How to Buy and Sell Recordings Online
If you consider yourself to be a bit of an audiophile and Spotify is not the right fit for you, you may be anxious to start (or create) your own record collection. The switch to vinyl opens the door to a whole musical universe that may not even be available on Spotify or other streaming services. Whether you’re looking to start DJing or just love the warmth generated by a needle caressing your favorite record, there are a few things to keep in mind when buying and selling wax online.
Define your taste
Part of the thrill of collecting records is finding something rare in the wild, or spending hours digging in drawers and going out empty, only to find a gem at the last minute. While anyone can and should listen to whatever recordings they want, I recommend looking outside the realm of the modern mainstream if you want to amass a sizable record collection, the reason is – and forgive me if I sound a bit snobbish – the charm Part of the recordings comes from theirs. physical reality, which often qualifies you for rarities such as embellished vinyl and exclusive bonus tracks. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a simple album that plays stuff that you could easily listen to on Spotify, do you?
But that’s just me, and you should definitely do it when you dive into the world of vinyl for the first time.
Buying your records online
If you’re looking for the vinyl answer eBay isn’t eBay – you’re no better off than Discogs . This is not a bidding site, but it is similar in that it offers a huge library of recordings sold by vendors around the world. Looking for a Brazilian disco? Detroit house? Japanese or Peruvian psycho rock? Discogs has it all – and that’s no exaggeration.
On Discogs, you can sort by artist, album, producer, or whatever you can type into the search bar and quickly find yourself flipping through records, CDs, and tapes for sale. There are a few things to be aware of: According to Joe Reen , writer, DJ and host of Audio Days , a show at the online radio station DubLab, “getting an accurate assessment of the condition of your recordings is extremely important” when buying records. on Discogs. This is because sellers will send you your purchase, so it’s important to know that whatever you buy is already in good physical shape.
When I search for a specific record , the one I’m most likely to buy will show the price, condition category, and shipping location (Your records could be shipped from Europe, South America, or some other far away location.).
Alternatively, Rin suggests taking a look at your local music store to see if they offer online deals. (It also doesn’t hurt to support local businesses during these economically fragile times.) “Most local record stores have online stores, so even if the pandemic prevents you from coming in person, you can still support small retailers,” he says. …
Of course, you can buy vinyl on eBay of similar volume, and you can even add LPs along with bulk orders from Amazon. But the community thrives on local vendors and grassroots activism, so I would recommend staying away from the corporate giants.
How to Sell Recordings Online
If you want to sell posts on Discogs, it’s pretty straightforward: just go to the Marketplace button in the top section of the website and start typing in various criteria to create your listing. You may not immediately find yourself inundated with requests, but if you have something good in your offer, the prospect will eventually notice that they are “interested” in one of your products; from there you can proceed to trading.
Selling records on eBay is very similar to selling anything else on the platform. There are other resources out there, but I wouldn’t recommend anything other than Discogs and eBay – the former for reliable buying choices and the latter for maximizing your potential sales profit.