just a normal guy kevin Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 This thread is for serious questions that you can't ask any other forum and don't deserve their own thread...but require an answer. There's a tiny used record shop just outside of downtown LA that sells mostly used, some new LPs and music equipment. The owner seems nice. It feels grimy and small and like a place that would be "all about the music, man". But the prices on some records are insane. Any classic rock band or popular band's album is at least $28-30. I'm talking a repress of the Velvet Underground's self-titled for $30. The same release/pressing that I've had in my Discogs store for $14 for months and which sells for even less a majority of the time. Do some owners just not give a shit? They are cool selling to tourists and 13 year olds who are excited to be in a record shop and don't want to walk out empty handed? I can see this stuff from Newbury or UO or Guitar Center or the terrible shop I visited in Santa Barbara on the tourist strip. But a small shop tucked away in downtown's butt owned by one dude? Is this common place in every state? Do you know anyone who runs their shop like this and can face their customers when ringing up their $30 classic rock record? Questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughingstalk Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Have you been to a record shop lately? That's how they are now. If you're lucky, they'll match discogs and you won't have to pay shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlippingOut Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Yep. Most record stores seem to be a few dollars more than online. If I can help it I do buy through the local record store, despite this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkinglot Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Why am I working towards a degree that will probably be completely useless? OH. Serious questions? Oops. Can someone grab me a RSP copy of Deja? konk and nancy_raygun 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just a normal guy kevin Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 I FEEL you, guys. I've grown complacent with seeing $23 National records and $26 White Stripes records...and I get why the Aerosmith/311 records are even more since they are likely sold at a higher price by the distributor...but when an $11 LP is being sold for $30 with a straight face it will shake a man out of his automatism and get him starting threads on VC. Maybe I'm naive but a $15+ markup is on another level, no? Over the last two years, I've been paying a $2-5 premium when buying from a local shop and I thought that markup was the 'normal' level. Hairy Potter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just a normal guy kevin Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Why am I working towards a degree that will probably be completely useless? OH. Serious questions? Oops. Can someone grab me a RSP copy of Deja? I will trade you Deja for that Govt Plates LP that's been on your eBay for $300 BuyItNow since November. But we'll have to do it through Google Wallet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkinglot Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I will trade you Deja for that Govt Plates LP that's been on your eBay for $300 BuyItNow since November. wait what i wish i knew when bake was being serious, because I'm not sure if you're actually accusing me of this, or if I'm completely missing a joke, of if its just not that funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloudsbelow Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 overhead and food on the table. if little shop in butt fuck nowhere sells a record or two a day he needs to mark em up hefty to pay the bills and buy some cat food. maneatingcow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just a normal guy kevin Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 wait what i wish i knew when bake was being serious, because I'm not sure if you're actually accusing me of this, or if I'm completely missing a joke, of if its just not that funny. Sometimes I just put 3-4 VC memes in a blender and hope for the best. overhead and food on the table. if little shop in butt fuck nowhere sells a record or two a day he needs to mark em up hefty to pay the bills and buy some cat food. The struggle IS real. I'd love to hear how you get to that point though. "In order to stay in business/feed the cat, I have to sell this record to an idiot/pre-teen for nearly 3 times its market price." How does it feel to be in that place in your life, you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just a normal guy kevin Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Follow up question... As a buyer, do you just quietly stop going to that shop that pushes their markup a little above the usual $4-5? I can't think of any other reasonable response that one would have but I'd love to hear a story about someone bringing up the $10+ markup to the dude at the register. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlippingOut Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Sometimes I just put 3-4 VC memes in a blender and hope for the best. 1 part Shaq, 2 parts melted Deja..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
213041284s Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 My local record store is almost exactly like the one you described in the OP. The dude marks up old beat up records by ridiculous amounts. virtually unplayable ones go for 10-15 minimum while decent pressings will go for close to 100 depending on how well known the album is. He also sells cheap record cleaning stuff that you can get off Amazon for 10-20 bucks at the generous price of 59.99. I've only been in there twice when I went with friends who wanted to check it out. I think I saw a $500 Crosley last time. The owner is a delusional douche and it really sucks cause it's right down the street from me. The closest record store after that is almost an hour away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abovetheearth Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I buy what I want regardless. IDGAF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throughbeingcruel Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 A local shop had Modest Mouses's "Good News..." ON SALE for $25, marked down from $40. A friend bought a copy, then immediately found it at UO for $17. Not even five minutes later. And for the record (punfun), we only went to UO because of the thread here, stating they had $10 clearance stuff haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarondltd Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Not a record store but a new store calling its self a liquidator had a few stacks of thrift store jazz and classical types I had never heard of. The prices were mostly $20-40 the lowest I remember was $10 and without a paper sleeve. I wasn't going to go back but next time prices seemed better, but not the selection. The problem in this case I think was just maybe they looked them up online or just thought they were worth more. Other items in the store were not so badly priced. Those other stores are trying to do exactly what some of the labels are doing with their $30-40 on new releases. Or the ebay flippers asking asking stupid prices just in case someone with who doesn't know any better will fall for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just a normal guy kevin Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 ^ That reminds me of the Amazon sellers who list Ted Leo albums for $353.99. Does anyone actually buy those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuckinandsuckinandtouchin Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Follow up question... As a buyer, do you just quietly stop going to that shop that pushes their markup a little above the usual $4-5? I can't think of any other reasonable response that one would have but I'd love to hear a story about someone bringing up the $10+ markup to the dude at the register. I have a few shops locally and one of them marks up new releases quite a bit. I'll still browse there, but say for instance a few weeks ago I wanted to buy Lykke Li's new album because I heard a single and liked it a lot. They had it, but for 24.99 which was actually a few dollars over LIST price. Amazon had it for 17.99 so I went that route. If it's a small 1-3 dollar markup, I will say fuck it and buy it. It also didn't help when I noticed they marked Dischord releases up to around $20. Like I said before, I'll pop in and browse, but most likely walk out with nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuckinandsuckinandtouchin Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 And for the record (punfun), we only went to UO because of the thread here, stating they had $10 clearance stuff haha. I feel the same about shopping at Hot Topic at 28 haha. I do it for the clearance section!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 all i can say is... farts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarondltd Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 If I had seen something I wanted at the "liquidator" I would have said "hey why is this old record $40?" It probably wouldn't have helped but maybe over time it might if people don't buy much. I wasn't going to go back but now I know they buy stuff from storage auctions, it might get interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throughbeingcruel Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I feel the same about shopping at Hot Topic at 28 haha. I do it for the clearance section!!I will unapologetically say that I shop at Hot Topic too much, but only for records. Typically clearance stuff, cuz they practically give that shit away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slushy Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 The struggle IS real. I'd love to hear how you get to that point though. "In order to stay in business/feed the cat, I have to sell this record to an idiot/pre-teen for nearly 3 times its market price." How does it feel to be in that place in your life, you know? This is a great question! I love record stores! As a kid I got so many great recommendations from visiting the cool record stores and talking to the people working behind the counter. Whenever I'm visiting a different town/city/country the first thing I often do is check out the local record store(s). A lot of record stores are really great places that make the world a better/more interesting place. However, when it gets to the point where it's necessary for them to charge $5, $10 etc. extra for records that are clearly available for way cheaper elsewhere, then it really makes you wonder if it's all such a good idea. There are definitely great record stores that I would have no problem making a monthly donation to to ensure they remain open as they feel that important to me, but there are others that I just feel don't really need to exist any more. It gets weird when you start reading interviews with record store owners (usually when music websites/blogs/fanzines are doing features on Record Store Day or the vinyl resurgence), and they are really bitter and talking about how they're not doing so well because "the kids" are down to buy beer & weed but not purchase physical music, or about how "the normies" are shopping at chain stores, and it makes me real angry and wonder why it is they have such a huge sense of entitlement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarondltd Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 The only record store I go to is exclusively used older stuff. They do get newer stuff in but it doesn't last. Their prices are higher than I would like but not as horrible as mentioned above and more like $5-20. For another "serious question". If you guys get a signed record and don't intend on ever selling it, do you just play it and enjoy it or store it away and not touch it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throughbeingcruel Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 The only record store I go to is exclusively used older stuff. They do get newer stuff in but it doesn't last. Their prices are higher than I would like but not as horrible as mentioned above and more like $5-20. For another "serious question". If you guys get a signed record and don't intend on ever selling it, do you just play it and enjoy it or store it away and not touch it? I plan to give my collection to my son when it's necessary, so all of my signed records are even more important to me. I also have a box of signed CD booklets, stickers, tickets, and all that jazz that I think would be awesome to pass down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caninesapien Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 For another "serious question". If you guys get a signed record and don't intend on ever selling it, do you just play it and enjoy it or store it away and not touch it? Play it. I don't have any records that are stored away untouched. I don't have many things signed, but for me to go and have them signed by the artist/s in the first place, it probably means it's one of my favourite albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.