How do you justify $125.00 for a new vinyl record

My local dealer sells MoFi albums. He still has one copy of Blood on the Tracks New for $149. I had a crazy moment some months ago and bought this Album from his store. A great pressing.

Really hate when records which are items of pleasure with music are treated as a commodity.
Yes I know that is the world we live in and always has been but does not mean I have to like it.

Quite happy most of the time with my bargain $1 bin dive finds!

“l can damn sure bet you that a digital download at 16/44 using an allpass filter to remove the dynamic compression for the loudness wars and then re-encoded with the 33 hertz frequency will blow the mofi vinyl away.” 

Then why don’t you, why make such a fuss about the escalated price of a sold out ‘limited edition’ item. It’s a hobby, if you can’t justify paying $125 for a collector’s item, stick with digital downloads or streaming. 

I do not get 45 rpm records as it is just a way of making you spend more money on the same record.If i have the original pressing than I’m more than happy with it even though the 45 may be a little better.Thats my take on the reissue game.

A lot of great answers above. When I read this I am reminded of a conversation I had in the early 1980s with a (since) departed friend. I was recently married and he had just completed grad school as a conductor.

My friend and I shared a love of some obscure classical music and he was urging me to purchase a couple of LPs a week at about $10 ea., although we had little spare cash available then.

So friend asks me "do you go out to eat?" Yes, but not often. "Do you spend more than $10 when you go out to eat?" Sure. "How long does the meal last?" I don't know, 45 minutes maybe. "An LP can provide up to 44 minutes of musical enjoyment that you can listen to again and again. A meal is enjoyed once and done. What's the better investment?"

I don't think we ate out once for the next couple of years. And BTW, I would probably never pay $125 for an album but I might make exception for something really rare and collectible.