What should I know about buying vinyl online?

[xs650shawn]

Not new to listening to vinyl, but I am new to actually buying it. Not many record stores close to me anymore, so only place to buy vinyl records and actually see them prior to buying is the thrift stores. Just bought two from Amazon, Deftones "Covers" (vinyl only, 3000 pressings total apparently), and Mad Season "Above" (2013 reissue). I started to think, what to look for when buying? I noticed wide variation in price for older albums- Zeppelin, Floyd, etc. I am not so much a stickler for original editions, the music is the real prize for me. But if I find a deal on an original, I will jump on it; but I tend to be rather cheap. Question for me is this: I know seller ratings are important on venues like ebay or Amazon, but how much clout should I give terms like "180 gram pressing" or "remastered", and how what variables affect the sound quality of the vinyl itself, say, buying a new pressing over an original. Not taking into account the equipment playing it. Buying CD's was so much easier!

 

[Jadran]

I buy from reputable sellers, mostly from Japan, and almost all are originals from the 70's, 80's. If NM or EX it's good enough for me. Authentic old pressing simply sounds better to me, and don't really care about 180g or such marketing tricks nowadays

 

[DougMac]

I don't buy much online, but I have had some success buying used on ebay. I guess my success stems from not buying expensive, collectable albums but records I wanted to enjoy.

I look at the feedback and read the comments. I also look at the volume of sales by the vendor. If they have a high rating, have sold a lot and use standard grading using play grading I'll take a chance an buy. I've yet to be disappointed. More often than not, I find the vendor grades conservatively.

I've found the market is changing. I did some thrift shop and flea market browsing on a recent business trip. Prices are going up. Forget buying classic rock. When you can find it, it's very expensive. Gone are the days when I could pick up mint "Wish You Were Here" at the thrift for 50 cents.

 

[qpagoda]

Purchasing new on line from a reputable dealer shouldn't be a problem. I only have one album purchased that way, so very limited experience.

Purchasing used on line is a crap shoot. I have 14 albums purchased that way. Six of those were in good shape. The other eight ranged from disappointing to trashed. I don't buy used on line anymore.

 

[AvFan]

I look at the feedback and read the comments. I also look at the volume of sales by the vendor. If they have a high rating, have sold a lot and use standard grading using play grading I'll take a chance an buy. I've yet to be disappointed. More often than not, I find the vendor grades conservatively.

I don't purchase off ebay all that often but when I do this is my experience as well. I do purchase new albums from MFSL on occasion and all have been wonderful.

 

[Ambien Gnome]

I am not so much a stickler for original editions, the music is the real prize for me.

That's why you should be a stickler for originals!
(otherwise, just listen to cds, they have the music too).
Plus, it's more fun.

When buying from ebay, expect a grade less and you should be happy at first.
(if bidding on an EX record, expect VG+, etc.)

And huge record sellers on ebay sometimes don't grade accurately.
(and usually they sell the most expensive records).

Feel it out, and have fun.

 

[stereofanboy]

Remastered records are a crapshoot. Sometimes it's an improvement over the original and sometimes it's the opposite.

180 gram and heavier records are available from a variety of sources local to me, including Target, a couple of stores in the mall (one of which is a clothing store), some bookstores, and at the two or three used record stores. Don't limit your search to record stores and you may have some luck. Buy one or two locally and see for yourself if you feel they are worth it. They do have a nice substantial feel to them, but the really thick ones can alter tonearm geometry.

When buying used online, start with cheap ones and get a feel for particular sellers grading before moving up to anything expensive. If you can find two or three sellers whose definition of NM is consistent, stick with them.

 

[El Pee]

Join AK and try bartertown...

 

[rolltide]

Not new to listening to vinyl, but I am new to actually buying it. Not many record stores close to me anymore, so only place to buy vinyl records and actually see them prior to buying is the thrift stores. Just bought two from Amazon, Deftones "Covers" (vinyl only, 3000 pressings total apparently), and Mad Season "Above" (2013 reissue). I started to think, what to look for when buying? I noticed wide variation in price for older albums- Zeppelin, Floyd, etc. I am not so much a stickler for original editions, the music is the real prize for me. But if I find a deal on an original, I will jump on it; but I tend to be rather cheap. Question for me is this: I know seller ratings are important on venues like ebay or Amazon, but how much clout should I give terms like "180 gram pressing" or "remastered", and how what variables affect the sound quality of the vinyl itself, say, buying a new pressing over an original. Not taking into account the equipment playing it. Buying CD's was so much easier!

www.discogs.com is a good site to check out as well, for every existing record you might be looking for you can find a seller. Great for fairly contemporary music that isn't exactly "rare", but hasn't had further pressings, etc.

Like others have said, 180 gram and remastered aren't really important. I often find $2 albums that fetch $30+ for the 180 gram reissue, and after a good cleaning they sound perfect. Feels good taking that reissue off my Amazon wish lis in those cases.

That being said, I've reached a point where I'm not longer in any way dogmatic about these things. Music, all music, sounds better to me on vinyl then CD, which includes records pressed from digital sources. Essentially that advice translates to "buy the reissue Pink Floyd albums first, then casually look for originals at a good price".

 

[Raynie]

If you have to buy on ebay, message the seller to tell him you're only paying standard shipping rates by weight, i.e., $2.73 for first pound and .45 for each additional pound. Most (99%) sellers on ebay will otherwise rip you off on shipping surcharges.

 

[stereofanboy]

If you have to buy on ebay, message the seller to tell him you're only paying standard shipping rates by weight, i.e., $2.73 for first pound and .45 for each additional pound. Most (99%) sellers on ebay will otherwise rip you off on shipping surcharges.

They may tell you to drop dead. The last five or six times I shipped a record, I paid $3.88 at the Post Office (these all went out west). That included tracking on Media Mail. The inner and outer sleeves along with the record mailer cost me at least a dollar, so I lost 88 cents on shipping with each one.

If you want your records shipped in an old pizza box, with no packing or stiffeners, by all means insist on paying only $2.73.

I don't consider the tracking to be optional because without it, the seller has no proof that he shipped the item.

 

[Raynie]

I ship records in double corrugated boxes I make for free which are 2-3x stronger than prefab ones; some cost me $2.73, some $3.18.

I charge $3 combined shipping for all records, no matter how many are bought. I take a tiny loss on the sale of some records (avg. $.30 per) for combined shipping. Sellers think people don't make the distinction, but I know I sell a lot more records simply because of my shipping policy.

Media mail is flat rate. It's cheaper to ship through paypal, and you don't have to wait in any lines, and tracking is included in the price. If I had to ship manually, I'd give up selling.

 

[parman]

I've had trouble buying used records online because the seller claims they're M/NM or EX but they aren't that good, maybe not all scratched up but not like new. If I'm buying used I like to see them first.

 

[Jadran]

If you have to buy on ebay, message the seller to tell him you're only paying standard shipping rates by weight, i.e., $2.73 for first pound and .45 for each additional pound. Most (99%) sellers on ebay will otherwise rip you off on shipping surcharges.

Don't tell?
Shipping a pack of 1-3LPs from US or Japan to Europe costs a fortune, even airmail standard international. While priority is ridiculously expensive.
Well no many options, this or digital sharing :grumpy:

 

[boreas]

It's only recently that I've begun to buy on line in any serious fashion. Local thrift stores have only garbage any more and my one and only local record store closed its doors a couple of months ago. So far I've bought probably around 20 - 25 LPs online. I've bought on eBay, Amazon (not from Amazon) and Discogs and am entirely satisfied so far.

Like others, I study the seller's feedback and grading methods before buying. I also avoid the sellers who seem not to specialize in vinyl. If their eBay Store is full of car parts and Beanie Babies I look for another seller.

So far I've been pleased. I've received two records that were bad. One had a BIG shallow scratch all the way across it* ("NM") and the other was crushed by the USPS. I received a full refund on both, no questions asked and no need to return the record for inspection. (I sent jpgs.)

John

*The scratch turned out to be inaudible.

 

[NJguy]

I've found the market is changing. I did some thrift shop and flea market browsing on a recent business trip. Prices are going up. Forget buying classic rock. When you can find it, it's very expensive. Gone are the days when I could pick up mint "Wish You Were Here" at the thrift for 50 cents.

I dont think you should generalize as my post from exactly 1 week ago shows that is not true. I picked up over 200 perfect rock and punk lps at a goodwill at less than 1 buck each

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=556355

As far as buying records i prefer to find them in person at garage sales estate sales goodwills or stores than order online. Ordering online takes out all the fun of the hunt which to me. Is a big part of it.

 

[DarkAudit]

As far as buying records i prefer to find them in person at garage sales estate sales goodwills or stores than order online. Ordering online takes out all the fun of the hunt which to me. Is a big part of it.

This this thisity this.

If I hadn't made the long distance runs to Pittsburgh or Grafton, I wouldn't have struck gold (to me/family) like I have recently. More than a few I didn't know I wanted until I saw them in the crates.

 

[Brett a]

The OP said he likes cheap. Me too. And I've found buying online and cheap don't go together. Seems even cheap lps are going to set a person back $10 by the time they arrive. And at ten bucks per, a lot of the fun goes ou of it. For me, that's a price point reserved for something I know I'm really goiny to like-alot.

But there are still plenty of places in my real life that are full of $1 to $5 records. I should count those blessings b/c what has happened for the OP could happen here perhaps (stores disappearing).

Oh...one more thing. I've found online statements of grade to be very unreliable. But IME, a third of the time, the LPs show up in much better condition than I was expecting. I mean; who would list a clean, quiet, shiny lp as VG plus? Apparently some folks do.

 

[winters860]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that summer is a difficult season for shipping vinyl because heat can and does warp records.

I generally put a moratorium on buying vinyl by mail between May and September.

 

[michaelj12]

Agree with Rolltide: discogs.com is a great place to start looking. Plenty of cheap vinyl still available out there. I would avoid record club knock-offs (Columbia House, etc.) because they are definitely lower fidelity than original. There has been much written about these records, but the bottom line is they aren't as good as the originals. Avoid them.