Los Angeles area record stores

Some clueless celebrities like Chris Rock and Rachael Ray gave $5000 each to that gofundme.

 

My experience w/stores lately has been mixed as usual. I had a decent experience at Amoeba, having found an early reissue of Workin with the Miles Davis Quintet for $25. Not gem mint condition, but very nice nonetheless. Probably got a bit of the deal there.

There's a very large record selection at a thrift store near me in the valley, which on any given day is almost exclusively 95% classical and mid-century also-rans, but the 5% can be good. I was digging last time and chatted with a woman who was also digging, and she said she went in once and found a whole bunch of Dylan records that someone had dropped off. Issue with this store is all the records are $4.99, so while you might find treasure once in awhile, it's not exactly a dollar bin. The good thing is everything is in pretty fine shape. They seem to weed out the busted LPs.

 

Remember all the thrifts like Goodwill etc. were $1 a record?

 

There was a time where records in general were $1 and only to be found in bins on the floor under the bustling CD racks. And prior to that, early/early(ish) in the CD era, you could snag a new/current pressing on vinyl for a decent amount cheaper than a CD.

 

Remember in '93 when CD's were the king?

 

I might be missing something in the math, but 4 to 6 and 8 to 12 is a 2/3 ratio. Accordingly 2/3 of 47 is 31 plus change, and you were offered 35. From a calculation standpoint I think the number works.

A store manager once told me that their rule of thumb is to cash offer 25% of what they think they can sell the item for. By that standard, do you consider $140 a fair value if you had walked in off the street and paid that at the register at retail for the items you brought in?

I think a lot of us make the mistake of thinking that the store should offer us eBay or Discogs prices when, in reality, we are their wholesalers.

 

I think for us non mathematicians it’s just a matter of being unable to not notice that they’re paying a lot less these days but charging a lot more than in “the good old days.” The reasons for this are understandable but it dampens the desire to bring in stuff to sell, and if less and less people being in stuff to sell, it will eventually hinder their business plan.

 

50% of 35 is 17.5, add 17.5 to 35 and it's 52.5. That's the equivalent of 4 to 6 or 8 to 12. 50% of the cash price, added to the cash price to get credit. That's how my store always did it. Their system, whatever it is, is wonky. And it's not the wonky cash/credit ratio that annoyed me, it was the overall lowball offer.
And I didn't make the mistake of thinking they should give me eBay or Discogs prices, if I sold the stuff there it would have been closer to $150-$200.

I was a buyer at a used record store for years, and I sell on eBay and have my collection on Discogs. I know what stuff is worth. Amoeba are lowballers.
I also sold part of my collection a number of years ago, and a few Amoeba employees came to my house to evaluate my collection. They offered a laughable lowball number which came out to less than $1 for each item. I told them no, they went outside and talked to their manager, and came back in and offered me over $1000 more. I still said no. I called another local store, they came out and offered me almost three times Amoeba's initial offer. They are lowballers.

 

Very curious who the other store was!!

 

I’ll agree that they’re low ballers if they marked the retail price above the $140 figure used in my example.

 

Lowballers. Rockaway are fair on buying,but; keep in mind the great stuff just goes on eBay or Beatles stuff on Perrydcox. You have to look up even the most common stuff now. Freakbeat are okay to sell except on the common stuff. I'd always eBay the best stuff over time.

 

Other store was Atomic Records in Burbank.
Btw, when Amoeba came out to my house, one of them actually said to me "you could make a fortune selling this online." And they offer less than $1 an item, lol. I know no store is going to offer anywhere close to what I could get online, but I also know what the collection is worth and what the store will put them out for.

 

Atomic is a nice store. They get a lot of entertainment industry types selling them CD/DVD/etc.....for decades. At least the Big A guys told you the truth about online.

 

Atomic is always good for condition, too, I appreciate that about them. Amoeba isn’t bad but you have to check the vinyl carefully. Freakbeat is always carrying stuff that’s in nice shape. Rockaway are pros with quality control.

Conversely, Record Parlour specializes in overpriced beaters. A lot of the new stores run by people fresh to the vinyl game are like that unfortunately; they price for the name of the artist, hoping you won’t find out that if the record is busted, it doesn’t matter what it is. It’s not worth it. Better to pay a lot more for the best copy.

 

Are you talking about vinyl or movies/blu-ray etc? Or both?

I’m asking because I have a pretty massive horror/genre blu ray collection. Tons of out of print special editions blah blah and I’m thinking about selling it all and just keeping my 4K discs.

Massive vinyl collection too but I’m not gonna sell it. Never ever! Or so I say so today.

 

It was CDs.

 

$5 per lp at a thrift store?

Ridiculous.

 

Totally agree with the above, especially Record Parlour.

Some of these shops purposely keep the store light dim hoping you won't find the flaws.

 

I’ve only ever set foot in Record Parlor once, years and years ago.
I stepped in, said hello to the old guy behind the counter. He said “Just so you know, our records are expensive!”

With a that I said “oh, ok, thanks” and promptly walked out.

 

Anyone been to the Record Collector on Melrose? I heard the old guy yells at everyone who walks in the door, lol.

 

Haven't been in years. But if you had a shop on Melrose these days, you'd be pretty irritated too!

 

Correction: I meant Record Collector on Melrose.

 

I heard about Record Collector, old skool screamer. Kwaddy is correct, $5 per is ridiculous. I like the big guy at Freakbeat, his talkative ways are priceless. Atomic has nice condition, so does Freakbeat and Rockaway. Record Surplus is all over the place.

 

Those stores have a right to lowball. It's basic accounting. If your favorite uncle from Peoria, Illinois, kicks the bucket, and he leaves behind a stellar record collection, and the family members--unsurprisingly so!--don't care about it, then they don't give a darn about it, they want that collection out of their lives. That's how record stores thrive. When one has a great record collection, he needs family members that want to learn about the collection. If they don't, then that's how record stores stay in business. I've already told my son not to sell my collections of the Residents, James Brown, Dylan, the Stones, Beefheart, and my favorite soul and jazz records.

 

Without knowing either of you, I'd wager he's got Amoeba's local equivalent on speed dial.