Vinyl Records in Delhi

[sukritkalra]

Hi all!

I am looking to buy some records (English; Classic Rock; Pop; Jazz mostly) and was wondering if you guys could help me figure out places I should be visiting in Delhi?

I have no issues going any place as long as I can hopefully get the records cheap. I know a few stores who sell new imported records, but at their price rates, I can order stuff online and save money.

Also, please list out any cheap sites where I could possibly import records from? (Used/Mint)

 

[navinsinha]

You can try the website Discogs.

 

[sukritkalra]

Hi!

Thanks for the help. I've been looking into Discogs but the shipping fees is usually more than the cost of the records. Have you had any luck with any specific seller/country?

 

[oracle1974]

on discogs, you often need to buy multiple records to have a lower average shipping costs. But still the average price per record come to be about 900-1100 per LP. That has been my experience.

 

[G401fan]

There's a private seller in Delhi - with a current ad on Quikr - who's got a good selection of classic rock, and some jazz (you could PM me for his email ID). He keeps sending down lists every month or so. Trouble is, his prices are stratospheric. way more than what you'd spend online on eBay or Discogs. But being in Delhi, you could, perhaps, visit him and try your luck.

Most dealers in India today charge not less than 500 per LP (and more than 1000 for the big names) irrespective of condition. You're much better off buying off eBay or Discogs, where, at least you could zoom in on specific titles and be generally satisfied with Goldmine grading, after checking seller feedback. All it takes is a little patience, waiting for a good price on a 'Buy it Now' option, with low shipping rates. I've bought dozens of LPs that way, mainly from the eBay UK site. The German site eBay.de is also pretty good for rock and jazz. With shipping, and with multiple titles per consignment, be prepared to spend between 700 to 1500 per title. That's the cost of the analogue experience these days in India, which, accounting for inflation, is no more expensive, or no less cheap, than it was 30 years ago.

 

[Vinay2013]

I found Amazon UK to be good. Good thing is.. in Amazon fulfilled orders they remove VAT amount and net amount is almost equal to their list price including shipping. Also unlike Amazon US, custom is never charged. So far all my shipment came without any custom charges. I always order one or two at a time.I saw some good deals for Pink Floyds 2016 reissues.

 

[sukritkalra]

Thanks everyone for their inputs!

on discogs, you often need to buy multiple records to have a lower average shipping costs. But still the average price per record come to be about 900-1100 per LP. That has been my experience.

Yeah, that seems a bit on the higher side, since I hear old records going for a dollar or so outside. You pay 900-1100 for used records or mint ones?

There's a private seller in Delhi - with a current ad on Quikr - who's got a good selection of classic rock, and some jazz (you could PM me for his email ID). He keeps sending down lists every month or so. Trouble is, his prices are stratospheric. way more than what you'd spend online on eBay or Discogs. But being in Delhi, you could, perhaps, visit him and try your luck.

Most dealers in India today charge not less than 500 per LP (and more than 1000 for the big names) irrespective of condition. You're much better off buying off eBay or Discogs, where, at least you could zoom in on specific titles and be generally satisfied with Goldmine grading, after checking seller feedback. All it takes is a little patience, waiting for a good price on a 'Buy it Now' option, with low shipping rates. I've bought dozens of LPs that way, mainly from the eBay UK site. The German site eBay.de is also pretty good for rock and jazz. With shipping, and with multiple titles per consignment, be prepared to spend between 700 to 1500 per title. That's the cost of the analogue experience these days in India, which, accounting for inflation, is no more expensive, or no less cheap, than it was 30 years ago.

How stratospheric are we talking about? Amazon India seems to be offering some titles for around 1k. Are his prices greater than that?

700-1500 seems to be a good enough price point from what I can see. I can't see any sites offering up a vinyl for less than that.

I found Amazon UK to be good. Good thing is.. in Amazon fulfilled orders they remove VAT amount and net amount is almost equal to their list price including shipping. Also unlike Amazon US, custom is never charged. So far all my shipment came without any custom charges. I always order one or two at a time.I saw some good deals for Pink Floyds 2016 reissues.

Great! Thanks for the tip! I was vary of ordering stuff from Amazon US because the import fees is usually more than the cost of the LPs itself. I'll try and find good deals on Amazon UK then!


Just by the way, has anyone here found any good stuff on places like Chor Bazar or Chandni Chowk or something for cheap? If yes, maybe I could give these places a visit this week, otherwise I'll stick to buying stuff online.

 

[paras0710]

Sunday ko kabadi bazaar lagta hai jama masid k pass jo pehle lal qila k peeche lagta tha chor bazaar k naam se, waha records leke baithte hai kai baar 50-60 per LP & 5-10 / EP condition ki koi garuntee nahi kharab bhi nikal sakti hai sahi bhi condition dekh sakte wahin par but place is not good to visit for first timer timmings: really early hours like 2 am for stolen things subah hote hote kabadi aa jate hai 4-5 pm tak rehta hai.
Mayapuri me kai kabadi bhi records rakhte hai condition ka same upar wala hisaab rates: 200/lp approx, lot me 60-70/lp ki bhi de dete hai

Agar condition first class chahiye to collectors k pass mil sakti hai but price can be anywhere from ?400 to infinity.

 

[G401fan]

2k on an average.

 

[jls001]

Meena Bazar Shop number 152 sells records. The shop next door Shah Music is Shop No 256. You'll find lots of records here. Over at Chandni Chowk you'll find New Gramophone House. If you have the energy to venture into the bylanes of Daryaganj there is Mr Qayamuddin (9811585060).

 

[sukritkalra]

Meena Bazar Shop number 152 sells records. The shop next door Shah Music is Shop No 256. You'll find lots of records here. Over at Chandni Chowk you'll find New Gramophone House. If you have the energy to venture into the bylanes of Daryaganj there is Mr Qayamuddin (9811585060).

Thank You! Do they stock English records? Also, what price point should I expect?

 

[kartick]

Meena Bazar Shop number 152 sells records. The shop next door Shah Music is Shop No 256. You'll find lots of records here. Over at Chandni Chowk you'll find New Gramophone House. If you have the energy to venture into the bylanes of Daryaganj there is Mr Qayamuddin (9811585060).

Shop 152 has shut shop and has retired. His name is Mr. Yaseen. Shah's prices are no less than the other expensive guy that has been discussed here. In fact he skins newbies really well. Almost criminal to see new collectors pay 700-800 bucks a piece for crap titles in crap condition. But such is their business.

 

[jazzrule]

Shah and NGH sell their records extremely overpriced

 

[kartick]

They most certainly do.

 

[jls001]

Shop 152 has shut shop and has retired. His name is Mr. Yaseen. Shah's prices are no less than the other expensive guy that has been discussed here. In fact he skins newbies really well. Almost criminal to see new collectors pay 700-800 bucks a piece for crap titles in crap condition. But such is their business.

Thanks for the update, Kartick.

Shah & NGH: they have always sold at premium price. But Delhi has an even more premium seller

 

[sukritkalra]

With all this, I might just end up buying records online from Amazon India (when they have deals) or importing them!

 

[Vinay2013]

For Hindi Bollywood records, there is a guy at Indirapuram (check OLX). Ships as well. Most of the records are priced between 250-350 with reasonable quality.

For English records, I am yet to find a place in Delhi hence generally source them from US, Singapore when a relative visits there. Rest Amazon UK worked well so far for me. Amazon India sometimes has very good deals. Bought Led Zep for 500/-, Division Bell (Double LP) for 1400/-, Linkin Park Double LP for 500 and Ozzy Osbourne (2LP) for even Rs. 100/- from Amazon India . Keep a watch on sellers Pritam Music, Smartbuy and New Superstar

 

[Vinay2013]

Shah Music quoted 11000 for Izazat LP, and 5000 for Jagjit Singh's Mirza Ghalib. He starts Bollywood records for 400/- and if you ask for specific title, price automatically increase by 100-200 or even 1000 Rs. But I don't blame him, perhaps that's how he survived till now. Atleast you get some titles that are not available elsewhere.

 

[sukritkalra]

For Hindi Bollywood records, there is a guy at Indirapuram (check OLX). Ships as well. Most of the records are priced between 250-350 with reasonable quality.

For English records, I am yet to find a place in Delhi hence generally source them from US, Singapore when a relative visits there. Rest Amazon UK worked well so far for me. Amazon India sometimes has very good deals. Bought Led Zep for 500/-, Division Bell (Double LP) for 1400/-, Linkin Park Double LP for 500 and Ozzy Osbourne (2LP) for even Rs. 100/- from Amazon India . Keep a watch on sellers Pritam Music, Smartbuy and New Superstar

I'm not much interested in Bollywood records, sadly. The experience has been the same for English records. Yes, I know Amazon India has great deals! I sourced Led Zep 3, Clapton's Riding With The King and Tom Petty's Hypnotic Eyes for a total of 1000 bucks (All double LPs). Let's hope more such deals come up in the future!

 

[peace_sells]

Shah and NGH sell their records extremely overpriced

Yes I agree. I visited Shah Music Centre sometime in April/May this year. Firstly it was a pain to locate the place. Someone told me that it's just 100-200 metres from Chandni Chowk metro station! :indifferent14:

Anyway he has some decent stuff..I found AC/DC's Back in Black, Queen's A Night at the Opera, Deep Purple's Fireball, Whitesnake's Slide it In, Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds of Fire..and a few Ravi Shankar titles (of course he had bollywood stuff as well). Condition wise the best among these was the AC/DC LP for which he was asking 1.5k..and when I say best: meaning the ringwear was considerably lesser and the record was not as dusty..but there were major seam splits..tapes all over! For the rest of them he was asking 1.2k. But those were in a terrible state. Not worth considering in my opinion.

NGH is way too pricey! But that could be because they have a good number of LPs in good-very good condition.

So even I'd suggest playing the waiting game. Buy as much as possible from discogs/ebay. If you know people in the states, ship as much as possible to them and they'll get it for you when they come to India. That's probably the most economical option. Plus you end up buying stuff which are in great condition!