The Worst Pricing You've Seen at a Record Store

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by LitHum05, May 6, 2019.

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  1. mobility

    mobility Member

    Location:
    philadelphia
    best pricing in philly or anywhere in the world. Val Shively 69th st upper darby pa really in philadelphia. anything and everything you could want and some great conversation especially if you have knowledge of music history reguardless of genra. if you are a person who is not sure about what you want. at least you can get an education about what you want to purchase and not get taken to the cleaners.
     
  2. WillieDaPimp

    WillieDaPimp Good bad, not evil

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    That’s funny, I know a place in Plymouth Meeting that is preposterously overpriced.

    I wonder if it’s the same place?
     
    LitHum05 likes this.
  3. LitHum05

    LitHum05 El Disco es Cultura Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia
    I just came back from NYC. One place in the West Village (not one of the must-hit spots in the city--more of an oldies place) had a copy of the "Chariots of Fire" soundtrack for $30.00. Yes, this is the same soundtrack that is available at almost every Goodwill for a buck.
     
    12" 45rpm and Old Rusty like this.
  4. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Not a record, but once saw the Kinks' Village Green Reprise CD - no bonus tracks, multi-generation tape - for $24. The 3CD deluxe edition could be had on Amazon for $9 at that point! (I know because I bought it off Amazon later that week!) Strangely, that store (Record Archive in Rochester NY) generally has good prices. Every once in a while, there may be something that makes me raise my eyebrow, but that one right there was something else.

    There was a flea market seller who priced everything off eBay. Seeing the international Let There Be Rock by AC/DC at the front of the LP crate with a $40 price tag on it was all I needed to know. But wait! This is the re-press from 1982! You won't find that ANYWHERE!! :rolleyes:

    And then there's that Discogs seller who routinely lists $5 discs at $49.98 "Used Media Is Out Of Print With 13 Tracks". EDIT: Just looked it up - a disc I paid $15 for last year is now $168.98 - but, it's "Out Of Print With 35 Tracks"! I wonder if any of our Texas-based forum members (specifically, those located in the small sister town near Dallas, Arlington, and Fort Worth) could confirm if those prices repeat in the store :shh:
     
  5. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    terrible pricing was a lot of the reason why the 'buybacks' used chain went under.

    they had CD's in their racks with collectible prices right next to $1 CD's.

    then they would list those same CD's on amazon marketplace at the inflated prices.

    for vinyl:

    back in the day there was a store in kent, ohio called spin more records. the owner thought he was a guru in the record business.

    he sold crap albums (dirty, torn covers, scratched etc) at market prices. i never once saw anyone buy anything at the inflated prices, only the cheaper stuff in the bins.

    and there was a store in pittsburgh, above the post office (the names escapes me at the moment) that sold albums priced at a dollar a year as to how old they were. (a 1970 album would sell for $49 today). i will say that he had an amazing amount of stock.

    both of the above stores are long gone.
     
  6. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    1.Sealed X-Ray Spex / Germfree Adolescents @ $250 :yikes:

    2.VG+ copy of The 5 Royales / Dedicated To You @ $900:yikes:,I paid $600 for my VG++ copy & $1000 is what NM copies (if you can locate it) are valued now

    3.Pink Floyd / DSOTM...an original US pressing sealed @ $600:yikes:

    These 3 come to mind immediately
     
  7. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    I think I know that record store, they have mostly trashed records... When I laughed storekeeper said "Well, you guys are asking for way too much. If does not skip it is good, pops and clicks are part of experience".
    I was there while waiting for friend nearby, and never will go there again. When in this area your much better bet is Banana Records Warehouse in Saint Petersburg, amazing selection if you into Classic Rock, Jazz, Country...
     
    PBo likes this.
  8. statcat

    statcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Wrote a post about it once because it was so unreal. A store in NJ where the guy literally has no prices on anything and doesn't allow you to look at the record condition. He'll follow you around the store pretending to be doing things but really he's just stalking you. If you ask him the prices on some things he'll go to his computer and look it up and then write it down on paper. The lowest price he wrote down was $25 for a common used Psychedelic Furs record. :laugh: How he continues to stay in business is a mystery to me.
     
    Cronverc likes this.
  9. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    What's the store?
     
  10. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    The Record Exchange in Brisbane is a shocker.
    The US owner has tons of common and damaged lps that seem to start at $25aud.
    More than half his stock is not priced so they do a random discogs search at the counter for even common stuff.
    It is not unusual to find many multiple copies of albums and all overpriced but the funny part is randomly the worst copy just may be the highest priced one.
    The guy has been known to forge signatures.
    He does have some rare collectables which are hidden away and can be had for a limb or two.
    He has on occasion been on radio and talked to would be call-in sellers who describe their record in detail, but he talks in circles, never gives a price and tells everyone to bring it in to show him.
    I haven't been there for 5 years so he may have lifted his game but after several decades a leopard rarely changes their spots.
    I think he makes his money from youngsters buying t-shirts, posters, comics, gaming stuff, spray cans & dud guitars.
     
    iloveguitars likes this.
  11. Cronverc

    Cronverc Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn,NY
    This kind of business could be just front for something else.
     
    caravan70 and BluesOvertookMe like this.
  12. jmobrien68

    jmobrien68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toms River, NJ
    I was in a store once in Jersey, but it wasn't a record store... it was some dumpy place off Rte 1 near Edison that I saw on my way to Vintage Vinyl that sold games, cds, albums, instruments, etc. They had tons of albums so I just went through them filling holes in my collection. He took the albums I had and sat in front of his laptop and priced them up... $20+ for Cheap Trick's The Doctor, same for Joe Walsh's The Confessor... I laughed and he got really mad so I just left. Think the place is closed now, or maybe they moved.
     
  13. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I think I stopped there and looked at used CDs. They had prices on them but the place was a massive mess - just crap everywhere.

    IIRC, I bought a 2-CD set and when I got to the car, I realized it only had 1 CD.

    I went back in for a refund and had to really argue with the staff about. I was out the door literally 20 seconds before I came back - did they think I'd chucked the 1 CD in my car and was trying to rip them off? Wouldn't I want to claim there were zero CDs if I wanted to pull that scam?
     
  14. The problem with people selling LPs at ridiculous prices is this: iTunes is a buck a song. That's the competition. And streaming services are so dirt-cheap it's insane. Long-time LP buying friends of mine are giving up the hunt & using streaming. They are quite simply fed-up.
    I recently went to visit a buddy on the opposite coast, we went to a local record-store, there was nothing new under $30. All the common used stuff was way overpriced. I bought a 45, that's it. Every record-store I go to now has this same problem. The dream is over.
     
  15. Raynie

    Raynie Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Snortland, Oregano
    Tough to survive as a record store. Finding records to sell is a very challenging task if not long established as a go-to for people who might sell. Some resort to pricing for suckers but it doesn't work.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2019
    All Down The Line likes this.
  16. markreed

    markreed Forum Resident

    Location:
    Imber
    Everyone thinks they're sitting on a goldmine. One store near me had a load of rare late period Cure vinyl, but *never* looked after it, and charged absurd prices that he wrote on the inner sleeve in pen. PEN. Which meant he wanted you to pay £200 for "Wild Mood Swings" on a fusty, uncared for double vinyl (and those records were not kept in a protective sleeve, so had rubbed and creased edges), as well as a price written in pen on it. That much for a virgin vinyl of that record is probably double what you should play, let alone one that's beaten up. If people want to charge top dollar, they have to look after the record and keep it in good shape, and then, if they're lucky someone might buy it.

    My local charity shop (Oxfam) tries to charge £50 for a beaten up, creased, and heavily scratched Beatles LP. A common issue of "Help!", for example. That's not worth that.
     
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  17. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    local shop had original US copies of pretenders self-titled & learning to crawl marked at $25

    christopher cross for $15

    if that doesn't sound like much, think about it.
     
  18. johnt23

    johnt23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon
    Ever encounter shops that just dabble in used records and have no concept of pricing variations between different pressings?
    Or, they get thrown-off by some crazy inflated ebay BIN listing and conclude that it is the current going rate?
    So, a cheap recent reissue of Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs is a $200 record.
    When you only have a little bit of knowledge, that can be a dangerous thing.
     
  19. statcat

    statcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    yep I bought both of these for 2-3 dollars used in excellent shape the past year at a local store
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2019
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  20. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    A local store near me is charging £15 for his debut. No takers as far as I can see.
     
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  21. astro70

    astro70 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Illinois
    $100 for an extremely ring worn mono capitol Sgt Pepper at the St Louis Record Exchange
    $199 for a US Electric Ladyland, $399 for a mono blonde on blonde, $250 for a mono meet the beatles, all from my least favorite disogs shop that clogs my mail every day by relisting it. Sedona-Antiques. Avoid them.
    $35 for an absolutely destroyed capitol MMT that was missing more than half of the front of the sleeve and had severe water damage.
    $25-$40 EACH for very common 70s and 80s records at goodwill in just okay condition. I did snag a sealed late 70s Led Zeppelin I for $25 since I hadn't been able to find that one locally at that time. After I had just paid for it, a guy from in back brought up another stack of the same kind of albums and was like "yeah i'm the only one that works here that knows that vinyl is worth more than the 50 cents we've been charging so i look it up on ebay now first" I haven't bought a record from them since and their prices are still really high. I mean c'mon it's a THRIFT shop. Part of the idea is to help the community by offering bargains.
     
  22. Tedw9

    Tedw9 No More Mr. Nice Guy

    Location:
    Maine
    I’m someone who is new to vinyl collecting and the local market. Ive only been collecting (again) for a couple of years after 25+ years in sports cards and memorabilia. So learning as much as I can has been fun. Reading threads like this has been hugely helpful, you all make me feel lucky.

    A couple of years ago when I first started, I was finding ALL kinds of nice records, vintage 60’s-80’s rock in nice shape. I was able to quickly build a collection of vinyl from the Stones all the way through the Cars for $2 each at thrift shops. I got spoiled, rookie me thought this was the norm and I’d live at the base of Candy Mountain forever Charlie.......

    Yeah, then I woke up and quickly realized that I got lucky. I still find records, just not nearly the quality of artist anymore. And when I do, they are usually beat to snot. We were at a antique shop (Chicken Barn here in Maine for those familiar) and someone had records, so I had to look. KISS Alive II, beat so bad I wouldn’t even put it on a player, for either $30 or $40. Beatles in the same shape was $50. Seriously?

    Now that I’m having a harder time finding nice records I want, I pay more attention to my record stores used bins. I used to only buy new from them, now I dive into used. For $5 I get a record that is always at least VG+ if not better. So I can’t knock it, especially after reading some of you alls horror stories.
     
    LitHum05 likes this.
  23. crookedbill

    crookedbill Forum Resident

    It's interesting to me that CD prices were insane in the 90's (hovering around $20 apiece) then they went back down to a reasonable $10-$12 during the digital boom, and now physical is back up to insane prices again (especially vinyl, even new vinyl).

    I guess retailers figured out that only a small segment of the market wants physical now, but that market is willing to pay premium for it. This is why, in the majority of circumstances, I'm a hi-res download guy. I neither have the space for, nor the attachment to physical I had before.
     
  24. LitHum05

    LitHum05 El Disco es Cultura Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia
    Right now I’m buying everything I want (vintage copies, not necessarily first pressings). The thing is once vinyl gets overpriced to a certain point I will only buy stuff I really have to have. I already do this with physical books. So, no minor albums in a band’s discography, etc. This is one way buying habits can change once the gouging starts. Not good for the hobby.
     
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  25. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    Record shows are the worst. I've heard stories about how good they used to be in the '80s and even '90s, but I got into vinyl in the 2000s and never been to a good one, either for the selection or the prices.

    What's crazy is that I think they rely on some weird psychological thing whereby the entry fee makes some people feel like they don't get their money's worth unless they buy something. I've actually had that impulse and had to suppress it. I guess I can see overpaying for something that one has been looking for, and is in the desired condition (because it's right there in front of you), but that's it. Paying $15-20 for common titles in VG condition is insane. But I guess some people do it. Though let's face it - with new reissues costing $25-30 apiece someone who doesn't know record pricing might think that an "original" that is half the price of a reissue is a bargain, even if in less than great shape.
     
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