JR's Vinyl

JR's Vinyl is an online-first record business now based in South Padre Island, Texas, after starting in Minnesota and growing through eBay and its own website. In the interview, the owner talks about moving south, hunting for inventory without a nearby record-store network, shipping records safely, and why he still sees online selling as the more realistic starting point for a small vinyl business.

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Interview with JR's Vinyl

JR's Vinyl has been going since 2018 out of Burnsville, and from the outside it reads as online-first — a rotating catalogue that goes up weekly on the site and eBay, rather than a walk-in storefront. Was that always the model, or did it start as something different and grow into online?

I actually started in 2018 with an eBay store solely, then in 2021 I started JR's Vinyl website to run alongside my eBay store so I would have more freedom to just push my products. They both have their place, eBay with its worldwide audience and my website for a more personal vibe.

Burnsville sits in a metro with some serious record shops — Electric Fetus, Hymie's, and a dozen others up in Minneapolis-St. Paul. What does JR's do for a Twin Cities record buyer that walking into one of those doesn't cover — the case for buying from you online versus driving into the city?

I recently moved to South Padre Island, TX so I have opened up a whole new world of opportunity way down in the southern United States. There is definitely a void down here with the closest actual record store almost 1 hour away and virtually nothing until you get into Houston, TX.

When you're deciding what to add to the weekly catalogue, what makes a record an easy yes for you — the kind you know will move quickly — versus one you'd pass on even if the price was right?

The standards are of course, heavy metal/rock, punk etc. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles (of course) pretty much anything rock sells very fast and people keep asking for more. The big band era and polka, and most old country is something I will not buy unless it is sealed then it is a maybe.

Do you buy collections directly, and what do you look for now?

In the past when I was in the Twin Cities I would offer to visit them so they would not have to haul it in case I could not use them. Now I have to really hunt and scour. The thrift stores and the one local record store is pretty much all I have found over the last few months I have lived here. I find I am buying bulk lots more from Discogs as well.

You've built a loyalty program and a refer-a-friend program — that's a level of retail infrastructure most small shops don't bother with. What did you learn about repeat customers in vinyl that convinced you it was worth the setup?

As a customer myself of many of the local record shops in the MN area I really appreciated the little extra discounts that rewarded my loyalty and I wanted to offer that to my customers as well.

Selling records online means shipping them, and shipping vinyl is where a lot of shops get in trouble. What's your approach to grading and packaging — and what's the condition or storage issue that most sellers don't realize will affect what you can pay?

I take great care of the packing and distribution when passing along my records to their new owners/homes. I use white 12" professional mailers from Amazon and use "old" record covers as extra padding. Kinda like upcycling as well as providing the extra security and protection while in transit. Many sellers do not put in the extra efforts and it shows because records show up damaged.

What's the most overvalued type of record you see people trying to sell — the "this has to be worth something because I saw the price online" collections that turn out to be worth much less than the seller was expecting?

Anything that either has a movie or is trending: Right now I am seeing a lot of Michael Jackson - Thriller albums fetching 3 times the actual value due to the movie. I love that album but not for $40.00 used in VG condition like I commonly see.

JR's is now going on eight years. For someone thinking about starting a record business today, would you tell them to start online like you did or open a storefront — and what's the honest picture of what the first couple of years actually looked like?

I would have to suggest starting online. There are several channels you can use (i.e.) Facebook Marketplace, Discogs and eBay to name a few. Storefronts eat too much into the margins with rent employees (if you have them) and just the mere volume of record stores available creates a lot of competition for their dollars. I absolutely love going to record stores but just starting out it is not a very solid business plan that will scale for a new store.

Last updated: 2026-09-10

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