Five Habits of a Successful Collector
Maximise the return on your vinyl investment while still enjoying your records... and without breaking the bank
January is the month of resolutions. The vast majority of New Year resolutions fail because the necessary habits to sustain them weren’t there in the first place.
People often ask me how I manage to enjoy exponential growth in my vinyl collection while still buying predominantly for enjoyment and without breaking the bank.
It’s never an easy question to answer because it depends on multiple factors. However, there are five basic habits which, over time, will help you achieve a better return on your vinyl investment.
Browse more than you buy
If you make a purchase every time you go crate-digging (either in store or online), you are not getting the best deals out there. To make your vinyl money work, you need to browse more than you buy. Your browsing/buying ratio should be roughly 70/30. This will help you prioritise and make informed decisions based on the availability, price and condition of the records you come across.
Sinergies
When buying, you should ideally try to combine shipping costs/trips to the record store. The money you spend on postage and the time it takes you to buy in person cannot be easily recovered. Don’t buy for the sake of buying, but try to avoid standalone purchases whenever possible.
Focus on what you know
You should focus primarily on records and genres you enjoy and know well. While a certain degree of diversification is important, and this will ultimately depend on your collection strategy, you need to like what you buy. It’s a million times easier to resell records of artists you know well and whose target audience you can relate to.
Eyes wide open
The devil is in the detail. You should always be on the lookout for rarities, misprints, autographs and limited editions. Pay attention to the specific version you are buying as there can be huge price differences between two seemingly identical records. Look after your collection to prevent creases and scratches.
Buy from multiple sources
You should aim for a healthy balance between online and physical stores, and between second-hand and brand new vinyl. Don’t get all your eggs from the same basket! You are unlikely to find the best prices if you always shop in the same place. This will also help you save time, as you will know where to go to find what you need when you need it.
This list is by no means exhaustive. Can you think of other habits that have helped you become a wiser collector? See you in the comments.
Thanks for reading/listening. Happy spinning!
Sage advice! I'm terrible with impluse control, but one thing that helps is waiting (at least) 24 hours between deciding I /need/ a record, and actually buying it. Many times, I'll find that I'm not as excited after waiting a full day.
I've more or less stopped buying vinyl other than select reissues because I have everything I want at this point. I still have a short list of things I'd like on vinyl and haven't found and don't want to pay discogs price for. And for new issues, I buy everything released by the Fabs, of course, along with things like the upcoming Band on the Run Underdubbed, in part because I want to signal with my dollars that there's a demand so they'll keep releasing stuff, and the best way to do that is to buy the releases when they come out.
I only own and buy albums that I truly want to listen to from start to finish, both sides, without weak tracks that I wish I could skip, those magic albums that deserve to be listened to with full attention. Most music, eg things like frothy 80s pop and occasionally 90s country, etc., that's for streaming. And if it was recorded digital, it stays that way. (I'm now thinking of Elaine's "spongeworthy" test on Seinfeld. Most music isn't "vinyl" so it doesn't tempt me. )