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.
Pressing identification
Original vs reissue. How to tell.
The five signals that separate first-press from reissue across nearly every catalog: label, catalog number, matrix runout, cover stock, and inserts. The universal technique.
Pressing identification
Original Stax and Volt soul 45s.
How to identify 1960s Memphis soul singles on the yellow Stax label or the Volt fingerprint, and why Northern Soul collectors keep prices on these firm.
Pressing identification
Original Motown 45s.
Tamla, Motown, Gordy, Soul, V.I.P. — the five imprints, the label-era distinctions, and the Frank Wilson 45 that has sold for $25,000+.
Care and handling
Cleaning and storing vinyl records.
The brush-and-distilled-water method, what to never do, and how to store records so they survive — for collectors and the people who inherited boxes of them.
Care and handling
Are Crosley turntables bad for vinyl.
The honest answer: fine for $1 thrift finds, a permanent mistake for inherited or first-press records. Tracking force, stylus quality, and what to upgrade to.
Pressing identification
How to grade a record's condition.
The Goldmine scale (M, NM, VG+, VG, G+, G, F, P) explained — what each grade actually looks like under inspection and how much condition moves the price.
Decisions
Where to sell vinyl records.
Six venues compared — eBay, Discogs, local shops, specialist auctions, Facebook Marketplace, estate buyers. What each pays and which records sell best where.
Care and handling
Best budget turntables for 2026.
Six entry- and mid-tier turntables that won't damage records, from $130 to $700. Audio-Technica, U-Turn, Pro-Ject, Rega — with concrete recommendations by use case.
Album value
The Beach Boys — Pet Sounds first-press value.
What an original 1966 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
The Doors — The Doors first-press value.
What an original 1967 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.