of Mal Evans’ –The Beatles’ roadie and confidant – personal tour artifacts at a garage sale.

But these items – like the Velvet Underground record – are rarities for a reason… they are rare. And even more rare, is the chance of finding them dirt-cheap at a rummage sale.

Even if you do get up at 7 a.m. each Friday, Saturday and Sunday to start garage sale hopping, or clip classified ads about estate sales, and visit every flea market in a five-county radius. You’re better off just hoping to get lucky, not forcing luck’s hand.

Daily Herald’s BEEP, Dec. 14, 2006