Visually inspecting the LP surface is very important.
The shimmering of the grooves when tilting the LP surface bouncing the light off can tell you if an apparent mark affects the groove. If the groove shimmer well with no interruptions, the mark does not affect the groove. You can see the interruption in the grooves sheen, forget that LP.
Don't bother with LPs that have sctatches. Billions of LP out there, and scratched ones are not worth the bother. (Exceptions are great Jazz, original early pressings of famous stuff..)
Avoid the super shiny LPs. Someone just sprayed them with some Tire shine or other crap. They are super shiny, so You can get to know the look. Once you see one, you'll know what I mean. Even really crappy worn out records superficially look good when 'shined up'.
Warped used records are pretty rare, but if wondering if an LP is not perfectly flat, Hold up edgewise and line up with a straight surface, a corner of the room, then rotate the LP 90 degrees and check again. Dish warps you can see that the LP has a bulge. Skip warp and dished Lps
A few brands have a natural dullness. Telefunken comes to mind as the dullest natural finish.
Watch for tiny pinpricks in LPs. They are some of the worst failings, and can rip the diamond right out of the cantilever. (I can only think it happens in an earthquake? or done deliberately.. I got several that way from eBay and stopped buying from eBay because of that. The flaw is usually just a bunch of needlepricks. Hard to see, but very bad.)
The stench of bad smelling LPs (ONLY if you REALLY want it, can be ameliorated with FreBreeze. Spray the FreBreeze on a cloth, and wipe the cover inside and out. Not too wet, and repeat. The smell can be really cut down, but not totally eliminated.
LPs surfaces where one can see where some sort of growth was washed offf: forget it for cheap LPs. Great Jazz maybe if the seller has a return policy. LPS with mold on the LP surface I skip, period. Eventually one will buy some LPs that have invisible black mould. This will take over you liife if you have a damp living area, so be aware if you live in a basement or like, as buying used LPs in a humid area, or where folks have basements... you ARE gonna get it eventually buying used LPs. Using outer sleeves really is the lifesaver here. Using outer sleeves can really cut the problem by 90% or better. (So this is mostly for folks in damp conditions.)
Nearsighted folks have a real advantage in inspecting LPs. I have a focal point about 5 inches, sans correction, and use it to inspect LPs!
When one starts, the temptation is to buy anything remotely interesting. that is fine, but realize an LP with ANY mark is worth only half of a pristine one, and a number of marks a LOT less. Newbies forget this and spend way to much for damaged LPs. But eventually after your collection grows, you can get fussier.
The most important is to find good sources for used LPs. Going to hellhole places to search fruitlessly is a waste of time. (Goodwill comes to mind: I used to search at Goodwills. I never bother anymore.) better to travel further and find good sources. Larger town are better, and big metro areas are usually a gold mine for used LPs.
Asking another Lp hunter for good sources is hard. I do NOT tell folks where I go.. sorry, I want them for myself!
The shimmering of the grooves when tilting the LP surface bouncing the light off can tell you if an apparent mark affects the groove. If the groove shimmer well with no interruptions, the mark does not affect the groove. You can see the interruption in the grooves sheen, forget that LP.
Don't bother with LPs that have sctatches. Billions of LP out there, and scratched ones are not worth the bother. (Exceptions are great Jazz, original early pressings of famous stuff..)
Avoid the super shiny LPs. Someone just sprayed them with some Tire shine or other crap. They are super shiny, so You can get to know the look. Once you see one, you'll know what I mean. Even really crappy worn out records superficially look good when 'shined up'.
Warped used records are pretty rare, but if wondering if an LP is not perfectly flat, Hold up edgewise and line up with a straight surface, a corner of the room, then rotate the LP 90 degrees and check again. Dish warps you can see that the LP has a bulge. Skip warp and dished Lps
A few brands have a natural dullness. Telefunken comes to mind as the dullest natural finish.
Watch for tiny pinpricks in LPs. They are some of the worst failings, and can rip the diamond right out of the cantilever. (I can only think it happens in an earthquake? or done deliberately.. I got several that way from eBay and stopped buying from eBay because of that. The flaw is usually just a bunch of needlepricks. Hard to see, but very bad.)
The stench of bad smelling LPs (ONLY if you REALLY want it, can be ameliorated with FreBreeze. Spray the FreBreeze on a cloth, and wipe the cover inside and out. Not too wet, and repeat. The smell can be really cut down, but not totally eliminated.
LPs surfaces where one can see where some sort of growth was washed offf: forget it for cheap LPs. Great Jazz maybe if the seller has a return policy. LPS with mold on the LP surface I skip, period. Eventually one will buy some LPs that have invisible black mould. This will take over you liife if you have a damp living area, so be aware if you live in a basement or like, as buying used LPs in a humid area, or where folks have basements... you ARE gonna get it eventually buying used LPs. Using outer sleeves really is the lifesaver here. Using outer sleeves can really cut the problem by 90% or better. (So this is mostly for folks in damp conditions.)
Nearsighted folks have a real advantage in inspecting LPs. I have a focal point about 5 inches, sans correction, and use it to inspect LPs!
When one starts, the temptation is to buy anything remotely interesting. that is fine, but realize an LP with ANY mark is worth only half of a pristine one, and a number of marks a LOT less. Newbies forget this and spend way to much for damaged LPs. But eventually after your collection grows, you can get fussier.
The most important is to find good sources for used LPs. Going to hellhole places to search fruitlessly is a waste of time. (Goodwill comes to mind: I used to search at Goodwills. I never bother anymore.) better to travel further and find good sources. Larger town are better, and big metro areas are usually a gold mine for used LPs.
Asking another Lp hunter for good sources is hard. I do NOT tell folks where I go.. sorry, I want them for myself!