MY god dad recently gave me one of his record players that he found in his garage and started me off with a few vinyls. Since then, I've been hitting up thrift stores and trying to see what I can get on the low. It's been a lot of fun picking up random records and listening to them once I get home. Where do you guys usually get your records?
ive never found anything too good at thrift stores. i got a few 45s at one up in the upper peninsula last time i was there, shocking blue, golden earing, a local up north band called da yoopers. other than those, all i ever find in thrift stores is christmas albums, 40s and 50s comps, and herb alpert. some people hit the jackpot and find great stuff though, but those are people who go to the same thrift store like 4 or 5 times a week.
I've gotten a bunch of good records over the summer from garage sales, but they're really hit or miss. you have to get there early because there are record sharks in every town that hit garage sales as soon as they open on the weekends and swoop up anything good, or everything all together.
record stores are fun, but it takes a little time and experience to know what to spend money on and what to pass up. the more you dig and the more places you go, you'll learn that certain things can be found in other places for cheaper, or if you constantly see a record you want going for a lot, but then suddenly find it for a cheaper price, you know its probably a good buy. the thing to keep in mind with a record store is that you shouldn't feel obligated to spend you're whole budget, or even spend any money at all. just buy what you really want, otherwise you'll end up with a bunch of garbage that you'll never listen to. think about what you're looking for before you go and check discogs.com and see what the typical prices are. i usually find most of my records cheaper than what they go for online, so its a good way to gauge whether something is a good deal or not. and don't blow all your money on classic rock staples when you're first trying to build your collection. you could easily spend $30+ on a beatles/zeppelin/pink floyd reissue, but if you just wait long enough you'll find a used one somewhere for dirt cheap.
flea markets can be good too. just try to know how much something is worth before you buy though. i got ripped off pretty big at a flea market when i first started buying. some people think their 1970s junk rock is worth its weight in gold, and there are people stupid enough to pay for it.