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List of Record Stores that overcharged for RSD releases


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So over the course of the last 24 hours I've read a number of horror stories of shops charging nearly double the MSRP for RSD releases and I wanted to create a forum to put those guys on blast. Vinyl is the only audio format in the last few years that has encountered an increase in sales. While CD and mp3 sales have seen a steady decline, vinyl has continued to gain steam and is only getting stronger. To correlate with that incline in sales, RSD titles have also become more abundant and more expensive over the last 3 years. We pay the few bucks extra and don't give it too much thought because it's only once (or twice if you do Black Friday) a year. So now it seems that not only are some people having to deal with the little extra markup from the record labels, but they also are getting hit with ebay like prices. I want this thread to be solely for those shops that charged way over the MSRP. Hopefully someone who interacts with the organizers of RSD will see this and take action against those shops, even if its only limiting their stock.

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Bullmoose:

White Stripes - Elephant - $26.97

Fingerprints

White Stripes - Elephant - $34.99

As I stated, the prices on Bullmoose are 10% off, so that means the MSRP was actually $29.99. I'm not talking about a few extra bucks when responding here, I want it to be shops that charged 40+ percent over MSRP.

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As I stated, the prices on Bullmoose are 10% off, so that means the MSRP was actually $29.99. I'm not talking about a few extra bucks when responding here, I want it to be shops that charged 40+ percent over MSRP.

The MSRP price usually already takes into account profit for the store owner.

 

Understood though about you wanting to take the thread in a more extreme pricing direction.

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Didn't have too much overcharging around here. Although at least 3 or 4 local shops listed on the RSD website didn't actually participate in RSD (that is, they didn't even order any RSD releases). That's also really annoying.

 

Getting the publicity of being listed on the RSD website, just to lure in people so you can try to charge them $50 for used Misfits records while not carrying any of the day's releases is pretty shitty (I'm looking at you, EZ2Collect in Fair Lawn, NJ)

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Didn't have too much overcharging around here. Although at least 3 or 4 local shops listed on the RSD website didn't actually participate in RSD (that is, they didn't even order any RSD releases). That's also really annoying.

 

Getting the publicity of being listed on the RSD website, just to lure in people so you can try to charge them $50 for used Misfits records while not carrying any of the day's releases is pretty shitty (I'm looking at you, EZ2Collect in Fair Lawn, NJ)

where did you go?  i only went to scotti's in summit.  place was a shitshow.

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Didn't have too much overcharging around here. Although at least 3 or 4 local shops listed on the RSD website didn't actually participate in RSD (that is, they didn't even order any RSD releases). That's also really annoying.

 

Getting the publicity of being listed on the RSD website, just to lure in people so you can try to charge them $50 for used Misfits records while not carrying any of the day's releases is pretty shitty (I'm looking at you, EZ2Collect in Fair Lawn, NJ)

 hahahaah Ez2c is horrible, I live right by the place and it sucks that they never have any exclusives or anything. I've been there a few times, but nothing caught my eye, and everything is waaay overpriced. Other people have commented on how much of a sleaze the guy is. I've only had limited interaction with him, but I can kinda see why they would say that. Also, he has a few videos up on YouTube advertising his store and RSD even though they never carry anything.

where did you go?  i only went to scotti's in summit.  place was a shitshow.

 

I was at Scotti's as well! Probably the best alternative to VVinyl or PREX. it's a shame they didn't get a single BTBAM though, and now im just on the hunt for those

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where did you go?  i only went to scotti's in summit.  place was a shitshow.

 

I worked until Noon, so I didn't expect much, but...

 

I hit up SoundExchange in Wayne first. They had a bunch of stuff left, but nothing much I was looking for, except for the Elliott Smith 7". I also grabbed the Hendrix 7" while I was there. I picked up a few other non-RSD things from there, because I love that place. Fair prices on everything. I'm pretty sure the two RSD 7"s were like 7 or 8 bucks each.

 

Next, I went to Music Connection in Elmwood Park because out of the stores I had called earlier in the week, they offered to hold a record for me. So they had my White Stripes LP when I got there around 1pm. They had a tiny box like like 8 LPs and a few 7"s left. Mostly Aerosmith and Bon Jovi. Also fair, price wise. I think Elephant was $26.99

 

Next I tried EZ2Collect in Fair Lawn, and they were awful. Didn't order any RSD releases (despite being listed on the website). And the guy was a huge dick. He practically herded me over to his huge room of used vinyl that was all like $75 and up. Then he yelled at me when I went and flipped through a few records, telling me that if I want to know if he has something, to tell him and he'll find it, because he doesn't want customers damaging his records. 

 

A friend went to Scotti's and said it was awful, but he didn't mention prices. He also went to Comics N Toys in River Edge and said it was CRAZY overpriced. He said the Joan Jett LP was $40 or $45. Then he went to Music Merchant in Westwood and said they had way more stuff and it was all at MSRP.

 

So that's pretty much all of north-east Jersey, other than Tunes, which I wasn't going to go anywhere NEAR on RSD.

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 hahahaah Ez2c is horrible, I live right by the place and it sucks that they never have any exclusives or anything. I've been there a few times, but nothing caught my eye, and everything is waaay overpriced. Other people have commented on how much of a sleaze the guy is. I've only had limited interaction with him, but I can kinda see why they would say that. Also, he has a few videos up on YouTube advertising his store and RSD even though they never carry anything.

 

I was at Scotti's as well! Probably the best alternative to VVinyl or PREX. it's a shame they didn't get a single BTBAM though, and now im just on the hunt for those

 

My favorite part about EZ2Collect is his section of "New Vinyl." Which is a cardboard box with like a dozen (currently in print!) Misfits and Springsteen LPs all priced at $30-$40

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Not to say that there aren't people being assholes out there but please keep in mind these ABSOLUTE FACTS.

 

1. MSRP doesn't really mean shit in the real world. Not only is the MSRP set by the original label/distro but it many times doesn't match up with typical mark ups. For instance for things like $25 or under on the floor the MSRP matches pretty closely with your typical stores mark up. Essentially a 50% mark up (which is really shitty for a retail business by the way.) But when you get in to box sets lets say and the MSRP is like $60 that's essentially saying "yeah you invested $50 in this but you can't get your mark up which would put it at $74.99, so yeah only make $10 on this big investment instead". Which as you can imagine...stings, and isn't going to happen most places.

 

2. These records start out in one distro and then go to others and then others from there. So what may have started out as a $10 wholesale originally once you get down to a third or fourth hand place could end up being $25 wholesale. I have seen this happen first hand as I watch these RSD releases hit the waves of distributors. It gets insane. Especially at a place like Cobraside who essentially were charging the same prices I had out for retail as their wholesale prices. If you ordered from them because you were stuck or didn't know better you'd end up with prices waaaaaay higher than anyone else.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to drop that little bit of knowledge on the subject and say that while I'm sure there are jerks, just because you saw it for more than MSRP doesn't mean someone was trying to get one over on you.

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Are people listing undercharged or overcharged items? because these prices seem fairly tame.

 

Drove 30 miles to Just Play Music in Santa Barbara, CA hoping to find something decent only to find a POS record store.

 

Deftones - LIVE 35.99 (almost 300%!)

Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory 45.99

jesus shit, i paid 31 for hybrid theory and thought that was outrageous.

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