Not as fun as it used to be, which is for several reasons. Discogs has many faults, one of which is the "suggested price" algorithm in work when one lists items for sale. It seems to operate on the assumption that every copy added must be more expensive than others recently sold, and I'm convinced it contributes to move asking prices upwards. As "Persecution Mania" was mentioned, the algorithm currently suggests 340 euros for an NM copy, 260 for VG+, 180 for VG etc.
Part of it is our already massive collections. We just don't find that much anymore because we already have so much. More than once I've walked out of a record fair thinking something along the lines of "if I didn't have all those records already I would have made quite some decent finds today".
For most of 2024, I largely dismissed the scarce metal records and stocked up on some 70's hard rock I didn't have. Rush, Budgie, Kansas, Deep Purple, you name it. I found most of them in shops, precious few of them were expensive, and it was certainly fun to walk into shops realistically expecting to find something I wanted for a change.
People say there are no bargains anymore. That's because it's so easy to check out sales history online. Record dealers, even charity shop owners, no longer need to make wild guesses on records they've never heard of. Bad for us, but think of it the other way. What's a bargain, really? It's when you serve up a shit eating grin to some poor guy behind a counter while you rob them.
Another consequence of the easily accessible sales history is that desirable records no longer fall into the laps of record store owners for peanuts. They have to pay to get anything to stock at all and must thus price accordingly when they resell.
Honestly, while I basically agree with everything that's been said, this is a tune I've heard sung ever since I started collecting second hand vinyl in the year 2003. Older collectors always found that bygone days were better. Used records weren't as cheap in 2005 as they were in 1995 etc. I'll illustrate with some anecdotes.
Some 17 or 18 years ago, I was mocked for paying 20 euros or some such for a pristine copy of Savatage's "Hall of the Mountain King". According to this older dude, Savatage were such a household name that no record of theirs could possibly be worth that much second hand. Well guess what...
I remember this guy on a forum who thought record collectors were pretentious douchebags. He would rather listen a million times to his 5 euro copy of "Ace of Spades" than hear a note off any crap rarity that cost more than any record had the right to cost. When could you last get "Ace of Spades" for 5 euros?
I've accepted that the natural order of things is that most records will cost more second hand today than they did a year ago. People seem to have a problem with seeing scale. It might have seemed like the supply of used Iron Maiden records was infinite, but it never was. The only records that don't get more expensive with time are those nobody wants. "Back in the day" it was not unusual for record stores to have 10 extra copies of "Powerslave" in storage – perhaps they wouldn't even accept another copy if offered – but that's no longer common. One day or another will be the last time someone walks into your favorite record shop with a copy of "Powerslave" they seek to dispose of. On that day, it isn't going to be sold at 10 euros and resold at 20.
TLDR: It's getting harder to find records at affordable prices because there are fewer records to be found at all, for everyone (collectors, dealers and stores).
). Turns out it nowadays has a discogs-median of €137 
You're probably on to something with that "suggested price" algorithm. Of course Discogs want to inflate prices little by little all the time. The higher an item sells for, the more revenue Discogs will get from the sale. With the added drawback that as soon as the algorithm suggests a price that's too high, buyers refuse to buy. Which means no revenue at all for Discogs. As I've said many times before - this is a real threat to their business model and is something that needs to be addressed if Discogs is to survive long term. How many times before haven't we seen good projects go down the drain because of unbridled corporate greed?
