[philball1974]

So I've been listening to Porcupine Tree's Deadwig recently on digital and like it a lot. So i thought id look for the vinyl and seems its quite an expensive one fetching £200-300 and even some joker on discogs who values his mint unopened copy at $2000

Got me thinking, what does it mean to own a actual vinyl copy of something as oppose to just listening to the music which is readily available for so little. Has anyone ever spent big money just to own a record?

For me, I cant think of any record i would pay hundreds for.

[NathanLurker]

At the very beginning when I started collecting vinyl I knew I wanted some selected albums on records, it was part of the appeal of starting a collection. So I was prepared to pay a bit more for them. I was starting a collection partly to get those titles, including Doomrider's excellent ''Black Thunder'', Electric Wizard's "Witchcult Today", Basil Poledouris' Conan...

I mean, if you're gonna have a collection of vinyl records, what's the point if you don't have at least a few of your most important albums.

other than that I've paid big amounts only on records that have a special meaning, album that accompanied an important event in my life. So the value of owning the vinyl is mainly emotional. that nostalgia factor from vinyl, plus the emotional factor of the album.

[antimax]

I just think it's the best way to listen to music. So I try to get albums that I know I will really love listening to, as opposed to buying anything and everything.

[Spun out of control]

Obvious answer, but vinyl is surely the most 'tangible' music format.

You pick up one of these 180g vinyls and it really feels like you are getting something for your money. Places like Rough Trade seem to leave the vinyls in the shrink wrap on the shelves, so you get that instantly. Other shops such as my local Banquet Records just have the empty sleeves on show, so you don't get the same effect.

As well as the weight and heft, add in posters, gatefold editions and canvas effect covers, like the latest DW releases, and you are 'sold'. Even if it does typically cost £20 upwards for an LP, which is a lot more than the fiver it used to cost for (thinner) vinyl when I first started buying records.

Think the maximum I have spent on a single hard to find album is £60. Though that is probably conservative compared to a lot of guys on here...

In a world where most things are digital and have been slightly devalued by that format, if you really like something you want a version you can hold in your hands I feel.

[DISCOSUCKS...]

I fully intend for my collection to be passed on to my niece and nephew - it's awesome now seeing them start buying wax themselves, at age 16 and 18, against all the odds. I can only suppose I've had something to do with this interest (even if Jack still insists on referring to them as "vinyls"....ahh what the hell, I give him a pass

[siforster]

The cost of new vinyl doesn't bother me too much - 20 quid for something that is pretty much manufactured on ancient machinery in tiny amounts makes it a bespoke industry nowadays. It's not the sole format either so if there's something I'd like to hear (the stipulation of which makes up about 99% of why I buy records anyway) and don't want to pay 20 quid for it plus however much it costs to send from wherever, then I'll get a CD or download for a fraction of the cost.

It is annoying though when this willingness to pay a premium for a higher level of craftsmanship is taken and multiplied exponentially for the 2nd hand market (played or otherwise), especially when those prices them put the fear of god into anyone wanting to own the thing just to listen to it. Most I've paid that I can remember is £75 for a double LP and I play the crap out of it on a budget turntable that would have most people on here recoiling in horror, but I don't give a stuff as I love the noise that comes from that record.

But I guess that if people pay the prices that these things are being inflated to, then people will sell them for that, and it's probably only when/if new manufacturing plants are created to increase the supply then we're stuck with this madness. Until then, I'll just pay whatever I'm prepared to pay for something and if something's too much, then I'll just have to be patient and wait - after all, what's the point in having vinyl grails if you can just pluck them from the internet for £00s on a whim? Kids today, peh.

[philball1974]

I think were also in a time when it makes it difficult to pay a lot for something knowing there could be a re issue around the corner.

Good example of this for me is Stars of the Lid stuff. Notoriously expensive second hand but there is a (not confirmed) rumour of them being repressed. So do you wait and hope or do you buy anyway! for this particular example i wait in hope!

[blastman]

I have paid north of £100 on hard-to-get stuff I've been chasing, but I wouldn't do it too often. I look at the prices being sought for Gravity, for example, and cringe.