Local shops were great - until they started taking the top 30% of their inventory and selling them on Ebay. I can't tell you how many times I've had to bid on a record that I was holding in my hand at the local record shop.
That would definitely be weird. When I first moved here, 5 months ago, I was on Discogs looking for Savoy Brown UK first pressings, when I noticed a listing mentioned Gallatin. Turned out the seller was within walking distance ! I sent him a message, we connected at his shop a few days later, and on top of saving the shipping of course, he knocked another $15.00 off as a "welcome new neighbor " discount !!! After I left, he took it off of Discogs.
Ask your local record shop if they have an Ebay site. The answer may surprise you. Most stores will put their most collectable pieces on Ebay as they believe it will attract greater competitive interest. They are not incorrect. I have had limited success by offering my highest bid to take it down if there are no current bids listed. The upside - you don't have to pay for shipping and you get to inspect condition before bidding. The downside - holding it may be as close to owning it as you will get.
Going back through this fairly recent thread, re-reading my only post, I can add that even though I have Prime, I don't trust Amazon to ship vinyl anymore. Too hit-and-miss for me, and no, I don't want to have to repackage a purchase, then take it back to the post office, etc. etc. I want my shipments to arrive in such a condition that I carry them upstairs after opening the mailer down here, and they are in such a condition, that they'll stay up there until I move again. Acoustic Sounds Music Direct ( and maybe their Discogs site Musicdirect Vintage which I'm about to try ) Bull Moose Craig Moerer's Records By Mail Barnes & Noble Sundazed ...are the only online vinyl retailers I still trust. Of course, 98% of our Forum members too.
About a month ago I stopped buying LPs on eBay no matter what they cost. I am serious about the condition of what I spend my money on and I spend a lot of time looking at the listings pics and asking questions to the sellers about condition. I've had many LP covers damaged. A $4.00 record with a mint album cover is no different to me than a $30 new record or high dollar collector level record. Half the time they come with dented corners. Sometimes it's the sellers packaging but most of the time NOT. I always put a note to the seller to pack the LPs well to avoid damage. It's ridiculous. The USPS sucks dog taint! I recently bought 2 LPs from the same buyer. Yes Fragile and Wishbone Ash Argus. $20 for both including the Media Mail shipping. Both original pressings, LPs in near mint shape and the cover for Yes was EX- and WA was VG+ with NO corner damage. Both were packed well together in the same record mailer box and had bubble wrap and FRAGILE written on the box. The 'tards at the USPS still managed to dent and/or bend the corners.
It was the last straw after getting burned too many times. I have great local stores near me but sometimes I want certain records NOW and eBay was always there but NO MORE for me. Not worth it unless it's really something I know I'll never see locally. For instance right now I really want 2 Atomic Rooster LPs, the US pressings of In Hearing Of and Made In England. I NEVER see them in stores near me. Sucks!
No more LPs from Amazon either. They used to put the records in those the oversize rectangle record boxes and then put that in a bigger box. Awesome right? Not anymore. The last LP I ordered, Rival Sons Feral Roots, was put into an over size box with NOTHING ELSE!! All 4 corners got dented and even the inner sleeves got split. After explaining it wasn't packed right the next one was still sent the same way. I kept returning them. And 4 later I got a good one. I was gonna keep returning until I got a good one. IDIOTS!! It's the principal of it for me.
The canned cat food I order online always arrives dented. Sure enough, I'm sometimes around to hear the loud thud of a package being dropped on concrete outside my door.
The next time it happens take one out and as the driver is walking away throw it at 'em and bounce it off the back of his stupid head.
Living in Dallas and a Cowboys fan, my thoughts immediately went to the Philadelphia Eagles. That's exactly what we think of when bad football conduct is mentioned.
I use the red fragile stickers. I know the guys that process mail into the FSMs will poke it with their sticks. Always gives me a chuckle thinking about it. So far so good, almost time to reorder another 500.
Years ago I was talking to a guy that worked in the sorting office in the post office and he told me the worse thing a person can do is mark the parcel/box fragile because when they see that, it's like a bull in a china shop and gets kicked and throwing around the place!
