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

yeah I've got that issue with my collection of Magic the Gathering cards. I've got a lot of old stuff that I keep hearing is very valuable but actually getting that kind of money for it is apparently very difficult. the local shops are straight up saying "we're not buying anything right now" because so many people are selling out at the moment. and all the big shops that buy in bulk pay you like 50% of the sell price so you're not getting anything close to what they're worth. but I sure as hell don't wanna be eBaying everything individually.

my current go-to is Brooklyn Record Exchange, - super nice crew, great selection, pretty regular turnover in the New Arrivals. i don't find many Crazy Bargains, and allowing for the general upward drift of everything these days, I'd describe all their prices as at least "fair" and sometimes "really good." they also pay out reasonably when i've sold them stuff. honestly the only store in NYC that i can wholeheartedly recommend.

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 18 November 2022 17:52 (twenty-eight minutes ago) link

I've gotten some good deals here! I like this place.

― Evan, Friday, November 18, 2022 1:28 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I started going to the Bushwick location pre-pandemic and have picked up some well-priced stuff. Have you gone to their new location in Greenpoint?

I really liked Superior Elevation in East Williamsburg/Bushwick - I got so many jazz albums with beat up sleeves and pretty nice records there for reasonable money. They got flooded out last year and I haven't been to the new location in Williamsburg.

I've mostly been at the Bushwick B.Rex, but have stopped in a couple times at the Greenpoint one! It's nice, though much much smaller. But same friendly staff and same reasonable pricing I'd say.

There's definitely a solid afternoon's worth of record shopping in Greenpoint between that, Captured Tracks, the Academy annex, and Record Grouch. Academy tends to have the most fun and unusual stuff in the new arrivals, and non-crazy prices, but you really gotta hit the listening station because they're maybe not as picky about noisy records as I would be.

record grouch is awesome

or The Little Record Shop in Crouch End which price "to sell" and specialise in reggae and soul in the former case and jazz in the latter.

oh this is good to know, I live down the road in Tottenham and keep meaning to check the Little Record Shop out but it keeps weird hours. Love Flashback, not least because they will let me swap unwanted vinyl and the occasional unwanted promo, and because they have a Pac-Man machine that means my 8yo also wants to go into Flashback if I've taken her to Crouchy to get her hair cut.

I am FINE with VG+ media/G-F cover. I actually sort of love ringwear, and more than that, I love cheap records. Just picked up a copy of Robert Wyatt's Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard, and the sleeve is falling apart but the sound is beautiful.

I'm in Tottenham too, the Turpike Lane/West Green end!

Little Record Shop is fun, the owner is definitely an eccentric but he's nice and is happy to haggle. I went in there with a Flashback bag once and he said "I'm surprised you've got any money left to spend in here!". Good finds have included a couple of well-priced Metallica LPs before they went berzerk, a very seldom seen Alan Vega solo LP and Daft Punk's Homework for £30.

I would also recommend Rise Above over in Archway if you've not been there, it's owned and run by Lee Dorian from Cathedral so has lots of metal, psych and classic rock (original Celtic Frost LPs!) but lots of other stock too. It's definitely priced more punchily, like Flashback, but there are some great finds to be had there.

a very seldom seen Alan Vega solo LP

which one, out of curiosity?

not much seen over here in the UK as I don't think it got a UK release https://www.discogs.com/release/1350726-Alan-Vega-Alan-Vega

ah that makes sense, yes that's more common in the US

I'm in Tottenham too, the Turpike Lane/West Green end!

Ah fab! I'm near Philip Lane! And didn't know Dorian was behind that store - must give it a look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKWtZnJvPL4

he took the thing from this and put bluetooth capability in it lol

also yes i watch shark tank sorry

I've got a RZA-branded one of those from when he put the Bobby Digital album out

https://images.eil.com/large_image/RZA_BOBBY%2BDIGITAL%2BIN%2BSTEREO-313855.jpg]

lol nice never knew about those. definitely knew about the vinyl killer brand in the late 90s, as i worked in a dj shop and we always kept a couple stocked as a novelty.

Ha. Apparently that was shot in 2017. I remember this 2018 Techmoan review.

It's still being sold. Wonder how successful it's been. There are a surprising number of content mill "shark tank update" junk sites.

collecting anything is probably a bad idea

also we're only a few years out from the CD revival where specialist pop up retailers will offer newly ground down/scratch free pristine discs in flawless jewel boxes in new shrink wrap. "High Fidelity Digital" to play on the wall mounted bluetooth enabled gadget that tops every gen z xmas list

well in that case, yes i do have all of the miles davis columbia box sets* and they can be yours for a lot of money. idk six, seven figures at least. make an offer.

*yes the metal box editions, where available. wtf kinda scam do you think this is? i'm not trying to rip anyone off here.

i saw this the other night and was wondering why people were waiting in line to check out all the godawful thrift store records, assumed it had to be some sort of speakeasy popup http://throughtherecordshop.com/

i would go hang out there. bring my own cigarettes and booze and then get all indignant as i tell them i have no money; condescendingly requesting "waltz for debby" the whole time.

"NO, NOT THE QUINTET VERSION. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE IT, DO YOU??!!?"

didn’t we do jazz cafes recently? On the audiophile thread?

Coming back full circle on this thread, VNYL is all over my X feed these past few days. Jason Gore from Best Show is on a tear after discovering how big of a rip off these guys are (sending absolute shit albums and auto-charging each month without sending any records at all) and has been calling them out on X - resulting in both the company account and the CEO straight up blocking him.

will never forget how i criticized VNYL on instagram and the owner very creepily followed me

VIVNL really do have a terrible attitude/business model. They’re the only store I know that goes out of their way to click like on tweets that badmouth other record stores. Straight up goofy, nothing better to do, behavior.

How do they still exist?

*VNYL obviously

I was harsh on vinyl me please upthread when they started, probably just unfairly associating their early model with how VNYL was run. But they seem to generally do a pretty good job right? I'm still not into the subscription model for this kind of thing, but a couple good friends of mine are pretty pleased with what they offer.

As far as VNYL, I think they pivoted pretty quickly from their early thrift store scraps model and into record label castoffs, and they take advantage of people's ignorance as far as music on vinyl goes. I still think that's their market.

yeah VMP is solid, I even own a few

(bought second hand, not gonna subscribe)

the name “vinyl me, please” is horrible + some of the marketing patter has weird men’s magazine “art of manliness” vibes. But yeah, their reissues are good, afaik, seems like they pay attention to making a good quality product.

yea I hate the name of the company but the two pressings I have from them are really great, packaging and all

They do a nice job. The vinyl is nice. The heavy tip on jackets are super duper nice.

I did a mini subscription when the releases aligned with a few I wanted that were otherwise really hard to get or expensive, but I wouldn't do it all the time. Theres been a couple I've missed, and wish I hadn't as on the secondhand market they got really expensive.

I guess I'm not really a fan of the hype beast vinyl market.

I was harsh on vinyl me please upthread when they started, probably just unfairly associating their early model with how VNYL was run. But they seem to generally do a pretty good job right? I'm still not into the subscription model for this kind of thing, but a couple good friends of mine are pretty pleased with what they offer.

I'd subscribe if I was in the US and had more $$$s - I roll my eyes at a lot of what they press up, and their box sets have been very overpriced and kind of baffling ("Here's 8 or so random Herbie Hancock records, $500 pls"), and I find the sleevenotes often unedifying and the patter in the copywriting aggravating. But their pressings are good, they care about the final product, and they often are repressing things that I'd like to own. They put Buhloone Mindstate back in print a good few years before the DLS reissues earlier this year (sadly both reissues were only 1LP and missing a bunch of tracks, but whaddya gonna do), and I just picked up a second hand copy of their reissue of Kamaal The Abstract, which looks and sounds lovely.

I have a Lee Scratch Perry one and a Jorge Ben one, both excellent and stupidly expensive as OGs

I didn't know they'd pressed up Africa Brasil. I may have to hunt that down...

okay how much are they paying you guys...

lol

Still not enough to afford their postage to the UK!

also re: VNYL, i'll never forget chaki's invaluable investigative reporter visit to the store. god, what a dire company. i'm surprised there's anyone active at that company to block Jason Gore on twitter, their instagram and Facebook have been dormant for a long, long time.

Dank Deals and other super bodacious offers to take advantage of before time runs out

haha yes the whole discovery of the VYNL model was a great ILM moment and Chaki's video the cherry on top

"Vibe system?!!"

I actually like the sound of this, if not the name...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/18/uk-vinyl-hotel-vinyl-pimp-hackney-london

God, awful name.

Depending on his pricing and overall temperament might be accurate

He is described as a "serial entrepreneur"

the idea sounds fun. honestly hard to get past the name.

foul name

I'd be nervous about finding enough vinyl to meet the quota that I'd actually want but I guess it must really be a treasure trove...?

nope, nothin but lawrence welk and feels so good, far as the eye can see