LPs from bollywoodvinyl.com

[The Wall]

Hi All,

Am sure many of us have come across the site BollywoodVinyl.com when we have googled for online Indian lps. They seem to have a fairly good collection though steeply priced.
Has anybody bought any stuff from it.

 

[omishra]

Mostly these collections could be bought locally! Couple of years back I bought one regional language LP from them, and got it with Custom Duty - total waste Rs 1500/-. Quality is Average ++ and no fresh external and internal jackets. Later somebody gifted me better of that copy, free.

 

[peace_sells]

I have seen that website. What i don't understand is : how can an Indian-based online shop sell things in pounds! Few weeks ago pound was around 85 and now its over a 100. I mean..if an Indian buys it from an Indian website, the seller has no business asking the buyer to pay in GBP. I think that's cheating!

Plus i don't have much idea about which hindi LPs are rare..but a few weeks ago when i went to Balaji Antiques here in Bangalore i saw "Anand aur Anand" for sale..which is being sold at 23 GBP at this site!! So yes. Mr. Mishra above is absolutely right. Most of the LPs on sale here can be easily bought here in India locally.

I guess this site is mainly for Indians who've settled abroad.

 

[The Wall]

Ya true, even i feel the same, the stuff is grossly overpriced.

 

[prem]

It's based in UK not India and hence the price in pounds

 

[The Wall]

It's actually managed by guys from Bangalore. I got a number even.

 

[prem]

I didn't know that. Their warehousing is in UK and most of their sourcing is done in UK

 

[akd]

I have been collecting bollywood LPs for more than a decade now, and I think I've some idea whats expected price of an Indian pressed LP

there are basically two sources

abroad stock (US,UK.....)
1. majority of them are for obvious reasons pretty clean, the artwork,cover is clearer, LP is MINT in true sense, but since bollywood LPs are in demand price is steep,
2. There are a number of Indian seller who never had anything to do with (keep reading) LPs, sensing USD and GBP, have started collecting records from the local market and sell them at 10 times prices to ignorant customers.

Indian stock
Now this is tricky, why?????
1.one has to dig out LPs from the dusted shops in Kolkata,Mumbai,Delhi
2.you will be astonished to learn actual prices of those LPs tha are listed in those
websites
3.These are basically used,hardly used,not at all used records. But they will appranetly appear to be same (dusted).
4. Its a coustomer eye (read skill) to judge the "condition" of a LP. For instance put it directly under sunlight, or any other source of light, observe the grooves - you will notice
harline marks, from that you can estimate how often it has been used. Moreover, look at the spindle mark at the middle.
5.If you want to surprise yourself get in touch with some record sellers in Kolkata/Mumbai/Delhi. I assure you still a Umrao Jaan or Silsila or Anand almost new record can be dug out at merely 150/- to 200/-.
6.Yes, there are costly records, which one shouldn't touch unless he knows exactly what and why he is buying.

Overall if you are in India, have patience, take out some time, visit record shops, talk with them, tell them your requirement, partly they will give you right away, partly you will have to wait.

I have learned to respect and love LPs from some of these wonderful persons who has been selling records for over 4-5 decades, and its a shame no one has ever cared for them. People seem to forget if they are listening to records its because of these fellows, and a common listerner expectedly has no clue how painful and thankless job it can be to dug out couple of records.

 

[reubensm]

I think this is a brilliant note. Just 2 add, LPs can come from non-commercial sources too, sometimes at a price and sometimes without a price. People have come to understand that LPs are collectibles these days and hence sell them privately for a lot of money. Recently fellow forum member JK_Chaos and I visited a guy in Trivandrum who had around 150-200 records up for sale and he was asking for 55k. On the other hand, recently a neighbour had come over to see our new house and was estonished to see my LP record library. He was so delighted to find out that the music he heard coming out of our top floor every night was actually from good old LP records. He ended up gifting me a 10 LP box Reader's Digest box set which was gifted to him by a friend and he had stored it because he did not have equipment to play it. One can turn lucky in many such, different ways. There are many people out there who will gift you records for free if they are convinved that you will take good care of them and keep them, not sell them for a quick buck.

I have been collecting bollywood LPs for more than a decade now, and I think I've some idea whats expected price of an Indian pressed LP

there are basically two sources

abroad stock (US,UK.....)
1. majority of them are for obvious reasons pretty clean, the artwork,cover is clearer, LP is MINT in true sense, but since bollywood LPs are in demand price is steep,
2. There are a number of Indian seller who never had anything to do with (keep reading) LPs, sensing USD and GBP, have started collecting records from the local market and sell them at 10 times prices to ignorant customers.

Indian stock
Now this is tricky, why?????
1.one has to dig out LPs from the dusted shops in Kolkata,Mumbai,Delhi
2.you will be astonished to learn actual prices of those LPs tha are listed in those
websites
3.These are basically used,hardly used,not at all used records. But they will appranetly appear to be same (dusted).
4. Its a coustomer eye (read skill) to judge the "condition" of a LP. For instance put it directly under sunlight, or any other source of light, observe the grooves - you will notice
harline marks, from that you can estimate how often it has been used. Moreover, look at the spindle mark at the middle.
5.If you want to surprise yourself get in touch with some record sellers in Kolkata/Mumbai/Delhi. I assure you still a Umrao Jaan or Silsila or Anand almost new record can be dug out at merely 150/- to 200/-.
6.Yes, there are costly records, which one shouldn't touch unless he knows exactly what and why he is buying.

Overall if you are in India, have patience, take out some time, visit record shops, talk with them, tell them your requirement, partly they will give you right away, partly you will have to wait.

I have learned to respect and love LPs from some of these wonderful persons who has been selling records for over 4-5 decades, and its a shame no one has ever cared for them. People seem to forget if they are listening to records its because of these fellows, and a common listerner expectedly has no clue how painful and thankless job it can be to dug out couple of records.

 

[shafic]

I think this is a brilliant note. Just 2 add, LPs can come from non-commercial sources too, sometimes at a price and sometimes without a price. People have come to understand that LPs are collectibles these days and hence sell them privately for a lot of money. Recently fellow forum member JK_Chaos and I visited a guy in Trivandrum who had around 150-200 records up for sale and he was asking for 55k. On the other hand, recently a neighbour had come over to see our new house and was estonished to see my LP record library. He was so delighted to find out that the music he heard coming out of our top floor every night was actually from good old LP records. He ended up gifting me a 10 LP box Reader's Digest box set which was gifted to him by a friend and he had stored it because he did not have equipment to play it. One can turn lucky in many such, different ways. There are many people out there who will gift you records for free if they are convinved that you will take good care of them and keep them, not sell them for a quick buck.

You are absolutely right Reuben, you can some times get these priceless gifts from unexpected sources.Recently a person gave me a set of speakers for free.They turned out to be SABA greencone, Germany and one of my most loved set.

 

[basashanker1965]

Dear AKD could you please give some details of lp records dealers in mumbai calcutta and delhi .i am new and wish to make a collection of good condition lps,i mean scratch free .thanks

 

[surendar]

They sell records for very high price. I bought from them once. The condition of records are poor with so many scraches that can be easily bought in markets for less than Rs 100. I think this website is just to cheat Indians settled abroad.