Buying Guides for used records

We wrote this guide for the moment before a price is agreed. It sets out what to check on the sleeve and the disc, what a seller's grade should mean, and where your own check stops being enough.

How the verdict is reached

We set the verdict by fixed rules, so you can test it against the record rather than take it on trust. The walk-away rules come first, and any one of them is enough on its own:

The seller's words are not borne out by what you can see.
Heavy scratches or a haze across the grooves.
The surface, or the warp and noise, cannot be checked at all.
The grade is Poor. This is a rule of thumb set for this form, not a sourced threshold.

If no walk-away rule applies, the verdict is to ask for a lower price when any of these is true:

The sleeve has split seams, writing or water damage, or it is only worn and the record is for keeping.
The surface shows light marks, or there is warp or noise to ask about.
The seller's words are not clearly borne out (not sure).
The grade is below Near Mint for a record you keep, or below VG+ for a record you play.

A copy that clears every rule gets the buy verdict. VG+ is the usual grade for a record bought to be played, and Near Mint is the grade that justifies a premium for one you keep.

The rules say nothing about rarity or a label's reputation. A rarer pressing gets the same sleeve, surface and playing checks as any other record.

Condition and playability set a used record's worth

The mistake this page is written against is agreeing a price before anyone has looked at the disc and the sleeve. For a buyer, a record's worth comes from two things: how it physically is, and whether it will be played. Rarity and a famous label's name do not change either, so the checks here leave them out.

Four things settle the decision, and the helper asks them in this order:

what the sleeve and the surface show under a light
whether the disc is for playing or for keeping
whether the seller's condition words match what you can see
whether there is warp or noise to ask about

The same four questions work in reverse for a seller. A buyer will read your record the way the helper does, so check your own copy before you list it, and describe the sleeve and surface in plain words a buyer can verify.

We print no price for a record here, because we could not source one, and a price depends on a local market this guide cannot see. What the guide gives you is a way to decide what the copy in front of you is worth to you before anyone names a number.

Run the checks on a record

Checking a copy at the counter, step by step

Work through these in the order a buyer meets them. None needs more than a light, and a turntable helps for a test play where you can get one.

Look at the sleeve before the disc. Check the seams, the corners and any writing, and note whether the jacket belongs with the record inside.
Wash and dry your hands, then hold the disc only by its edge and label area, never the playing surface. The Library of Congress guide to cylinder, disc and tape care gives that rule for grooved discs. The NEDCC Preservation 101 guide on storing and handling media says cotton gloves are not needed and can make you drop the item.
Hold the disc to a light and turn it slowly. Look for scratches and haze across the grooves, and for any sign of warp.
Compare the seller's grade with what you have seen, using the scale in the helper above.
If the record came from a cold car or a cold garage, let it reach room temperature before you play it. The same Library of Congress guide says materials from cool storage should acclimate before playback.
Ask for a test play where you can, and listen for warp, skips and noise before the price is final.

Read how the verdict is reached

Recognising a copy you can play with confidence

A record for playing can carry a few extra faults that do not seriously hurt playability, which is how the Goldmine guide describes VG+, and it is the usual grade for a record bought to be played. A record for keeping should sit closer to Near Mint, which the same guide describes as played only a few times.

Two people on a sunlit wooden floor beside a turntable, one leaning forward to lift a record — Generated for this page, so it shows a setting and not a checked copy. A record you can play with confidence has a sleeve without split seams, a surface free of haze under a light, and a grade the seller's words back up.

Hands guiding a fretting hand on a nylon-string guitar during a lesson

When your own check is no longer enough

Once a copy is worth enough that the price is in dispute, or the seller will not let you handle it, a second opinion from someone who works with records every day is worth finding. This guide sets no value on a rare pressing, and it does not try to.

Where to read further on lessons and the trade

Music Teachers National Association: a national directory of teachers and a certification program, useful when a lesson is part of the purchase.
NAMM: the trade association for music product makers and retailers, for background on the industry behind the instruments and shops.