Imagine building up a collection of the great singers and groups of the "Swingin' Sixties", cheaply and economically - savings money in the process!

This process is simply about selecting the best collections in the market, and choosing the best sources - in the high street or on-line, so that you get the best possible product, at the best possible price!

Tips to ensure you get the best there is for the least outlay:

1. Don't get sucked in to the latest marketing programme. With Christmas coming up, this is doubly important, because this is the time when ridiculous sums of money are asked for, for compilations that have been on the market for years - at much lower sums. Ignore ALL such promotions, and use the tips in this article!
2. Consider buying second hand. I know there is a delight in unwrapping the cellophane of a new purchase. Actually, that is the one thing I DETEST about buying new, as I can never get the wretched wrapping off, without the aid of a sharp knife or scissors, when I often scratch the CD case in frustration. As soon as you play your DC or DVD, it is officially second hand, so what have you gained. I have only once found a second hand product to be even slightly faulty, and on e-bay you will almost certainly be able to get a refund.
3. Take care to look at the small print on the cover of a CD. IGNORE all CDs with the words "tracks by original artistes, although some may have been re-recorded featuring some or all of the original artistes. You may get some tracks as originals, or even a version that is superior in many ways to the original. But don't bank on it. If you can get it for $1.00 or a couple of dollars, you may want to take the chance. But better not!
4. Use ebay to search for the best compilation of tracks of your chosen artiste. For sixties artistes, it is relatively common to acquire a "best of" CD featuring 20, 30, 40, even 50 original tracks on a single CD or CD box set.
5. Even better, choose a CD compilation with a clear theme. This could be all the EP tracks, or all the "A" and "B" singles over a given period. This ensures that there is no fillers of dubious quality tracks to pad out the CD.
6. Compare prices on ebay with Amazon. It can be amazing how much prices can vary for the same product - either new or second hand, between the two sites. Sometimes Amazon is best option - especially as there is no bidding involved, and sometimes ebay wins hands down.
7. Use Amazon to check out the quality of the compilation. Reviewers will give hard hitting honest appraisal of the CD or DVD, identifying those dodgy re-recorded tracks mentioned above, or where the tracks are not representative of an artiste's best work.
8. If bidding on ebay, bid low and late. You can get an idea of the average price by going to "completed listings", but I prefer to wade right in. Once I have identified a great product, I assess my top total price (including postage and packing!), then make my bid about 24 hours before the end date at about half my target. I log in again about half an hour before the end of auction, and get ready to make a late (and final) bid. Don't exceed you top bid. There will be another one along tomorrow!
9. And for special individual tracks, why not use the Internet to download songs as MP3 tracks!