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| Photo by taylor hernandez on Unsplash |
If there's something I glad I started collecting, it's records. I fell in love with records about 2010 time after my Grandad gave me his, it was absolutely huge and about 40 years old, but boy oh boy could it play loud. I would waste evenings sitting in my room in the dark, with a record playing and just hearing something so raw and pure, it's such a good feeling.
Since the whole records have come back in popularity this can be a really expensive hobby. Most records start off at £25 and can be thousands if it's a real collectible. I'm not mad on collecting really rare vinyls however I have built up a good collection of favourites. So if you are looking at building a record collection, here are some tips on how I got started and hopefully this will save you some money as well.
Only buy new when you really want it
As I mentioned, if you go into HMV you'll notice most records start at £25ish and they don't really go down in cost after. Obviously you can't buy your whole iTunes in record form, so I would recommend making a list of albums you really want and love. For me, when starting out I had Adele's 21, Mumford & Sons Sigh No More and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black on the very top of my list. I knew these had only recently just came out so they wouldn't really be second hand just yet, so these were what I spent top dollar on.
Second Hand & Charity Shops
Second hand shops are some of the best ways to get cheaper vinyls. You'll need to double check the record to make sure there isn't any scratches or marks, however I've never paid more than £10 for a record at a second hand shop. Charity shops are also fantastic and will have better finds than you think. You might have to search through and if you go often enough you'll be able find when newer records are added. I've found the Grease and Sound of music soundtracks through this, which are great additions.
You can also check online for second hand however you don't always get to see photos of the actual record so there may be scratches that you weren't aware of.
Buy a decent record player
Of course once you start building a collection you'll need something to play it on! I would recommend researching before buying especially checking size where you want to keep it. Crosley's are really popular because of their colouring and they are really small, however they aren't the best for playing records on. Check your budget and again check second hand places and you'll definitely find a good deal.
Have you got a record player? Whats your tip for buying records?
