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OG vs Repress; The Thread


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So here's the dilemma I'm often faced with; Keeping up with "the hobby" lately has been somewhat difficult with paying back student loans and saving for an engagement ring. I see many many represses happening lately, i.e. Pretty. Odd. The Rooms Too Cold. I have OG presses of both and I'm conflicted on selling the OG copes to make a few bucks to put toward savings and buying the repress. Most of the time I couldn't give two frosted shits about color, limited editions, and "screen printed jackets". Generally, if I love the album I want to own it on vinyl, regardless of color or print edition. What are the boards thoughts on this? I'm not talking about flipping either, I'd probably let both of the aforementioned albums go for 40 bucks a piece which would more than cover buying the represses and having some left to save.   

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 I'm not talking about flipping either, I'd probably let both of the aforementioned albums go for 40 bucks a piece which would more than cover buying the represses and having some left to save.   

 

I'd flip the shit out of them if it were me.  Why make less money when you can make more?  Simple math.

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If someone offered me enough for an OG that would cover the cost of a repress and maybe something else, I would almost always take it. If the OG is a colored version or an album I really really love, then I might not. I was recently offered $55 for my OG of Frightened Rabbit's Midnight Organ Fight. I took it and bought the repress (which includes a bonus LP) for $20. Trying to figure out what else to buy with the money.

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Here's my take on this. Why do you or others consider the option of selling your OG copies for what they are worth now as flipping? I assume you've had those copies since they came out? The value of those records are far more than $40. I sold my OG Pretty Odd for $72. All I'm saying is that you're talking about putting some money in your savings so is it worth the $20 or $30 you're going to make off selling both of those copies for $80 together when you have to buy the represses for about $25-$30 shipped. So the math doesn't really work out too well for all the trouble you have to go through.

-Sell each copy for $40 so you make $80

-Buy each repress for $25 and spend $50

-Make $20-$30 to put in your account depending on what you spent to ship the albums you sold

It doesn't really seem worth it to sell the OGs if your only selling them for that price. You might as well just hang on to them unless your selling them for what they are worth in today's market.

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This.  If you're going to do it, then who cares about karma or whatever.  You have bills to pay.

 

Exactly, that was my point.  If people are willing to pay X dollars for Y album, then so be it.  You need the money for bills and a future so get as much as you can and buy the represses for much less while pocketing some cash for what lies ahead.

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depends on the quality of the repress. I've been working the opposite game recently - flipping represses for OGs (ie, My Bloody Valentine Plain reissues for originals - I ended up getting almost as much for my Plain Loveless as I spent on an original). I'll also try to seek out originals of anything that was originally released in the "golden age" - I wouldn't trade my Elvis Costello first press UK records for the MFSL. Though I did upgrade my Pixies releases with the MFSL, so I guess it all depends on my mood.

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depends on the quality of the repress. I've been working the opposite game recently - flipping represses for OGs (ie, My Bloody Valentine Plain reissues for originals - I ended up getting almost as much for my Plain Loveless as I spent on an original). I'll also try to seek out originals of anything that was originally released in the "golden age" - I wouldn't trade my Elvis Costello first press UK records for the MFSL. Though I did upgrade my Pixies releases with the MFSL, so I guess it all depends on my mood.

 

This is exactly my dilemma.  How to differentiate between the sound quality of an OG vs. the repress.  For example, Jimmy Eat World's "Futures."  I have an OG copy and it's great.  But a repress is likely coming next year that will, again, likely add bonus tracks and whatnot.  Should I sell my OG press ahead of time in anticipation of the repress or keep it?  What if the repress sounds noticeably worse than the OG?  Then I'll wish I still had my OG.  I'm having the same dilemma with my copy of Sum 41's "Chuck."  To keep the OG or not...

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You must consider what the repress does to the value of the OG as well. I've sold many OG pressings when a repress comes to light, allowed the repress to flood the secondary market, and then bought the OG back for a fraction of the amount I sold it for. Underoath's "They're Only Chasing Safety" comes to mind. Sold for $90, bought two months later for $30ppd. I also did this with Thrice's "Vheissu." I will most likely do this with my OG Third Eye Blind pressings once those are confirmed as well. Gotta play this game smart.

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You must consider what the repress does to the value of the OG as well. I've sold many OG pressings when a repress comes to light, allowed the repress to flood the secondary market, and then bought the OG back for a fraction of the amount I sold it for. Underoath's "They're Only Chasing Safety" comes to mind. Sold for $90, bought two months later for $30ppd. I also did this with Thrice's "Vheissu." I will most likely do this with my OG Third Eye Blind pressings once those are confirmed as well. Gotta play this game smart.

 

I understand how the repress generally lowers the value of the OG but that's not my primary concern...it's sound quality.  Given there's no way to really know if the repress is going to sound as good (or better) than the OG, it's a guessing game.  So the question becomes- is it better to hold onto the OG and see it's value go down after a repress (if you care about value) or sell it for significant $ in advance of the repress?  I'm betting more people will say sell the OG but again I ask, what if you find out the OG sounds much better than the repress?

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I understand how the repress generally lowers the value of the OG but that's not my primary concern...it's sound quality. Given there's no way to really know if the repress is going to sound as good (or better) than the OG, it's a guessing game. So the question becomes- is it better to hold onto the OG and see it's value go down after a repress (if you care about value) or sell it for significant $ in advance of the repress? I'm betting more people will say sell the OG but again I ask, what if you find out the OG sounds much better than the repress?

This is part of my point though. If you come to find that the OG sounded better, then you can always buy it back for a lower price. You literally have nothing to lose.

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Now the part of the thread where the people flipping argue it's not really flipping and the real flippers are the flippers who are flipping differently than they are which makes it wrong... Unless of couse they also start flipping in the same manner and will more than likely find a way to justify their flipping while still deriding the other group of flippers.

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Now the part of the thread where the people flipping argue it's not really flipping and the real flippers are the flippers who are flipping differently than they are which makes it wrong... Unless of couse they also start flipping in the same manner and will more than likely find a way to justify their flipping while still deriding the other group of flippers.

 

Last time I checked we lived in a country of free commerce and could buy and sell things for whatever price the market demanded.  Call it flipping all you want, but I call it opportunity.

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I'm in the same boat with the majority of my collection.  I could care less about variants, etc, I just want to own the album.  If I was in your boat I'd flip the LP's and buy the represses and pay some bills.

 

 

This is part of my point though. If you come to find that the OG sounded better, then you can always buy it back for a lower price. You literally have nothing to lose.

 

Excellent points.  Difficult to argue with the logic...however, the only time that could come back to bite someone is if the repress is absolutely terrible in quality, thereby increasing the value of the OG even more...but that's very unlikely these days.  

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Flipping was used wrongly, in my original post. I'm certainly not against someone offering me 200 for either record, of course I'd take it. I see these records on ebay from time to time for astronomical numbers, like right now I think there's a P.O. on ebay for like 200 bin. If I went the ebay rout with my records I'd start at what they're generally going for off discogs, whatever the median price is. 

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The other side of it is, yes, I worry about sound quality of the represses. Not that it happens often, at least in my experience, the represses that I own sound pretty good, also, I'm no audiophile. 

 

Yeah, sometimes I worry that between the 10 years or so of an OG press being released and the repress, there's a difference in how the vinyl was pressed/mastered...the repress being done from a digital source/digitally mastered while the OG is from an analog one/proper vinyl mastering.  I know this has apparently happened with Green Day's represses...

 

And there's another argument for keeping the OG pressings...not making this easy to settle on one side or the other of this issue :)

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