Vinyl for Miles: A Musical Journey

With a collection that’s grown to over 600 albums since 2014, Michael spun his love for vinyl into a creative channel on YouTube, sharing insights and tips with fellow enthusiasts.

In this conversation, Michael takes us through his musical journey, from his early days of collecting to navigating the ins and outs of shipping and handling vinyl.

Michael, tell me a bit about yourself: When did you first develop an interest in vinyl records, how did you start your YouTube channel, and how extensive is your current record collection?

I began collecting records in 2014 when I got my wife a turntable for Christmas. I wanted to get her into collecting but ended up catching the bug myself. We have over 600 albums now! I’m a musician and have toured and played in various bands throughout my life so music has always been important to me and record collecting made the process of listening to an album an experience. My YouTube channel was a way for me to be creative and edit videos. I used to be a professional videographer and I really missed the process of writing and editing videos so this was a good opportunity. While my channel is named Vinyl for Miles I try to cover all things music from pro audio to guitars to vinyl.

Which post service do you primarily use? I often come across reviews suggesting that USPS and UPS are preferable choices, while FedEx tends to receive more negative feedback.

I tend to use USPS a lot and depending on what I’m shipping. I take advantage of media mail when possible, when I can’t use media mail I use UPS which is right down the street for me. Given the current prices for 2024 It’s actually really comparable looking at the different postal services, I recommend using pirate ship as they compare costs with all services for you.

Has insurance proven beneficial for you on at least one occasion? Have there been instances where your records didn't reach the recipient or were damaged during shipping?

It really depends on what I’m shipping. If I sell an album that’s worth $150 you bet I’m gonna insuring it in case anything happens to it during transit but if I sell a album for 15 bucks I don’t usually add insurance, I just make sure I pack it really really well.

In your YouTube reviews, you provide guidance on properly packing records for shipping. Can you recommend reliable vinyl mailers which you use most often?

I recommend mighty mailers as I’ve had really good luck with them. I also recommend keeping cardboard boxes and cutting out 12 x 12 squares to pack in with your albums for extra protection. A little hack that I use is with Amazon, anytime I order an album from them they put the mailer inside an outer box so you basically get a brand new mailer you can recycle and use for future orders. I’m all about saving money and recycling lol

Have you calculated the expenses related to packing and the time invested? Is this cost typically factored into the overall expense of sending a parcel? Do you encounter buyers looking to reduce shipping costs by opting for cheaper packaging materials?

So most of my business is conducted through Discogs and eBay it’s very enticing to provide free shipping for buyers so most of my orders unless it’s a double LP or bigger I typically offer free shipping. Most of the albums that I sell have actually gone up in value, so I’m not really ever out of pocket when I’m shipping something for free. But with some larger box sets and other uncommon formats, I typically price out ahead of time what the current rates are and I know with the weight and packaging exactly how much it’s gonna cost me. On average I’m spending about five to $10 at the end of the day. For smaller LPs I can get away with a couple bucks if I’m recycling mailers, which I like to do when possible.

Have you ever experienced poorly done packaging when ordering items online? Is the seller typically cooperative in facilitating a return if the item was not well packaged and sustained damage during shipping?

I’ve actually experienced a lot of damaged albums being shipped to me. I really love what smaller labels are doing now which is to not shrink wrap albums. 90% of damage that is caused to spines and inner sleeves have to do with the album sitting inside the gatefold during shipping. This can have the record bounce around and cause all kinds of damage. If albums arrive damaged most of the time they actually let me keep the damaged album and send me a new one which has allowed me to create some really cool art projects using damaged recycled records.