Vinyl Junkies …

Anyone going to the Leyton fair tomorrow at Blondies Brewery?

The last one in October was really busy. There'll be a techno/electro specialist tomorrow I heard.
Coffee, beer and pizza served on site all day. What more does one need....

Absolutely no need to do so unless it’s a high value record. Standard second class has delivery confirmation.

I’ll probably pop down to it! Don’t suppose you saw any jungle/dnb at the last one? Nothing like that when I went before, which must’ve been last June.

Is that enough for Paypal protection?

Yup

They don't mention delivery confirmation on the website. I've just posted one this morning 2nd class signed for, cost £4.19. It was above the £20 compensation on 2nd class anyway. I've tried and failed for compensation in the past.

I'm interested in whether this would actually work out as I'm charging £5.50 for postage and losing money after the fees and packaging costs.

There are some very specific RM rules for posting vinyl and most cardboard mailers do not comply. I found this out when trying to claim years ago.

That's interesting. I'm using Music Max mailers that I've had stock of for years.

"Place between thick card and surround with cushioning material at least 2.5cm longer than the item."

So the mailer should extend 2.5cm around each side of the record

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/86/~/wrapping-and-packaging-advice---general-and-item-specific

I have some second generation Music Max mailers that do extend. The original ones are thick card but I add a layer of bubble wrap which stops the record sliding around.

I've not had claims for damage, just one record that went missing completely. Had a few occasions where I get an email from the buyer asking where the record is and it's been delivered to their old address or workplace, because they forgot to change the address.

I've taken with me half a flightcase of dnb/jngl.
Maybe see you later.

*Mustard beanie nr bar

Ah drat, I came and went early. Hope you had a good one. Hopefully see you at the next one!

I mean I could tell you again that standard second class is sufficient for PayPal. And Tracked 48 is better value than second class signed for, with £150 of cover.

I'll definitely look at Tracked 48. 2nd Class without signature never used to be enough for Paypal, I don't see anything that's changed there so I personally wouldn't use it for discogs.

It changed when Royal Mail added delivery confirmation on second class parcels.

Great, I finally found the info on the Royal Mail page. It would save me (or my customer) 60p over 2nd class signed for. I should switch I guess and thanks for persisting.

No worries. It'd have been nice to meet you. I'm sure there'll be another opportunity soon.

April 28th Abney Hall - new event that looks interesting (half records, half music memorabilia etc.).
No date yet for another pop in SE London.

No worries. Just don’t like seeing peeps (buyers and sellers) splashing out more than’s required 👊

My Goldring E3 has just died,ideally I'm after something around the £100 mark, was thinking of getting something on the lower end of the Audio Technica VM5xx range that can be upgraded.

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

AT VM95 range is decent too. Nagaoka MP-110 is decent for the asking price.

AT vm95 for sure. I'm very happy with the E.
If your arm and phono amp (and budget) can handle it the denon 103 is absolutely fantastic.

I had never listened to the VM500 series and VM95 series side by side so can't say which sounds better (the former look a bit less cheap though : ).

That being said I was debating for a long time which first "proper" cartridge to get, and back then everybody and their mother recommended the AT-VM95ML, saying it was superb value for money and sounded amazing (if you take care to align it properly).
In the end I got a Concorde R20 (a Ortofon Concorde body with a pre-installed OM20 stylus) instead, was pretty happy with it, but eventually bought the 95ML a few weeks ago.
In a nutshell: it's cheaper, and it sounds better.
Around your budget as well - https://www.thakker.eu/en/cartridges/audio-technica-at-vm95ml-moving-magnet-cartridge/a-9540/

Of course it all depends on the rest of your system, what kinda sound signature you like, what kind of music you actually listen to etc. - to me it's a very good allrounder I must say, would definitely recommend.

I have a AT-VM95SH. Not sure why I've always had Shibata rather than microline, not even tried the microline to compare but it seems to be the more popular option. Can recommend the SH though.

Ha, I watched / listened to this comparison video of the ML and SH
a lot of times - got to admit it's really hard to tell them apart for me..

..probably the ML has a bit more "punch" and a bit crisper highs, while the SH is a tad more "elegant" in the upper mids 🧐

In the end I went for the ML, as I thought it fits my music better, also it's a bit cheaper, a lot of people are recommending it, and also the red fits the led's of my MK7 😅

There's not much to choose between them. Both decent options.