i hate record stores without prices
billbradley
You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,905 Posts
I hit a shop today that had loads of records that were not priced yet. Of course most of them were crap but I found some in there that I was interested in. When I took them to the counter the owner said he'd have to price the records then give me a call sometime tomorrow. He said "I won't pull a Bill's Records on you and just say $50 for every record." Of course I wasn't happy about having to wait but I didn't have a choice. Anyway...I'm just irritated that I spent a three and half hours pulling out some nice records only to leave with nothing.
Comments
What percentage of the recs were not priced?? 10?, 20?, 75?. I misread, and if its some new things he is being somewhat reasonable, but why not keep em in the back and price them before putting them out?
Actually I'm torn.
Are we talkin 10-20 dollarish records?
I'd say about 50% of the stock wasn't priced. I think he just looks at the overwhelming amount of work it is going to be to price those records and just doesn't do it hoping that someone like me will take the time to go through it all and pull out anything that is worth pricing. Of course I'm not going to buy anything when I see that he is pricing off ebay or similar. Most of the records I pulled out were in the $10-20 range with only a couple worth $40-60.
I feel the urge to print this up on a t-shirt and wear it next time I go digging.
once i had a place tell me that the record pricer was out and i had to come back the next day, i was visiting from out of town so i just didn't get anything
That is just stupid! How do these places stay in business, one wonders?
Yeah, it sucks, but this guy kinda hooks it up, thinks anything James Brown or JB related is worthless, tends to think funk in general is worthless, and for some really strange reason thinks promos are worth less than regular 45's...example from last time, I got a minty 1967 Don Covay wlp on Atlantic, two-song promo with the B being a 45 only track, he priced it at $2...a relatively beat regular issue of Johnny Thunder's hit "Loop de Loop" on Diamond was $4, twice as much...a just-as-beat James Crawford "I'm Strung Out" JB production on Mercury he gave me for free...I was like
the 2002 edition of a top (Goldmine?) selling Price Guide lists the Syl Johnson "Is It Because I'm Black" LP as being worth $27 in Mint condition, "Dresses Too Short" like $2 more. Any seller swearing by that guide would charge you $20 for a clean copy.
Yeah, unpriced records at stores are my pet peeve. It's like they size you up before they tell you a price. It used to be my theory that the closer it was to the end of the month when rent was due for them, the more I'd have to pay. I tried to do all my unpriced Graveyard digs in the first two weeks of the month. Or what about shop owners who look that shit up on Ebay right in front of you. That makes me wanna break the record in two and slit their throats with the jagged vinyl. If I wanted a record off of Ebay I would of stayed home in my underwear and clicked "bid now" while scratching my balls with my free hand. There's a guy here who looks everything up on Gemm and prices it from other people's asking price... dumb asshole. Or how about stores with tons of stuff, all unpriced, and then they try to stick you up at the counter. My two experiences with that are Graveyard locally and Bananas in Florida. Get up off a motherfucking record and maybe you'd have less shit hanging around polluting your stores. The dude at Bananas told me they used the "internet value system" to price their records. Pure filth.
On the other hand, here in Detroit at Peoples I've had nothing but good experiences with unpriced joints. Always a couple of bucks under what I had wanted to pay in the first place. I wish they were all like that.
Deep beats and deep crates,
SonicReducer
(TEAMAARON)
At a place in Oklahoma where all records used to be $1, the record pricer now relies on "The Book." Yep, every record you find that isn't priced gets looked up in some 1991 collectable record price guide. I learned of his new business practices a while back when I brought a mint and unpriced Bongo Rock LP up to the counter to get quoted $100. I ended up paying $38 which is still outrageous, considering that I usually get out of there with a fat sack of quality records for way less than that.
So now (and this is a bit devious but fuck it) I price all unmarked records. I just peel the tag of a Bobby Bare LP and don't leave anything to chance.
Big co-sign.
i hate to say it but that's how you gotta do it with some of these dicks.
Thanks for helping me justify my questionable morality.
But that's the truth. Once after spending an hour or two in 100 degree warehouse, the owner (a dude whose name has been mentioned in this thread already) took all the records back to his shop to price them. I left empty handed and now, about a year later, still have not gotten these records.
In unpriced shops I typically have to deal with tons of 'what do you know about this record', 'what is this worth to you', 'what is your offer', blah blah blah. That's where the
I hit a spot the other day, mid month I figured the prices wouldn't be swayed too much by the need for rent money - damn if I didn't forget that April 15th is soon upon us. I still walked out with an OG Timeless Legend 'Synchronized' lp for $10 though...
I couldnt agree with you more. I really dont know anyone who has ever been to that store and has not walked away pissed. In my early early days of collecting I spent an entire day in that joint and came to the counter only with a few Kool Moe Dee 12"s. Dude looks at them and wanted at least $25 a piece for them. I told him I left my wallet in my car and never returned since. And I bet my life that those 12"s are still sitting there.
-k
...but has anyone been to the store in west Michigan that charges $5 just to go through the record section?
Yeah... those types of places rock. If you are getting in thousands of records / week, would you want to research and price everything? If you are understaffed like a lot of these shops are, It would take years.. Be glad these shops let stuff out on the floor rather than tuck them in the back to collect dust for a long time. Granted some places have asshole owners who let your fingers do the walking and gauge, but there are equally as many shops with unpriced heat waiting to go out the door at fair prices and even steals.
It is frustrating though... like at the NYC flea markets. Some above decent stuff sitting there uncleaned that you think is a dollar or two... then you take them up to the dealer and he wants $25 a piece. C'mon it's a fucking flea market.
Congrats, but how does this fiqure into the record stores without prices theory?
you mean you'll win some loose some, because some things won't be in a price guide?
When I checked out I brought up a foot high stack of stuff, most store owners with unpriced stock are lazier than they are greedy so the dude gave up on trying to run everything through gemm & popsike after the first half dozen records...
Also: I was looking for an opportunity to brag - so I took it!
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I've found most antique dealers or estate sale managers the worst to deal with. Their mentality is just because it's old it's worth a lot of money. Antique dealers at fleas are the usually the ones with beat up $45 KISS Platinum records and $100 Barry Manilow picture discs. Sometimes you can catch them slipping, but a lot of times their pricing is not even in the ballpark, it's like way out in the cheap parking lot by the homeless guy selling peanuts.
SONIC
If you're gonna do this you may as well just steal the shit outright...
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I've had the opposite experience. I've had some of my best all-time scores ever at Antique stores; all on the $1-$2 dollar tip. I think it's probably a regional issue. In New England at least most antique joints and record stores are always underpriced.
That is one hell of a deal though. So how does that lp sound? Good or just raer?
hmm, opposite opinion :
Why don??t you get together a bunch of friends and pull out so much nonsense records for him to price that he gives up the thing ????
If not this day than tomorrow,
if not tomorrow than next week
...
next month ?
Seb