nah, not my forum, I'm just a control freak who tells everyone what to do

It must be great to have some shops selling vinyl to visit, here it just clothes, clothes, or clothes.....and the odd bank or two, really quite an desert music and Hifi wise.

Are they well looked after? with a professional seller you do get some kind of rating system that will let you know what kind of state the record is in, but with a charity shop are you taking more of a chance?

You are taking more of a risk but no more than at a specialista.
Professional vinyl resellers will only grade on appearance. It would not be financially viable to listen to everything before sale.

If you know what you are doing (experience counts), you reduce your risk by looking with a "rater's" eye. Even in record stores an A+ can be seriously damaged. Yes a specialist will have a "return if damaged" policy but so do my charity stores. Just keep the receipts and stickers.

Most people don't realise this. All you have to do is ask. If they say no then your choice is whether you are happy to risk 50p and get rubbish. Or pay 50p and get a gem. I have bought a few duds over the years but also found some brilliant bargains such as a still sealed first run pressing of John William's 'The Height Below' for £1.

I doubt you would buy a CD that looked like it had been used as a beermat and the same applies to vinyl.

I see it as part of the quest Woodstock and couldnt agree more with your approach Oz-my best finds have saved me so much that i might have spent on new vinyl and no guarentee it will automatically sound better...found copy of Axis -bold as love for £2.50 and having compared it to recent copy bought new from states thers no difference really-bear in mind it was mint -where i live folks are blissfully unaware of the value of some records and hence cheapness.

Welcome Jilly!

I bet some people would cry if they had any idea of the value of the record collection, some might have some real gems.

Just a little story to bore you all to death with, but when I was younger I bought a single for about 20p It was on the 2-Tone label when it was on it's last legs. The single was a flop, it was called alphabet army by The JB allstars, John Bradbury the drummers of The Specials, anyway 25 years later that single fetched over £50 on Ebay.

I think my collection has some gems, I have some nice picture discs, a lot of Madness picture disc that I will never sell.