Well, I went to a small record fair about a week ago. Brought along my two kids because I had no babysitter for those couple of hours. The oldest complaining he wanted to leave just after a few minutes and the youngest crying after an half an hour of digging. Obviously they don't like records. It didn't make me feel real comfy in there to be honest, and left without getting anything noteworthy.
I guess I'm not as bad as that dude you described.
Ah, it's OK. Yeah I lurv the kids. I just get mad when the parent is clearly more excited by the records than their own children...
a local dealer/shopowner here made a custom dust jacket for his manship book - so no-one would know what he was looking at. (rolls eyes)
if you are a dealer that's one thing, but collectors should be interested in the MUSIC before the value perhaps???
glass houses, stones etc.
---
"Bob Ellis is the Count" AKA Krusty the Count does this his glued on notebook paper cover sez "Personal Want List" and we are all fooled by it (although he only wants the ones priced 50 pounds +)
Not a good look indeed. But maybe one day.... hopefully... they will love to come along with me.
and want $$ to go buy cds, dvds & posters
(from my experience)
haha. I don't think I will mind if they want money to buy either music or movies. Unless they buy crappy cd's or movies ofcourse. It is my fatherly duty to school them on these matters.
a local dealer/shopowner here made a custom dust jacket for his manship book - so no-one would know what he was looking at. (rolls eyes)
if you are a dealer that's one thing, but collectors should be interested in the MUSIC before the value perhaps???
glass houses, stones etc.
---
"Bob Ellis is the Count" AKA Krusty the Count does this his glued on notebook paper cover sez "Personal Want List" and we are all fooled by it (although he only wants the ones priced 50 pounds +)
Ahhh...Bob Ellis is The Count?? (revelation related)
DEAR SIR,I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY I CANNOT GET A REPLY FROM YOU CONCERNING THE WATTS PROPHETS LP!!!ALL I AM LOOKING FOR HERE IS A SIMPLE REPLY TELLING ME IF YOU ARE BUYING THIS RECORD FOR $125 OR MAKE ME AN OFFER ON IT! PLEASE REPLY!!!!! BOB
1- out of print cd dude - comes in once a week and checks bar codes against a list, calls every ten days (or gets his wife, sister, son, cousin) "you got the traveling wilburies on ....CD???"
2 - list man - dude came in once a week and methodically listed EVERY record i nthe entire store he wanted so "knew what he wanted to buy later"
3- trade abuser - we had a weird creepy dude who was kinda sorry sac friends with the owner.. he came in every tues and thursday.. shot the shit and would usually buy 3 cds.. next week he would exchange at least 2.
4 - dudes who never buy nothin - why the fuck you come in EVERY week???
5 - dudes you meet at random parites who are all up in your grill about their record collection and youve never see nthem in the shop ONCE (small town and you work in the only decent store there!)
6 - euro metal collectors - dudes get agro that you dont have a metal section and then brag about reslelling Helloween records in greece for "big big dollas"
7 - midlife crisis dad - guy came in with his 2 kids and would try and shoot the shit with you to look "hip" in front of the kids.. would just BS and drink our free coffee .. never bought shit.
8 - Trustafarians - guys only want dave mathews bootlegs and they want to pay for EVERYTHING with burned Phish cdrs...
For real: these dudes suck but I'm curious...if you're a retailer and someone does this once, do you pretty much cut them off if they try it a second time?
The other guy that sucks is the guy who is in the store when a collection is put out, stacks up 50 LP's and puts them on "hold" only to come back and only buy 5 of them.
This happens at record shows too, which to me is even worse. At least a shop can then put the record back out another day.
Now I am pretty aggressive at shows, I am buying for my shop and I get pissed if I miss a good box. But what I take, I take, and what I don't - well, shame on me if I slept. I get burned sometimes on records that either looked good and weren't, or I didn't inspect condition closely enough. All part of the game.
I cannot stand these guys who pull anything remotely interesting without even looking, and then hand the pile back to the dealer and say "hold on to these for a sec" while they run to the next table. Then they come back an hour or two later, discard 75% of the pile, and buy five records. Super lame.
There is a foreign guy that does this around here, Tim knows who I'm talking about...
Well, I went to a small record fair about a week ago. Brought along my two kids because I had no babysitter for those couple of hours. The oldest complaining he wanted to leave just after a few minutes and the youngest crying after an half an hour of digging. Obviously they don't like records. It didn't make me feel real comfy in there to be honest, and left without getting anything noteworthy.
I guess I'm not as bad as that dude you described.
Ah, it's OK. Yeah I lurv the kids. I just get mad when the parent is clearly more excited by the records than their own children...
This comment is clearly spoken by someone who has no kids.
I have to say: I find the beef with eBay flippers (and best believe, I'm not one of them since I hate selling shit on eBay) to be kind of funny considering that "buying low/selling high" is sort of the lifeblood of a record store, no?
Personally, I always liked how certain stores kept stock behind the desk that they'd offer to specific buyers "when the time called for it" but didn't have to reveal them to just anyone asking. That way, if you have some shady dudes trying to cop stuff off you, just to flip, you can keep better items (say a Dorothy Ashby LP) behind the desk and wait until someone you genuinely like comes in who might want it. Very "High Fidelity",
I hate the "call every few days" GUY. I have a couple of them. I think they are severely unbalanced.
1. Guy who calls for Calypso. As if I just buy Calypso records every damn day!
2. Guy who calls for impossibly rare record. For a while he was calling about a record that hasn't ever been offered for public sale... and when I finally broke down and told him that I had no idea if I ever would find it he said "well I thought you specialized in rare records." ASSHOLE
3. Guy who calls for psych records. Every few days, "do you have anything in I might be into?" Guys around town know him. I believe he constructs imaginary relationships with the dealers because, a few days ago, after ignoring his call one too many times, I got this email:
Jonathan, I suggest the following- you mail me the two records tomorrow and I do the same for you, and we call it a day. It is not healthy for me nor for you for things to go on this way, and this time you really have pushed me over the limit and gone too far. I will put it bluntly, I more than do not like you I can no longer tolerate you.
Jonathan, I suggest the following- you mail me the two records tomorrow and I do the same for you, and we call it a day. It is not healthy for me nor for you for things to go on this way, and this time you really have pushed me over the limit and gone too far. I will put it bluntly, I more than do not like you I can no longer tolerate you.
Amazing. It's like he's kicking you out of his house after a 6-month relationship.
Tell us the truth johnny....... did you cry, just a little, when reading that email?
anybody that sits on a box forever, slowly flipping, occasionally pulling a shitty record and taking it out of the sleeve right then, meticulously eyeballing it, while you are standing right behind them obviously waiting to flip. pull whatever shit looks good for ya and step to the fucking side. i'd do it for you.
Jonathan, I suggest the following- you mail me the two records tomorrow and I do the same for you, and we call it a day. It is not healthy for me nor for you for things to go on this way, and this time you really have pushed me over the limit and gone too far. I will put it bluntly, I more than do not like you I can no longer tolerate you.
WHAT THE FUCK???
there has to be more to it...a dark night, a few drinks too many, shame & regret at dawn...
The "serious" collectros into Elvis...as one could guess, being a store in Memphis, we get a lot of those mouthbreathers in here...thye are especially bad when they are trying to sell/trade. for some reason they still think their shit is worth a bazillion dollars. They get all huffy when we A. dont want to buy their goddamn Elvis records B. Flip the fuck out when we tell them we only pay a dollar or so for them Us: "Ill give you a dollar in trade credit for it" Elvis Collectro "This record is worth "$1500"!!!!! Us: "Well, we sell it for five bucks, we have about thirty copies in the back priced at $5, why dont you buy them all from us, if it is worth that much, you could resell them and make a lot of money" Elvis Collectro "Uhh"
Also, the typical Beatles/Stones jackasses still caught up in the Sticky-Fingers-with-the-zipper world of record collecting. Pull out $5 Stones records and scrutinize EVERY groove and hold up tot he light and tilt it at a hundred different angles and then complain about the record to us..."Its 5 fucking dollars asshole! And for one, you havent bought it, it is still OURS, so I dont give a fuck about what you have to say about the record!"
There was dude in here the other day who thumbed his nose up at us after purusing our David Bowie, Beatles, Stones bins and asked, "uhh, are there any SERIOUS vinyl stores in town?" Oh, this Earl Peterson SUN 78 isnt serious enough for you? This Meteor 45 "Dumb woman Blues" isnt serious enough for you? These still sealed Blue Notes arent serious enough for you? fuck off and get the fuck outta this store, asshole. I swear I want to make up a record store to tell these people about...I will put said store in the one of the most dangerous parts of Memphis and send them there. "...take a left on Lauderdale and take it all the way to it ends, then hang a right and park..the store doesnt have any parking...then walk a block or two......"
Little High School know it alls are annoying also...uhh, do you have any "Specials" records? Not at the moment, but I have an 45 of the original "Message to you Rudy", and some Skatalites 45s... let me play 'em for you..."
"Ugggh, this sucks, they arent as good as The Specials"
The best customers? Japanese dudes who buy $1500 worth of records in about 7 minutes. No muss, no fuss...they come in flip through the bins with efficiency and walk to the counter with a stack. No chit chat, they know what they want, buy it and leave...
dont get me wrong, I love working in a record store and for every shithead customer there are 2 dozen cool ones..so its all good.
Little High School know it alls are annoying also...
with a high school across the street these come in waves of uniformed opinions for days
CUSTOMERS WHO CAN'T FLIP THE BINS BACK WHEN THEY ARE DONE LOOKIN AT THEM. even as a customer, i was never down with people who look like records and cd's like they were the fucking tazmanian devil.
or the people who come to sell us records and have no idea what they are worth and want us to tell them they have a million dollars worth of billy joel and hall and oates from the 80's.
I cannot stand these guys who pull anything remotely interesting without even looking, and then hand the pile back to the dealer and say "hold on to these for a sec" while they run to the next table. Then they come back an hour or two later, discard 75% of the pile, and buy five records. Super lame.
This is Friday, 10 to Noon at ARC.
With me steady wondering what I'm missing out on by shopping like a goddamn regular human being.
I cannot stand these guys who pull anything remotely interesting without even looking, and then hand the pile back to the dealer and say "hold on to these for a sec" while they run to the next table. Then they come back an hour or two later, discard 75% of the pile, and buy five records. Super lame.
This is Friday, 10 to Noon at ARC.
With me steady wondering what I'm missing out on by shopping like a goddamn regular human being.
flash forward to afternoon sunday at arc, chasing down said customer who's stack of 25 singles has been held since friday at 10:30 am an hour later after headphone portable action, puts back 23 & buys 2 gee i'm sure i'll sell the rejects in the last 3 hours of the show NOT !
Comments
Ah, it's OK. Yeah I lurv the kids. I just get mad when the parent is clearly more excited by the records than their own children...
"Bob Ellis is the Count" AKA Krusty the Count does this
his glued on notebook paper cover sez
"Personal Want List"
and we are all fooled by it
(although he only wants the ones priced 50 pounds +)
(from my experience)
haha. I don't think I will mind if they want money to buy either music or movies. Unless they buy crappy cd's or movies ofcourse. It is my fatherly duty to school them on these matters.
Ahhh...Bob Ellis is The Count?? (revelation related)
"Vinyl only sir."
"No, No, you gotta see this!"
1- out of print cd dude - comes in once a week and checks bar codes against a list, calls every ten days (or gets his wife, sister, son, cousin) "you got the traveling wilburies on ....CD???"
2 - list man - dude came in once a week and methodically listed EVERY record i nthe entire store he wanted so "knew what he wanted to buy later"
3- trade abuser - we had a weird creepy dude who was kinda sorry sac friends with the owner.. he came in every tues and thursday.. shot the shit and would usually buy 3 cds.. next week he would exchange at least 2.
4 - dudes who never buy nothin - why the fuck you come in EVERY week???
5 - dudes you meet at random parites who are all up in your grill about their record collection and youve never see nthem in the shop ONCE (small town and you work in the only decent store there!)
6 - euro metal collectors - dudes get agro that you dont have a metal section and then brag about reslelling Helloween records in greece for "big big dollas"
7 - midlife crisis dad - guy came in with his 2 kids and would try and shoot the shit with you to look "hip" in front of the kids.. would just BS and drink our free coffee .. never bought shit.
8 - Trustafarians - guys only want dave mathews bootlegs and they want to pay for EVERYTHING with burned Phish cdrs...
Never. I will make you suffer for your measly 800 pennies profit.
SONIC
This comment is clearly spoken by someone who has no kids.
Just saying.
Personally, I always liked how certain stores kept stock behind the desk that they'd offer to specific buyers "when the time called for it" but didn't have to reveal them to just anyone asking. That way, if you have some shady dudes trying to cop stuff off you, just to flip, you can keep better items (say a Dorothy Ashby LP) behind the desk and wait until someone you genuinely like comes in who might want it. Very "High Fidelity",
I hate the "call every few days" GUY. I have a couple of them. I think they are severely unbalanced.
1. Guy who calls for Calypso. As if I just buy Calypso records every damn day!
2. Guy who calls for impossibly rare record. For a while he was calling about a record that hasn't ever been offered for public sale... and when I finally broke down and told him that I had no idea if I ever would find it he said "well I thought you specialized in rare records." ASSHOLE
3. Guy who calls for psych records. Every few days, "do you have anything in I might be into?" Guys around town know him. I believe he constructs imaginary relationships with the dealers because, a few days ago, after ignoring his call one too many times, I got this email:
Amazing. It's like he's kicking you out of his house after a 6-month relationship.
Tell us the truth johnny....... did you cry, just a little, when reading that email?
WHAT THE FUCK???
there has to be more to it...a dark night, a few drinks too many, shame & regret at dawn...
---
Plaese do....especially the part that has his friggin name!!!
Here's another choice morsel:
---
Us: "Ill give you a dollar in trade credit for it"
Elvis Collectro "This record is worth "$1500"!!!!!
Us: "Well, we sell it for five bucks, we have about thirty copies in the back priced at $5, why dont you buy them all from us, if it is worth that much, you could resell them and make a lot of money"
Elvis Collectro "Uhh"
Also, the typical Beatles/Stones jackasses still caught up in the Sticky-Fingers-with-the-zipper world of record collecting. Pull out $5 Stones records and scrutinize EVERY groove and hold up tot he light and tilt it at a hundred different angles and then complain about the record to us..."Its 5 fucking dollars asshole! And for one, you havent bought it, it is still OURS, so I dont give a fuck about what you have to say about the record!"
There was dude in here the other day who thumbed his nose up at us after purusing our David Bowie, Beatles, Stones bins and asked, "uhh, are there any SERIOUS vinyl stores in town?" Oh, this Earl Peterson SUN 78 isnt serious enough for you? This Meteor 45 "Dumb woman Blues" isnt serious enough for you? These still sealed Blue Notes arent serious enough for you? fuck off and get the fuck outta this store, asshole. I swear I want to make up a record store to tell these people about...I will put said store in the one of the most dangerous parts of Memphis and send them there. "...take a left on Lauderdale and take it all the way to it ends, then hang a right and park..the store doesnt have any parking...then walk a block or two......"
Little High School know it alls are annoying also...uhh, do you have any "Specials" records? Not at the moment, but I have an 45 of the original "Message to you Rudy", and some Skatalites 45s... let me play 'em for you..."
"Ugggh, this sucks, they arent as good as The Specials"
The best customers? Japanese dudes who buy $1500 worth of records in about 7 minutes. No muss, no fuss...they come in flip through the bins with efficiency and walk to the counter with a stack. No chit chat, they know what they want, buy it and leave...
dont get me wrong, I love working in a record store and for every shithead customer there are 2 dozen cool ones..so its all good.
The guy hated kids and wouldn't let them in his store.
Dude was "Born Again" and had his little Jesus Loves You business cards sitting on the front counter right next to a stack of Gay Porno Videos.
When I asked him about it he said he had to keep the porno videos out in the open so he could justify not letting kids in the store!!
with a high school across the street these come in waves of uniformed opinions for days
CUSTOMERS WHO CAN'T FLIP THE BINS BACK WHEN THEY ARE DONE LOOKIN AT THEM. even as a customer, i was never down with people who look like records and cd's like they were the fucking tazmanian devil.
or the people who come to sell us records and have no idea what they are worth and want us to tell them they have a million dollars worth of billy joel and hall and oates from the 80's.
guilty...or at least a i feel guilty when i'm buying FutureSexLoveSounds or minting up a WHAM lp
This is Friday, 10 to Noon at ARC.
With me steady wondering what I'm missing out on by shopping like a goddamn regular human being.
flash forward to afternoon sunday at arc,
chasing down said customer who's stack of 25 singles has been held since friday at 10:30 am
an hour later after headphone portable action, puts back 23 & buys 2
gee
i'm sure i'll sell the rejects in the last 3 hours of the show
NOT !
you should print it out and tape it to the window, on the door and, on the counter.