I second E-Bay, albeit it, in the UK. I have never had any major problems, beyond slight disappointment in the surface quality compared with the description. I agree, find an E-Bay online trader you can trust, or a few and stick with them. Another good source is those disposing of a large collection, often through death unfortunately. A pretty obvious rule, the larger the collection the less they will have been played and the better they seem to have been cared for. The point about E-bay is the supply is vast, wait long enough and that rare item you are looking for, will turn up. I agree sometimes an item gets to a crazy price, don't bid on it. For example a relatively rare copy of Mussorsky's opera Khovanschina on Melodya went for £25 2 months ago, it came up again and I got it for £6. I buy from online dealers too, but find them more expensive usually.
Large Classical Record Dealers
Hi all! I am beginning to get into vinyl and am looking for places to purchase classical vinyl material and had a few questions:
I'm a bit leary about Ebay, but they have a good selection on things I'm looking for. Any recommendations on how to decide between vendors? How can I trust their vinyl grading? Is it worth even trying to go this route? Any prefered vendors that you guys use?
Another option would be going through a dealer. I know of one, namely Sikora (http://www.sikorasclassical.com/inventory.htm) and was wondering if there are any other large classical vinyl vendors that you guys might recommend? Is this a good route to go, compared to Ebay? I like the fact I would be establishing a relationship with a vendor, but I'm not sure how cost effective this might be...
Finally, I'm not very knowledgeable on all the various gradings and terminology... For example, all I can really offer is the artist and composer that I'm looking for, for example Gyorgy Cziffra's Hugarian Rhapsodies by Listz... I'm not really sure how to get from this information to a recommended label, pressing, etc. Any ideas? This was my motivation for going with a large record vendor, but maybe I could sort this out for myself?
Thanks everyone!
I'm a bit leary about Ebay, but they have a good selection on things I'm looking for. Any recommendations on how to decide between vendors? How can I trust their vinyl grading? Is it worth even trying to go this route? Any prefered vendors that you guys use?
Another option would be going through a dealer. I know of one, namely Sikora (http://www.sikorasclassical.com/inventory.htm) and was wondering if there are any other large classical vinyl vendors that you guys might recommend? Is this a good route to go, compared to Ebay? I like the fact I would be establishing a relationship with a vendor, but I'm not sure how cost effective this might be...
Finally, I'm not very knowledgeable on all the various gradings and terminology... For example, all I can really offer is the artist and composer that I'm looking for, for example Gyorgy Cziffra's Hugarian Rhapsodies by Listz... I'm not really sure how to get from this information to a recommended label, pressing, etc. Any ideas? This was my motivation for going with a large record vendor, but maybe I could sort this out for myself?
Thanks everyone!