Where to Buy Vintage Gay Magazines Online
Looking for vintage gay magazines? Whether you're after a specific issue of Drummer, a stack of Gay Times back issues, or something rarer — here's where to find them, what to watch out for, and how to get the best deals.
Why buy vintage gay magazines?
There's something about holding a physical copy of a magazine from another era. A 1970s Drummer. An early Gay Times from the Section 28 years. A German Du & Ich from the decade after decriminalisation. These aren't just collectibles — they're pieces of queer history that were often hidden, discarded, or destroyed. What survives is finite, and every year there's less of it.
Some people collect for the history. Some for the photography or the graphic design. Some because they remember buying these magazines themselves, nervously, from a top shelf or a specialist shop that no longer exists. Whatever your reason, knowing where to look — and what to avoid — makes all the difference.
Specialist online shops
If you want the easiest, most reliable experience, a dedicated vintage shop is the way to go. You'll get honest condition grading, proper descriptions, and someone who actually knows what they're selling.
Gay Vintage UK (that's us — gayvintageuk.com) specialises in vintage gay magazines, DVDs, and photobooks. Every item is condition-graded before listing, shipped in discreet plain packaging, and we add new stock regularly. We carry UK titles like Gay Times, Attitude, Him, and Vulcan, American titles like Drummer, and a growing range of German publications including Du & Ich, Kerle, BEAR, and Dreamboys. Free UK shipping on orders over £50, and we ship internationally.
There are very few other dedicated shops in this space — which is part of why we started. Homobilia in the US focuses on vintage physique photography, but for magazines specifically, the pickings are slim. That's good news for you if you're looking for a one-stop shop.
eBay
eBay is probably the most common place people stumble across vintage gay magazines, and it's a decent hunting ground if you know what you're doing.
Tips for buying on eBay:
Search beyond the obvious. Try "vintage gay magazine," "Gay Times back issues," and "Drummer magazine" — but also try foreign-language searches. Searching eBay.de (the German site) with terms like schwul Magazin, Kerle Magazin, or gay Zeitschrift Sammlung can uncover European stock that UK and US buyers miss entirely. The word Konvolut means a bulk lot or collection — if you see it, you might be looking at a bargain.
Check condition descriptions carefully. Not every seller knows (or cares about) condition grading. "Good condition" on eBay can mean anything from near-mint to battered. Always check the photos, and don't be afraid to message the seller with questions.
Watch out for overpricing. Some eBay sellers list magazines at wildly optimistic prices based on nothing. Just because someone's listed a 2005 Attitude at £25 doesn't mean it's worth £25. Check sold listings (filter by "Sold items") to see what things actually sell for, not what people are hoping for.
Bulk lots can be gold. Sellers clearing out collections often don't know what they've got. A mixed lot of "old gay magazines" for £30 might contain something genuinely rare buried in the pile.
Etsy
Etsy has a dedicated "Vintage" category for items over 20 years old, and vintage gay magazines fit right in. The audience here tends to be collectors and people who specifically appreciate vintage items, so they're often willing to pay fair prices for the right thing.
Search for specific titles rather than broad terms — you'll get better results looking for "Drummer magazine vintage" or "Gay Times 1980s" than just "gay magazines."
Etsy sellers generally put more effort into their listings and photography than average eBay sellers, so condition descriptions tend to be more reliable. Prices can be higher though, so compare before you buy.
Catawiki
If you're after rarer or higher-value pieces, Catawiki is worth knowing about. It's a European auction platform for collectibles, and they run curated lots vetted by specialists. You're more likely to find genuinely rare items here — early physique magazines, complete runs, first editions — and the buyers are serious collectors.
The downside is that you're bidding at auction, so prices can climb quickly for desirable items. But if you're patient and know your limits, there are finds to be had.
Charity shops, car boot sales, and estate clearances
This is where the best stories come from. A box of magazines in a charity shop for a fiver. An estate clearance where someone's lifelong collection is being sold off. A car boot sale where a stallholder has no idea what they've got.
These finds are unpredictable, obviously. You can't search a charity shop the way you search eBay. But if you're the type who enjoys the hunt, keep your eyes open. Many vintage gay magazines were destroyed, hidden, or thrown away — so the ones that survive in these settings are often well-loved copies that someone kept for decades. There's something special about that.
Facebook Marketplace and local selling apps
Worth a look, particularly for bulk lots. People clearing out houses and attics sometimes list magazines here at low prices because they want them gone quickly. The listing quality is usually terrible — blurry photos, no descriptions — but that's an opportunity if you can identify what's in the pile.
German and European sources
Germany had one of the richest gay publishing scenes in the world, and German magazines are increasingly collectible among international buyers. If you're willing to look beyond the UK, there's a whole world of stock out there.
eBay.de is the obvious starting point — search in German for the best results. Beyond eBay, platforms like Momox.de, Rebuy.de, and Medimops.de are major German secondhand media sites where magazines and books turn up regularly. Booklooker.de is another good option for printed media.
For auction-style buying, Delcampe.net covers European collectibles and sometimes has interesting magazine lots.
The challenge with buying from Germany is shipping. Some sellers won't post internationally, and even those that do can charge hefty rates. Services like Mailboxde.com give you a German forwarding address so you can buy from German-only sellers and have everything consolidated and shipped to the UK in one go. It adds a step, but it opens up a huge market.
What to look for (and what to avoid)
Condition matters. A crisp, clean magazine will always be more collectible and more valuable than a tatty one. Look for tight spines, clean covers, unmarked pages, and no musty smell. Light age-tanning on page edges is normal for older issues.
Beware of incomplete copies. Some magazines have had pages removed (you can probably guess which ones). Check the page count if it's listed, and ask the seller if you're not sure.
First issues and final issues of any title carry a premium. So do special editions, anniversary issues, and anything with a notable cover subject.
Don't overlook the "unglamorous" titles. Everyone knows Drummer and Gay Times, but titles like Him, Vulcan, Zipper, and the German publications are often underpriced because fewer people know about them. That's where collectors find real value.
A note on preservation
Every vintage gay magazine you buy is a small act of preservation. These are physical records of queer life, culture, and desire from times when visibility came at a cost. The print runs were small, the survival rates were lower than mainstream magazines, and what's left is getting scarcer every year.
We donate pristine copies to the Bishopsgate Institute's LGBTQ+ archive in London, and we'd encourage any collector to consider doing the same with duplicates in excellent condition. But the most important thing is that these magazines are in the hands of people who value them — whether that's in an archive, on a collector's shelf, or on your coffee table.
Happy hunting.
We're always adding new stock at gayvintageuk.com — vintage gay magazines, DVDs, and photobooks shipped discreetly worldwide. Got a collection to sell? Visit our Sell page for a quick, fair valuation.