The copy of an LP in your hand might share its cover with half a dozen releases. Turn it over before checking a price. At Camberwell Sunday Market, the most useful things you can take to a record crate are the catalogue number of the pressing you’re looking for and a way to carry records upright on the trip home.
Plan a Camberwell market morning
The market trades on Sundays from 7 am to 12:30 pm in the Station Street car park east of Burke Road, Melbourne. Balwyn Rotary asks visitors for a gold coin donation. Sales finish at 12:30 so the car park can reopen. Leave yourself enough time to inspect a purchase before stallholders start packing. Visitor information · Market trading hours
Match the record inside to the release
Ask before removing a record and handle it by the edge and label. First read the artist, album and catalogue number on the disc itself. Does the disc belong in this sleeve? Check the label design and country information. When two candidate releases still look alike, compare the small stamped or etched markings between the final groove and the label with the release details. If you can’t settle which pressing it is, leave the rare pressing’s price out of your budget.
Hold the surface at an angle to the light. Look for deep scratches and warping, then check the sleeve seams, spine and inserts separately. A clean sleeve can hold a heavily played record. If you can only look at it at the stall, wait until you’ve played it before describing how it sounds. Discogs publishes separate condition guidance for records and sleeves. Discogs grading guide
Buy a crate or ask for one LP?
Suppose a seller wants $30 for four LPs. You can identify two pressings. Comparable copies in similar condition suggest $32 and $18. One of the remaining discs is scratched and the fourth is in the wrong sleeve. In this example you count $50 in expected item sales and assume buyers cover postage at cost.
| Allowance for the trip and two sales | Amount |
|---|---|
| Entry donation allocated to this buy | $2 |
| Selling costs and protective sleeves | $7 |
| Time to play-check, photograph and list | $12 |
| Profit you want after that work | $12 |
| Maximum to pay for the four | $17 |
At $30 for the crate, you would be a dollar short after the first three costs, before earning the $12 profit. Ask if the seller would price the two identifiable records separately. You might still pass on one if its condition would take it below the sold prices you found. Check comparable sold listings
Before leaving the stall, put each disc back in the right sleeve and record what you paid. At home, photograph the front, back, labels and any damage, and note the exact spots where a play-check revealed noise. Those details give a buyer a reason to choose your copy over another with the same cover.