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What are the tips and tricks to vinyl shopping?

CT-Seven

By CT-Seven
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CT-Seven

CT-Seven 763

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I did not want to highjack the raided thread so I decided to start my own

 

I am almost ready to embark on the Raiding... So far its been just Goodwill and browsing through Discogs (I have not pulled the trigger because I think I can find them locally) but I found a local record shop.

 

I know what I am looking for but how do I know that the record is in good shape??

 

Can I haggle?

 

What are the tips and tricks to vinyl shopping??

 

Be as crude, cruel and to the point as you can be tale me as an extreme new guy in vinyl (even if I had a small background on the matter)

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Gene C

Gene C 1,745

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If the record is used you will need to pull it out of the jacket for inspection. Haggle? If the record is questionable it will get passed over without a second thought. No point in haggling over warped, scratched or weatherd albums.

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Gene C

Gene C 1,745

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Im currently looking at this lot as three of the four are in my discogs shopping cart

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/141491074565

 

Is the condition good? Since they list it as VG, which I dont know jack about what scale they use
I would go for it. Seller states all 4 LP's are EX OR BETTER. 4 albums for almost $8.00? Nothin to think about there. emwink.gif
 
If you buy used records off of eBay the golden rule is to look at how many records the seller has sold & feedback. There's a few I have saved as my favorite sellers due to the good transactions in the past.
 
Record Gradings.
 
  • Mint (M)   Absolutely perfect in every way. Certainly never been played, possibly even still sealed.(More on still sealed under "Other Considerations"). Should be used sparingly as a grade, If at all.
  • Near Mint (NM or M-)   A nearly perfect record. Many dealers won't give a grade higher than this implying (perhaps correctly)that no record is ever truly perfect.

     

    The record should show no obvious signs of wear. A 45 RPM or EP sleeve should have no more than the most minor defects, such as almost invisible ring wear or other signs of slight handling.

     

    An LP cover should have no creases, folds, seam splits or other noticeable similar defects. No cut-out holes, either. And of course, the same should be true of any other inserts, such as posters, lyric sleeves and the like.

     

    Basically, an LP in near mint condition looks as if you just got it home from a new record store and removed the shrink wrap.

     

    Near Mint is the highest price listed in all Goldmine price guides. Anything that exceeds this grade, in the opinion of both buyer and seller, is worth significantly more than the highest Goldmine book value.

 

Very Good Plus (VG+)   Generally worth 50 percent of the Near Mint value.

 

A Very Good Plus record will show some signs that it was played and otherwise handled by a previous owner who took good care of it.

 

Record surfaces may show some signs of wear and may have slight scuffs or very light scratches that don't affect one's listening experiences. Slight warps that do not affect the sound are "OK".

 

The label may have some ring wear or discoloration, but it should be barely noticeable. The center hole will not have been misshapen by repeated play.

 

Picture sleeves and LP inner sleeves will have some slight wear, lightly turned up corners, or a slight seam split. An LP cover may have slight signs of wear also and may be marred by a cut-out hole, indentation or corner indicating it was taken out of print and sold at a discount.

 

In general, if not for a couple things wrong with it, this would be Near Mint. All but the most mint-crazy collectors will find a Very Good Plus record highly acceptable.

 

Very Good (VG)   Generally worth 25 percent of Near Mint value. Many of the defects found in a VG+ record will be more pronounced in a VG disc. Surface noise will be evident upon playing, especially in soft passages and during a song's intro and fade, but will not overpower the music otherwise. Groove wear will start to be noticeable, as with light scratches (deep enough to feel with a fingernail) that will affect the sound.

 

Labels may be marred by writing, or have tape or stickers (or their residue) attached. The same will be true of picture sleeves or LP covers. However, it will not have all of these problems at the same time, only two or three of them.

 

Goldmine price guides with more than one price will list Very Good as the lowest price. This, not the Near Mint price, should be your guide when determining how much a record is worth, as that is the price a dealer will normally pay you for a Near Mint record.

 

Good (G), Good Plus (G+)   Generally worth 10-15 percent of the Near Mint value. Good does not mean Bad! A record in Good or Good Plus condition can be put onto a turntable and will play through without skipping. But it will have significant surface noise and scratches and visible groove wear (on a styrene record, the groove will be starting to turn white).

 

A cover or sleeve will have seam splits, especially at the bottom or on the spine. Tape, writing, ring wear or other defects will start to overwhelm the object.

 

It is a common item, you'll probably find another copy in better shape eventually. Pass it up. But, if it's something you have been seeking for years, and the price is right, get it...but keep looking to upgrade.

 

Poor (P), Fair (F)   Generally worth 0-5 percent of the Near Mint price. The record is cracked, badly warped, and won't play through without skipping or repeating. The picture sleeve is water damaged, split on all three seams and heavily marred by wear and writing. The LP cover barely keeps the LP inside it. Inner sleeves are fully seam split, crinkled, and written upon.  

  • With Still Sealed (SS) records, let the buyer beware! Unless it'a a U.S. pressing from the last 10-15 years or so. It's too easy to reseal one. Yes, some legitimately never-opened LP's from the 1960's still exist. But if you're looking for a specific pressing, the only way you can know for sure is to open the record.
 
 
 
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BluesMan57

BluesMan57 1,306

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Brian, Your on the right trail look for quality records pass on any that even look worn or scratched. I tend to stay away from the Goodwills and other such places.Records there are usually not of good quality.  Do yourself a favor and get the Vinyl District App for your phone it will lead you to record stores in your area or in the state for that matter.I did a quick search and there are several in the Miami/Ft Lauderdale area,  (http://www.thevinyldistrict.com) . I also search the Ebay and Web for records try ( http://www.ebay.com/usr/siren-disc-music or http://www.soundstagedirect.com/ ) A couple of good places to start.
 
Good luck with the search for new to you vinyl as with the OCCD there is no known cure for this either................ emwink.gif
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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compwaco

compwaco 1,129

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Condition on eBay probably doesn't mean much. Most people really don't know the difference.

Any time you purchase 2 or more try to haggle. Pricing is usually based on single purchases.

Record local/online stores know what stuff is worth so are best for titles you don't think you will find elsewhere.

The best scores I've found come from estate sales.

Goodwill, SA, etc. gets good stuff almost daily. It is picked through by the end of the day.

Like electronics, the more often you stop and look, the more likely you are to find something you like.

Clean vinyl and clean sleeves are not necessarily together, but paying $1 each for 2 to make a good set is cheaper than $10 for both clean in a single purchase.

If you offer $5-$10 for a whole box of records at a yard sale you will probably go home with them.

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Wildcat

Wildcat 3

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Condition on eBay probably doesn't mean much. Most people really don't know the difference.
 
My experience exactly--grading isn't closely adhered to, and many of the other vinyl collectors I know often have issues with eBay vinyl purchases, the most common being a record that is misgraded.  On the flip side, I have found a couple of rarities from my childhood via eBay and, fortunately, they were in acceptable condition (one is, in fact, as flawless as a 1953 10" LP can be, which means it's a bit noisy but it's not scratched at all, and does not sound worn).
 
Discogs has also been hit or miss.  My last order was a good example.  One might have been VG+, but the NM graded LPs were probably VG+ at best.  One I bought was listed in the stereo category but, when it arrived, it was a white label promo...in mono.  Thing is, the LP is rare enough in stereo, and the mono (which was pressed only for radio--this was a 1973 release) even rarer.  So, I'm keeping it.  The other LP is noisy.  Haven't played the third.
 
But Discogs, eBay, GEMM, Musicstack, etc. are only sites that gather up individual sellers.  So I really cannot blame any of them for the quality of the individual sellers.  BUT...a site like Discogs helps in that they are a middleman to the transaction, and help keep things honest.
 
What really galls me with some shops is that they will hit eBay to find out what the "street" price of their used stock is.  Thing is, the clueless hipsters who are buying up vinyl as lifestyle accessories are drying up the supply of good quality vinyl for us legit vinyl collectors, and driving prices up higher than what many LPs are worth.  And the eBay prices are often based nowhere close to the land of reality.  At least in Discogs' favor, they list high, low and median sale prices for all items (across all grades), so it at least puts into perspective what LPs have actually sold for, vs. some inflated price by an eBay hack.
 
I'm a bit fussy about my vinyl, so I tend to look a lot closer to condition.  In one store I frequent, which is dim, I take out my phone with its flashlight and put on my strong reading glasses to examine the vinyl.  It has saved me buying something that was noisy from scratches.  Hidden noise can come from dirt in the vinyl (invest in a Spin Clean at the very least--I've heard they work well), or even a noisy pressing, which no cleaning can help with.
 
To me, the biggest annoyance is worn vinyl.  Many times I've picked up a few records that looked clean, but you can clearly hear "groove burn" by sibilance in the cymbals and vocals, and distortion in the midrange as you track closer to the center of the record.  While I've heard it on records from all eras, it is predominantly worse on LPs from the 50s and 60s, when the tonearms were heavier (tracking force measured in megatons :D ), styli were spherical/conical vs. elliptical or better, and all styli were not diamond--many were sapphire, which wore down faster.  And many back then did not think to change a "needle" unless it quit making sound.  (My point:  finding a clean, un-worn copy of an old 50s Sinatra LP on Capitol is very difficult.)
 
GRADING.  Many (perhaps most?) tend to base their grading on the Goldmine rating system.  Keep this in mind, however: most dealers will do visual grading; far fewer will do play-grading, where they actually sample the record by playing it to give an idea of its condition.  (Play-grading is time consuming.)  Yet by my examples above, you can probably guess that an LP that looks like new, perhaps visually graded a VG+ or NM, may play back noisy and worn, as some dirt and pressing defects are not visible, and records worn with groove burn will not outwardly show that there is anything wrong.
 
Final note, then I'll shut up.  :D  Buying sealed records is a two-edged sword.  Most often, the record you open will be unplayed and pretty much clean.  No wear, no "crud" deposited by a former owner, no scratches from mis-handling.  Yet as another member mentioned above, some dishonest dealers occasionally re-seal records (although these are very few and far between, in my experience).  However, a sealed record can still have flaws.  A bad pressing, warps, a scratch left behind by poor handling in the pressing plant (such as the brand new Chris Bellman cut of Dire Straits' "On Every Street" that was released in the EU earlier this year), you name it.  
 
A year or so ago, I purchased a sealed LP from 1967 or so, which I've been searching for, for well over a decade.  It was exciting to be opening what was a 45+ year old LP.  The innersleeve looked fine.  The LP.  OK!  Side 1 looks good!  Flip it over...Side 1 (!!) looks good!  Yes, they had pressed a Side 1 label on both sides.  Fortunately the stampers were OK, and the record itself has both sides, as designed.  Stuck it on the turntable, and my cartridge is jumping out of the groove.  The vinyl had a nasty pinch warp.  Going back to the LP jacket, I see the problem--the shrink wrap was partly puckered away from the spine, meaning that at some point in its prior 45 years of life, it was stored somewhere that was exposed to high heat, and it warped the vinyl inside.
 
So with sealed, indeed, buyer beware!  Most likely you'll have a genuine prize, but is still that slim chance there may be a hidden defect inside.  And I cannot blame the seller, as they can't know what is inside that sleeve either.  
 
At any rate, enjoy the vinyl shopping!  Despite all the caveats, it is still a great pastime! 
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Chuck

Chuck 74

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Well, I don't know if this is the right way or not but I just look at the LP to see if it has any scratch marks on it and I just turn them down unless they are very light, I have LP's that do have some very light scratches but you can not hear them during playback, these I do not worry over but I have two needles an old one that is still good and ALL used vinyl gets played with it first just to check the true condition of the LP
 
If it sounds ok with the old needle then the next time it is played it will be with the new needle, of course they are always cleaned first before even going near the turntable and if I have one that I like but does not pass the listening test because of a scratch or anything else that is audible then I will send it thru a ADC converter and then clean it up with Audacity and then I will have a good file of it on my hard drive then the LP will find it's way to goodwill or the trash14.gif
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RichP714

RichP714 3,151

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Still need advice on hpw to clean my vinyl
 
I can't tell if you're serious or not, does search not work for you?  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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