Vinyl Exam

Places to buy Vinyl

Online

EBAY is probably one of your best bets when you first start looking to buy vinyl. If you ae not looking for something that is really rare, you can usually get what you are looking for a buck or two.

The thing you want to do is check the other auctions for that seller. Sellers usually sell lots of small lots of albums, and every one i have dealt with will combine shipping. This will really help you out in the long run, as many folks charge more than the going rate for shipping (sometimes as high as $7 an order while the shipment really costs about a buck and a half.) if you pick an active seller, you can usually end up with a ton of good vinyl while keeping your shipping costs way low.

When you search ebay, make sure you look at the bottom of the search page where they put hits to the ebay stores. Ebay stores are places where people can put HUGE volumes of stuff for sale. They are usually not auctions, but “Buy it Now” listings, and the prices are usually VERY cheap. They will always (in my experience) combine shipping. The only thing you have to worry about here is self control.

In Real Life

The best thing to do is search your local papers for flea markets and swap meets. I am sure you will find a TON of them on the weekends. Then, spend a few hours on a weekend and hit a few. You will quickly learn which are good, an which are best to aviod.

Here are some we’ve tried:

OHIO

• Jamie’s Flea Market - I have only been there once. I went on the very first nice day of spring this year, and there were vendors galore. There were no vendors dealing only in vinyl, but a ton of vendors had a box or two. Check with the guy who sells Magic and Pokemon cards. He has a ton of 80’s albums that are in primo condition. The going rate is a buck apiece, although i did find a guy selling for fifty cents each. Everything I bought was in perfectly listenable condition.

Caveats when Buying Vinyl

There are some things to watch when picking up vinyl in the wild.

• If you are buying online, especially from ebay, and you found a seller with multiple lots that you would like to bid on, you really want to make sure that you ask the seller if they will combine lots. If, in the off chance they won’t, you could rack up a serious shipping bill. It’s free to ask first.
• When bidding on vinyl online, keep in mind that vinyl grading is iffy at best. The sellers who specialize in selling vinyl will give you a blurb on how they grade vinyl, but like I said, you are really on your own when it comes to making a purchase.
• I have found that when you are buying vinyl in real life, as long as you have a good cleaning system (SEE Products), you can be pretty safe when buying vinyl that is in a hideous state of care. Sure, they won’t sound mint, but they will sound very much acceptable. Just make sure there are no obvious smashes, trashes or slashes on them, and you should be fine.