Where to sell vinyl records

Record shops

A local record shop buys records it can sell to its own customers. You take the records in, someone looks at them with you, and you agree a price for the ones the shop wants.

Works well when you can carry the boxes, you want a person to see the condition in front of you, and you are happy to be paid in the shop if you agree a sale that day. A shop may ask you to book a time, especially for a large collection.

Harder when the shop only wants part of the pile, the shop is a journey away, or the collection fills several boxes. What a shop offers depends on what it already has in stock and what its customers buy. Ask that shop how it buys records before you make the trip.

eBay

eBay is a general online marketplace with a large audience in the UK. You choose a buy-it-now price or an auction, and you sell to whoever buys the listing.

Works well when you can photograph the sleeve and the vinyl, describe the condition honestly, and pack and post each sale. You set the asking price. You answer buyers yourself.

Harder when you have a whole collection to list one by one, or you want someone else to deal with questions and packing. eBay charges fees. Check the current fees on eBay before you rely on a price. Unsold listings need a decision later. You are responsible for the description you write.

Discogs

Discogs is a database and a marketplace organised around a specific release: label, country, catalogue number and format. The buyers are mostly people looking for records. A listing sits on that release's page. Discogs shows past sales for a release when it has them, which helps you choose an asking price.

Works well when you can tell which pressing you have, or you are willing to match the catalogue number to the right release page, and you can grade the vinyl and the sleeve. It is built for the exact object, which suits pressings that collectors seek and anyone happy to describe them.

Harder when you have hundreds of common LPs and limited time. Each sale is still yours to pack and post, including overseas if you accept those orders. Discogs charges sellers a fee. Check the current fee on Discogs before you set a price. Grading is part of the listing. Discogs sellers describe condition on a published scale (Mint, Near Mint, Very Good and the grades around them). Our grading guide is the scale we use, and it is a useful read if you sell on Discogs as well.

Vinted

Vinted is a second-hand marketplace where people in the UK list goods, including records. You photograph an item or a small bundle, describe it, and deal with the buyer in the app.

Works well when you already use Vinted, you are selling a modest number of records, and a general audience is enough. A buyer there may care more about the album than about which pressing it is.

Harder when the record is collected for a particular pressing, or the pile is large enough that separate listings become the whole job. You still photograph, pack and post. Check Vinted's current fees and payment rules on Vinted before you list, because they change.

Buyback sites

A vinyl buyback site buys records from you directly, so you deal with one buyer who will resell them. Anyone buying to resell has their own costs and a price they hope to sell at. A private buyer who wants the record for their own shelf is in a different position. Which sale suits you depends on the record and on how much of the work you want to do yourself.

Works well when you want one sale, you want to know the offer before you part with the records, and you are happy to sell to a dealer. On Vinyl Buyback that offer is per record, from a barcode scan or a catalogue number typed on the site. You then post the records you decide to send. Selling vinyl records online and how it works describe our steps. The terms are the rules of the sale.

Harder when you want to wait for a collector and do the listing yourself, or the site you are looking at only quotes after you get in touch. Some vinyl buyback sites ask you to email a list of titles, or a few photos, and then wait for a valuation. That is a real way to sell. It is a different wait from seeing an offer at the moment you scan the barcode.

A price given from a barcode has not seen your copy. Condition is still checked when the records arrive. Chris Faulkes checks every record's condition himself.