What To Know About Buying Vinyl Records Online

I buy and sell vinyl records. I buy record collections (get in touch at explodingzoo@gmail.com to learn more) and I sell in person and online. I say all that as a wee bit of context for the advice I've got for buying vinyl records online below.

I've been buying and selling vinyl professionally since 2006, and in all that time there are a few things that emerge as patterns among vinyl record buyers. Some good, some bad. What follows is some advice to avoid making mistakes when buying online and how to find what you want without getting BURNED.

Vinyl Record Grading 101

If you have a look at the Joe's Exploding Zoo vinyl record shop on Discogs.com or anybody else's Discogs storefront, you'll see that the records aren't just listed for sale with a price--they are also listed with a condition such as Very Good, Very Good Plus (VG+), Near Mint, and Mint.

There are varying degrees of all grades (plus or minus) and these are NOT the only vinyl record grades used in the wild, but this system IS the only one used on Discogs. Thankfully.

Grades look like this:

• Mint (M): Perfect condition. Never played.
• Near Mint (NM): A record that may have been played a few times but is in mostly perfect condition.
• Very Good Plus (VG+): May have light wear and slight surface noise.
• Very Good (VG): Noticeable wear/noise.
• Good (G): Significant wear and noise. May have skips. Includes increments (Good+ or Good-)
• Fair (F): Worn with skips or other playback issues. May be sold as a collectible in many cases rather than a "regular use" LP.
• Poor (P): Essentially the bottom of the barrel. Some Poor records sell for large dollars due to rarity.

This system is marginally different in structure than the alternative below but in my experience this is the system used by experienced and reputable graders.

That "One Weird Trick" To Understanding Vinyl Record Grading

You might feel confused at first about the nuances of the system. That's ok, everyone experiences that. The thing to cut thru the confusion is this:

Vinyl record grading is SUBJECTIVE and is an INTERPRETIVE process. That means you can't apply an inflexible standard such as "If my record has two skips, it's Very Good Plus, if it has four skips it's just Very Good."

There is NO formula possible to standardize the ratings. It is truly in the eye of the beholder which is WHY RECORD SELLERS DESERVE THEIR PROFITS. A reputable one grades VERY conservatively.

A Simple Tip To Help You Learn How To Grade Vinyl Records

Vintage LPs and new vinyl alike have one thing in common--they are worth X when they are SEALED and unplayed, and worth SOMETHING ELSE when they are opened and played one or more times.

You don't have to be a SELLER to know how to grade vinyl and as a BUYER it helps to know the grades and how they affect your purchase and enjoyment of the record.

A sealed record with a pristine cover is MINT. But how to tell the difference between Near Mint, Very Good +, and all the rest?

My own personal trick was to find a reputable record seller that I know and trust, and buy a couple of LPs from them in each grade.

So I went in search of records graded from Fair all the way to Near Mint, and compared what those record sellers thought was Near Mint, etc.

Noting the condition of the records in each grade gave me an informal benchmark.

 

What To Know About Grading Vinyl Records

When I started buying vinyl to sell, I had NO IDEA how to grade vinyl records. The first thing I learned was that there are actually TWO grades--one for the condition of the sleeve and one for the condition of the vinyl record itself.

My personal rating criteria is revealed for all the world to see below. It's not a trade secret, and like most good interpretations of the grading system, I grade CONSERVATIVELY AS HELL.

Rating a vinyl record as Mint for the cover means simply that the album cover is PRISTINE like it just came

From other sellers you might get a list of grades that looks like this:

• Mint (M): An unplayed record in perfect condition.
• Near Mint (NM): A record with minimal wear.
• Excellent (E): Shows minor signs of wear but plays without much if any noise.
• Very Good Plus (VG+): May have light wear and slight surface noise.
• Very Good (VG): Noticeable wear and noise are present.
• Good (G): Significant wear and noise, including potential skips. It's in a condition that affects the listening experience but is still playable.
• Fair (F): Heavy wear, with skips or other playback issues. May be sold as a collectible in many cases rather than a "regular use" LP.
• Poor (P): Essentially unplayable but may hold value due to rarity.

For Discogs sellers, Very Good ++ is a bit of informal shorthand for the Excellent grade above.

Vinyl grading is not a perfect science. It's not really a science at all, it's more of a sliding scale or a spectrum. The key is to buy a lot of records and pay attention to the ratings they carry and the condition they are in under that rating.

Don't assume the worst about a vinyl record just because it's not Mint or Near Mint. Many Very Good+ records seem more like Near Mint but have been conservatively graded to avoid being accused of trying to "slip one past the goalie" so to speak.

Good record sellers will explain any basic issues with a vinyl record. "Minor corner wear" or "Plays with a minor wobble on our equipment but did not affect playback" are details to pay attention to--as in, this is a seller that is being transparent with you about the condition of their albums.

That sort of honesty is something to watch for when shopping online or anywhere else for vinyl.