Did you just buy a record player and realize you’re surprisingly low on music to play on it? You’re not alone: Everyone has to start their vinyl collection somewhere. That means getting some of your favorite music in analog format.

While we always recommend you hit up a local independent record store when shopping for your next album—especially on Record Store Day—sometimes you want something very specific or hard to find. Here are the best ways to buy those records online.

Don't forget to check out the rest of our buying guides, including the Best Turntables and Best Bookshelf Speakers, and information on How to Set Up a Turntable.

Discogs

The center of gravity for vinyl collectors, sellers, and independent record stores alike is Discogs. The platform allows folks to buy, sell, and trade discs from their collections. There are rarities aplenty, but also lots of deals and desirable titles. This is the best place to find albums, singles, and box sets, since nearly everything that's ever been pressed to plastic is in the Discogs database, and somebody in the site's global marketplace has a sales listing for what you're hoping to buy.

You'll find all formats of music on Discogs—vinyl, cassettes, CDs, and even tape reels—so you'll need to select the vinyl category before searching for whatever you are after. With around 12 million records for sale in the United States alone, you're unlikely to run out of things you want before you run out of cash. Make an account, register your collection (Discogs' app makes it easy to catalog your library by scanning barcodes), and start searching for new gems to fill it out.

Bandcamp

If you're looking for truly independent music from all over the globe, select the Vinyl tab at the top of the Bandcamp homepage and get to browsing. You may have to do a bit of digital crate digging to find something that you like, but you can search for music using genre tags, by filtering searches to see what's newly released, or by browsing geographic locations. (Don't sleep on the Japanese reggae scene.) For an easy place to start, check out Bandcamp's daily blog to find the editorial staff's recommendations.

Special bundles, signed items, test pressings, and exclusive colored vinyl variants abound. Artists and labels also typically make a few tracks—or a whole release—available to stream for free so you can preview the music before pulling the trigger. And one of the great joys of Bandcamp is knowing that the money for your purchase is going directly to the artist. Bandcamp takes a small cut, but when you buy something here, you're directly supporting the people making the music.

Ebay

As with anything collectible, you can find good deals (and occasional ripoffs; be careful) on Ebay. We'd still recommend sticking to Discogs for the expensive or rare items, but Ebay is a good place to buy lots of super-cheap records that you're willing to gamble on.

People often sell records in lots of 10 or 25. We've had good results finding jazz records, box sets, and albums from lesser-loved genres or far-flung corners of the world. (I once scored 10 LPs of Indonesian gamelan music for $16 on Ebay.) You'll also encounter auctions of entire record collections from estate sales here where some gems are mixed in with the dross, though you often don't know exactly what you're buying until the box arrives. If you're looking for something super specific, Discogs is better for fair prices and quality assurance.

Stores and Distributors

Folks who remember the pre-streaming era are likely to recall Tower Records, which still exists! The store's online shop has lots of vinyl for sale, especially of mainstream releases. This is a great place to check out what is coming soon on vinyl from the biggest names in the business by browsing the preorder listings. Tower is a major distributor of virtually every major-label release on the market.

For smaller releases, including LPs from midsize indie labels (Drag City, Kranky, Superior Viaduct), check out Midheaven Mailorder. This site is run by the San Francisco distributor Revolver USA, which sells to record stores around the US but also sells direct to consumers. Here you'll find a ton of independent music, including choice reissues from bigger names like Devo, Sonic Youth, and The Fall.

Another great independent record store is Amoeba Music, made famous for its amazing selection at numerous California stores, and its What's in Your Bag YouTube series. If you want to support a good brick-and-mortar record store and know what you want, we always recommend buying from Amoeba instead of Amazon.

Independent Labels

Record labels like Stones Throw, Sub Pop, Secretly Group, Fat Possum, Rough Trade, Daptone, Blue Note, International Anthem, and hundreds more all have websites and sell records directly. If you notice that there is an artist you like signed to a given smaller label, there is a good chance that other artists on the label have a similar vibe.

Start by checking out the liner notes on the back of all your albums to see who made them, then chase down those labels on the web. You'll likely find some cool new tunes on vinyl along the way.

Directly From the Artists

We’ve saved the best for last. Pay the artists for their work by putting cash—or a Venmo transaction—directly in their hands. Buying a record at the merch table when an artist plays in your town is not only convenient for you (there's no shipping, and you typically won't be charged tax), but it's one of the biggest income streams for bands that tour. You can often find special editions, special colored vinyl variants, and even records that haven't yet been released just by stopping at the merch table. And if you're lucky enough to meet the artist at the venue, they will usually sign the record jacket for you.

If you don't get out much (we know, concerts are expensive), just find their website, social media page, or record label and place an order. I have at least a few records with personal thank-yous and signatures from small artists, which feels really special every time I listen to them!