Recent Rise In Price Of (Amazon UK) Vinyl.

Neil is discussed here quite a lot about his questionable pricing policies, however it seems that the most "greedy" artists and representatives of artists are not so controversial over here and do not stir up a heated debate:
Apple Corps Ltd (e.g. whoever represents Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia at Apple and negotiations with Universal Music) never get attacked for their outrageous pricing policies:

White Album mono 54,99 euro anyone?

 

I got Psych Pill for £18 due to an error Amazon UK made with their pre order price. I am annoyed he or Warner are playing games with the archives 5-8 vinyl release. Silver and Gold has been available on reasonably priced EU vinyl for years.

 

Is it his pricing decision or Warner Bros. I notice WB prices their items higher than most labels. It is kind of odd regardless.

 

I wouldn't call him greedy because I can't confirm who sets the price or the reasoning. The Beatels mono lp prices are really cheap over here considering the quality ($22.99 for 1-lp, $35.99 for 2-lp). This falls in line for what I consider fair pricing.

It also seems like the NY reissues are set at better prices than the new releases. This is really odd.

To me, it seems like the label is responsible for many of these prices. Kudos to Experience Hendrix/Sony Legacy for selling all analog lps at fair prices.

 

is the usd $35,99 2-LP price charged for the US pressing of the The Beatles mono?

 

an artist cannot set a retail price or shop price, however they can -and in the case of big name artists they will- negotiate a much bigger slice of the pie, this will cause high shop prices...
the last band I know of that wanted to set a retail price was the Clash for Sandinista in 1980, CBS made them pay dearly for this!

 

For the record (no pun)...

When I looked at the actual Beatles online shop and saw the Mono LPs for £21.99 I thought that was a bit expensive but that's vinyl these days. It's a bit weird that The Beatles / White Album is £10 more just for one more plate and not a lot more in the way of packaging than Pepper's, which again is more packaging but the same price as any single non-gatefold album. Then you get Mono Masters for only £2 more than White Album?!?

Anyway, I thought I'd probably get them for the same price if I bought from a real shop. Wrong! £30 for Pepper's, 25 / 26 for non-gatefold single albums, £40 for the Mono Masters etc... Still cheaper than Amazon though!

I inquired at Rise records in Bristol about why the prices were so variable - they said they were set by the distributor and the distributor wouldn't tell them why. Fopp was marginally cheaper but didn't have everything. So I took a chance on Revolver just to see how good these really were and bought Rubber Soul and Pepper's from the online shop.

Even with courier postage the Beatles shop was cheaper all round. Takes a bit longer, but worth it.

 

I remember someone else here once saying how they were blacklisted by Amazon for returning too many items but I would have thought they would tell you if that was the case. At risk of going completely off topic, try clearing all your browsing data/cookies/cache etc etc and rebooting! (I'm sure you've done that already.)

 

The last LP i bought from Amazon came packed in a giant box.
I have previously returned some discs to them, in fact gave up ordering from them, due to damage in the post. They have obviously learnt, but now gone to the other extreme.
I generally buy from hmv or all your music, due to price.
I have assembled the mono beatles albums piecemeal from all your music.

 

My last few amazon LP orders came in 'frustration free packaging'. (I think this is a reference tot he strip you pull which opens them very easily.) I have to acknowledge that although these mailers don't look all that strong, they are, so far, free from the bends and corner -bashing that are so annoying.

 

Tried everything as well as 3 different browsers. Just kicks to the menu after a couple of seconds when you enter the problem details. Anyway they know about the problem and haven't fixed it.

PS. Well I just tried on a new item that I don't need to return and everything is working again. Problem appears to be on certain items.

 

Most of my mono Beatles came that way bar the Marvelio Whitey and Mono Masters from Amazon.de for that reason.

 

It's crazy that Beatles Lps shipped all the way across the atlantic and then back are cheaper than in the UK. The box set works out better value on Amazon Uk at £288 if you allow for the book and packaging. Cheaper than other UK retailers.

 

Supply and Demand - vinyl now the future...

 

Alan, I do not work for them nor do I endorse them, but the least you can do is give them a little credit for their frustration free packaging! They are oversized and certain parts are made from very sturdy, corrugated cardboard. They are able to survive a lot during transport. You could damage the LP inside, but it would have to be a deliberate act of vandalism.

 

so, to be clear: US Seller All Your Music (i know they work under various names in various countries) sells the EU Beatles mono LP's?

 

Well to be fair they must have got a lot of returns in the past due to how badly they shipped them, so it's to their benefit really that they improved the packaging, not like they were doing the customer a favour or anything. It was to save themselves money.

 

The price of new vinyl has gone up a ton in the last couple years. I've really cut back, as I used to be able to get nicely-done single LP's for $16-22, and now can barely find anything in that range. Above that is really past my "impulse buy" range, so I just pass and settle for a Spotify stream or whatnot.

Finding a new source of revenue, then driving people away from it is kind of Music Industry 101.

 

Wait till Amazon see off the remaining record shops. They will double their prices on vinyl overnight. I also live in Bristol and try to support the local indie shops when I can. But Amazon are sometimes the only option for certain vinyl & CD's.

 

Yes, they do. On amazon marketplace, and on ebay.co.uk

 

Yes, it is crazy, but thats the choice of Apple.

I asked at HMV why the Beatles mono is so expensive, and the staff blamed Apple.
HMV are selling the box for £300, and they told me that the wholesale price to them is £180, which they said doesn't give them much margin.

I wouldn't buy the box for a few quid cheaper at Amazon, i'd rather go to HMV.

 

Oh yes, I like the packaging -it's obvioulsy been designed with some thought, and I've had LPs from US sellers, which is a long way off, who use just the same packaging, with no problems. Please see Jim B's post above here. My thoughts, too. Only a year or so back i had a Gentle Giant LP which had been squashed into a box with dimensions less that 12".

 

I've noticed that Amazon UK prices have been creeping up too. In some cases, shot up.

In almost every case though, it's cheaper to buy from the 3rd party sellers. So why doesn't everyone just do that?

 

Like all their overpriced merch The Beatles Story in Liverpool are selling the mono box at £500!

I literally laughed out loud when I spotted that.

 

Because mostly the cheap ones import from USA and there is normally a wait of 10 days to 3 weeks to get product. Also returns are more complicated and not economically viable for those that don't have a UK returns centre. Refunds can be much slower even from the suppliers that do have a UK returns system and return postage generally has to be paid for. Amazon UK have fast delivery and a free return or pick up system. All these have to be paid for and may partly explain increasing prices. I do wonder if sticking with the Royal Mail may have not been as expensive as they thought. Strangely I have received a couple of Parcels via Royal Mail rather than Amazon Deliveries of late.