Shady scams and other silly business ideas to take advantage of earnest new vinyl collectors

Anyway, where is everyone getting their dirt-cheap CDs that have been repeatedly mentioned?

In addition to the places mentioned, there are a lot of smaller chain-style places that still deal in used books, music and movies. In Tennessee there's one called McKays, and there's another place (Southeast? Northeast?) called Half Price Books. These places usually sell CDs for a dollar, and I've found some great stuff over the years.

And Amazon is a goldmine for this stuff right now, even if you don't buy stuff used (many, many used CDs start at a penny, with $3.99 shipping). Over the past year I've stocked up on Creedence, Sonic Youth, Steely Dan, AC/DC, BB King, shit like that, for between $4.99 and $6.99. If you have Prime, shipping is free. As a few have already pointed out, this is cheaper than MP3s, and lossless, and you get a real booklet, liner notes, etc.

Amoeba is pretty great for bargain CDs, their dollar bin has a lot of gold. and generally speaking their regular used CD section is priced to move.

is freakbeat in LA good? was tempted to check it out on a work trip to LA last weekend but it would have involved a cab where Amoeba was only a 90 minute walk.

listening to the MFSL CD of Johnny Mathis's Heavenly. NOT GREAT. if you turn it up too loud all hell breaks loose. see, case by case.

Just found out the other day that these existed:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elcaset

the DAT of its day.

"The Elcaset system was abandoned in 1980, when all the remaining systems were sold off in Finland."

oh tuomaspaws...

https://theedit.replyyes.com/

so many of these dumb things

as far as get rich slow schemes go there are probably better ways to spend your time.

"Thanks for feeding me good music on the regular, you take all the anxiety out of selecting what to buy next!"

— Steve

yeah it was pretty hard to know what to buy next before a site that labels Paul's Boutique with the album title of "Beastie Boys." but now i really feel like i ra friend in the record business.

er.. like i have a friend

"[Texting] is just a crazy visceral experience. It's a perfect fit for vinyl."

— Sarah

is freakbeat in LA good? was tempted to check it out on a work trip to LA last weekend but it would have involved a cab where Amoeba was only a 90 minute walk.

i don't know, it's pretty good if you're in the area but i don't want to promise that it's worth the trip. i've found some good deals there, though.

sarah's quote makes me insane. I saw that last week. texting is not a crazy visceral experience. it's not perfect for vinyl. every single word in that is wrong.

To be fair, texting is a crazy visceral experience and a perfect fit for Vinyl, the HBO show. As in, texting "CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW STUPID AND AWFUL THIS IS? :( :( :(" to friends.

is freakbeat in LA good? was tempted to check it out on a work trip to LA last weekend but it would have involved a cab where Amoeba was only a 90 minute walk.

― SCROTUS (stevie)

I also like it but likely wouldn't take a cab there. They occasionally have sales on everything (20% maybe?).

Is that a typo, or were you willing to walk an hour and a half to get to a record store (or anywhere, really)? Cause that's fucking crazy.

Oh shit we're calling people out for walking now? In LA?

Pretty sure you can stop at places along the way, you don't have to just walk for 90 minutes straight.

http://bestmangear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AirWheel-One-Wheel-Electric-Unicycle-one-foot-485x500.jpg

haha americans always find it weird that British people walk everywhere

I don't have a driver's license, and I work in New York. I walk all the time. But saying "Yeah, let's go to the record store—it's only a 90-minute walk from here" is, I repeat, fucking crazy.

tbf hes from london.

I thought it was obvious they were from out of town

A 90 minute walk is a perfect cab distance.

I'm from the UK and think a 90-minute walk is *fucking insane*, sorry.

I mean, mayyyyyybe if you were having a leisurely stroll and there were loads of points where you would stop on the way. But then it would end up taking ~5 hours, and that reverts to being WTF.

"a person enjoyed a long walk - LET'S GET HIM"

Seriously, it's just wrong. Sorry stevie but you'll have to be exiled for your own good.

stevie where were you staying?

it's the 3 hours round trip total that's pretty brutal

going to another country and walking around a city is insane, get a cab and look up some postcards online later

Tbf,a 90 minute walk is pretty visceral and a perfect fit for vinyl, and takes the anxiety out of knowing where to walk next.

Problem with a 90 minute walk to Amoeba is you could walk back with a couple of 30 lb. carrier bags.

LA does have buses and trains, btw. I guess the LA basin to the SF Valley may be awkward.

Walking 90 minutes every day should be mandatory.

haha had no idea my trip to amoeba would be so *controversial! i had a saturday evening to kill and jetlag bad enough that i would have been terrible company for anyone i met up with, but i really wanted to go to a record shop, and i thought it would only take me 60 minutes tbh. i used to travel to LA a lot but I haven't been there for a couple of years now so actually it was kind of lovely to walk up the strip and revisit a lot of old haunts. the thing is i thought that as soon as you get to In'n'Out burger Amoeba's just a block or so along, but it's further and i was p fed up of walking by that point. the thing about walking in la is its only ever english people and homeless people who do it. i actually really enjoyed the walk overall, though i must admit i took a cab back as it was dark and i was tired. the next day the press agent and i walked another 90 minutes to the capitol building for the interview i had to do, and that was more fun because at least i had someone to talk with for the duration.

i picked up a nice copy of the third minnie riperton lp for $6, the second pointer sisters for $2, a killer mingus comp with all of black saint on it for $10, skies of america for $15 and a copy of the arthur russell comp with wild combination for my other half, so it was a successful trip imo. then i had a decent pizza from prova and fell asleep in my hotel room about 9pm.

and yeah if i was in nyc i would be totally fine with a four hour walk, that is a city made for wandering.

Walking 90 minutes every day should be mandatory.

― moans and feedback (Dinsdale), Sunday, February 21, 2016 3:37 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^this.

the walk there would be no problem, i would only be worried about a 90 minute walk home while carrying records though i guess just make sure you bring an umbrella if it looks like rain

I'd be more worried about having 90 minutes to dwell on my amoeba purchases/non-purchases. Walk there sounds excellent, though.

I'd be more worried about having 90 minutes to dwell on my amoeba purchases/non-purchases. Walk there sounds excellent, though.

I cabbed it back but still had time to regret not picking up the acetate of an early Laff Records Richard Pryor LP

I for one applaud stevie's vinyl pedestrianism.

I walked a couple of times from Hammersmith to Rough Trade on Brick Lane and it took a couple of hours, and those were amazing, eye-opening afternoons that changed the way I viewed the city. So props Stevie

Yeah, I did a similar walk to Rough Trade in Notting Hill, left with a copy of Fiery Jack, the fall. Nowhere else seemed to have it.

if my only contribution to ilx is to promote walking as a pastime then all these years will not have been in vain

i would only be worried about a 90 minute walk home while carrying records though i guess just make sure you bring an umbrella if it looks like rain

you can get the bus back once you've got the records if they're too many to carry. lots of buses right across the road. plus Uber (cabs in LA are useless ime).

uber was startlingly cheap in LA compared to NYC.

i had a good experience at vacation vinyl on sunset. great selection of weird noise and metal, the dude was super super friendly to everyone.

i ubered. was considering a bus, which i'd used before, but was knackered and map-blind enough that i couldn't figure out what bus to catch. ideally wanted to catch a cab but there were none cruising the strip.

This has officially become the most boring thread in ILX history

idk surely devolving into friendly chatter is preferable to pointless bickering?