Now that you have your sexy new record console sitting in your place, you don’t want to surround it with cheap records. We get you. And if you don’t have a record console yet, what are you waiting for? LUNO has plenty. But if you’re a discerning music fan, and want that to show next to your luxury record console, you need to invest in the right records to build the right vinyl collection. LPs are not like real estate or stocks, but there is a strategy that you can use to get your hands on LPs when they are low, and keep them in your collection until they are worth a lot more.

So how can you enhance your record console with a suitable vinyl collection to match?

1 – Buy in person and rarely online

Only buy from reputable vinyl sellers and experts, in face-to-face transactions or authentic auctions. These people are knowledgeable and can give you the backstory or the reason why an LP is worth what it’s worth. Never buy from online sellers, where neither the real identity of the seller nor the condition of the record can be verified. We do recommend sites like discogs.com and popsike.com as a good places to evaluate an album’s worth before investing.

2 – Look for old, rare, and mint

Records of artists or bands that are $6 or $15, but they old, rare, and mint, are very good investments. The artists don’t even have to be popular, as long as the pressing is rare. However, it is no surprise that the most popular artists have the highest values, like The Beatles or The Police. Sometimes they don’t even have to be old, but as long as they are at least hard to find and are graded as being in mint condition, the value of that record will increase over the years. Even records graded as excellent in condition can be a good pick. You wouldn’t want to play this on your record console, but it would add a fine touch to your vinyl collection. And even if you do decide to play it several times, the condition will still be very good, and you can still get decent value out of the record should you choose to sell it later.

3 – Don’t forget the 1990s and early 2000s

In the 1990s, CDs where the dominant audio format. The majority of artists from that decade released albums on CDs. But sometimes artists from a wide variety of genres, still released vinyl versions of their CD albums. As people become nostalgic for the music of the 90s, the few LPs that were pressed during that decade will increase in value. LPs from the early 2000s should not be ignored for the same reason.

4 – Watch out for movies about artists

As soon as you learn about a film in the making about a specific artist from the past, that is a good time to buy that record when it is low. Once the movie is released, and the buzz grows, the demand for the LP will increase. When Straight Outta Compton was released in 2015, the LP of the same name could sell for $40. A year later, the same LP was selling for $200, because the demand was higher after the buzz of the movie.

5 – It’s morbid, but death pays

A lost life is always sad, but investing in the work of artists who passed away can be a blessing to their estate, and to you. Your investment is not so much profiting off of someone’s death (even though it kind of is), but the demand for their early music is great for the value of their estate. This is helpful to their relatives who are left behind, as well as your investment to your vinyl collection.

Want a place to store your valuable vinyl collection? Our Spektor Vinyl Storage Unit is what you’re looking for.