Good and bad record shops

[anditmakesmesmile]

Has anyone had any experience of Horizons Music. I was looking for a copy of the Fontaine’s DC Live at Kilmainham Gaol on vinyl. Sold out everywhere else. But not there. I was about to click on submit on my order but suddenly something made me have second thoughts.  I checked online and there seems to be a shed load of negative reviews. But… they’re the only retailer stocking it. 
What do people think? Should I go for it? 
 

[gigpusher]

Sorry no idea about this but my go to for vinyl shopping is Norman Records. For online vinyl shopping they really are fantastic. Free delivery over £50. Great for splitting orders etc which means as soon as you reach £50 worth of orders in stock they'll ship them. For someone like me who pre-orders a lot that's great and they also package vinyl really securely. 

Piccadilly Records are also good. 

If they are the only retailer stocking something and you want it you have no choice but I would just make sure the payment is protected by paying on Paypal or a credit card. 

[maelzoid]

13 hours ago, anditmakesmesmile said:

Has anyone had any experience of Horizons Music. I was looking for a copy of the Fontaine’s DC Live at Kilmainham Gaol on vinyl. Sold out everywhere else. But not there. I was about to click on submit on my order but suddenly something made me have second thoughts.  I checked online and there seems to be a shed load of negative reviews. But… they’re the only retailer stocking it. 
What do people think? Should I go for it? 
 

If you use a credit card, you will have buyer protection.

I once had a similar experience with a camera I bought, only seeing after I put the order in, all the 1 star reviews on trustpilot. But the camera turned up a  few days later and was 100% fine.

[maelzoid]

Also, it's worth trying discogs.com for anything hard to find.

EDIT: I just had a quick look and indeed there are 5 copies for sale on discogs and what look like reasonable prices. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by maelzoid

[efcfanwirral]

I've used Juno and The Sound of Vinyl since I got my record player at Christmas. Can't believe how much I've spent already on records...

[blutarsky]

34 minutes ago, maelzoid said:

Also, it's worth trying discogs.com for anything hard to find.

EDIT: I just had a quick look and indeed there are 5 copies for sale on discogs and what look like reasonable prices. 

Discogs is by far the most reliable place I've ever bought a record. Even the bigger indie record stores sometimes take FOREVER to send out orders. I once waited 3 months for a record from Banquet. 

A lot of smaller indie sellers use Discogs anyway, but are incentivised to send orders out quickly because of the review system, like eBay. 

[Hugh Jass]

Lost In Vinyl tend to be my go to store.

[Joshuwarr]

Banquet Records are my go to generally

[Hugh Jass]

1 hour ago, Joshuwarr said:

Banquet Records are my go to generally

Picked up way too many 5 quid records from them last week.

[jump]

I second (or third?) Banquet Records. I use to go there all the time when I lived in South London plus they do alot in the community and put on shows way above their weight.

[efcfanwirral]

3 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Picked up way too many 5 quid records from them last week.

Is that in store?? 

[jump]

3 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Is that in store?? 

Instore and their website are the same price, it's just harder finding their sale/reduced items on the website.

[vintagelaureate]

8 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Is that in store?? 

I put a link to their sale in the Glastonbury Vinyl thread last week... I couldn't find the other thread. 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by vintagelaureate

[dondo]

I love Jumbo Records in Leeds both going into the store and online.

Online wise I use a variety (generally whoever has something in stock and is the cheapest) but favourites are Resident Records and Normans

[efcfanwirral]

38 minutes ago, vintagelaureate said:

I put a link to their sale in the Glastonbury Vinyl thread last week... I couldn't find the other thread. 

 

Wow I wish I'd seen that last week for the KoL one! Thanks for the link though I'll scour through! 

Edited January 12, 2022 by efcfanwirral

[merago]

To the OP - no, avoid them I'd say.  I've ordered one thing from them and had no issues with it, but a few months later, I was helping a mate track down a record and found them as the only stockist, he had an absolute nightmare of a time dealing with them - never got his records in the end, although he did, eventually, get a refund, after threatening to take it up with PayPal.

[Gnomicide]

I've had to stop looking at all the sale stuff Cheap Indie Vinyl is tweeting. Ordered some bargains from this log last week, that'll be it for a while (maybe a couple of weeks).

 

[compactdisc]

A fourth vote to Banquet Records - generally reasonably priced & cheap delivery.

I also use Relevant Record Cafe. Sometimes they have hard to find vinyl & the occasional bargain.

 

7 hours ago, maelzoid said:

If you use a credit card, you will have buyer protection.

Not to turn this into a consumer advice forum, but important to know that Section 75 only applies if you spend over £100 on a 'single item', so PayPal is better for smaller purchases. 

[Chef]

2 hours ago, jump said:

Instore and their website are the same price, it's just harder finding their sale/reduced items on the website.

They always use this link for sale stuff 

https://www.banquetrecords.com/sale

[Chef]

And to add a couple of other good record stores..

 

Vinyl record shop and online store | Vinyl Whistle | England

resident - make your world sound beautiful (resident-music.com)

 

[Pinhead]

Have used eil.com for a few years with success.

[crocodiles]

On the negative side I used dig for the first time recently have been waiting for nearly 3 weeks for my vinyl. No way of calling them you can send a contact form done it 3 times just keep getting the same stock e mail ...apologies for delay will be dispatched soon.

Absolutely will avoid in future shit service 

[dondo]

6 hours ago, Chef said:

And to add a couple of other good record stores..

 

Vinyl record shop and online store | Vinyl Whistle | England

resident - make your world sound beautiful (resident-music.com)

 

I like vinyl whistle too and love the name

[The Dawg]

You should email Gordon at Action Records in Preston. If he doesn't have a copy you can have mine for face value, or just less, it's never been played. Good luck with the search.

[Gnomicide]

14 hours ago, crocodiles said:

On the negative side I used dig for the first time recently have been waiting for nearly 3 weeks for my vinyl. No way of calling them you can send a contact form done it 3 times just keep getting the same stock e mail ...apologies for delay will be dispatched soon.

Absolutely will avoid in future shit service 

That's disappointing, decent little shop but I've never tried them on line.

9 hours ago, dondo said:

I like vinyl whistle too and love the name

I only really got it when I found out who the owner is.