So, after almost 25 years I've finally got my turntable set up again and am starting to revisit my LP collection. But it brings a tear to my eye as I realize that I got rid of about 100 - 150 of them when I first started to buy CD's. Like many, I was wooed by the though of 'No Surface Noise' music. Well boy did I eventually learn my lesson. If I bought a CD that had the same packaging as the LP I tended to pull the LP out of the collection and eventually trade them into a shop for more CD's. I stopped this eventually, but not before ridding myself of some seriously good and mint condition vinyls. Of course I was replacing my most favourite music first which means I'm missing many of my most favourite LP's from my collection (now around 900 or so).

So my question is... what resources can anyone share for buying back mint or near mint vinyl either online or in the Toronto, Guelph, Kitchener (Ontario Canada) corridor.

Thankfully I still have many gems, but those few holes I created are now driving me nuts.

Also get familiar with Discogs website, there you will find every known version of what you are looking for, you will learn to identify which pressing is the best sounding and what not to buy.....There are tons of records out there from the "record clubs" of years past like Columbia House and RCA Club. In general I stay away unless it is dirt cheap like $2-3 or something that I don't care to own new reissue for $25.

Discogs also has a really great marketplace and the internal grading is very good an honest, you'll pay money for rare prog records, most of the highest priced records on Discogs are of the prog nature.

People also use ebay, but I don't.......90% of what I buy used is from my local record stores, I LOVE spending 2 hours flipping thru bins, plus you get to know the store owner and they will watch for good stuff if you tell them.

My main concern with used records is the condition, it's not worth it to me to possibly damage my stylus, my audio gear money is in my analog rig.

You'll then need to develop a good to process for cleaning the records you buy before playing, if you have 900 records now and will grow it, highly recommend that you get a record cleaning machine at minimum a SpinClean.

Have fun!

http://recordstoredaycanada.ca/stores/" rel="nofollow - http://recordstoredaycanada.ca/stores/

 I used to have much more I could be selling but they were ruined in a house flood in 2009.  I have a little over 70 that are in my keeper section that either have autographs or I haven't replaced them with a CD yet.

And dammit, I haven't had a functioning turntable for a while now but in what I consider the LP age I used have a really nice Dual with a wood frame that I got used.  I'd always play my new acquisitions once or twice before making a cassette copy of them using dbx noise reduction which would make a copy that sounded as good as the original provided you played it back on a dbx deck.  Alas I haven't had a functional dbx deck for many many years now and anyway all of my cassettes were in a box on the floor during the 31" house flood of 2009. 

 

I'm putting this one on my list of places to check out.   Thanks Sean.

TCat wrote: I lived in the Whitby area for 3 years and had a hard time finding a great place that was consistent with records near mint condition having been spoiled by some of the shops around the Denver/Fort Collins area where I lived before.  I seemed to have the best luck hitting the flea markets in the Whitby/Oshawa area, but I had a hard time finding one that was consistent, and ended up just hitting them all.  I now live near Chatham and the best thing I have found is trading/selling with other collectors in the area.  There is a good antique/flea market store on the east side of Stratford where I've been able to get some great stuff from time to time, like King Crimson, Zappa, Nirvana and some punk bands, but they can be pricey at times.  Anyway, if you find anything, let me know and I'll do the same, otherwise I hope you have better luck than I have.

Oh, oh...tell me more! Stratford? I just started a managemant job at a plant in Palmerston that has a second plant in Stratford. I oversee groups at both facilities so I dither back and forth. I was there today and visited a place called 'Sound Fixation'. I found a UK pressing of ELP's debut on the Cotillion label. The cover was heavily damaged and the LP was pretty popply (is that even a word?) The guy wanted $16. I passed.