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To what degree whould you support this seller?
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,685
in Other Music
From a recent newsletter a seller puts out, I recently saw this:
"The shop is full of good stuff. It's mostly top quality reissues,
though great used collections have been coming through (and leaving too
fast). If you don't like cheap reissues then maybe don't stop by. But -
If you're open to getting a quality reissue record you could never find
an OG of for a decent price, then our shop is ******* **! To you snob
record collectors who won't get with this golden age of reissues and
insist on only buying O.G pressings, I suggest you look at your life and
think about what you have become."
This is hard for me because this seller has great stuff and generally in the past seemed very cool. But this seems over-the top to me- and I'm not that snob. If I can find original LPs great, if not, re-issues are often an excellent option. Very interested in seeing what you all think.
If you know this record seller, PLEASE do not post it here. I didn't, and I don't need the potential reprisals.
Poll is anonymous, responses are appreciated.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
To what degree whould you support this seller? 16 votes
No way- this is over-the-top rude.
25%
4 votes
Probably not, unless I can't get it elsehwere.
31%
5 votes
On the fence, maybe, maybe not.
6%
1 vote
Probably. As long as they have the goods, it's all good.
25%
4 votes
Absolutely. I'm totally on baord with the message.
12%
2 votes
0
Comments
Dunno. If his shop was near me I would stop by.
Would not go as far as saying I'm totally on baord with the message as I don't know that that means. 😅
Dude needs to get over himself. What he's selling isn't better or worse than anyone else. Sorry if he's inundated with questions about whether things are OPs or reissues, but man, thats what happens when you own a shop. Customers want to make an informed purchase. Glad he's doing great business where he's in a position to cull potential customers. Record stores are a tough market to be in.
Chicago 1 (August 20, 2016)
Chicago 2 (August 22, 2016)
Ft. Worth 1 (September 13, 2023)
Ft. Worth 2 (September 15, 2023)
if a seller pushes back, sets expectations I respect that
had to read it again about “cheap reissues”. That’s cool. I would post the opposite in my newsletter if I had one and I owned a shop so I get where he is coming from.
if you are selling expensive reissues or OG pressings and there is a target version available for 20 bucks, you get slammed as a scalper. Happens a lot. So i would probably say “if you aren’t into audiophile reissues or Original Pressings, don’t stop by” . Can’t fault him for saying the opposite
I’m sure if you are in the cheap reissue business or at least branding yourself as that, you get comments going the other way.
I say, fuck em.
1996: Ft Lauderdale
1998: Birmingham
2000: Charlotte, Tampa
2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
2004: Kissimmee
2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
2010: MSG2
2012: Music Midtown
2014: Memphis
2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1
2022: Nashville
2023: Ft. Worth II
when they say “ship within 7 days, sometimes longer” then you ask for an update on day 12 and they hide behind the terms. That’s worth a boycott
everything else doesn’t impact me either way
Oh damn! I would wear I clicked the anonymous button! Damn my old brain. Apologies, all!!!
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I have no issue at all with him promoting re-issues and I get it that there are probably record collectors who are snobs about their collection, but who am I or anyone else to say, and why would this seller care?
I run the small used vinyl section at the use bookstore in town and try to price used records at reasonable prices. Those prices have sky rocketed in the 8 or so years I've been doing this. I was thinking about this the other day because I recently purchased a nice collection of late 60s/early 70s rock and jazz LPs. During the last week, I've been carefully cleaning them and researching values for pricing. At one point I thought, how can I price a used album pressed in 1968 for $25 to $35 when I bought the very same thing new for $3.99? Well, obviously part of the difference is inflation. But it also occurred to me that a 1968 pressing is 54 years old, which means in 1968, if I had bought a used record that old it would have been pressed in 1914. At that time in my life, anything made in 1914 would have seemed ancient! That would have been 7 years before my father was born. So that put things into perspective.
So anyway, my thought is that if someone likes to collect old things, who is to say that makes them a snob? Some probably are but oh well, why make an issue of it? And for some records, the discerning collector knows that the original early pressings were better pressed and sound better. With this batch of records I've been going through, time and again I'll clean a record and look at it carefully and think, "Oh man, this is going to sound bad." And then I put it on the turntable and am amazed how those old deep groves are so forgiving of surface scuffs and light scratches. Time and again, I'm astounded by how good these old pressings sound with respect to the way they look. And when I come across one that was played less or was taken better care of (the guy I bought these from is old and did not take great care of them), then I'm really going to hear something terrific.
So, yeah, early pressings are something to treasure if you love good sounding vinyl and you happen on something great and can afford it, that is the copy you are going to want, not an inferior reissue, especially not a reissue pressed from a digital source-- and we all know for a fact that a lot of vinyl reissues are pressed from digital source which kind of negates the whole purpose of wanting vinyl instead of a CD or a download. Sure, it would be great if all early pressings of Kind of Blue sold for $20, but that's just not the reality, and for good reason. And if you are a discerning listener and love good analog records and that is what you are after, that does not automatically make you a snob nor does it give you a reason to "look at your life and think about what you have become."
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
you cannot always say an expensive original is better either and a lot of the price is collectibility and rarity
there are collectors who want both quality and collectibility and collectors who want quality and quantity and don’t value collectibility. Not to mention there are lots who just want the definitive copy regardless of which it is.
this all boils down to bad interactions with buyers I assume. If people kept their comments to themselves I doubt this seller would have said anything. It’s the constant nitpicking out loud you get from buyers that gets frustrating. If you look at the comment in the context of why he felt the need to address it at all, it’s a bit more understandable
it’s like chad kassem in reverse selling expensive reissues. He will tell you flat out, you want a cheap one go elsewhere. He’s divisive too I guess. And people complain incessantly about the prices anyway
Sounds like you have a great store! Very cool.
Making a blanket statement about a particular buying preference to me reads like reverse snobbishness. "I'm hip, you suck." As a seller of both books and records, you will not get that kind of attitude from me. If you are a buyer and come across as a snob, that will probably register with me, but I am not going use that kind of situation the promotion of my business or use it to make a generalized statement certain types of buyers. I am equally not going to try to appeal to snobs. I treat all customers with due respect- meaning some with outright expressed gratitude, others with indifference. My business is not a political platform ("political" as in the broader context of the word.)
An uncalled-for passive aggressive attitude that divides people and simply creates hostility is not useful in this business. Talk about vibe. That's bad vibes in my book.
im just trying to assign some responsibility to the buyers (customers) too. It’s not only on a seller
doesn’t matter how polite a business owner is, that doesn’t make the customers behave. If I own a business I truly love it would be a downer dealing with people sucking the passion out of it.
if you like OG pressings you are a snob, if you like cheap reissues you are less than, if you like expensive reissues you are ok with getting price gouged. None of that is ok
we do it to ourselves as much as a seller does. I wish people just bought what they want and passed on what they didn’t. It’s only music
I try to never give a record store owner a hard time to begin with so it probably wouldn’t even occur to me that that statement was even directed at me.
I’m not saying that’s why you interpreted it that way as I don’t know .
im a snob on illegal boots. Doesn’t affect me though so I should do better myself. If you want a colored lost dogs, I shouldn’t judge. It’s the only version that isn’t prohibitively expensive
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I like the moving album covers!
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Yeah, disappointing. The first few newsletter I received seemed cool, although there was one comment in an earlier one where he seemed to be putting down boomers. I sort of get it- a modern version of "never trust anyone over 30" kind of thing- but that maybe should have been a clue. The "I suggest you look at your life and think about what you have become" business really did it for me. I won't be shopping there again. If I'm not welcome to his business, he's not welcome to my money.