I love records, 78's, 33's, and 45's. I never stopped buying them. Buy used when you can. Plenty of great used record stores across the USA and elsewhere.
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New vinyl is crazy expensive...
- Thread starter friskinator
- Start date
We purposely got back into vinyl and CDs because having every song ever made available at all times via streaming is overwhelming.
To OP's question, I say: Shop around, use Discogs, and buy used.
No and partly-yes.
"In 1978, vinyl records were more expensive than any other time since the RIAA began tracking sales in 1973. That year, the average retail sale price of a vinyl EP/LP was $7.32 – equal to $30.18 in today's [article written in 2022] dollars when adjusted for inflation."
Billboard magazine: Vinyl Prices Might Seem High Today, But They Were Worse in 1978
Yet more reason for me to not get into it but I salute those that do, I hope you enjoy every second and cent worth
Depends on what you're collecting. I collect old soul records, among other genres. I bought a used Solomon Burke record on the British Charly reissue label on Saturday for $15. But even if I bought new vinyl from The Weeknd it would still be under $20.
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I'm buying some of my favorite albums on vinyl. Just recently got a turn table. Heh. Generally $30 - $35 for new stuff. Oh, and I think vinyl sounds like crap. But I like having the physical "thing" of the music I'm listening to. Even the record store is playing MP3's a lot of the time instead of spinning vinyl.
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Vinyl's have become the thing now, and I am happy about it. With that of course comes with some problems...
But a shop near me that sells CDs but started selling Vinyl's the prices were insane, even on used stuff. Anything not classical was above 30. Only afforable thing I found was a John Lee Hooker Vinyl but I didn't buy it. They owner on his website defended his stance and claim his buyers were jerks if they complain about the price...
It's a mixed of tons of reasons for the price going up. Been wanting to get into getting a Vinyl setup but right now on a tight budget. But as of now love collecting them for the art...
But a shop near me that sells CDs but started selling Vinyl's the prices were insane, even on used stuff. Anything not classical was above 30. Only afforable thing I found was a John Lee Hooker Vinyl but I didn't buy it. They owner on his website defended his stance and claim his buyers were jerks if they complain about the price...
It's a mixed of tons of reasons for the price going up. Been wanting to get into getting a Vinyl setup but right now on a tight budget. But as of now love collecting them for the art...
Having lived through the height of the Vinyl Era, I am genuinely perplexed by the resurgence of this retro tech. No matter how good your turntable is, the very act of playing a record gradually degrades it. I alone went through 3 copies of Sgt Peppers and two Dark Sides, in the end simply unplayable. They do NOT sound better than CD's to my ears, and even with modern noise canceling tech weeding out the pops and hisses, the needle is gradually scraping away at the content. I do miss the large format artwork, lyrics, etc., but the albums themselves? Nope.
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I remember in the 80s and 90s when list price of CDs was $15.95, and we later found out that production costs for CDs were actually lower than vinyl and tape at least after some some point in time. It's what the market would bear. Now, Cds are practically worthless and the used vinyl of that era is appreciating in value (and even tapes in some circles). So new vinyl is having a moment and yes others point out that production costs for small batch productions are higher. also the over quality is higher. From the late 70s and throughout the 80s records were getting thinner and album covers were getting more basic in terms of printing and materials, yet the price was stable so that's probably how the held the price steady and kept profits up.
Nowadays I probably spend less $$ on recorded music than I did in the 80s and 90s in real non-inflation adjusted $. But I do buy vinyl (both used and new). Generally these are purchases on a whim, or I am seeking out a recording for a favorite artist. It's fun and somewhat irrational at times. I still play tapes, CDs, and vinyl, and I really enjoy the disconnected (from the internet) experience of listening to music in this way. I am more likely to listen to an entire song, more likely to listen to an entire album and more likely to explore deep cuts from an artist I like. I still stream also. It's quite a luxury to have 98% of commercially recorded music at your fingertips and I pay for Apple Music for this reason. Great for learning songs for cover bands! I figure w/ all the money I save by streaming, some of it can go for irrational vinyl purchases.
Nowadays I probably spend less $$ on recorded music than I did in the 80s and 90s in real non-inflation adjusted $. But I do buy vinyl (both used and new). Generally these are purchases on a whim, or I am seeking out a recording for a favorite artist. It's fun and somewhat irrational at times. I still play tapes, CDs, and vinyl, and I really enjoy the disconnected (from the internet) experience of listening to music in this way. I am more likely to listen to an entire song, more likely to listen to an entire album and more likely to explore deep cuts from an artist I like. I still stream also. It's quite a luxury to have 98% of commercially recorded music at your fingertips and I pay for Apple Music for this reason. Great for learning songs for cover bands! I figure w/ all the money I save by streaming, some of it can go for irrational vinyl purchases.
I know my band made a vinyl run of 100 for our last album. Cost to us was around 12 dollars an album. Since merch makes up a big portion of a full time musician's income, 30 is probably a good number. We aren't playing music for a living so we sell ours for 25. Went to a Will Hoge concert and he was charging 30, but those bands will sign it for you. Cool memento from the concert.
I always admired that Jack White has been doing so well ( I ASSume ) with this:
sorry to be "that guy"...but new vinyl costs EXACTLY the same when you adjust for inflation...seriously, just punch in how much a new record cost in 1979 (or so on) and look up the stats. In fact, we are getting a better deal now because they often come with a download code for the full album...we just all got used to records being dumped on the sidewalk...
sorry...nothing lasts forever
sorry...nothing lasts forever
I got into collecting vinyl records probably about 10 or 12 years ago and definitely enjoy it, but I've slowed down on purchasing a lot compared to when I first started. I'll buy new copies of my favourite albums if I can find them and then search out used records for things I've never heard of. Fortunately we've got a few great vinyl record storefronts here in Waterloo to go to and they usually have decent prices.
I moved last year and only just now have started unpacking my records as I wanted to make some custom shelves to store the records first. I was surprised to see that I had collected something like 260 or so albums.
I moved last year and only just now have started unpacking my records as I wanted to make some custom shelves to store the records first. I was surprised to see that I had collected something like 260 or so albums.
How DARE you be the guy who actually has real life experience!
If you invest many thousands in the very best equipment, you might be able to hear the difference, for the first few times you play the record, IF you also buy the very top quality pressing.
Until the needle wears off all that supposed analog goodness and just leaves the analog degradation.
In the real world, though, of folks who had to work for a living, the department store LP at $7.99 played on the Sears Roebuck all-in-one turntable/stereo with bookshelf speakers, and who had siblings, girlfriends, and roommates who didn't adhere to the Calvinist indoctrination of record cleaning and care - after a week or so, any CD sounded WAY better - and it stayed the same for decades on end.
Oh, and you know what the latest hipster craze is?
Cassette tapes! Yes, those things that all the top end wore off the first six times you played it, and all you had was a tape full of mud. Plus all the joys of broken leaders, decks that ate your tape, and once the deck got a few months on it, 100% flutter and wow, and 40 hours of labor to replace the drive belt that'd last another few months. Good times! Not!
Next up: Eight tracks and Edison cylinders!
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I wouldn’t consider $30 for new vinyl as “crazy expensive”. I’m not collecting by no means, but If I wanted something for a special occasion or even the cover art, $30 would be acceptable. As other have said, $30 in 2025 is about equal or might be under the calculated inflation price of vinyl from 1978 prices. There are many things that have exceeded the average inflation rate over the same time period, mostly food and energy. Albums are weird in that the demand for them is very low, so the price is as close to the production cost as the producer can afford & still keep making them. There are things that cost close to vinyl record costs in 1978 that are MUCH higher than $30 in 2025, shoes are a good example of that.
Down on Allied Drive here in Nashville, not far from the Nashville Zoo, is this place, They are running wide open and hiring:
www.urpressing.com
From their website:
As the largest record pressing operation in North America, our capacity exceeds 80,000 records daily from our expansive 155,000 square foot facility in Nashville, Tennessee – the heartbeat of the global music scene – enabling us to rapidly turn large volume orders, while maintaining the highest levels of quality and consistency. This unique location, amidst iconic artists and renowned studios, offers us both inspiration and rapid shipping to most major vinyl distribution centers within 24 hours.
Our comprehensive in-house capabilities, from lacquer mastering, in-house electroplating, record pressing, printing, packaging, and fulfillment help foster creativity and facilitate flexibility. With over seven decades of experience in vinyl production, we've had the honor of pressing many of the world's most seminal records.
I'm glad for their success, but I grew up with vinyl, and no way I'd EVER go back to those warpy, scratchy things. For me, CD's never went away, and I can buy most titles for not much these days.
United Record Pressing
From lacquer mastering to packaging components, United Record Pressing has blended creativity, quality, and flexibility for over 75 years.
www.urpressing.com
From their website:
As the largest record pressing operation in North America, our capacity exceeds 80,000 records daily from our expansive 155,000 square foot facility in Nashville, Tennessee – the heartbeat of the global music scene – enabling us to rapidly turn large volume orders, while maintaining the highest levels of quality and consistency. This unique location, amidst iconic artists and renowned studios, offers us both inspiration and rapid shipping to most major vinyl distribution centers within 24 hours.
Our comprehensive in-house capabilities, from lacquer mastering, in-house electroplating, record pressing, printing, packaging, and fulfillment help foster creativity and facilitate flexibility. With over seven decades of experience in vinyl production, we've had the honor of pressing many of the world's most seminal records.
I'm glad for their success, but I grew up with vinyl, and no way I'd EVER go back to those warpy, scratchy things. For me, CD's never went away, and I can buy most titles for not much these days.
So we have now reached the part of the thread where the old people who gave up records years ago talk about how they gave up records years ago.
Some of us still like records, though, so let's talk about that.
Some of us still like records, though, so let's talk about that.
I never got rid of my LP's which I started buying in the 60's and for the most part stopped buying sometime in the 80's.
I think folks should go for whatever music format they prefer.
My thing is audio fidelity. Not crazy audiophile fidelity with gear costing tens of thousands.
Just good basic listenable audio quality, regardless of format, where you can hear what's going on as you deserve to.
It drives me nuts that people way younger than me listen to music in ways that don't begin to deliver the audio quality they should hear.
Such as with built in laptop speakers and smart phone speakers. There is all this great sound that many people will never even know is there.
Sound that a lot of hugely talented people worked their tails off to create.
It's like me listening to Motown hits on a cheap pocket transistor AM radio as a kid and having no idea that James Jamerson even existed.
I think folks should go for whatever music format they prefer.
My thing is audio fidelity. Not crazy audiophile fidelity with gear costing tens of thousands.
Just good basic listenable audio quality, regardless of format, where you can hear what's going on as you deserve to.
It drives me nuts that people way younger than me listen to music in ways that don't begin to deliver the audio quality they should hear.
Such as with built in laptop speakers and smart phone speakers. There is all this great sound that many people will never even know is there.
Sound that a lot of hugely talented people worked their tails off to create.
It's like me listening to Motown hits on a cheap pocket transistor AM radio as a kid and having no idea that James Jamerson even existed.
It would seem that other TBers are too busy preening and flexing to say anything useful.
I find eBay to be great for records. You have to stick to sellers who specialize in Lps and have extensive feedback. Bundling purchases when possible to save on shipping can save you a lot of dough. I’ve even bought records from Japan and still paid a reasonable price buying multiple titles. Sometimes sellers have to be reminded to combine shipping per their own policies, some simply don’t, and should be avoided unless you just want one title.
Even just browsing some of the large sellers’ inventories is fun and educational.
Carolina Soul and Craig Moerer are two that spring to mind, I’ll add a couple more when I remember…
