So now I see how Bitcoin speculators moved onto (Record Store Day p2 rant)

So record store day (RSD) pt 2 was yesterday - for those not familiar - it’s simply a yearly event where the big music companies put out “limited” edition versions of things on vinyl - only available via local record stores.

It started out as both a “thank you” to fans and to the mom and pops to give them a way to compete with big box/online stores. It’s morphed into a huge event and this year they did 2 separate days - June and July. Big names and smaller names each releasing/rereleasing stuff on vinyl - some new, a lot of older classics with “bonus tracks” and some completely off the wall stuff from big names.

The off the wall stuff - The Dee Gee’s (otherwise known as the Foo Fighters) doing 5 tracks worth of BeeGee’s covers - and 5 tracks off their latest offering in a shiny package celebrating Disco and the 70s - limited to like 12k copies (amongst the bigger runs for RSD). $20 and now they are being low offered at $200 in under 6 hours !!

I mean great band/guy - I’d buy it just to support the mission and as a fan - but flippers (and a few crooked store owners/employees) reselling at 10x markup for an hour of waiting in line - ridiculous !!

Of course - understanding the target audience of who buys vinyl in general (older adults - hippie types and younger 20 something hipsters with man buns sporting Bernie Sanders stickers on their electric scooters) - you know this type of behavior isn’t going over well in the industry either.

There are plenty of other examples too - last round it was a Grateful Dead reissue…again relatively high production and an artist with a TON of product on the market. It’s just disappointing to me to see a hobby (I collect 90s alternative/80s hair metal and older country mainly) get soo inflated and run by greed. Similar to the sports card craze of the early 90s and we all saw how they blew up. What happened to collecting what you like for joy of owning - trading around and not worrying about making a profit ?!? I’m saving my rant on the stupidness of the “peer2peer” thing and how we are killing our economy with it for another day - but I’ll post my thoughts on that sometime - every damn person trying to “profit” renting that extra car, boat, vacation home…it’s killing small business unknowingly.

 

Similar to the way people are driving up the price of bourbon, too.

 

^^ This. Can be both a good and a bad thing.

In a good way, some people just looking to make a quick buck may actually begin to appreciate vinyl by being exposed to others that truly enjoy the hobby and learning from them. More people interested in the hobby means more sales for the local stores and may encourage record companies to put out more product.

In a bad way, for people that have enjoyed the hobby before it was popular, the increased attention makes it frustrating because the items we loved to buy so freely are now never in stock and being sold on online groups for mind-boggling prices. The hobby becomes less about people enjoying something for what it is, to more of a status symbol.

 

Isn't capitalism great?

 

I protest their stupid price multiplier by...............not buying from them.

 

Yea…but that crap has been going in for a few years now too.

It’s funny - I got an email from Ohio Liquor Control the other day about an upcoming “lottery” - usually it’s for something special that they only get a few cases of (Pappy, Blanton Special Editions) - so they give anyone state wide the chance to enter to buy at the retail price - vs pissing off 100,000 people and 6786 retailers who don’t get a single bottle to sell. This time it’s….Weller…not one of the special editions/antique - just plain old Weller wheated. I was like WTF - there’s a line to buy this stuff now?!?

I’ve got 3 cases of Blanton’s SFTB back home in the cellar - not a big drinker at all - just had the occasion to pick some up from contacts I made years ago and buy it when I can for retail to set back and either pass along a bottle at x-mas to special clients or for trade purposes to people who recognize what it is/cost in the inflated market today. I think it retails for like $89 now - last I paid was closer to $50. Kick myself for not buying a case of regular Blantons last cruise we went on pre COVID - they had 6 just sitting there in the ship duty free - but didn’t want to lug it around the next day and hear Mrs complain I spent $300 on booze I don’t even drink.

Pappy and that other over priced stuff - don’t get me wrong…I’ve tasted once or twice and it’s good - even to my unrefined pallet - but $1500-3k a bottle for something that is supposed to sell for $99 - pass.

As a store owner - I would truly feel it’s a no win. I get 6 bottles and have 30 “regulars”, 100 people who “think” they are my best customers (buy when I have what the competition doesn’t or I’m a dime cheaper…but always ask for a better price or what I’ve got to give away today) and 2 or 3 employees who would have zero issues with supplemting their paycheck with a bribe from a flipper. I do a lottery on the special stuff - I gotta hear how I’m not taking care of my “good” customers from those 100 who aren’t really - I randomly pick and share - I risk making one of the 30 mad….really only way to do it is raffle with proceeds going to a local charity (then you get into issues both legal and ethical - does the charity want $$ from a booze raffle).

 

Protest all you like but not buying (and many don’t) - it doesn’t stop the stupidity.

Amazing to me - there are a lot of yesterday’s releases on EBay for 3-4 or 5x the retail - with plenty of stock in local stores and online (retailers can begin offering RSD exclusives at 1p day of on sale) - just from flippers anticipating shortages or suckers who don’t know. I mean when you have 1 local store that gets 1 or 2 and they “sell out” it can be hard to gauge is it a national thing - or just a local phenomena that it’s selling out.

 

Just remembered - I better check in that stash of Blantons next week - my idiot drunk of a sibling has access and anything valuable or potent has a habit of disappearing if not well hidden or locked up.

 

people do it with everything these days. try being into sneakers. I've seen it with knives. I've seen it with t-shirts and hoodies. if anything seems remotely limited or even pretends to be - it blows up. For example as an old man I've been getting back into sneakers. Jordans, dunks, vans. Im not ready for dad shoes just yet lol. Jordan retros come out, they sell out instantly. I was under the impression that the volume was limited. Its not, they make tons of shoes and profit tremendously. But most are being bought by resellers. so they sold out quick, they "seem" limited but there are endless amounts of any particular shoe on ebay or the resell sites - for a hefty markup. Unfortunately the only way to battle it, is not to buy. Then you just miss out on the experience of owning them and rocking them. The record thing is crazy too, because I remember buying records for pennies on the dollar cause nobody wanted an LP. We got cds dude! People are just finding ways to monetize everything. It can good and it can be bad. Definitely changes things in the culture of sneakers, or trading records or messing with baseball cards etc

 

When I started going to RSD years ago, they had a band playing inside, no lineups, giveaways, stock was plentiful and it was a fun way to send a few hours with other turntable enthusiasts.

I've stopped going as I don't want to wait in line and run around the store trying for a copy of a certain LP that I want to legitimately listen to and have no intention of selling....while many are there to scoop up and put on eBay.

I've been lucky to get most of the RSD only releases months after or sometimes longer, for what they were originally going for.

Add to that, many of these releases will be re-released on black or colored vinyl, to get around the RSD Only release that some of the titles claim to have. Even Amazon third party music shops are selling for huge profits, which they never even probably put out for sale in a brick and mortar store. RSD needs to crack down on who they distribute too.

The only release that interested me from this double RSD July drop is the Wes Anderson soundtrack from Life Aquatic. But I think that got pushed back and will be a full out release later this year.

 

My dad used to travel a lot for work and he used to buy a bottle of whisky every time he went through a duty free shop, even though we're not big drinkers in my family. My brothers and I decided the best whisky is Seagram's VO that's been aging in the basement for 20 years.

 

It’s a symptom of an overly euphoric market plus easy money from the government. The values of everything become speculative, and everyone is willing to buy.

 

I feel the same about ticket agencies that have been scalping the public for decades. I like going to shows and sporting events and the deck has been rigged for years against the average Joe....

 

@Shamrock92

I tend to collect 90s stuff too, I was born in 73. So PJ, Nirvana, Radiohead, RATM, Cake, Beck, Cult, Eurythmics, White Stripes. But I listen to a lot of late 60s, early 70s, LZ, Who, Cat Stevens, Sonics, Cash, Hendrix, Dylan....then I got into thrift store stuff like Nat King Cole, Mahalia Jackson, Neil Diamond, Soundtracks.

I'm all over the place. If it's good, il listen to it.

Ps....Huge Bangles fan too.

 

The days of finding late 60s/early 70s stuff “cheap” are mostly gone - it’s kinda the opposite - now someone finds a scratched to hell and beat up record from a band big on the 60s and they think they are rich. Still - fun to hunt and grab some classic country for a bucks or 2 and give it a listen.

Goodwill/thrift stores are the worst - most of the employees/volunteers know exactly what to look for - and on the occasion that something worth more than $5 escapes them - straight to the auction case up front it goes or a price tag that reflects a pawn shop gets slapped on it.

The 90s stuff - man has it skyrocketed of late. I have a bad habit of buying 2 or 3 of things I really like - if I can get them at a fair price. It’s just nice having backup and if someone I know is really into the same - allows me to share much in the same way people who brought me into the hobby did.

Knives - collecting Randall’s - I really think some people simply put down their $50 deposit at the shop - knowing it will be 5-6 years on a delivery and the price increases in that amount of time guarantee they make money reselling a new knife in a few years at shop price only

 

Yeah....the auction case at the front of our goodwill bothers me too. But at least I have hope the money they get for that stuff goes to a good cause.

I got this one for $2 and put it on display. It's not a huge dollar item, but it was one of my cooler finds at out local thrift store.

(Clock was a gift from my wife. I put a The Who promo 7" Decca in it).

 

Don't paint me with your "everyone" broad brush.

 

It’s funny - I think the ticket market actually got a little better with the internet.

The old days - you know, pre internet - you lined up - waited to get tickets and hoped you were in line early enough to score good seats. I can remember camping out for tickets for a hell of a lot of shows.

Then I got smart - made friends with the girl at the local department store who worked in the back at the counter that did returns, gift wrap and oh yea - handled ticket sales. I guess they could start selling tickets like 5-10 minutes early if they needed to to keep the peace - so she would start running blocks of tickets for me for big shows and set them back.

Miss the days of the old teletype - kids today have no idea what an ordeal it was to buy tickets in the 80s/early 90s - or a plane ticket for that matter.

 

For the really big shows, like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, they offered a mail in lottery for buying tickets. You could send in payment for 4 tickets (had to be 4 tickets and money order or bank check plus a SASE for return of the tickets or payment) and hope your envelope was drawn so they would send you the 4 tickets. We did this for the Led Zeppelin concert schedule for St Paul on November 9th, 1980. Of course John Bonham's death in September 1980 resulted in our envelope being returned unopened.

I know that would have been the second best concert of my life!

 

What was the best one?

 

I did not want to say because it just gets into a "mines bigger" back and fourth and he is likely not a fan favorite of Tundra owners, but since you asked, it was Prince in December 1985 in St Paul during his Purple Rain tour. Beyond Amazing. I don't smoke but for some reason I wanted a cigarette after the show.

 

First - choice in music is personal. Just because someone doesn’t like a genre - does t mean your taste is “wrong” - just means people like different things. The inability to respect this just shows stupidity in some.

Second and more importantly- who in the hell would say vintage Prince wouldn’t have been an amazing show ?!? The best traits of 2 great showman (Hendrix and James Brown) in one package !

We are not talking the later years symbol Prince that was light years beyond the depth of the pop Prince - we are talking the version that was widely loved and who ruled MTV in its heyday. Kinda like Bowie - as the 80s gave way to the 90s Prince started doing stuff that was much different than the pop scene expected and a lot less were along for the ride (which they were fine with it seems) and they made ALOT of music to the point we still have a couple decades worth of unreleased material - but damn, must have been a great show seeing him at his absolute prime.

 

Without bashing my taste in music....this is the RSD stuff the ticks me off:

https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/8706

Event: BLACK FRIDAY 2016
Release Date: 11/25/2016
Format: LP
Label: Omnivore
Quantity: 2000
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release

I picked it up on RSD back in 2016. 2000 copies worldwide, RSD exclusive, so shouldn't be released again, right?

Now:

$22 Ladies And Gentlemen... The Bangles!

https://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Gentlemen-Bangles/dp/B096LTTVCD

 

Never considered my taste to be right or wrong. I like what I like. I just did not want to go down that road of who is better. Invariably it becomes a contest to put forth the most technically proficient out there...and the more obscure the better..or so many believe. I have had this discussion more than once on various golf forums. It becomes tedious at best.

But yeah, that concert was so so good that even as much as I luv Led Zeppelin, I doubt they could have even come close.

 

[QUOTE
I picked it up on RSD back in 2016. 2000 copies worldwide, RSD exclusive, so shouldn't be released again, right?
[/QUOTE]

Yea right - never to be reissued again - until 2001 potential buyers are located and then they start cranking the presses again.

I fully expect the FooFighters release this year to be made available in a new “special” edition alternate color vinyl on Target/Walmart/BestBuy within 90 days.

I get - it’s RnR and since the beginning it’s been about selling as much product as possible to the masses - the Beatles did it and are still respected - KISS made a cottage industry out of it and continues to cash in on nostalgia for what they were in the late 70s - as does Jimmy Buffett.

Still - it would just be nice for someone to say - I have plenty of income streams - let the fans have this one and I’m not gonna undercut them and for the fans to stop the stupid flipping and hoarding - only to panic sell 3 weeks later.

It’s already starting on some of the other “name” releases from Saturday I see - the moment a few places sold out it started panic buying and then “buy in hopes of a flip” types. That’s the problem is there’s a decent floor on prices - so flippers know they can usually resell at the original cost - so no risk - and when your talking relative low stakes items ($30) you can buy 5 or 10 and not be bankrupted by it not working out and having to wait.

Like I said - some of the 90s stuff I bought pre pandemic really took off - I’m a Smashing Pumpkins and Alice In Chains fan - and bought a couple of extra of some of their “higher value” things when they were like $60-75 - now prices are touching mid hundreds. If they reissued tomorrow wouldn’t effect me in the least though - I’m a collector and not a speculator - the value to me is the product and not the price guide.

 

tangent...since the Bangles were mentioned. They have always been a kind of dirty little secret with me. I like them. I should probably listen to more of their stuff. But I remember as a much younger man just being drawn to Susanna Hoffs, she sang and played guitar and was pretty damn good looking as well. And man...I just looked her up on google lol. She has aged pretty well in my mind...still looking good!