Anybody still go to record shows?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by evillouie, Jun 12, 2017.

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  1. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    I am human.

    :)
     
  2. Lemon Curry

    Lemon Curry (A) Face In The Crowd

    Location:
    Mahwah, NJ
    My perceptions, shattered.
     
  3. chumlie

    chumlie Forum Resident

    Crowded and expensive but I do go to see what's there. Once in a while I find a gem.
     
  4. CusBlues

    CusBlues Fort Wayne’s Favorite Retired Son

    I go to the Fort Wayne Record and CD Show each time it is on, and usually do pretty well. They have their share of overpriced stuff, but lots of fair priced vendors too. I also enjoy talking to buyers and sellers. I see a lot of the same people there each show, but most everyone refreshes their stock. The show is free and they also have giveaways which is pretty cool. Fort Wayne is only a couple hours from Toledo and the next show is 3/24/19. If you do facebook, they are Fort Wayne Record & CD Show.

    Fort Wayne also has the occasional smelly buyer, but I've found that at most shows I go to. Not sure what it is about record buyers, but some don't seem to like to bathe. :shrug:
     
  5. Bloom

    Bloom You're embarrassing me in front of the wizards

    Discogs killed the value in going to record shows. There is virtually no crate digging for gems to be done- all dealers just lookup everything and slap the high sold for price on it automatically. Finding an obscure grail in a box from a vendor that doesn't know what he has is a thing of the past- he just sees online that it's valuable and thinks he hit the gold vein.
     
    conjotter and uzn007 like this.
  6. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    p.s. If you are going to a record show, go very early. All the good stuff is gone in the first hour (if the dealers haven't picked through each others stuff already)


    Flea markets and yard sales are better bets for hidden treasures
     
  7. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    But you still have to get there early. We had a big yard sale a few years ago when we were moving, and there was a guy there at 9:00 sharp with some app on his phone that would let him scan the barcode on any books or CDs we were selling and it would show him the online value instantly.
     
  8. Jimmy Mac

    Jimmy Mac Zooropa... better by design

    As someone looking for higher end pressings I find the dozen different shows I attend an exercise in futility. If someone has a crate of records that aren't bagged I won't even look, if the dealer doesn't care about his product or presentation then why would I care? I want a Butcher Cover, and can find one on EBay any day of the week, but would love to walk into a record show and see one on a dealers wall, and work out a deal. I'd even settle for some real UK Beatles Parlophones or even Zep first pressings but alas I usually go home empty handed.
     
    Christian Hill likes this.
  9. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    I recently got a Second state Butcher cover on Ebay..................$15


    Sold it on Ebay for...........................$585
     
  10. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    I go to Raleigh 3 or 4 times a year for the record show. I see lots of high dollar stuff but just keep walking. I’ve found that the gems are in the dollar bins. Lots of sellers try to cull the herd and take those $5, $8, $12 and mark em down to $1,$2, or $3. It is just a matter of figuring out which are doing this and which are putting poor condition records up for sell. I usually coming out with 50-75 records for less than $100. Lots of interesting stuff (to me) from great singer songwriters to bluegrass to local bands, to2nd tier classic rock.
     
  11. kouzie

    kouzie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Batavia, IL
    I go to the Chicago area show held every other month. Sometimes I walk out with a few decent catalog filler titles for a few bucks, other times I hit the jackpot. Last weekend I bought a copy of the Mobile Fidelity pressing of R.E.M.'s Reckoning in absolutely mint condition for $25. Cheapest copy on discogs is $150. Found another 5 albums that collectively are worth $200+ on Discogs today for a total of $11.
     
    owsley and Old Rusty like this.
  12. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    :) Not meaning to target you specifically, but the last few posts more or less amount to: "Record shows suck now because I can't find nearly as many things mispriced by clueless sellers to flip on Discogs... because they're all pricing based on Discogs!"
     
  13. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Absolutely! Love it!!
     
  14. JustGotPaid

    JustGotPaid Forum Resident

    Kind of forced to go to shows since the local stores are out of good used records. Picked clean. Only thing they have is the new 'digital' vinyl. Its not 1995 anymore....
    I enjoy going to the big shows for more variety.

    The smaller local shows are very predictable for content and pricing. Early bird entry NOT worth it..... tables are not even set up for 1/2 the dealers..... and most are still looking for coffee.
     
  15. CowboyBill

    CowboyBill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Utah
    The last one i went to last spring was horrible. Everything was way too overpriced. I even pulled out a few albums i fancied and the seller said "Oh these aren't suppose to be in there, im keeping those"....
     
  16. dividebytube

    dividebytube Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grand Rapids, MI
    At least once or twice a year. It's pretty rare that I find something on my want list, but I usually find an interesting record or two, either an alternative pressing of a record I already own, or an offbeat album that looks interesting, Plus it's just fun to be around a bunch of vinyl; some of the dealers have some really cool stuff while others - meh, it's like looking through the $1 crate.
     
    Thesmellofvinyl likes this.
  17. kouzie

    kouzie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Batavia, IL
    Totally get it. Not that I haven't flipped an occasional record, but 98% of what I buy is for my collection and things I was looking for. What I do like about record shows is that catalog filler (i.e. something like Hall & Oates) can still be had for $2-$3 in great quality. Compare that to someplace like Half Priced Books (or any other given used record place) where there the same title is going to run $6-$8 and usually in crappy condition.
     
  18. Crimson Witch

    Crimson Witch Roll across the floor thru the hole & out the door

    Location:
    Lower Michigan
    Oh yeah :cool:
    Time and time immemorial.
     
  19. Vinyl Archaeologist

    Vinyl Archaeologist Forum Resident

    I always find stuff that is unavailable online and never makes it to the floor of the shops. I also like the opportunity to visually grade for myself and haggle with sellers. Generally I spend around $100 and end up with a few clean rare albums that would go for much more online.
     
  20. BEAThoven

    BEAThoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I still love records shows mainly for cheap impulse buys and a bit of the social aspect.

    Anything that I am seeking specifically is now usually found online.
     
    All Down The Line likes this.
  21. lambfan68

    lambfan68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I went to one two weeks ago. It was the first time I'd been to one in a couple of years. It was held at a local micro brewery. It was wall to wall people. Couldn't really get near anything. Didn't stay long.
     
  22. I go to every 'record show' I can. I never go early. I hit a local pub on the same block & quaff a couple of pints first. In fact my trick is to go with only an hour or so left in the show, as sellers are usually far more ready to unload stuff cheap at the end of the day. It never fails that as they check the price on the records I want, they offer a discount. That never happens in the morning of a show...
     
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  23. No Blue Skies

    No Blue Skies Forum Resident

    Decades worth. Yes!
    Having lived in the Seattle area most of my life I used to hit a couple different record shows on a regular basis in the 80's and 90's - mostly to buy, sometimes to sell. Initially there was a great buzz in the air but as the 90's unfolded and Ebay took off the crowd numbers decreased. Yeah, the sameness of those shows probably started to drag them down a bit too. I mainly continued to go out of habit but mostly to visit the stall of one vendor who usually had interesting and inexpensive promo items. No idea if those shows/fairs still are staged but someday hope to re-visit them. In '99 we moved to Germany (Frankfurt area) and the local fairs were a revelation - different LPs and CDs sold by the vendors reflecting a different European taste in music. It was eye opening, prices were cheaper and at the time (1999) bootlegs were everywhere.
    OK - I admit to also planning a couple family trips to London around Record Fairs. You gotta see something interesting, right?
    For the past 12-15 years I have traveled to the Utrecht Fair each November. It is overwhelming! Someone wrote earlier that in two days it is nearly impossible to thoroughly search all the stalls you might want to hit. True! As I get older I don't have the energy to get in there (like I used to), elbow to elbow and do the crate digging thing. If it isn't organized I tend not to investigate.
    The crowds and the number of vendors have seemed to have bounced back these last few years after experiencing a perceived dip. Great to see that interest is rising! ...but the crowds can be daunting. The hunt and the finds can be there - it's just down to your perseverance and budget....but there's always something to find! Probably the attraction for me, unlike buying online is the unknown at record shows.
     
    All Down The Line and owsley like this.
  24. danielkov86

    danielkov86 Playing Devil's Avocado Since 1986

    How does one find a 'record show'? Is there some national organization that was schedules?
     
  25. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    I see them listed on my local Craigslist, and sometimes I see flyers for them at record shops.
     
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