'Cos he knows it's all worth loads...
Not sure I agree with RC's valuation...actually, I am sure, I don't agree. I'm not going to have yet another rant about this, but surely the only way to gauge the current value of a record is to study the recent sales history.
The only UK copies of Starman to go for that much have been demos with a picture sleeve. But even then a UK demo with a M- picture sleeve fetched only £51 just over a year ago.
Generally you're unlikely to have to pay much more than fifty to sixty quid for a decent copy and you can pick up a demo without a picture sleeve relatively cheaply too.
I think the £30 dealer offer for a copy with a torn sleeve was more than fair considering he has to try and make a profit too. Having said that, there are copies of Starman worth considerably more than £100.
In 2008, a copy of the Angolan picture sleeve, above left, fetched a remarkable £1,750, while in the same year a UK white label promo copy, above right, went for a not too shabby £733!