LP Vinyl: Quality, Pressing, Label, Weight, Where to Buy ???

I usually stock up at book fairs, but it's been slim pickings the last couple of years.  Maybe once covid restrictions get lifted, selections might improve.  

I've also selectively purchased from ebay with some good results.  But availability is down and the prices are stupid.  

So for the time being, I'm enjoying the records I have.  

I like online vendors Music Direct, Elusive Disk and Acoustic Sounds, and a couple local record stores. Amazon has been hit & miss, I’ve had to return about half the LPs but if you’re near a UPS or Kohl’s returns are an easy drop off, unpackaged.
Original pressings usually sound better than reissues but surface noise can be an issue. Reissues from Analogue Productions, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), Sundazed, Acoustic Sounds and Blue Note labels are good. 45rpm’s are a pain (double albums, twice the chance of getting a defect) but can sound better than 33 1/3. As for weight, 180g and 200g are rarely warped but imo I don’t think a heavier record affects the sound.

Good luck, welcome back!

Support your local record store(s) where possible.  Some of these have already been mentioned, but here are some suggestions.

Discogs is good overall , buy from sellers with or very near 100% positive feedback.  If you get to 99.5% or less, you'll find that they over-grade, or have other common issues. 

Discogs is also a good place to get an idea of the quality of the pressing you're looking at. Users grade records and often leave comments about the quality of pressings.  Steve Hoffman forums are another good place to get information about the quality of specific pressings.

For "audiophile" and high quality pressings, Music Direct and Acoustic Sounds are great.  

Some decent places to buy online are Plaid Room Records and Pop Market.

For rare and unique records, try rarerecords.net

yes, records are very expensive now.  I almost always go with the early pressings and then you might have to buy a few copies before you get a decent one.  It is what it is. cannot beat the sound when you have a good copy.