It's already over. The sneakerheadification of record collecting has already driven prices way way up, even for classic platinum selling catalog titles. As someone who has been listening to and buying records pretty much my whole life, the main attraction during the heyday (mid 90s to about 8-10 years ago) was that it was pretty much the cheapest physical format of recorded music out there. I bought hundreds of records in bargain bins for more than two decades that are now regularly in the $20-$40 range. I'm talking Prince, Bowie, Madonna, Beatles, Stones, even classic soul, hip hop, jazz, reggae, punk, international, country and blues records were all in the dollar bin, or crowding the rows at any given Goodwill. Now you are lucky even to see a $1 bin at a record shop, and if they have one it's probably a $3 bin and it's all Streisand and Judy Collins records (no shade to Babs, but I don't need her stuff on vinyl). Even events like Record Store Day, which was initially pitched as a way to keep independent record stores alive, is now just a dumping ground for the major labels to put out over-hyped, poorly pressed colorful variants of contemporary artists and a bunch of older catalog titles that can't possibly be of interest to anyone. I mean, who tf would ever buy Now That's What I Call Music Vol 12 on yellow splatter 180g vinyl? Sorry, I'm an old head ranting away... but I'm afraid you missed the enjoyable era of vinyl collecting, where actual treasures could be frequently found for cheap. Even Goodwill charges $2.99 for records now, and the selection is worse than ever. I'm happy that my collection is worth more than I paid for it, but I bought records to listen to them and occasionally DJ with them, so it's a huge bummer that it is 20 to 40X more expensive, because I have essentially stopped buying them.
Well said. I agree with you that I’ve likely missed the best time to collect vinyl. I see what’s happening out there with vinyl and I think there are still deals to be had but they’re just harder to find for sure. Also, I’m unlikely to purchase online unless I’ve negotiated with a friend on social media for certain albums, but realize not everyone has this sort of access to contacts. I’m fairly confident within five years time with grading companies having caught pace with vinyl that my collecting will trickle only and I’ll likely have to enjoy the bulk of my library on lossless digital. Thanks for watching and commenting I really appreciate it!
I started with cards and comics in the 80's and early 90's, then went to vinyl in the late 90's. Been collecting vinyl ever since. I've just recently gotten back into card collecting though.
great video, your spot on about having a good stereo and it being an up front investment, a good entry level system will be in the 500-1000$ range. Record collecting is fun because its like curating your own library of sound, and you can experience them in ways other collectibles cannot be. I still spin some records I own that are worth as much as 3K. As a whole anyone getting into it now is maybe a little late to being able to get a good deal on records, but a lot of stuff is still cheap! The motels record you showed is like a $5 record in excellent condition. I started collecting records in high school in 1997 and I can tell you it was not a popular thing to do, but I loved punk rock and you could buy 7" records that had songs not on the cd, so that's what got me into it. And i do resell for a living, and I had not found a Beatles butcher cover in 10 years, and in the past year I bought 3 from different collection buys, sold 2 and kept the best one.
It's already over. The sneakerheadification of record collecting has already driven prices way way up, even for classic platinum selling catalog titles. As someone who has been listening to and buying records pretty much my whole life, the main attraction during the heyday (mid 90s to about 8-10 years ago) was that it was pretty much the cheapest physical format of recorded music out there. I bought hundreds of records in bargain bins for more than two decades that are now regularly in the $20-$40 range. I'm talking Prince, Bowie, Madonna, Beatles, Stones, even classic soul, hip hop, jazz, reggae, punk, international, country and blues records were all in the dollar bin, or crowding the rows at any given Goodwill. Now you are lucky even to see a $1 bin at a record shop, and if they have one it's probably a $3 bin and it's all Streisand and Judy Collins records (no shade to Babs, but I don't need her stuff on vinyl). Even events like Record Store Day, which was initially pitched as a way to keep independent record stores alive, is now just a dumping ground for the major labels to put out over-hyped, poorly pressed colorful variants of contemporary artists and a bunch of older catalog titles that can't possibly be of interest to anyone. I mean, who tf would ever buy Now That's What I Call Music Vol 12 on yellow splatter 180g vinyl? Sorry, I'm an old head ranting away... but I'm afraid you missed the enjoyable era of vinyl collecting, where actual treasures could be frequently found for cheap. Even Goodwill charges $2.99 for records now, and the selection is worse than ever. I'm happy that my collection is worth more than I paid for it, but I bought records to listen to them and occasionally DJ with them, so it's a huge bummer that it is 20 to 40X more expensive, because I have essentially stopped buying them.
Well said. I agree with you that I’ve likely missed the best time to collect vinyl. I see what’s happening out there with vinyl and I think there are still deals to be had but they’re just harder to find for sure. Also, I’m unlikely to purchase online unless I’ve negotiated with a friend on social media for certain albums, but realize not everyone has this sort of access to contacts. I’m fairly confident within five years time with grading companies having caught pace with vinyl that my collecting will trickle only and I’ll likely have to enjoy the bulk of my library on lossless digital. Thanks for watching and commenting I really appreciate it!
I started with cards and comics in the 80's and early 90's, then went to vinyl in the late 90's. Been collecting vinyl ever since. I've just recently gotten back into card collecting though.
great video, your spot on about having a good stereo and it being an up front investment, a good entry level system will be in the 500-1000$ range. Record collecting is fun because its like curating your own library of sound, and you can experience them in ways other collectibles cannot be. I still spin some records I own that are worth as much as 3K. As a whole anyone getting into it now is maybe a little late to being able to get a good deal on records, but a lot of stuff is still cheap! The motels record you showed is like a $5 record in excellent condition. I started collecting records in high school in 1997 and I can tell you it was not a popular thing to do, but I loved punk rock and you could buy 7" records that had songs not on the cd, so that's what got me into it. And i do resell for a living, and I had not found a Beatles butcher cover in 10 years, and in the past year I bought 3 from different collection buys, sold 2 and kept the best one.
Yeah yeah, you don’t need to convince anyone.
I gave up weed for crack so I hear ya sister
Records are literally the worst way to listen to a song.
When cassettes exist? 🤣
@@Madadader yes