My Expert Hacks for Buying Vinyl Online

Tips and tricks for finding grails at a cheap price with the help of local record stores.

Aug 25, 2025

Vinyl prices have gone from hobby to highway robbery. The average LP is 25% pricier than it was just five years ago. New releases regularly hit the $40–$50 range, and even common used records flirt with $25. This collector’s habit has become a financial liability.

This spike is what drove me to launch VinylOnSale on Twitter/X a decade ago, where I track price drops in real time like a vinyl-obsessed coupon clipper. I don’t claim expert status in many things, but I’ve definitely logged my 10,000 hours digging through online crates for deals.

So here they are: my go-to hacks, tools, and shop secrets for building a killer record collection without going broke.

Leverage Discogs Like a Pro

Discogs is the internet’s record store backroom, with 11.5 million vinyl listings in the U.S. alone. If you haven’t already, create a free account and start building your wantlist with your most sought-after records.

Here’s where it gets powerful: last summer, Discogs rolled out custom filters for your wantlist. You can now set alerts based on price, condition, seller location, and more. The second that record you’ve been chasing goes live within your criteria, you’ll get a real-time notification.

Before you hit “Buy Now,” check the built-in price history to see what it’s actually worth. You’ll spot overpriced listings instantly and know when you’ve found a true deal.

A screenshot of my Discogs wantlist. My birthday is this weekend btw.

Subscribe to the Right Newsletters and Strike Early

Some record store emails are worth opening. The best shops give subscribers a heads up when a ton of new inventory drops, so the early bird gets the grail.

Exhibit A is Plaid Room Records out of Loveland, Ohio. Co-founders of the excellent Colemine Records label, they’re also known for their weekly email blasts, with a typical subject line that screams “165+ new releases! 1,000 restocks! 700 used vinyl!”

Then there’s Dusty Groove, the Chicago institution that’s been slinging rarities since the dial-up days. What started as an online-first operation in the ’90s is still one of the most meticulously curated vinyl shops on the web. Their daily updates and weekly newsletters are packed with deep cuts — rare LPs, funky 45s, vintage 78s, and obscure CDs — all described with passion. Fair warning: one click and you may lose your whole afternoon.

Mark Your Calendar for Recurring Sales

Some indie shops reward the faithful with monthly deals that are easy to miss. Take Monster Music & Movies in Charleston, South Carolina. On the first Saturday of every month, they host a “Vinyl Saturday” sale: 20% off all vinyl — new, used, in-store, and online — for 24 hours only. That discount even applies to pre-orders and special orders for out-of-stock titles, which is basically unheard of. If you’re looking to build your collection without paying full price, this is a sale worth setting a reminder for.

Use RSD MRKT to Scope Inventory Across Indie Stores

RSD MRKT is a centralized marketplace that pulls together inventory from Record Store Day–pledged indie shops across the country. It focuses on new, unopened vinyl, CDs, and cassettes — mostly RSD titles, Essentials, and Indie Exclusives for now. A full catalog is coming soon, but even as-is, it’s a powerful discovery tool.

You can buy directly from RSD MRKT, but I treat it like a search engine: once I spot who has stock, I go buy directly from that store to save on fees or snag additional site-only deals.

Now, let’s talk Record Store Day itself. There are now two RSDs each year — one in April, the other on Black Friday — and if you’ve ever gone in person, you know the deal: long lines, early mornings, and no guarantees.

Skip all that. Park Ave CDs (my trusted local shop in Orlando) is clutch when it comes to RSD inventory. They post all leftover stock online here at 8 AM EST the morning after each RSD, and I’ve never once missed out on a title I wanted.

My local shop Park Ave CDs aka my happy place.

Snag Autographed Records from In-Store Events

Here’s another reason I love Park Ave CDs — when touring artists roll through Orlando, they’ll often stop by and sign a stack of vinyl for the store. Each signed record sells online, with $5 from every purchase going to a local charity of the artist’s choosing. It’s a win for your collection and the community. You can browse their current signed inventory here.

Another great autograph source is Fingerprints in Long Beach, California. They host tons of in-store signings and offer a dedicated section of autographed albums on their site.

If your local shop does something similar, drop it in the comments, as I am building a signed vinyl collection.

Tap Into the Global Vinyl Underground

Sometimes the best deals are hiding in plain sight — just not in your country. Websites like MusicStack aggregate listings from independent record stores worldwide, vastly expanding your search pool. That long out-of-print jazz LP may be collecting dust in a tiny shop in the U.K. that doesn’t bother with eBay.

If you collect international pressings, expand your hunt to country-specific marketplaces like CDandLP or Yahoo Japan Auctions. Many overseas pressings are cheaper, even after shipping. You’re also less likely to face the same competition driving up prices on Discogs or eBay.

Time Your Buys at Big Retailers

If you’re cool with buying from the big guys — Amazon, Target, Walmart — the key is timing. About once a quarter, Amazon and Target run dueling Buy 2 Get 1 Free sales on a massive chunk of their vinyl inventory. That’s essentially 33% off if you pick three similarly priced records. It’s one of the best ways to snag new releases at a discount, especially if you’re catching up on your wishlist.

Bonus tip: Bullseye Deals, Target’s in disguise eBay storefront. It’s essentially Target liquidating its own stock under a different name. The listings are packed with vinyl at steep discounts — some with dinged corners or torn shrink, others totally clean. If you don’t care about jacket perfection, it’s a goldmine.

Price Trackers and Coupon Codes That Actually Work

There are a few essential browser tools and price trackers every crate-digger should keep in their kit.

If you buy vinyl on Amazon, start with CamelCamelCamel or Keepa. Both track price history and can alert you when a specific record drops back into your comfort zone. That $35 LP you’ve been eyeing? If it was $18 two weeks ago, now you’ll know. Install Keepa as a browser extension and it’ll display a full price history chart right on the Amazon listing.

Next, grab a coupon extension like Honey. While it’s not vinyl-specific, it occasionally finds working promo codes for indie shops or applies cashback offers you didn’t know existed.

Lastly, Reddit’s r/popheadsvinyl wiki has a constantly updated list of working discount codes across dozens of record stores.

Join the Vinyl Deal Hive Mind

Some of the best steals come from being plugged into the vinyl community, where collectors swap tips, share price drops, and sound the alarm when a warehouse sale goes live.

On Reddit, the big three subs are r/VinylDeals, r/VinylReleases, and r/VinylCollectors. Between them, you’ll find everything from fresh markdowns to pre-order drops to peer-to-peer selling.

Then there’s my own project: Vinyl on Sale. I launched it to broadcast price drops in real time, and while Twitter/X isn’t what it used to be, it’s still the fastest way to get alerts. Just this past week we scored deals on Perfume Genius, Earl Sweatshirt, Noah Kahan, Wu-Tang Clan, and Marina & the Diamonds — all for under $16. Turn on notifications and you’ll feel like you’ve got a personal shopper hunting the bargains for you.

So there you have it. These are my tricks, but I know there are more out there. Got a go-to hack, a secret shop, or an obscure site you swear by? Share it with the class — we’re all trying to build our shelves without breaking the bank.