A catalogue for a new vinyl collector

Add the record when you get home, with the price you paid and the shop. That note is the whole story later, when you cannot remember which Saturday it was. A price you type is the one the total uses. A price you forget becomes a market guide that may not describe what you spent.

Use the wishlist for the next few you want, so a shop visit has a point. Keep it short enough to say out loud. A hundred daydreams are not a plan for Saturday.

A shelf of ten accurate records is a better habit than a memory of fifty. You can learn the label as you go. You cannot reconstruct a year of purchases from the spines.

Pick the copy that looks like yours, and leave a note if you are unsure of the pressing. You can edit it when you have learned the label. Do not save a completely different album because the search was close. A placeholder sleeve is better than the wrong cover.

Check Do I own it? before you buy the next one, even early on. The expensive mistake is not ignorance of catalogue numbers. It is paying for a record that is already at home.

Create a free account. Add the records you have, by search, barcode, or by hand. Put the next wants on the wishlist. One hundred records fit on the free shelf while the collection grows.

Add the site to the home screen so the habit is a tap, not a search for the website. The same account opens on a computer if you would rather type at a desk.