Record Store Day Mystery Vinyl

rhianon.d said:

I will freely admit that I got the white screen of death and I am a tad disappointed.I had put my credit card details in, I had the item in my cart, I was being told that I had to sign in as I wasn't a member, I had to repeatedly put in my shipping address - aren't these all signs that you "have an item"? Yes I don't have one. It could of been better organised. I think I would be correct in saying you would also be disappointed if this had happened to you?

In no way is it a flippant remark. It's a comment in general - TMR seem organised. I don't think that they have done a mystery sale, I will admit that - maybe because they have happy fans that purchase "limited" products in advance and they know that they will receive it. When 10 Club seem to do things - there is nothing smooth about it. Yes there is more demand that supply - it doesn't take much to figure that out. 10 Club need to look at what they are doing and how they can make it better.

.....

And as there being a market for it - would you pay $300+ for a copy of Avocado on vinyl? That's retarded! And also that there is a market in Pearl Jam vinyl knock offs? I do really think that Ten Club has the potential market for something similar to TMR and the way that they run things. I'm in Australia so the only reason I have joined the fan club is for vinyl - I'm not here for tickets, I will freely say that - they don't tour enough down here. I take my chances with ticketmaster and I am usually lucky.

Yes, the whole point of Record Store day is a limited release - I went to my local record store and bought a few records and yes, we also missed out on ones that we wanted, but when you are faced with a simple "Sorry, it's sold out" compared to the technical difficulties we had - 10 Club need to look at the process and make it fair with either a lottery or a pre-order.

Comparing TMR to 10 Club and how they run things at this point is like comparing apples and oranges and I just wish that 10 Club could see that... 10 Club could be awesome if they wanted to be...

Disappointed? me? Yes I would have been, however I'm still not certain if I got through or not. I never got an email and have seen many posts saying that they were told that as they didn't get an email the order is likely to be cancelled. If it is it is, there was never a guarantee on this, but yes I understand folk will be disappointed. But then I knew that the moment they announced the sale. The way the sale went down, was unfortunate, but these things happen, when there is this much traffic and this much demand its inevitable. Brad Klausen used to have similar issues with the Artillery site when things were insanely busy for him, he tried various fixes and whilst they helped, it was always tough going, and gremlins would show up. I'm not making excuses, but they way I see it they made this sale available to all with prior notice and picked a time that seemed to be suitable for the entire fan base - doing both these things in itself addresses a lot of the feedback previously such as

'these random drops are unfair as I cant be at a pc all the time and they favour those who have nothing better to do than read this site constantly', and

'isn't it time they remembered they have fans around the world and not just the USA - getting up at 3am for a vinyl sale is not exactly what I am looking to do'....

amoungt other things, so on this occasion they listened, and gave notice knowing this was going to be something a lot of fans would want to have a little try at, and picked a time that whilst not ideal for those on the west coast USA (I mean it was way before I would think ten club would be at work), was a time that would suit as well as any the entire fan base. So up to this point we are seeing customer focus, and responses to recent issues.

TMR probably are well organised - I've had no dealings with them but wouldn't doubt that. But why on the basis of this sale are ten club not organised? It didn't go smooth, but like I said before this club deals with a lot of demand, they are looking after the fan base of one of the worlds biggest bands. Again Jack is cool and what he has done for vinyl isn't to be sniffed at but I don't think his site or people ever have to deal with the sort of traffic that hit this one on Saturday. This was a one off fun sale, a little excitement for its members in distributing some left over vinyl stock....no high end prices and genuine chances presented for folk to get records that are running at $300 and upwards on eBay for an entry fee. I don't think TMR have ever pulled such a thing.

That club is very very different to this one, again correct me if i'm wrong but its primarily a vinyl service with 4 vaults a year - that are far from cheap. They take pre orders and press to demand. Nothing ground breaking there, and again something Ten club have offered us for the last two vaults, after listening once again to feedback based on some items being too limited and taking note that on something like a vault all fans should have a chance at it.

Generally speaking when you purchase a limited item here you also know you will receive it, I think using this vinyl sale as a reason why this isn't true is grossly unfair, this is a one off and a victim in many ways of its own popularity. I also believe that if TMR had run this on behalf of ten club it wouldn't have been any better.....the surge of traffic would have crippled that too. Again im not making excuses for the issues that did crop up and yes I know that must have been frustrating for all, but I just don't see why Tenclub talking to TMR would have made all this so much better and likely to never happen again.....especially when you admit that TMR have likely never run anything like this either.

There is a lot of grumbling too that people didn't get a formal announcement immediately or some sort of feedback or email confirming the position. I would hazard a guess that they probably weren't working the weekend, I know I wasn't. Yes they scheduled an online sale to try and cater for the fanbases diaries and schedules on a weekend, but that doesn't mean to say they were in at their desks. This isn't a huge operation. I expect they figured that they would deal with the orders and queries on getting back into work. Probably just dealing with emails as the best they could on a limited staff. Sending out a knee jerk reaction before having had the chance to investigate the glitches properly is never the best option.

TMR make records, so yes they are making the items their members want - members who pretty much are in it for the Vault subscription. Tenclub isn't just about records, its far more than that with a huge membership. You are right - you are indeed comparing apples with oranges.

Im sure they know all about TMR, and Im sure both camps have their pressures......but I really do not see how the TMR model would have worked better on this occasion.

finally would I pay $300 for an avocado? nope, but only because I have one.....but if I didn't im sure I would, like I would spend that on a Kong - because they are the market rates.....questioning the whole ethos of collecting, collectability and collectables is a whole different discussion and completely irrelevant to the issues being discussed.

pdalowsky said:

Neutrality said:

Has anyone asked why Pearl Jam would choose to have such a potentially great event on the same freaking day as Record Store Day, when things are at an absolute fever pitch?

Not to mention that most people in the 10 Club who were interested in this sale were already standing in line with the rest of the schmucks at some record store!

This was not thought out very well at all. Any time I've communicated with the Ten Club about an order, etc., they're not necessarily nasty or impolite, but they never, ever apologize or admit to making any sort of mistake.

We'll see if things change this time around...

Has anyone asked? No not really? I mean who could imagine selling a fun record event on record store day? a day primarily focused on VINYL.

Was that a serious comment?

By having it on the same day seems to make a shit load of sense to me.

And really was RSD really a fever pitch event?

well put
a lot of sour grapes out there
i wonder how people react when they don't win the lottery?

Still hoping for a Sevens Box and a Avocato , would be beyond happy if i got those even more than Benaroya Hall to be honest.

TMR is so completely different from 10c, not even sure how people are comparing the two. Apples to oranges.

AAJC said:

Who gives a shit. It's music on vinyl that for lack of availability is worth more than it should be. All this shit, and all this time, will mean nothing to you the day you die. Get out, enjoy yourself, your family, your friends, and experience LIFE. I can't believe I've come back a day later and there's more than 577 posts to this thread. I guess I make it 578. Maybe I'm not any better. Oh well. I still got out and enjoyed life this weekend and totally forgot about this Mystery Sale shit.

I totally agree! I had a great week-end, spent it all outside in the lovely spring weather, and forgot all about the Mystery sale shit!

If I had the time to sit down and write a thank-you note to everyone who sent me a nice, expensive present, what a wonderful world that would be! - Jack Handy

Too bad there's not such a thing as a golden skunk, because you'd probably be proud to be sprayed by one.

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it"
- Jack Handey

elwayvedder said:

still not in my order history but the good news is my credit card still has it as pending. keeping the faith and hope it processes! a good sign that it's still there!

Best of luck! Did you get a confirmation number on the final purchase screen?

This one has always been my favorite:

"I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not for our children's children, because I don't think children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

Back to the sale...

I didn't get a mystery package. And it doesn't bother me one bit. Maybe I'm a masochist but I really enjoyed trying to buy one. Hahaha. It was exciting even though the end result was not in my favor. I thought the 10c did address the issues previously mentioned (no surprise, sale time, etc.) so I think all round it was a good little sale.

I wonder how many people from here went to a physical brick and mortar shop Saturday morning and threw a temper tantrum at the cash register when they went to buy a RSD title and the person before them bought the last one?