Online Vinyl Distros

[thiswilldestroyyou]

With the recent closing of distros (In Vinyl We Trust, Secret Audio Club, Vinyl Junkie) is there a need for a new one?

I ask this because I'm curious where everyone is getting their vinyl, but more importantly starting a distro is something I've seriously considered doing on and off for some time now.

Whether I start one or not, this could also help others who already exist, what is it that you would want from an online distro?

I think the website is obviously an important factor and I'd like to see:

Search function (advanced search function)

Sort (by genre/ by label)

View All (or 100 per page - just don't make me go through pages of 10)

Pressing information (this is probably a lot of manual work, but even just saying 1st/2nd/3rd press)

If you have a used section, photos would be nice

I saw a little bit of this in the IVWT thread and I think it's an interesting discussion

[dynamitekid]

I use No Idea almost exclusively. there have been WAY too many flight by night distro that have come and gone that I don't like ordering from others. It takes a lot to gain respect.

[thiswilldestroyyou]

Yeah I can understand that, have to start somewhere. Is that list view (no images) on the No Idea site something people prefer?

[fixedfrequencies]

I've been mainly using No Idea lately. I like that list view style they got over there especially.

[moonbeams]

I mainly order directly from record labels or bands.

Sometimes I use Interpunk when there is no other option available, but shipping is quite tough for me. There are some good distros in Japan that I sometimes use, with long gone stuff, but you'll need to be able to read and write Japanese and live in Japan to use them.

[ronniegwilliams]

I like No Idea quite a bit, sometimes Deathwish has some good distro titles. Though I prefer ordering directly from the label, sometimes it's nice to save a bit on shipping for numerous titles.

[GradedOnACurve]

I like No Idea quite a bit, sometimes Deathwish has some good distro titles. Though I prefer ordering directly from the label, sometimes it's nice to save a bit on shipping for numerous titles.

This. Absolutely this. I will say Interpunk is good too but can be expensive.

[gravemistake]

I have a webstore! I carry lots of labels and distro stuff ... check it out:

www.gravemistakerecords.com/catalog

[GradedOnACurve]

^ How could I forget this guy! Buy from him too!

[thebiglebowski]

If you want to distro, set up a distro. Might be pretty good time to get a foothold. But if you think that there is a big gap in the vinyl collecting world where customers are trying to buy and don't have anyone to serve them, I don't think so. Still have ordering directly from labels, their distros, SRC, Interpunk, ebay, and several vinyl message boards to buy from. And those distros closing probably threw off the market for a while with their clearance sales that convinced people to pick up all the albums they have been putting off.

I made a lot of comments in the other threads so I won't totally rehash what I think a good distro looks like -- simple design that allows me to quickly browse the entire catalog (echo the no idea love), good customer service (meaning responsiveness, reliability, and also helps to be an active member of communities like this), and good prices.

[thebiglebowski]

If you decide to go all in on this you should get in touch with those distros that are closing and see if you can work out a deal for the bulk of their merchandise that is left after the sales.

[vinyljunkiedistro]

there is always room for another distro if you do it correctly.

There is never room for another distro that carries the same generic crap you can get everywhere else.

Nowadays with all the exclusive colors, and pre-sales, and records that sell out before they get distributed and stuff its difficult to do a distro. Way more difficult than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

but if you find a niche and do it correctly. Keep your prices low, and be prepared to throw a lot of your own money in for a while.

then go for it.

buy lots of records from me to get you started.

[disconnectrecs]

There's quite a few good distros in the UK right now, which will save us Europeans lots on shipping / import taxes etc!

www.allinvinyl.com - lots of different stuff from the world of punk rock - most of the bigger new releases and a bunch of smaller stuff, as well as their own label split series etc. As the name suggests, all vinyl!

www.differentkitchen.bigcartel.com - a lot of No Idea and pop punk stuff - always good prices. Mostly vinyl, a few CDs. Will get in anything from No Idea you want.

www.viewfromtheattic.com - a new one concentrating on bit more obscure emo type stuff. Think they might be starting a label too.

www.monkeyboyrecords.bigcartel.com - another new one with mostly pop punk / punk type stuff. Looks like they'll be getting lots of good stuff in.

www.disconnectdisconnectrecords.bigcartel.com - this is my label / distro. I try to stock a lot of stuff I havent found in other places in the UK from other labels I like and believe in like Creator Destructor Records, Black Numbers, Better Days Records etc, as well as some great unsigned bands.

That should keep a lot of UK and European people covered if you're into anything punk based.

[ac3ebemo]

A couple andom (and probably naive) questions:

1. How does a distro go about getting wholesale pricing from labels?

2. Do labels have mandatory order limits (Do you have to order their full current catalog, or is there a mininum dollar order?)

3. How does the extremely limited/sought after stuff work?

Genuinely curious.

[hudsoncomplex]

www.chiselrecords.com I know a few of you have bought from Andy in the past. He puts of free Canadian shipping a few times a year, and other than that shipping in $10 flat rate across Canada.

[One Hundred Fifty-Two]

I don't really like buying from "distros." I prefer actually labels that carry distributed titles. No Idea, Deathwish. Or buying from labels with huge back catalogs. Bridge Nine, Asian Man, Fat Wreck. You can pick up the one new title and then there is always something you can add to your order.

Like someone else mentioned, if you are going to do a distro, do something special. You won't be able to compete with Interpunk and SRC (I really wish they would go out of business) if you carry the same shit as them.

[vinyljunkiedistro]

A couple andom (and probably naive) questions:

1. How does a distro go about getting wholesale pricing from labels?

2. Do labels have mandatory order limits (Do you have to order their full current catalog, or is there a mininum dollar order?)

3. How does the extremely limited/sought after stuff work?

Genuinely curious.

1. Just ask them. If you are a legit label, and are ordering multiple copies of things, many labels will give you wholesale prices. Unfortunately, over the last few years the scene has changed and lots of small startup labels already have "exclusive distribution" and stuff (which in my opinion is a pile of horseshit), which makes it hard for a small distro to deal directly with the label.

Alternatively you can can get the records wholesale through distributors. For small releases there are places like ebullition, ILD, no idea, deathwish. For more major label releases there are a slew of places like cobraside, redeye, super D.

2. With labels it will usualy depend. You will need to order multiple copies of several items (no one is gonna give you wholesale price if you order one copy of 3 records. then you are just a consumer looking for a deal). Some places have limits, like at least 3 copies of each record, or 100$ minimum, etc.

With larger distribution places, they require you to set up an account with them and show you are a legit place, and some smaller/diy ones then have no minimum, and some of the major label ones may require you to buy $1000 a month or more.

3. It doesnt. Generally limited/sought after stuff screws over a distro/store. Granted, the whole purpose of a record label is to sell records, and if they can do so without outside help, then i guess they are serving their purpose. And thats why its hard. No label wants to wholesale their LP for 7 bucks each, when they can sell all of them in presale for 12 bucks. Some places make deals. They are friends with a guy who runs this label, who is nice and wholesales them a limited color. or they are big enough where they can afford to go in on a pressing and have their own limited color. When i first started my distro labels always sent a few limited copies in with, cause they liked the idea of kids out there being surprised and finding limited editions in different places. Towards the end of the distro i was getting limited editions maybe 5% of the time, if that. Part of that is internet culture and other places ruining it. other distros got limited stuff and immediately ebayed it for big money instead of passing it on to a buyer. in other instances its that now a lot more labels are ran as a "business" to make money, and not as a diy labor of love so the label holds on to everything that can get them the max return. You will probably miss out on most all limited edition stuff until you grow bigger, and can get in on releases earlier, and show you are an honest distro and start to make some long lasting relationships with the labels you work with.

[ac3ebemo]

I think if there were a way to merge what Vinyl Junkie has been (Huge obscure catalog, used items) and what IVWT was (great pricing and customer service) then it could be a successful thing for everybody.

[xjustinxschwierx]

I'm always trying to build up my distro at www.undercomm.storenvy.com

in a month or so I'll have a limited to 100 exclusive color of the Iron Chic LP.

[harryq]

if you make a distro, please make sure your inventory database works well. I can't tell you how many times I've ordered things from well-known distros because they had a record that no one else had, only to get an email a few days later saying "hey, ____ is out of stock. is there anything we can replace it with?" hmm... since the only reason I ordered anything from your store was because you claimed to have that record, I'd rather just cancel the order, but it feels weird doing that via email (feels too personal, and I'm too polite).

oh, and if someone asks for a refund for a record that you didn't have in stock, please don't send them an extra record that you're having trouble selling and not give them the refund. if you do that, I'll probably never order from you again

/rant

like someone else said, you've got to compete with Interpunk, and they are hella convenient.

• huge selection
  
• prices are usually fair
  
• they show you whether or not your stuff is in stock and, if it's not, an estimate for when it'll be in stock (this isn't super accurate, but at least it's something)
  
• easy to add/remove items or cancel your order
  

unless [a] your prices are noticeably lower (including shipping) or you've got ~rare records in stock, it's probably gonna be tough.

[ac3ebemo]

The thing that impressed me about IVWT was how quickly it went from not existing to having a huge selection quantity. I do wonder if there is a limit to just how many items one person could manage staying on top of though, as it seems like their volume kind of plateaued.

[barron22]

I started my distro only about 3 weeks (thanks for the plug disconnectrecs) I set it up to get records in from America which would be expensive to get in just one at a time (due to postage and customs). If I lived in the US I don't know how successful my distro would be, most of what I stock seems easy to find in the US and I doubt i'd be able to compete on price.

As for getting in stock with the exception of broken rim and disconnectdisconnect all of my stock has come from distributors, I personally don't have a problem with this but I don't know any different.

[thebiglebowski]

I think if there were a way to merge what Vinyl Junkie has been (Huge obscure catalog, used items) and what IVWT was (great pricing and customer service) then it could be a successful thing for everybody.

Don't take this as a negative against IVWT. Dude was loved + successful and my one order from him went well. But what did he do to deserve being lauded for customer service that other distros don't? VC used to fuck up half my orders (I like to order in bulk to cut shipping, so a lot of the items wouldn't be in stock for a month. I wanted them to just hold the order and ship is correct when possible but they fucked it up a ton. That Andy guy must have known my email by heart). They always made it right at no cost to me. I still consider this good customer service. Take the order, ship the record, get it right or fix whatever fuck ups you have. Being around on boards, contributing to the community, being a nice guy is cool. Makes me want to order from a distro more. But I think every distro mentioned in this thread has good customer service (they don't last long if they don't).

And don't forget about inventory costs with an assortment like VJ. You tie up a lot of money in slow moving titles, you risk the band breaking up and interest in their records probably being cut in half, you have to store the records and make sure they aren't damaged. I'm sure there are more that aren't coming to mind. It's not unreasonable to expect to pay a small percentage more when ordering from a distro with a wide catalog of older stuff.

And props to VJ for every WTB thread he popped in on with "I have this in my distro". Worked for it...

[thiswilldestroyyou]

Thanks to everyone joining the discussion.

I also prefer to order directly from labels or bands.

I usually find myself placing an order at a distro for two reasons:

1. Someone/a site links me to a distro and I start browsing, basically window shopping (which is why I'd say I prefer the image listings as opposed to no ideas site but I can definitely see the efficiency in their presentation) - this is how my money randomly disappears

2. Recently I've been listening to Joyce Manor, Cold Cave and La Dispute a lot - I want to buy some vinyl, these are all older releases and it's just more convenient to purchase them all from one place (never actually found someone who had all 3)

I know I can't compete with SRC or Interpunk, and I think really finding what sets a distro apart from those is the biggest problem to solve before jumping into this - good customer service and a nice website won't be enough

harryq I completely agree with you, this happens too often at larger places, I hate when I order a specific color/pressing they say is in stock and they send me something different without even letting me know, why is this acceptable?

vinyljunkiedistro has been around for a while and I appreciate everything you're sharing here, It's a bummer about the limited/sought after but I can understand a label wanting to make their money's worth and also preventing people from just throwing them up on ebay. It would be nice to work with labels to get some limited colors/pressings but I don't expect that to happen - again I can't compete with SRC or Hot Topic for that matter.

As far as a niche, I think the hardcore/punk crowd is probably the largest group of vinyl purchasers but clearly that demographic is pretty well covered. I definitely see my self having more of an indie rock / post rock catalog but that's not a niche like say Swedish death metal that I could really focus on and be unique

The biggest question I'm asking (myself) is why would I buy from my own or someone else's distro as opposed to SRC or Interpunk

Convenience?

Lower Prices?

To support them

Convenience would be they have everything I want while the others don't (having a large enough catalog for this to be a reality would be difficult starting out)

Lower prices is something I could only control to a point, I can't go around selling records for wholesale prices and while the goal isn't to make a ton of money off of this, not losing a ton would be nice

Supporting a friend's or someone on the board's distro is certainly something I would take into account (if they had the same things I wanted as another place or even amazon why wouldn't I order from them)

Sorry for the giant block of text, and thanks again to everyone sharing their thoughts/comments

[thebiglebowski]

I never really thought about why I order from a specific distro. I guess the majority of it is that I have a specific record that I want to buy (sometimes a specific color, sometimes just a record I want). So after I go to interpunk to get that exclusive color for example, I look around to see what else I want to throw on there.

Without the ability to get exclusive colors off the bat, you might need to stay really close to the scene, take some chances, and stock records that are likely to stock out quickly elsewhere. My one order from IVWT was because the Lagwagon Box was almost sold out but he had some copies. That get's you that initial purchase, with hopefully a bunch of other stuff thrown on top (my IVWT order was about $250 when I finished).