Guides
For vinyl collectors.
Practical answers to the questions collectors ask before, during, and after building a catalog. New guides added as the questions come up.
Looking up a specific record?
Browse 40 album value guides.
First-press labels, catalog numbers, matrix clues, and value ranges by condition.
Comparing more than one album?
Browse vinyl values by artist.
Put collectible originals side by side and see which labels, matrices, and inserts move each record's value.
Starting with the center label?
Identify four classic pressing-label families.
Visual markers, rim text, catalog prefixes, plant clues, and records that use each design.
Staring at the dead wax?
Decode 20 matrix and runout marks.
Matrix prefixes, mastering signatures, plant codes, and the symbols that look like scratches until you know what they mean.
Inheritance & decisions
Sell, donate, or keep them.
The decision matrix: four places to sell, what each one pays, and the donation options for everything that didn't make the cut.
Valuation
What's my vinyl worth.
The three factors that drive any record's price, real ranges from Discogs sold-listing data, and how to figure out a specific record.
Identification
How to tell a first-pressing Beatles record.
The four telltale signs (label, catalog number, matrix runout, sleeve text) plus per-album notes for Meet The Beatles through Abbey Road.
For returning collectors
Your old records, on your iPhone.
For collectors getting back into vinyl after a long stretch. What the app does, what the first scan feels like, and what you end up with.
Comparisons
The camera-first Discogs alternative.
Honest comparison — where Discogs is still the better tool and where Crown Vinyl wins. Pick the right one for the job.
In the wild
Found a record at a thrift store. What now.
Five things to check in two minutes to decide whether you're holding a $3 score or walking away from a $300 sleeper.
Album value
Fleetwood Mac Rumours, first-press value.
What a 1977 first-press is actually worth, how to tell it from the reissues, and the things that push a clean copy to the top of the range.
Album value
The Beatles Butcher cover. What it's worth.
The three cover states (first, second, third), how to tell which one you have, and recent value ranges from authenticated auction sales.
Album value
Dark Side of the Moon, first-press value.
What a 1973 UK Harvest first-press is actually worth, how to tell it from the dozens of reissues, and the inserts that push a clean copy to the top.
Album value
Original Led Zeppelin records.
Value guide for first-press LPs across the Zeppelin catalog — catalog numbers, album-specific tells, and recent sold ranges by condition.