Re: OmenofSteel-
you're probably right that, in another 5 years, $250 will seem like a bargain for something like Salems Wych. Unfortunately, that doesn't make the record any more affordable at the moment. If a person can't afford to pay $250 for it right now, it doesn't matter how much the value may increase in the future.
I would liked to have won Axe Crazy's recent ebay auction of the Bolweevill 7", but I can't afford to pay $475 for a single. I could put it on my credit card and then be stuck paying it off for the next six months or so, racking up interest the entire time, but I'm just not willing to be financially irresponsible in order to buy rare records. I have rent and tuition bills to pay, a girlfriend to take care of, and family and friends to buy christmas presents for... for me, those things have to come before buying records. Record collecting is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not ruin a person's finances. Maybe it wouldn't bother some folks, but I know I would have felt like crap putting that Bolweevill 7" on my credit card. Instead of enjoying the fact that I finally owned a copy and got something off my wantlist, I would have instead been stressed out that I put myself about $500 in debt just to buy a single.
If I were buying the single as an investment and planning to re-sell it in 3 years for $800, that would be a little different, but personally I don't view my records as investments. I might sell them off someday, but I don't buy them just to build a 'vinyl portfolio'.
I guess the bottom line is that, as long as I'm both poor and financially responsible, I'm not gonna get many records off my wantlist, but I'll lose a lot less sleep over not owning Bolweevill than I will over being hundreds-thousands of dollars in debt because i bought some records
