I'm still pretty new around here and I've been catching up on lots of old thread discussions (this place is an incredible resource) but I haven't really found a thread specifically about people's collecting standards, i.e. your personal rules/guidelines for condition, what you'll pay & under what circumstances. I see frequent mention of the mythical (?) digger who won't pay more than $1 for any record--are there really collectors out there that are so strict? Anyway I'm just curious, and if a past thread about this already exists maybe someone could point me in that direction.
To me the level of organization & care a seller puts into their stock is proportional to the price they can fairly ask. I'm fairly certain everybody agrees with this notion. Usually people aren't gonna pay boutique prices at the flea market, even if there's a decent level of organization going on.
Regarding flea markets--I'm looking to spend $1 per 45 or if I'm lucky, less. It seems like that's pretty standard fare. I'll up the ante if someone's got particularly good/clean stuff, with company sleeves, etc... But I've rarely ever dropped more than $2 on a flea market 45. LPs are tougher as they don't seem to be governed by the unwritten "buck a pop" rule--people's prices seem to be all over the map. Which is a big part of why I usually focus on the 45s--sellers usually dump them in an unorganized box on the ground while giving undue attention to organizing and hawking their crate of Streisand, Mantovani, and Kingston Trio LPs. It also seems to me--and maybe this is just at my local market--that there's less competition from other record hounds over the 45s and again, undue attention given to the LPs.
My biggest weakness at the flea market--though I'm getting better--is that I end up buying 45s in less than ideal condition just because they're on my want list or I know they're rare. But with flea market stuff in general I find I'm almost always settling for 45s in the VG/VG+ range at best and I assume that's pretty universal (?).
With stores/boutiques I don't mind shelling out (usually the $20-50 range) for good stuff in good condition, especially if I'm traveling and it's something I know I'm unlikely to find back in CT (which is most good/rare R&B/soul stuff). My favorites are Dusty Groove and Good Records NYC. I can spend an hour in either place and walk out with a pile of stuff I'd never find in a year's worth of Connecticut flea markets--to me, it's well worth the money (and at both places I find the prices very fair) for the convenience and consistently high quality of merchandise.
As I've seen other strutters mention, record stores that don't have price stickers can be a blessing and a curse. There's really only one store I go to like this, and usually if I'm quoted a price that's too high when I get to the register, I'll put the record back in the racks, come back a few months later and hope I get a lower price. This has worked for me a number of times, but only because I don't think this place gets a lot of shoppers who are looking for the same stuff I want. At a place with higher turnover my record probably wouldn't last so long in the racks, even if I hid it in the classical section.
Ebay I see more as a research tool for records but occasionally I'll use it as a last resort, when I can't find a certain record at any of my usual haunts and I've basically given up on finding it "in the field." Or, very rarely, when there's a record on my mind right this minute and I see it at a reasonable price, I might go for it...but it feels like cheating.
So what do y'all do? Anyone diverge wildly from what I've written?
To me the level of organization & care a seller puts into their stock is proportional to the price they can fairly ask. I'm fairly certain everybody agrees with this notion. Usually people aren't gonna pay boutique prices at the flea market, even if there's a decent level of organization going on.
Regarding flea markets--I'm looking to spend $1 per 45 or if I'm lucky, less. It seems like that's pretty standard fare. I'll up the ante if someone's got particularly good/clean stuff, with company sleeves, etc... But I've rarely ever dropped more than $2 on a flea market 45. LPs are tougher as they don't seem to be governed by the unwritten "buck a pop" rule--people's prices seem to be all over the map. Which is a big part of why I usually focus on the 45s--sellers usually dump them in an unorganized box on the ground while giving undue attention to organizing and hawking their crate of Streisand, Mantovani, and Kingston Trio LPs. It also seems to me--and maybe this is just at my local market--that there's less competition from other record hounds over the 45s and again, undue attention given to the LPs.
My biggest weakness at the flea market--though I'm getting better--is that I end up buying 45s in less than ideal condition just because they're on my want list or I know they're rare. But with flea market stuff in general I find I'm almost always settling for 45s in the VG/VG+ range at best and I assume that's pretty universal (?).
With stores/boutiques I don't mind shelling out (usually the $20-50 range) for good stuff in good condition, especially if I'm traveling and it's something I know I'm unlikely to find back in CT (which is most good/rare R&B/soul stuff). My favorites are Dusty Groove and Good Records NYC. I can spend an hour in either place and walk out with a pile of stuff I'd never find in a year's worth of Connecticut flea markets--to me, it's well worth the money (and at both places I find the prices very fair) for the convenience and consistently high quality of merchandise.
As I've seen other strutters mention, record stores that don't have price stickers can be a blessing and a curse. There's really only one store I go to like this, and usually if I'm quoted a price that's too high when I get to the register, I'll put the record back in the racks, come back a few months later and hope I get a lower price. This has worked for me a number of times, but only because I don't think this place gets a lot of shoppers who are looking for the same stuff I want. At a place with higher turnover my record probably wouldn't last so long in the racks, even if I hid it in the classical section.
Ebay I see more as a research tool for records but occasionally I'll use it as a last resort, when I can't find a certain record at any of my usual haunts and I've basically given up on finding it "in the field." Or, very rarely, when there's a record on my mind right this minute and I see it at a reasonable price, I might go for it...but it feels like cheating.
So what do y'all do? Anyone diverge wildly from what I've written?
