RSD: Do Flippers Really Hurt Record Store Day? *

I guess I'm naive or idealistic, but that just sounds too Lord of Flies or Machiavellian for me. Sad world when everybody is trying to outdo everybody else. I know that's human nature for many people, but still makes me sad.

 

The Peanuts turntable seemed to have an awful lot of desire for it, above all else, perhaps.

 

Considering the current trend with used vinyl sales, and the quantities of records pressed for RSD that are "limited" there will almost always be copies available.

The premium we have to pay after the fact is no different than any other record that is out of print and in high demand.

Seems like the staus quo to me. As long as I have been collecting records I have had to shell out big $ for some titles.

 

Well Paul Weller thinks RSD is a ripoff, it's been reported he doesn't want anything to do with in the future after seeing his RSD release going for 'mad' money on E-Bay.!

http://www.nme.com/news/paul-weller/76864

JG

 

It's most stores biggest or second biggest day all year--by a WIDE margin. So it's already helping grow and expand their business. As for that bump lasting all year, well, sure it subsides a huge amount, but I'd imagine that it does increase their customer base slightly if imperceptibly to the casual eye. But even if it doesn't, it's likely that it prevents or slows further erosion of the customer base over the course of the year. And that, plus the income they generate on RSD itself, is likely more than worth it for stores, hence their ongoing involvement with RSD.

 

I think Cake has a good approach. They are repressing the box set at an equivalent price to the RSD one.
I think ol' Paul should embrace his popularity, but it is admirable of him to care about his fans. He could alway repress the title to combat the flippers.

 

Yes, this is what I was getting at. I just checked the Cake box, and of 900 pressed, 182 have shown up on eBay as completed or still available auctions. That's 20 percent of the total, with eBay prices averaging $300--the list price was $125. Seems to me that the band (they self-released it) underestimated or didn't care about demand.

 

That's great--I'm assuming they are doing it in all-black vinyl and announced that they would pre-RSD? If that's the case, then the band has acted honorably and anyone who bought the RSD at eBay prices was either uninformed or merely a collector, who by their very nature make themselves prey to the market. Personally, I have much less patience for collectors than for flippers, but that's just me.

 

That's true. I do it. But for example, I'm not camping out for the latest limited edition sneakers to try and flip them. There's a difference between every day digging and RSD, at least for me. And to have people whose sole interest is in making money by flipping records they could care less about, then that bothers me. It violates the spirit of the day.

 

Maybe I'm oversimplifying things but it would be interesting to see where the 900 shipped to, follow the trail and track the geographical location of the eBay sellers and the RSD org knows which areas have biggest issue with flipping. From there make sure the stores do not allow selling of multiple copies to one customer and remind the stores themselves not sell on eBay prior to RSD.

 

You're making a lot of assumptions, though. Can you point to any specific individual who is actually has the sole interest is doing this? Seems a lot more nuanced than that--again, there could be music fans who buy a bunch of RSD stuff they want and a some things they'll flip to defray their costs. Do you really begrudge them that? They list them on eBay and consumer demand takes over. They aren't making anybody buy their listings!

 

That might tell you more about inefficiencies in the distribution system than anything else.

 

Let me start by revealing, as in the other thread, that there's no personal stake in RSD. Haven't been a vinyl guy since '92. Having said that, this part of what's holding music retailing together - independent retail shops. Further, there may not be the same ear to the ground as other members here. So, that's the point of reference and now it's time to address the question.

My understanding is that this was supposed to be a special event for the independent shops. If this practice continues, it would destroy RSD, at least in theory. Here's why: other artists will express the same frustration as Paul Weller, and just quit supporting the concept. The merchants are doing more than their share of the legwork. They can't be taking too kindly to some huckster, just getting up early in the morning for a place in line, to turn around and profit off select inventory. If somebody's going to price gouge, the shop owners are better off holding back and selling those items on eBay themselves. So, bottom line, if things continue as they currently are, it will ruin RSD.

 

Because not every store gets as many units of a title as they order, and many don't get any at all.

 

Do you really think that an initiative that requires queueing at 6am expands the interest outside the usual circle of aficionados?

 

What's to stop the guy you sell to at the "bro" price from flipping your record? (rhetorical question)

 

Most of these that I have seen are people that plan on buying items to sell. If they don't get the records, they cancel the auction early.

 

Excellent point. It's very easy to say that you're full of sorrow because you missed out on something.

 

evidently not

 

It's explicitly against the rules for stores to do that. And if they do do it, and are exposed, they would get banned from future RSDs. I think that's happened at least once in recent years. It would also build bad will with their own direct customers.

But how can anyone say that flippers are ruining RSD in any measurable way? As far as I can tell, seven years in or whatever it is, RSD is bigger than ever, and we've had flippers the whole time.

 

What if store pre orders were early enough where each store gets exactly what they order. Make that the limited edition.

 

How about Record Store Month? Pick a month (say, this month) where shops get randomized shipments of limited-edition product throughout the month, never knowing what they'll get, or when. Since the focus isn't on a single day, regular shoppers will come upon the goodies in random fashion. The idea is to get shoppers in the stores on an ongoing basis, not to cater to the schmucks who show up on a single day only to buy and re-sell. Problem solved.

 

I think EVERY record for the whole year should be released on RSD. The flippers would have to be Donald Trump to exploit that.

 

post #172 above^ That's a step in the right direction, but your idea is sound , could use some refinement though.

 

The problem is that each label and artist has their own numbers to hit in order to make a give release feasible. If you relied only on preorders from stores (who have limited dollars to order with, remember) than many more obscure titles would never make the numbers that would make sense for labels to release and would thus not get made. Plus, coordinating RSD with the labels and stores is a nightmare already. Adding months of planning, not to mention early financial outlay from cash-poor indie store, to the mix just wouldn't work.