Rising record prices at your local shop. Is it happening to you?

wow. i feel luckier and luckier reading this.

The Attic (another Pittsburgh shop) seems to have raised their prices a bit. But they also get the likes of LZ, Floyd, Queen, etc. on occasion, and they're priced fairly reasonably (between $15 and $20).

Both the Attic and Jerry's always have Beatles albums, always for pretty reasonable. I've picked up some nicer '70s/'80s Capitol pressings from both places and didn't spend an arm and a leg to make it happen.

Whereas you go down to Eide's, and it's an ordinary Beatles' 65 "MONO ORIGINAL: $60" kept in a locked glass case. The same record at Jerry's or the Attic would be around $10, give or take.

 

I live in a suburb of Chicago with every other kind of store imaginable three miles away, but at this point I don't HAVE a local record shop. The closest one is probably a half hour away from me, so if you have a local record shop, stop your grumbling and count your blessings.

 

Good grief, I can't remember the last time I read the word "hipster" so many times in a day.

Records continue to be priced fairly out here. At least as far as this gawd-help-us '90s kid is concerned.

 

True. I am blessed to have a half dozen or so quality record stores within 10 -15 minutes from where I live and some still have very fair prices. I'm probably just in a crabby mood because of the snow/sleet/freezing rain that is currently falling over our fair city of Chocago and it's surrounding communities.

 

All of those really good deals are gone. Those days when people were dropping off boxes of perfectly good LP's at thrift stores are history. If anything, those that did are kicking themselves for doing it. I feel fortunate that I never fell for that impulse. I just couldn't do it. As a result I still have a great collection that I would have had to pay thousands for to restock. I feel stupid for not taking more advantage of cheap vinyl when I could have got it.

Let this be a lesson of what not to do in the future. CD's are the verge of this now and I won't do that either.

 

I also live in the Chicago subs and there is a record store close. He, also, does not price a lot of stuff and looks it up in a book. The guy wanted $8 for Dire Straits' first record (used, in VG cond.) I bought it at a record show for $2 a week later. I don't think I've ever paid book value for a record in the 30 years I've collected.

In Cinci, where I lived until this year, there were two great stores with cheap, used records (Wild Honey for $3, for example). Since I rarely pay over $3 for a record (I'm that guy), I know they don't have to charge these prices. But, clearly, they can because hipsters (I guess?) and collectors are paying them. And it's not just record stores: I've seen price increases at garage sales. Some guy had some (admittedly) clean Zeppelin, Doors, etc., for $15-20. I'm not saying they're not worth that right now, but I've never paid more than a handful of bucks for any Zeppelin/Doors/Beatles at a garage sale.

This is all ok with me, though, because when the whole "records are cool" thing blows over, I'll be there to buy their records back again.

 

I used to make the rounds once or twice a week. In the last three years I only go when there is nothing to do and I'm bored. There simply is nothing interesting anymore and what's there is way over priced for me. I still buy but it's mostly from Amazon or Music Direct for new records. I wish I could support the local dealers but one dealer near me adds anywhere between $6 and $8 to the price of new records, sometimes more.
Anything out of the ordinary are now "collectibles" in these dealers minds, for me the fun is gone, plus everyone is now an expert and most of the time they don't have a clue.
I guess what really upsets me is that some of these stores I have been shopping at for twenty years. When vinyl was all but forgotten I was a valued customer and they always welcomed me. Now they can barely acknowledge that I there.

 

Back in the early 90s we use to laugh at my pal Hugh who was working at Cellophane Sq in Seattle. He had heaps of used LZ album in backstock. These days a stack of 50 of each album would make you a rich man.

 

The stores I frequent here in Boston are reasonable in their pricing. They have to be, there's still more than enough competition to keep people honest. Heck, there's eight shops within walking distance of my house!

 

Ah yes! If we all had a crystal ball.

 

Prices going up locally? Yeah they have been, and sometimes to silly levels: $125 for 1965 pressing of the Freewheelin Bob Dylan? Sorry, I ain't buyin'

I would buy either of the two Elvis LPs mentioned in the original post, though

 

funny you mention that one as I just bought a MINT 360 sound Freewheelin for $45 yesterday and was happy to do it but at $125, NO WAY!

 

I purchased a nearly flawless copy as well recently (black 360 sound) for cheap and was a bit stunned to get of for as cheap as I did. Almost makes me wonder if my copy is legit--certainly looks it, but still...

 

Noticed an upswing in prices here in Toronto area as well. Seems most shops average around $9 CDN or so. VG+ and above. Popular bands like Beatles, Rolling Stones etc START at around $20 depending on condition, etc.

For ME, the worst is the AVAILABILITY of popular titles. Had to fork over $50 for a VG+ copy of "Meddle" by Pink Floyd recently. Haven't seen a pristine copy for months before or months AFTER I made my purchase.

Just last week I bought "Tonight's The Night" by Neil Young for $30. NOT the black/white label, but the orange/black one. Very clean copy, sounds greats. Purists probably would have passed on it cuz somebody decided to write their name with a sharpie right across the photo of Neil on the cover. Me, don't care about the cover but more concerned with quality of the LP. Also had to factor in that I haven't seen a used copy of TTN in ages, and who knows when I see another one.

I guess ya gots ta pick yer spots.....

 

I was at one of the bigger stores in Portland yesterday picking up the Zep reissues. The clerk was thumbing through crate loads of records that were being traded in. I asked him if someone 'had emptied their garage' and he said, with some resignation, 'yes, but it's like everyone elses garage' meaning it was the same old stuff they have lots of already.

I haven't bought anything used in months. There is very little out there and the stuff I still want (90's alt / indie / britpop) is flat out non-existent or too spendy for me right now ($75 for REM's New Adventures ....)

 

Unfortunately, record stores have the challenge of keeping their inventory fresh and interesting and well balanced to keep customers coming in. The reality is that everyone has different tastes in music. If your specialty is "punk rock" for example and someone comes in for a seventies rock record, your going to want to be able to serve that customer and have what they are looking for. Record stores are trying to avoid having 25 copies of "Frampton Comes Alive" or "Carpenters" records. That is what people bought and have in their collections.

The issue for me is "condition". The record has to play well for me to be interested. That is what is getting harder and harder to find. There is plenty of "thrashed" junk out there, that's no problem.

 

Everything seems to be rising in price at any local shop here.

 

I remember exactly 10 years ago, you could find amazing deals on vinyl in used shops. I bought hundreds of vinyls still sealed and thousands of used titles. Mostly 60s and 50s lps, some 70s. Always went for the first pressings, somehow managed to avoid the late 60s Dynaflex titles. Sitting down and listening to both sides of an album from beginning to end with someone dear to you is priceless. That was the best period of my life, many fond memories. The records I bought help to jog those memories and maintain a happier mental state.

 

I found before I left a Dallas that some used vinyl places were staying reasonably priced but some like HPB were pricing common stuff by any popular group like Fleetwood Mac Rumours for 29.99 in vg condition. Much just sat on the shelfs. I watched for two years as prices kept rising at some of these places but it didn't look like anything was selling much at the inflated prices. On the other hand , Recycled Books in a Denton had reasonable prices and all good quality NM or a little lower and they moved stuff quickly.

 

Now that yard sale season in over I'll have to start relying on record stores again and I'm sure after some of the great dollar stuff I've scored this year the sticker shock will be immense.

It's always been this way for me though. I'm another one of those cheapos who needs to think real hard about spending more than ten dollars on an album that isn't at the top of my wishlist. My local record store is pretty weird with their pricing, either exorbitant or suspiciously cheap, but always quality.

 

Noticed most record stores very busy these days, only one 'which seems to perpetually have the same stock. Always makes sense to trade.

 

A thread of anecdotal evidence.Higher prices?I don't see it around the Lehigh Valley,Pa.Area is midway to New York and Philly and throw in Prex(Princeton Record Exchange),so competiton for the really big bucks is there.Add to that online sources and the customer is much more informed and has choices.If you're gonna survive,you gotta keep moving product.Most stores using Facebook and Instagram have instant listings of incoming product and sometimes sales are made before stuff is in the bins for more than a few minutes.If a seller is finding a buyer that quickly,there can be no price gauging going on.

 

I find VG+ copies of almost everything I want for reasonable prices. It's probably perfectly legit. That record should never be more than $20-50 for a clean player. $100 should buy you a stone NM copy.

 

That's when you buy Dylan's mono box. Those records sound better than originals.

 

Your warning to me came 12 years too late. I was about to retire, and we were in the process of moving to a smaller house. I boxed up about 7 to 8 hundred of my lp's and drove down to a friend's record store in Rhode Island. It wasn't long after that when I very much regretted what I had done. Now, where is that HG Wells' time machine!? It was my biggest dumb-ass Saturday morning ever!