Where to Hunt for Vinyl Albums
If you already collect vinyl albums you likely know what kind of shopper you are.
- You like the hunt as much as finding the album and won’t do it the easy way.
- You don’t care either way about the hunt for vinyl albums, you just love records and will get them however you can.
- You like the hunt but only want to own vinyl in tip-top, almost new, or new condition.
- Pay for music; ha!
I’m of the first camp. I’d have to REALLY want an album asap to make me go online and find it. I prefer record shops and other methods of finding albums to the online auctions or shops. But I’m less picky to a point about tiny imperfections. Obviously, I don’t want records full of skips and bends but I’ve known collectors like #3 who won’t buy unless the album is in almost perfect shape; if not new.
This kind of buyer has a harder time. As does the #4 character. Who believe it or not exists. I had a friend who was convinced if he just helped clean out enough garages he’d build a collection. He’s got mostly crap.
It’s easier in my experience to find records, especially rare records, online. There are a ton of places to look. My post on that would be, “Type rare vinyl into any decent search engine; insert name of album.” Which by the way I do. I don’t like to buy online but it is sort of like eye candy to see what’s available.
Check these sites for online vinyl finds.
- Sonic Recollections — One of my hometown shops!
- Association for Recorded Sound Collections
- The Association of Vogue Picture Record Collectors
- All Vinyl Records
- International Association of Jazz Record Collectors
- Birmingham Record Collectors
- The Record Collectors Guild
- Wolverine Antique Music Society
- Adam and Eve’s Music Shop
Places to go hunting for vinyl:
- Record shops: Duh; but try old and new shops. Many used CD shops have a vinyl section too. Don’t think that the store must be advertising albums to have them.
- Thrift stores: Quality varies but sometimes you can find really cool stuff.
- Garage sales: See thrift stores. Also try estate sale; in my opinion a better choice than garage sales.
- Flea markets: My least favorite place to look. I hate hassling back and fourth over price. If you like to haggle try flea markets.
- Book stores: Especially used bookstores. I’ve found small corners of older bookstores that have a great selection of vinyl
- Antique shops: They aren’t always expensive. Actually, I’ve talked to two different antique store owners who note that people don’t usually come to their store for albums. That means the albums don’t move — so go check.
- Auctions: Way too expensive but some people like them. Also, like flea markets; I hate haggling and competing for vinyl.
- Talk about vinyl often: As mentioned in a previous post; when people know you’ll take their old records you can get a lot for free. Of course this means you deal with some records that suck but you’ll get good ones as well.
Next up how to make almost sure you aren’t getting a suck deal. Unless I have a vinyl surprise in store — Oooo.
Off hand note: Still listening to the White album. It’s been days… I must stop!
Where do you like to search for albums?
Tags: music, online_auctions, vinyl-collectors, vinyl-shops, vinyl_albums, where-to-find-recordsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Albums, Vinyl, Vinyl Hunting, Vinyl Shopping
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