You can digitally search for tags, genres, and locations at the top, and I recommend you do so if you’re looking for something specific. It can be helpful if you are trying to buy something from your home town, for example.
Screenshot courtesy of Wired
As with anything collectible, you can find good deals (and occasional ripoffs) on Ebay. This is a good place to buy very rare and expensive stuff or, on the flip side, lots of super-cheap records that you’re willing to gamble on. I’ve had good results finding jazz records and albums from other lesser-loved genres here, but if you’re looking for something super specific, Discogs is better for tracking the market and finding good prices.
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Screenshot courtesy of Parker Hall
Vinyl Me, Please is a record-of-the-month club that lets you also purchase one-off records. I like this service because it presses rare one-offs of classics as well as modern records in all genres. The folks that work there have excellent taste, which means that you’re always sent a record that you are likely to enjoy. When buying one-offs, I like that these are exclusive pressings, which means that your friends are very unlikely to have this specific version on their shelf, even if they already own the record.
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Screenshot courtesy of Parker Hall
Folks who remember the pre-streaming era are likely to recall Tower Records, which still exists! This is a great record store to check out what is coming out on vinyl soon and to look at preorder releases, because it is a major distributor of virtually every bigger release on the market. Maybe it’s the older nerd in me, but if you have a bit of ’90s nostalgia, it’s fun to shop online at Tower Records and see what is the hip new music coming out.