Tag Archives: vinyl records

How To Sell Your Vinyl Records To A Buyer

Why I Buy and Sell Vinyl Records

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Every once in a while it seems like a good idea to talk about why vinyl records are awesome, why it’s a good thing to collect vinyl and what it means to live the vinyl lifestyle.

Not everybody who buys records is into “living the vinyl lifestyle” but for me personally, this is something I’ve made a massive part of my life. It’s part of my livelihood, it’s part of my creative process, and buying/playing/selling/trading vinyl takes up a big chunk of my day.

Why?

It’s not just about supporting artists that I like, or supporting record stores that have become local institutions in my city, or even just about finding and sharing new music. It’s also about the idea that vinyl records represent something important–people who have decided to make their lives about something more than just a 9-to-5 job or the day-to-day nonsense we’re all plagued with.

It does’t matter if you’re a record seller, a concert-goer, a music reviewer, a vinyl collector or the musician making the music that gets immortalized on vinyl–together we all make this community of people who have found a common joy that is represented by LPs, 12-inch singles, 45s and seven-inch singles, liner notes, artwork and all the wonderful experiences that go along with these things.

When you play a record, go to a record shop, attend a concert, buy a band t-shirt, etc. you participate and contribute to this bigger thing that arose around all of these separate activities. It makes the whole thing possible. It doesn’t matter so much about the genre of music, the location of it, etc. etc…it’s more about the doing and the sharing.

How cool is that?

I love nothing more than coming into my office, turning on the lava lamp and the turntable and relaxing into some strange new vinyl find I discovered earlier in the day. When I list these things for sale, I’ve not just gone out and scoured the earth for them, but I’ve also curated my offerings in my own way–I put my own spin on what I have collected and offer for sale. There’s a fun connection you make with people who share your love for these things.

That’s what keeps me coming back again and again to collecting AND selling–I love making those connections between people who love the kinds of vinyl I too am obsessed with.

Buy a turntable for someone as a present–you could be unlocking a whole new world they never even knew existed until they were faced with the challenge of finding something to play on that new machine.

–Joe Wallace

 

What Is It About Vinyl Records?

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60s retro turntable orange
From time to time I ask myself just what it is about vinyl records that is so appealing. A lot of the time the answer for me has to do just as much with the artwork and the presentation as the music itself.

I am not anti-digital. I think downloads have really helped push vinyl–the physical artifact–to a new place of importance in music culture. There’s something about the larger artwork, the inclusion of liner notes, the gatefold sleeves and the physicality of the record that gives it a lasting appeal.

You could literally do most, of not all of this digitally–providing a large digital poster image buyers could download and print would be fab. Ditto liner notes. But for some reason, the seeking and finding is an important part of the vinyl buying experience. You can hunt and peck online for digital downloads all day, but nothing beats the thrill of flipping through the stacks and seeing that album cover that just gets you interested for no good reason. Or for VERY good reasons.

Shopping online is pretty utilitarian. Going to a local record store, listening to the music playing on the overhead, browsing the magazines, overhearing conversations about new music…this is almost becoming (if it hasn’t already) date night activity. It’s definitely a great way to kill an hour or so when you’re waiting around for something else to happen…but for me going to the record shops is always a main event type activity.

Digital is great and convenient. It’s not the same listening experience with vinyl–the involvement of cleaning the record, putting it on the turntabling, turning it over to play the B-side, looking at the artwork…doing this for an hour or two a night requires more attention. It’s like cooking at home instead of ordering delivery. You get your food in the end, but that hands-on experience makes it more…real somehow. Not that downloads are plastic or fake. They’re easy and fun. But not special, not on their own.

Those digital services that encourage mixtape and sharing amongst friends/subscribers have the right idea–making music an EXPERIENCE is probably the key to selling more digital downloads. Vinyl has all that built-in.

–Joe Wallace

I Buy Record Collections!

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I buy record collectionsI am very interested in people who want to sell their record collections. I am looking for large and small quantities of odd, unusual, and just plain awesome records in good condition.

I have purchased collections in the past that consist of soundtracks, goth and industrial, 80s new wave, spoken word, punk and post-punk, psychedelia, and that strange creature from the 80s and 90s and beyond known as Christian Indie music, CCM, etc.

I also am interested in purchasing “stag” and “adults-only” vinyl records as I’m assembling a large collection of them for an art show I plan on for Fall 2014. This could include anything on Laff Records or any of the other low-to-no-budget record labels pressing those titles and the ones that used to be for sale under the counter at truck stops and other places.

There are also a large number of genres I have no interest in–I am not purchasing Broadway shows, musicals, or the soundtracks to musical films. I’m not interested in Jazz collections, Classic Rock, etc.

But if you have weird records, goth/industrial/electronic music, soundtracks, and all the above mentioned at the top of this article, do get in touch with me via orders@turntabling.net.