How many albums is enough albums in a collection?

[Matt M]

My opinion of some local shops here, but yeah, why would I spend $28 on a beater copy of Headhunters when I can buy the Analogue Productions version for $35? Probably most of their customer base isn't head down in vinyl forums looking for deals, reading deadwax, and researching the best pressings. Ha ha.

I do have one local shop that specializes in jazz and their prices are always fair. I buy a lot of albums from them. Seems like it'd be better to move more product and have return customers than to squeeze every single penny out of an album, but that's just my opinion.

Totally agree that people getting reasonable prices will bring me back a lot more often.

 

[scotthilk]

(Collection size) + 1

 

[bettim84]

My opinion of some local shops here, but yeah, why would I spend $28 on a beater copy of Headhunters when I can buy the Analogue Productions version for $35? Probably most of their customer base isn't head down in vinyl forums looking for deals, reading deadwax, and researching the best pressings. Ha ha.

I do have one local shop that specializes in jazz and their prices are always fair. I buy a lot of albums from them. Seems like it'd be better to move more product and have return customers than to squeeze every single penny out of an album, but that's just my opinion.

This is why the majority of used albums I buy are in the VG range. My local shop is happy to charge premium (think Discogs median plus shipping) for NM or VG+ albums, but they have the decency of selling more “well-loved” records for cheap change. This is my latestfind:





As long as I keep finding deals like this, I’ll probably keep buying records.

 

[zomgbear]

shelves have been full for a while so i bought a crate for storage - filled it up and my shelves are still full

 

[Selaws]

I'm finding the same thing with used records at local stores, they're charging more for a used copy than something I can buy new with the same pressing. Went to three stores yesterday and didn't pick up a thing.

I have said this before but when I first started buying records I used to get a lot of them from charity shops (thrift shops?). It was actually over a year into buying them that I actually set foot in my first record shop as there weren't any locally.

They used to sell them for 50p to £1 a time and while I never found any majorly big releases I did get a lot of Beatles and the like. I popped down to my local charity shop today and as a test (I never buy from them because of what I am about to highlight) I looked for the cheapest record they had. It was a Jim Reeves album that is likely in every charity shop in the country and they had it priced at £5.99 (I checked Discogs and its median is £0.89). They had a scratched up Fatboy Slim 12" (Discogs median £2.25) marked up at £17.99 and a Johnny Cash repress (£1.82 median) also for £17.99.

I'm all for giving to charity but when you consider they get these records for free as donations and that they likely have an idea of their value (otherwise they are just plucking numbers from the air) then it's nothing more than a rip-off. I went to another after this and picked up a Duke Ellington 2lp set for £1. Its probably 'worth' that anyway and also ensured that I will pop back in there and buy from them again.

 

[ByersVinyl]

I have said this before but when I first started buying records I used to get a lot of them from charity shops (thrift shops?). It was actually over a year into buying them that I actually set foot in my first record shop as there weren't any locally.

They used to sell them for 50p to £1 a time and while I never found any majorly big releases I did get a lot of Beatles and the like. I popped down to my local charity shop today and as a test (I never buy from them because of what I am about to highlight) I looked for the cheapest record they had. It was a Jim Reeves album that is likely in every charity shop in the country and they had it priced at £5.99 (I checked Discogs and its median is £0.89). They had a scratched up Fatboy Slim 12" (Discogs median £2.25) marked up at £17.99 and a Johnny Cash repress (£1.82 median) also for £17.99.

I'm all for giving to charity but when you consider they get these records for free as donations and that they likely have an idea of their value (otherwise they are just plucking numbers from the air) then it's nothing more than a rip-off. I went to another after this and picked up a Duke Ellington 2lp set for £1. Its probably 'worth' that anyway and also ensured that I will pop back in there and buy from them again.

Had completely the same experience!
Ive seen beat up unplayable crap for £10 - literally looked like it had been sandpapered.

 

[Tys1]

2 months ago I promised my wife that if I could just have a few more kallax’s I wouldn’t keep more than I could fit in there. I went from 8 cubes to 16 and was able to move my garage storage crates indoors. Well, this is the result… sigh…. I’m keeping my promise but it means sometime this year I’ll be moving some back into the garage.

 

[Selaws]

Had completely the same experience!
Ive seen beat up unplayable crap for £10 - literally looked like it had been sandpapered.

It's infuriating. I was there a while ago when a guy went to the counter and actually explained that they are overpricing them and that he could go to the record shop at the bottom of the road and get the same stuff cheaper. The response of the person that worked there was "Yes but the money here goes to charity". Just can't be reasoned with.

 

[Hemotep]

It's infuriating. I was there a while ago when a guy went to the counter and actually explained that they are overpricing them and that he could go to the record shop at the bottom of the road and get the same stuff cheaper. The response of the person that worked there was "Yes but the money here goes to charity". Just can't be reasoned with.

There are a bunch of antique stores around here with vinyl sections and they are all priced in the $30-$50 range and mostly in terrible unplayable shape. I asked one of the guys who ran the stand what gives and he said people buy them for decoration
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ ͡ಠ_ಠ)̲̅$̲̅]
On another note my 650th showed up today. Didn't include the box of about 50 that I don't care about and that I hit up when I want to grab something from the local on trade. My 4x4 kallax is almost full but my long suffering and loving wife has been complaining about space lately (˘･_･˘)

 

[zdkaiser]

2 months ago I promised my wife that if I could just have a few more kallax’s I wouldn’t keep more than I could fit in there. I went from 8 cubes to 16 and was able to move my garage storage crates indoors. Well, this is the result… sigh…. I’m keeping my promise but it means sometime this year I’ll be moving some back into the garage.View attachment 111284

You can always build upwards. Vinyl skyscrapers.



And what's with that bottom gap on that shelf on the right?

 

[Tys1]

You can always build upwards. Vinyl skyscrapers.



And what's with that bottom gap on that shelf on the right?

True. It just wouldn’t be the most sightly, IMO. As for the gap. I had to customize a 1x4 so that’d it’d fit below the shelf that you see right above it. I usually keep a small box with 7” there.

 

[Russ I]

I can easily walk out of a record store without buying anything, and $4 bargain-bin albums hold no appeal for me, but I can't stop filling carts at the likes of Record City. This hobby is a source of ritual, adventure, excitement, exploration and enjoyment for me, and "discovering" an apparent treasure trove of clean and likely high-SQ albums covering the gamut of my listening interests, both in terms of the music itself and the eras covered, has sparked irresistible and largely irrational urges.

 

[Joe Mac]

I can easily walk out of a record store without buying anything, and $4 bargain-bin albums hold no appeal for me, but I can't stop filling carts at the likes of Record City. This hobby is a source of ritual, adventure, excitement, exploration and enjoyment for me, and "discovering" an apparent treasure trove of clean and likely high-SQ albums covering the gamut of my listening interests, both in terms of the music itself and the eras covered, has sparked irresistible and largely irrational urges.

*Looks at the tracking for the 14 records ordered from record city*

I don’t know what you’re on about, it’s totally rational…

 

[Joe Mac]

I haven't read the whole thread, but here's my thinking:

One of the things that really accelerated my disillusionment with Facebook (alongside the toxicity and disinformation) was learning about Dunbar's Number.

Short version of this theory is that most people can only maintain stable social relationships with around 150 people. When you exceed that number, you're actually starting to replace old relationships with new ones.

I think there's a potential corollary to records here. One might surmise that you can only have a relationship with so many albums, but I think that's maybe too limiting. My thought is that I can only have a listening relationship, at least at the album level, with so many artists. So, while I don't have an upper limit of albums that I think belong in my collection, as I get older I find myself less concerned with music discovery and more interested in building out, or continuing, my relationships with artists I enjoy. I won't cap myself at 500 albums, because I know I'm going to buy the next Bill Callahan record, and I won't cap it at 501, because I know I'm going to buy the next Nick Cave record, and so on. But I also know that I'm not likely to just impulse buy a new record by a young band on the strength of a debut single, either, because I don't have the capacity for another listening relationship with a new artist right now.

So what you’re saying is

 

[Corycm]

Also: there's too much music.

My collection is like a reference library or encyclopedia. Just because I don’t routinely get into the Q section doesn’t mean I won’t need to at some point. I definitely don’t have a relationship with every artist in my collection. Hell, I have a few records I really dislike in there, but for the sake of reference it’s nice to be able to dig out out some bullshit McCartney-penned love-me-do-tie-dye-your-lovebeads nonsense when the occasion arises. For comparison or whatever.

So, you know, reasons for collecting are as different as the collections. I don’t think there’s a solid answer.

Alternate conclusion: The answer is 4.

 

[POGunter]

My thought is that I can only have a listening relationship, at least at the album level, with so many artists. So, while I don't have an upper limit of albums that I think belong in my collection, as I get older I find myself less concerned with music discovery and more interested in building out, or continuing, my relationships with artists I enjoy. I won't cap myself at 500 albums, because I know I'm going to buy the next Bill Callahan record, and I won't cap it at 501, because I know I'm going to buy the next Nick Cave record, and so on. But I also know that I'm not likely to just impulse buy a new record by a young band on the strength of a debut single, either, because I don't have the capacity for another listening relationship with a new artist right now.

Life would have been so much simpler and my storage requirements so much less if would have just stuck to the early bands I knew and loved.

 

[bornard]

good thread and lots of good thinking here..

couple thoughts -
for those of us that are older and started buying a while back the exploration aspect sure was a lot easier/cheaper and for me the exploration is key which is mainly why I try to buy used records at value (and endlessly complain about new records, fuck why can't they make flat records anymore..sorry) - also unfortunately Discogs allows anyone to know everything so digging really doesn't exist. the really valuable records are all picked, sold, ebayed and probably behind some vault never being played...

in reality the number is meaningless these days because even if you don't own it, so much of it is available to stream...so really it's the decision that you have to own a thing (the rare stuff that isn't available to stream is nearly always incredible niche, no judgement, that's the stuff I want on vinyl too).

I'm buying on exploration these days, I try to find value where I can, I say fuck you to FOMO and I try to focus on the music and avoid thinking of "shootouts' yet get rid of records that don't sound good. I support labels and stores that I like.

I have a lot of records but I'd hate the thought of not being able to play something if it came to mind.