Unless you are the real deal, almost every LP you think you want will be on eBay at any given moment.  This guide will share my experiences trying to sort out solid purchases from Hail Mary's.  While it is possible to get a deal on common records in print for decades, there are more ways not to.  If you starting to think that you want items that are hard to find, rare and expensive like Stormcock, Oar, the Harry Smith Folk Anthology, Horserotorvator, Takoma records, Crying or Mono copies of the Stones, Beatles or Dylan, finding a deal is almost impossible and making a mistake becomes very easy as you fantasize about the Holy Grail of LPs.  For a true collector with oodles of disposable income, this isn't a problem.  For a small-time collector like myself, it is.  Finding the right copy from the right seller for the right price takes practice, patience and self-restraint.  This guide is meant for other small-time record collectors who want to avoid some mistakes that I've made as well as find some great items that will still be great when they show up at your door.

Here are some pointers, often familiar, but with a vinyl twist:

1. Buy It Now LPs must be taken with a grain of salt.  While sometimes they seem enticing and you really want it now, my experience has been that Buy It Now LPs are often over-graded and under-priced, over-priced because immediately available, or attached to poor customer service.  Plus Buy It Now preys on your impulsive need to hear "Hot time summer in the city..."  Plus it is full of 180 gram or Sundazed.  Plus it will probably be there for a little longer.

2. Beware of "NM."  If it is graded NM and it looks like a deal, it is probably too good to be true (unless you have terrible taste in music).  Read the seller's feedback, but be cautious, too many people will be content with over-graded records.  It is probably best to limit your bids on NM records to sellers who exclusively sell records with great feedback.  Seller's who do not make records their business tend to over-grade more than sellers who do.  Seller's selling their own records might go either way.

3. Play-grading has its downside.  People who have enough records to sell them on eBay usually have professional equipment, which might mean a $300 dollar needle that will triumph over a skip that your $30 dollar needle with trip up on.  If a seller has play-graded, but not offered a visual grading as well, you might want to ask.  A professional seller can very accurately visually grade.

4. Look overseas.  I found my copy of Stormcock on a UK auction where it appears far more often than on the US site.  The downside is international shipping.  Be sure to ask in advance.

5. Be cautious of Money Orders.  There is nothing wrong with being asked for a Money Order unless you have to return the record, then it adds to the already complicated process. 

6. Description.  You should expect your seller to clearly describe a record and cover in detail.  The description "VG+" means nothing unless you know why the record is graded that way: scuffs, slight warp, scratch that does not affect play, etc.  Better to bid on a VG+ with this kind of description than a NM with no elaboration as to why it's not Mint.  But remember that there is a lot of different kinds of vinyl in the world and it handles wear differently.  Dylan 360 2 Eye's are very prone to skips without even a scratch on them, other vinyl looks like a map of the Louisiana Purchase and plays flawlessly.  That said, grading is NOT subjective.  A NM record should probably not have a mark on it.  I usually place more emphasis on what a seller writes than the photos.  Ringwear usually looks worse in the photos and vinyl looks better.  This leads me to the one deal-breaker in a description: a photograph of a record clearly over-graded.  This is definitely a red flag. 

7. VG+ is just fine.  The tendency to grade optimistically is too common among eBay record sellers, but be cautious of assuming that grading is a sliding scale and that NM means VG+ or EX and VG+ means VG-, etc.  As one seller said, there is no such thing as a Mint record.  Some sellers do have them or at least NM records, but I'm not going to tell you who they are.  Most records out there are in the VG range.  That means they have been played, have character and will not make you scared of breaking them in.

8. Beware of "As Is" and sellers that doth protest too much.  In record stores, "as is" means that a record has a skip.  On eBay it means something different.  The record might be fine, but your seller is probably not going to offer the best customer service.  The same goes for sellers with long disclaimers about not being responsible for what happens in transit.  Think of them like you would someone who just broke up with their girlfriend or boyfriend, overly-sensitive, defensive and ready to take it personally. 


9. Repeat business.  If you have bought from a seller before and confirmed their accuracy, add them to your favorites and buy from them again rather than taking risks to save a few bucks on sellers that you have no experience with.  This means adjusting your buying habits and treating trusted sellers like record stores rather than treating eBay like a banquet where all your desires can be fulfilled.  Do you really need that second Pentangle album?  Probably not.

10. Packaging.  If your record is not packaged with care, it will be damaged in the mail.  If your seller has a description about how your record will be mailed, they deserve your trust more than a seller who does not.  Your record should be shipped in a new mailer in a plastic record bag, with a cardboard or dollar record reinforcement and maybe a square of bubble wrap.  And it should absolutely be stamped fragile or even stickers that advise handlers to keep the item away from heat.  The record should be removed from the sleeve to prevent rubbing to the the cover edges, but this isn't completely necessary.  There are some other creative ways to keep a record safe in the guides for sellers shipping records, but the above is most standard.  Anything less is poor packaging and deserving of your censure.  For example, a record by itself in a used record mailer is possibly the worst way to ship a record.  If it gets there undamaged, it's luck, your seller probably still deserves neutral feedback for poor packaging.

11. Think about distance.  If you buy a record from Nevada and it ships media mail across the country to NYC, it is going to take every one of those 10 business days to arrive, maybe more.  This might be okay with other items, but records in transit are like children after 10 o'clock.  Consider buying from your part of the country or paying a few extra dollars for shipping if it has to cross the continent.

12. Delivery confirmation.  Delivery confirmation should be standard shipping procedure especially for the going rate of $5.00 Media Mail.  Good sellers will always use delivery confirmation, and nothing is more satisfying than an email with a tracking number or link.  Request delivery confirmation if it is not specified and ask for a tracking number.  If someone tries to tell you that media mail and tracking do not mix, a flag should go up.  Insurance is your call, but paying through PayPal is coverage enough most of the time.

13. Bids.  There are three main strategies I use bidding depending on how much attention I think the item will generate: the low bid, the solid bid and the watchful bid.  For records that are constant features of the eBay stock, place a low bid on a reasonably described item that has no bids and just wait it out.  Keep track of them by adding them to your watch list.  If you loose, they'll be more out there just like it.  If you win, you just got a deal.  The solid bid is what a bid that is about what the record is worth.  Do not add shipping cost when you imagine what a record is worth because you will often loose these bids by five dollars.  Finally, there is the watchful bid.  Place a firm bid, maybe not the highest you'd go, but high enough to last through a few other bids.  Make sure you are online for the last ten minutes.  I'm too lazy for sniping programs, and I think they undermine the process.  Bottom line, for sought after items you will have to expect to be outbid and to bid again, and above all, you will have to know when to stop.  This is an excellent time to ask yourself, do I feel lucky?  If the answer is "Yes," don't bid.  This is an excellent time to ask yourself, does this seller seem upstanding.  If you have any doubts, don't bid.

14. After your record arrives.  Two things might happen.  It's okay or it's not okay.  Listen to it right away.  If it's okay, leave positive feedback, add the seller to favorites and move on with your life.  If it's not okay, clean the record.  Use high proof rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and a cloth for cleaning eye-glasses, if this does not make it okay, contact the seller and politely explain the issue.  Two things might happen.  You might keep the record or you might not.  A lot of sellers love records and will share your distress at a skip that shouldn't be there.  There are a lot of creative ways to resolve the issue without returning the record.  In your exchange remember that different equipment handles scuffs, skips, pops, etc. differently, but ultimately, it's what happens on your gear that counts.  Other sellers will not share your distress and will use the word "expectations" in their response or become defensive.  Don't fight it, return the record with delivery confirmation and after the smoke has settled leave feedback so that you can save others like you from a bad experience.  Finally, don't beat around the bush if a record is "significantly not as described" i.e. "near mint" has scuffs all over it, pops and crackle on the single track or your VG+ skips.  Use that phrase in your email because this tells the seller that you are making the case for a PayPal claim.  (P.S. Slight warps that do not affect play are common among VG+ but rarely stated in descriptions.)

15.  The expensive rare record. If you have limited disposable income like me, but do really want to own Balaklava or Clear Spot, consider how often you would listen to the record if it was pristine and cost you $50 dollars or more.  If you are drawn toward the mint rare record with 0 bids and 6d or 3d to go, you are probably fooling yourself.  Either it's rare because you have terrible taste in music, there's something fishy about the seller or the grade, or (more likely) there will be a lot of bidding late in the auction.  Better hunting in the VG range.  Ask the seller questions to generate trust before you make your bid.  Find out exactly what makes it VG or VG+ or VG- etc.  Also remember that even a rare record with a little skip here or there can be enjoyable (provided you know about the skip in advance), but records with a scratch that pops every rotation are worthless.