How to Find Vinyl Records

Where are the best places to find vinyl records? In this article I'll give you all the answers you need.

The music business has changed quite a bit in the last few years with the major developments in technology. Digital download sales are up. CD sales are down. And guess what? Vinyl record sales are up. That's right, record labels are producing new music in vinyl format more and more. And, it's selling.

I've been literally obsessed with vinyl for a few years now. My collection only includes a few hundred LP's. However, I still make quite a few vinyl purchases. I'll give you some tips on how to find good records.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Money
• A working turntable
• A love of music

1. If you're like me and live in a small town, it's almost 100% certain that you do not have a record shop down the street. But, 40 minutes away from my house there is a decent record shop that has used vinyl. An hour away from me there's a fantastic record shop.
   
   If you're near a college town, there's a good chance they have a good record store there. Use Google to look up record stores in cities close to you. There's a good chance there is a record shop real close to you that you're not aware of.

2. Visit local yard sales and flea markets. You can find cheap vinyl at those type of places. About twenty minutes from me there's an antique mall.. and there are tons of old records in there for sale. So, it never hurts to check out some of those type of places.

3. Ask members of your family. There's always a music buff in the family somewhere along the line.. and there's a good chance that they have a large amount of records in an attic or basement.

4. Buy your records online. You can find any LP you want by ordering online. Some of the best places for that are eBay, Amazon.com, and all-vinyl.com..

Tips & Warnings

• Watch prices. I've been to record stores in the same city with the same vinyl.. and the prices were very different.
• Normally online prices are the best.. but when you're buying vinyl at flea markets or yard sales.. you can usually get them for nothing. So, check out those types of places when you see them.
• Don't blame me if you end up wasting your life savings on vinyl.. it's addicting and I know how you feel.. but you don't want to be living under a bridge with the only a few hundred lp's and a turntable to your name.

[waxdotfm]

on 11/30/2008 If you're looking for vinyl in one of the major cities in the U.S., check out this page on my site:

http://wax.fm/cities/

And let me know if there are stores missing! I'll probably expand beyond the U.S. soon too, feel free to submit your suggested stores from all over the world.

Thanks and good luck searching for records!

Rob Lambert http://wax.fm

[jonhensley]

on 10/9/2008 Hey Gail.. I play them on a turntable! They still make turntables.. and at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc. you can get an old timey looking cd player that has a turntable on the top to play your records.

[gailM]

on 10/9/2008 I remember when vinyl records went out, we made bowls from them by heating them and making fancy shapes. They looked good with fruit in them or nuts and cedar branches in the winter. What do you play them on? Gail

[missnice104]

on 10/2/2008 Amazing! Great article. I would think Vinyl records were "no more!" Wowza, I didn't know!! Thanks!