Tips for buying used Vinyl needed

via mailorder, you have to get a feel for how each vendor grades, as it is somewhat subjective. Especially if they only grade "visually", which is sometimes useless. Then buy more from those with whom you have a positive experience.

I hate cleaning records. It is slow and noisy, but essential.

We have regular record shows at cities throughout southwestern ontario pretty much evry few weeks all year round. One vendor, whose stuff generally looks really pretty good tend to drop his prices to a buck for anything around 2 in the afternoon to reduce his load goin home. It never fails, about half the stuff I pick up there (its a real shame because I have had some really good finds)tends to have a huge amount of surface noise. I clean them with my vpi before playing. I'm guessing that he cleans them with something too harsh. There is nothing untoward about the appearance. I have had some really great finds at flea markets, thrift shops and record shows. It's all part of the fun of this hobby. I think I have added nearly 2000 used lps to my collection over the past few years. Used good jazz is harder to find but some of the newer Bluenote rereleases are great.

One more tip: Prices on 'gon for vinyl is ridiculous. If buying from here look for the deals within $5 otherwise buy elswhere.

Avoid the super shiny LPs. Someone just sprayed them with some Tire shine or other crap. They are super shiny, so You can get to know the look. Once you see one, you'll know what I mean. Even really crappy worn out records superficially look good when 'shined up'.

I've run across "shiny" LPs quite a bit in my travels - they look so "unnatural" I avoid at every turn. Even after multiple washings a record will never shine like this not to mention sound any good.

"Prices on 'gon for vinyl is ridiculous"

Gotta agree the 'gon is not the place to shop for vinyl. The love of vinyl here elevates prices beyond what you would find most anywhere else in the real world in many cases.

The pricing here is skewed by the hunger for sound quality. Sound quality (as opposed to record condition which is different) has little bearing on record prices in the real world.

Whoops, I should have said "vinyl" not "records". Bad marketing on my part....