"Better Records" website and their business practices as they apply to our hobby*

There is no info on cover condition on 'the website.' Could you possibly pay
$200 for a Red Hot A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LP with a grade Z cover?

 

Has their current sale been mentioned in this thread yet?

 

I have a couple very good sounding MCA's of that era, but they're albums that weren't hits and probably had only one pressing. For instance, Howard Werth's King Brilliant and Kiki Dee's Loving & Free, both on Rocket.

 

A sort of similar title *might* be Paul Simon's STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. There are both Sterling and Mastering Lab vintage copies. However, I'm not sure if any US pressings exist from Mastering Lab mastered parts. There are Canadian and (IIRC) British pressings however. The Mastering Lab copies are superior overall to my ears, and not by a little.

 

I am not aware of any major labels issuing second run white label promos after the album was released. Columbia/Epic did not do this. Warner/Reprise did not do this. Elektra/Asylum did not do this. Polygram did not do this. Can you provide an example of a promo label release that came after the initial release?

There were sometimes second pressing white (promo) label singles, but those would typically say something like "reservice" or, in some cases, would feature a modified mix or edit.

Of course, albums would get reissued on a different label, or with a new cover and/or contents, and those albums might appear with their own set of white labels.

And when we're talking about promo albums, we're only taking about copies with a distinct printed label on the vinyl itself. Yes, of course, there could be many promo issues of an album, long after it was first released, with promo stamps/stickers/cuts on the cover, or even promo ink stamps on the album intself. But those are not the same thing as a promo label issue.

 

I've seen Motown reissues from the 1980s that had white label promo versions. I'll try to dig one up. True, in some cases the original was on Tamla and then reissued on Motown, but others were on the Motown label from the start.

Yes, I've also noticed a majority of later pressing WLPs are on a different label than the original issue. Here's an example: Curtis Mayfield Superfly white label promo. The original was released in 1972 on Curtom Records.

Yet this WLP is on the RSO label, and I'm guessing it dates from the late 1970s.

It's a Kendun mastering, I personally prefer the reissue to the original.

 

Right...Much later reissues on a different label might have promo labels. But these are EASILY distinguished from first release promos. Some of those Motown reissues did get promo label issues, but again, there was no ambiguity that they were MUCH later reissues--different catalog numbers, and with annotation on the sleeve and the label that clearly differentiated them.

 

The Mastering Lab copies are superior overall to my ears, and not by a little. I couldn't agree more with you! Sterling or The Mastering Lab? For this LP there is no contest!

JG

 

I take you at your word on that. The only time I can think of where other COUNTRIES' pressings have been found on American Lp's was the Rolling Stones' first LP, in which legend has it that the first batch of London pressings were sent from the UK with the lacquers for pressing over here. The VERY first few thousand copies of that LP offered over here were indeed made in the UK, but with American printed LP covers. Definitely an oddity in the annals of US Lp's though!

 

A friend bought one from the email "make us an offer" on a title. It was listed at $400 he got it for $100 including shipping.
Makes you wonder!

 

wow. I wasn't going to bother making an offer but knowing this I might reconsider. I do wish they would include images of the jacket, label and vinyl as well as matrix info. If I paid $250 for an A+++ hot stamper and got a Parlo 2-box, I'd be a little arsed.

 

I am boggled that once again, he includes a couple Steeleye Span albums among his overpriced stock. The UK Chrysalis pressings of those albums all tend to sound great, and they're VERY easily found.

 

Here's the thing: Tom Port gives no information about the rarity of the pressings he sells. It's entirely possible that some of them represent extremely common pressings.

But if they are common, you're not going to price them for pennies. You will titrate them out slowly, one at a time, at a price commensurate with what you're charging for everything else. He's probably sitting on stacks for "gonzo" pressings for certain titles.

So if your friend made a $100 offer on one of these common pressings...Well, $100 for a $1 bin album is still 10,000% profit. And another copy can be titrated out later without affecting perception of real value.

 

Can't stand to be on that side for longer than two minutes. It's ridiculous but.... a great business idea. Overprice standard stock by using fancy descriptions and making it extra desirable.

 

Yeah, nah. Dont like his silly descriptions with overused buzz words. And of course, not a sceric of pressing info.

 

There are other Stones LPs like that as well, where there's both an actual American pressing and one made by Decca in the UK for the USA. They're even pressed by Decca in the UK:

Stones on Decca »

 

How does he know he got the one listed? Here is a fella who has no issues throwing up 400$ or more lps and somebody thinks that same person is actually going to be honest about sending that same lp discounted by 300$ to a suck ..I mean..."customer"?

HA..ha...Ha....HAAAAaaa

 

The old Dutch pressings are all TML-mastered too!

 

I have no idea. If he's not happy he will send it back.

 

The best sounding copy IMO is the most recent reissue remastered by Ryan Smith. Port would never admit to it though. He can't make any money on those.

 

Nice catch on that one. Those Curtoms can be miserable. What's crazy is, the same parent company owned Monarch, if memory serves-- Viewlex?--which pressing plant is highly regarded here for punchy sounding records.

 

I'm confused....how/why/could he admit to what you think is the best?

 

Ho, Ho, Ho.. Blingle all the way..

Dont miss out!!!

Better Records: Pink Floyd - The Wall »

 

Man, I just don't get this in the slightest, mainly because this stuff must be selling as he just keeps jacking up the prices. To me that must mean he still hasn't found the ceiling. $1000 is more than I would pay for a perfect copy of anything. I can see, maybe, $150 but I just don't get this. I'm not saying the work and effort isn't worth a grand, it probably is when you figure how many copies he had to buy and listen to, but I am surprised anyone would pay that for anything other than a one off, very rare record of an artist that is very important to the buyer.

 

Well, lets look at this realistically. He has his very own pricing structure that isn't close to real world pricing. $100 for a $400 album might seem like a deal on the face of it, but that is exactly the same thing as all these stores habitually putting a ridiculous retail price on things (Kohl's is a perfect example...that IS their business model and people are fools if they ever pay full price for anything there) and then marking it down 75%, which is actually the real value of that item out in the wild. I think $100 is still absolutely ridiculous for that extremely common title. You can get a brand new, beautiful sounding reissue for $30. He is all about marketing and I'm the first to say, he's very good at what he does. He's not a crook, as many here seem to assert. More power to him if people are that gullible. I find it all quite humerous really.