GoodSound! Research Project:
How to Buy Used Vinyl
 I love LPs. I love
everything about them -- from the first time I pick one up to flipping the cover around in
my hands to opening it up to pulling the record from the sleeve to examining the playing
surface. Then, of course, there’s the sound! It all excites me in ways that no
digital product has ever come close to equaling. But with the prices of vinyl --
especially good, high-quality reissues -- climbing past $30 or more per disc, I’m
unable to indulge myself anywhere near as much as I did in my teens, when, for that same
triple sawbuck, I could go home with an entire collection of new records. And if I bought
used, as I often did even back then, I could double or triple my take. Those were golden
days.
Because buying new LPs is now so expensive, the used market
has exploded. Log on to eBay, poke around a bit, and it won’t be long before
you’ve found thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of LPs for sale in all shapes
and conditions and prices. Even the used market is getting to the point where, unless your
last name is Trump or you own an oilfield in the Middle East, you’ll gulp when you
see what some original pressings sell for.
How to avoid buying trashed originals or worthless reissues
-- or paying more for good ones than you want to pay? The first place I look is my local
used-record store. Most of these either have no idea what they have and rack it
accordingly -- or know only too well and price it at or above top-level cost. But if
you’re smart and aren’t looking for, say, original RCA Living Stereo or Mercury
Living Presence or Blue Note titles (to name a few labels that go for big bucks used), you
can usually find original rock and classical albums at decent prices. Plus, you get the
chance to examine the record itself, to see just how "used" it really is, and if
it meets your standard of cleanness. If you do enough business with a particular
store that you get to know the folks who run it, you can sometimes negotiate a discount on
certain albums -- or batches of albums -- much as you do at a good audio dealer you
regularly work with. Living up here in Vermont, my biggest problem is that genre selection
can be limited. But hey -- if finding good used vinyl was easy, you wouldn’t need to
read this column.
If your local used-record hut doesn’t stock the types
of records you love -- I have trouble finding my favored jazz titles -- where do you turn?
Next time you go on vacation, once you’ve reached your destination, grab the local
phone book to see if there’s a used-record store in the area. I usually drop the
family off at some attraction they want to see, then hit the local shops. This has worked
out pretty well -- other areas tend to attract a different selection of vinyl than I find
near home.
And, of course, there’s always eBay. The site has
changed over the years. Once upon a time you used to find individuals selling their own
records for reasonable prices; now, eBay is primarily a place where used-record dealers
can unload items that they either can’t move locally or can’t sell for as much
as they’d like. Still, if you’re persistent enough, and you go in with a plan
and don’t deviate from it, you can still find deals. And every once in a while
you will get lucky and find that original Blue Note, rated VG (for Very Good), at a
price you can afford -- and when it’s delivered, you find that it plays more like VG+
to NM (Near Mint). I live for those days.
Keep in mind that you’re going to have to pay more for
some titles than you might otherwise like. That’s just the law of supply and demand.
But it’s important that you pick a price you think is fair (to all, not just to you)
and don’t exceed it. The old saying "If at first you don’t succeed, try,
try again" applies to hunting for used records as well. Maybe you won’t get that
album you’ve spent a lifetime searching for on your first or second try -- or even on
your third or fourth. But that doesn’t mean you should give up. Keep to your plan.
Sooner or (usually) later, you’ll be the winner, and that’ll be one of the good
days that help to balance out all the frustrating ones. Despite its problems, eBay is
still the best source of used vinyl.
 And don’t forget family
and friends -- talk up your love of vinyl to them. They may know someone who has a
collection that they need or want to get rid of. In such cases you can be right there to
get first pick of the litter -- or to snap up even the entire collection, if you’re
feeling greedy (and what card-carrying vinyl lover isn’t?). If you want to go whole
hog, place an ad in your local paper stating that you’re looking to buy good-quality
used LPs, singly or in lots. Most of what you’ll be offered will be junk, but that
doesn’t mean you have to buy any of it. But who knows? Buried somewhere in all the
dross might be a nugget or two of black gold. And because this way you can usually buy
records for pennies on the dollar, you’ll feel extra good about how smart you’ve
been when those nuggets appear.
I haven’t mentioned yard sales or flea markets, mostly
because I haven’t had any luck with them in these parts. But don’t let my
experience stop you -- you might be more fortunate. Just don’t be surprised if you
find yourself spending many a Saturday morning doing a lot of driving for little or no
gain. Still, it’s worth a shot.
These are trying times for those searching for decently
priced and clean used vinyl, and the searching can be long and arduous. The key is persistence.
Don’t give up. Keep looking. Think outside the box. Ask lots of questions. Try
used-clothing stores, Goodwill, the Salvation Army, your local landfill operator. Any of
these can be of help if you’re willing to ask. Pick up copies of the Goldmine
books on the types of music you find most interesting, and read them carefully so that
you’ll know a first pressing from a later, cheaper reissue. But mostly, just keep at
it -- that next great find could be literally right around the corner.
...John Crossett
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