Is most collectible vinyl only available online?

[Kaber]

Curious whether folks have found that killer record store yet
regularly selling collectible vinyl?
Other than RSD record sales and the occasional special releases
it still feels to me like shops don't sell a lot of the collectibles / most desirable records in-store?
I've spent the last week in quite a few independent record stores
(Edinburgh , Harrogate , Liverpool ) and heard things like - the best stuff goes to eBay.
Anyone have a very different experience?

[Stl_ben]

I would imagine most customers don't walk into a store looking to spend $300 on an obscure 7"....while someone scouring the internet is much more likely to.

[Acidman68]

There is a store up here in aberdeen i would love to be let loose in but it's very small basment shop.
the owner has a few vinyls in racks there is some collectible stuff but he has boxes upon boxes pilled up in the corners ,i assume unsorted vinyl
i hope unsorted vinyl i plan i visit there when i get off the boat ,i also think he is the kind of guy if you aked him he would look out for some pressings
Also think this is the last remaning sorce of vinyl in the city

[achouza]

Yeah, if you are a store you are not going to get the best deal selling in store versus selling online. Besides its too much $ to have in inventory, the margins arent that much better than regular vinyl, and it takes a while for them to sell so turnaround times are slow.

But every once in a while you find a gem. Amoeba in SF is one of those places that has good collector stuff.

A couple months ago at Amoeba I found a Japanese Ramones 45 that I had been in search of for a few years (which hadnt been on ebay for a couple years as well). It wasnt cheap ($450) and it wasnt a gem hidden in all the records (it was put up prominently right above the register), but hey I was just happy to find one.

[Bikedo]

I agree with Achouza.
Rare collectables, as in expensive, are not very common in the stores I visit.
Last rare find was a GBMS promo for €100 and probably the most expensive piece of vinyl in the store
The other expensive stuff are usually the limited edition box sets.
I do believe that collectable vinyl doesn't necessarily mean limited or expensive.
Sometimes its just hard to find.

Ebay, Discogs etc are usually your best bet for the rare and expensive items but still Record stores are so much more fun tot shop at.

Was in a 2nd hand store once with a lot of 7inches a few years ago.
An American tourist asked the owner if he had Love is All by Roger Glover.
The owner had no idea and said no but I remembered seeing it while flipping through a few hundred singles.
So I managed to quickly find it again and she was over the moon.
Guess for her it was a special and rare find and cost €1

[chanticleer]

Depends on the store.

You mention that you went to Edinburgh, Harrogate, and Liverpool - Liverpool's got some great shops, but Edinburgh's notoriously poor (though a few interesting ones have popped up over the last few years), and Harrogate only has the run-down classical music focused Pomp and Circumstance. They're not likely to have much by the way of really rare older releases by their design - limited local audience, limited history.

By comparison, I've been to Vinyl Exchange in Manchester and Reckless Records in London over the past month or so. I've seen a Laura Marling tri, a GBMS promo, a Bizarro Jack (really!), and other things like the long deleted and officially denied first Divine Comedy album. They're shops with long histories in areas where there are likely to be record collectors, though.

A couple of local indies have a policy of only selling new limited releases in-store, not online. Really like that approach.

[Kaber]

You make some interesting comments.

I'm pretty sure all the locations I mentioned have hard code collectors
and some cash rich individuals.

I'll be sure to check out those stores you mentioned

Thanks

[dcmak5]

Phonoluxe in Nashville tends to stock pretty rare stuff, but pricing is a bit high imo. Oh and the great escape tends to keep a smaller stock of rare records

[Aquamarine]

Sister Ray in London often has collectible stuff.

[scoliosispony]

Aneoba in San Francisco always has a lot of Third Man stuff on the wall when I've been.