First eBay Buy Yields Delight

I have always been a bit leery about buying used vinyl records off eBay. After all not all eBay sellers are on the up and up and often hide behind the fine print. But at the same time I gave up looking for miracles in the thrift shop, and my local record store doesn't always have the selections I am looking for. 

So off to eBay I often go to look but with caution and incredulity. There are a number of items I have been following, but I never made a bid on any of them until recently. See the issue with eBay and records is that in buying a record there is a lot to cover. First off all the record itself, let's be honest they don't photograph well and it would be hard to tell if there is scratching or warping, not to mention between light and the grooves a good record could give the appearance of being scratched. Then there's the cover and the sleeves which can at times have the same issues as the records themselves. In person all this takes about 30 seconds to appraise but online its a lot different.

If you read this blog regularly you will know I have been looking for the Eagles Hotel California for a while. Of course my requirements where simple I wanted the record in great shape, cover and sleeve in great shape (since the cover of this album tells a story) and the poster. 

I would come across a copy with my requirements and then find the price was right $10-$15, but it sold while I was thinking it over, or I would find them way over priced $25-$30. But this time I lucked out when a new seller had the album as I wanted it record, cover, and poster in A+ condition, for $10 with shipping. Now a lot of people don't buy from new sellers, but I have found some real deals with them. New sellers can be a good place to look but you are taking a chance. In the past three months I have had two great experiences and deals with new sellers, and one bad one. So the odds have been in my favor mostly, all I can say is Thank God for Paypal buyer protection on the latter.  

This experience was extremely positive and the album is in fantastic condition, album cover is in good condition too, and as you can see by the picture above the poster is in super-awesome shape. I have played through the album twice now with no problems, it sounds fantastic. 

Overall I am ecstatic to finally have this piece in my collection. And I am super happy with eBay and the buyer on this sale.