You can digitally search for tags, genres, and locations at the top, and I recommend you do so if you’re looking for something specific. It can be helpful if you are trying to buy something from your home town, for example.
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Screenshot courtesy of Wired
As with anything collectible, you can find good deals (and occasional ripoffs) on Ebay. This is a good place to buy very rare and expensive stuff or, on the flip side, lots of super-cheap records that you’re willing to gamble on. I’ve had good results finding jazz records and albums from other lesser-loved genres here, but if you’re looking for something super specific, Discogs is better for tracking the market and finding good prices.
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Screenshot courtesy of Parker Hall
Vinyl Me, Please is a record-of-the-month club that lets you also purchase one-off records. I like this service because it presses rare one-offs of classics as well as modern records in all genres. The folks that work there have excellent taste, which means that you’re always sent a record that you are likely to enjoy. When buying one-offs, I like that these are exclusive pressings, which means that your friends are very unlikely to have this specific version on their shelf, even if they already own the record.
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Screenshot courtesy of Parker Hall
Folks who remember the pre-streaming era are likely to recall Tower Records, which still exists! This is a great record store to check out what is coming out on vinyl soon and to look at preorder releases, because it is a major distributor of virtually every bigger release on the market. Maybe it’s the older nerd in me, but if you have a bit of ’90s nostalgia, it’s fun to shop online at Tower Records and see what is the hip new music coming out.
