This is indeed a wonderful thread! Adding my $0.02:
I often take a chance on less than pristine looking used vinyl if the price is right. I attend a local record show near my home every 3 months. I do most of my buying at this show. Last Sunday, I spent about $125, and came home with all kinds of great LPs, about 50 of them, plus a few CDs (guilty as charged, your honor). It's a big show with numerous vendors, so time is limited. I am there when it opens at 10 am, and usually when it closes at 4 pm.
When I see a record I want, but does not look too good, I will try to pay as little as possible for it. One vendor, when I told him I would buy about 10 LPs from him, but told him to put back a somewhat scratched one that I didn't want, just gave it to me. Heck, free is good.
As to cleaning, I can't speak about the Loricraft, which seems well reguarded here, but I have been using a KAB EV1 for several years. It costs about $160, and uses your own canister vacuum. It's like a manual version of a Nitty Gritty machine. See it at KABUSA.com. As the KAB web site says, you can spend more, and get more automated features and an internal vacuum, but your records will not get any cleaner.
Although I can appreciate the advantages of multi-step cleaning and other more labor-intensive methods, I am just too lazy to bother. When the vinyl underneath all the grime and dirt is good, it sounds wonderful on my rig.
