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Too Many Record Stores

TheKindCromangTheKindCromang 1,463 Posts
edited September 2011 in Strut Central
Is there such a thing? A grip of new boutique shops have been opening up right and left around here. My competitve hoarder side thinks this will dry up all the resources, but my utopian libertarian side thinks an over-saturated market will just drive the prices down. The more the merrier, right?
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  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    honestly, most (but not all) of the new record stores that have opened around me are so lame I don't even bother going to them at all. the classic, established reliable dudes that remain from the old guard are still getting my love ... and money. I get excited when new ones open up but more often than not they turn out to be weak stock priced too high with appeal to only the most casual/uninformed collector.
  • CinisterCeeCinisterCee 863 Posts
    New record stores: I expect reissues of everything, unless they started buying collections.
  • TheKindCromangTheKindCromang 1,463 Posts
    CinisterCee said:
    New record stores: I expect reissues of everything, unless they started buying collections.

    One of the new ones got press because dude basically opened the store with his personal collection as stock. Another one looks like it could be a personal collection bcuz there are entire runs of various artists. Condition is top-notch but I think homeboy hired Popsike to come in and price everything. Another one I know for a fact is all Swap Meet stuff with the price jacked up. Spotty condition and real hit or miss. But even amongst the over-priced titles there were some cracks in the pavement and some real finds to be had.
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    TheKindCromang said:
    One of the new ones got press because dude basically opened the store with his personal collection as stock.

    Classic mistake, unless your personal collection is like 50,000 records or more.

    Basically, your store will look great for a week, then it will suck, and then it will fail - and you won't even have your collection anymore.

    I don't know about stores, but NYC certainly has too many record fairs right now.
  • overflooverflo 59 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    TheKindCromang said:
    One of the new ones got press because dude basically opened the store with his personal collection as stock.

    Classic mistake, unless your personal collection is like 50,000 records or more.

    Basically, your store will look great for a week, then it will suck, and then it will fail - and you won't even have your collection anymore.


    Yes!! So true.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    i'm afraid thats the case with a new spot in philly. i was asking him how he was going to keep getting records in and he maintained that his garage was still 2 thirds full from his years of stockpiling. i hope it works out for him, but theres dudes in this town who are very much on the grind turning up new shit. hopefully he thought it through
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I opened with my personal collection 20 years ago.

    Either people will figure out how to make it work, which is good, or they wont, too bad.

    We have a some new stores here that are tiny. I hope they figure it out.

    I am pretty sure there are more vinyl record shops per capita in Portland than any other US city. It does keep prices low, which is a good thing. Low prices mean people can afford to buy records. Which means there are people buying records.

    Record shows are another story. You can easily have too many record shows in a market.
  • BruceGeetzBruceGeetz 97 Posts
    tripledouble said:
    i'm afraid thats the case with a new spot in philly. i was asking him how he was going to keep getting records in and he maintained that his garage was still 2 thirds full from his years of stockpiling. i hope it works out for him, but theres dudes in this town who are very much on the grind turning up new shit. hopefully he thought it through

    what's this new Philly spot?
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    There's a store in Austin, that even many heads shout out as a great spot, but I simply can't withstand as it is so entirely filled to the brim with reissues mixed indiscriminantly in with their few overpriced og's. I do like their vhs collection though, I will give them that.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    BruceGeetz said:
    tripledouble said:
    i'm afraid thats the case with a new spot in philly. i was asking him how he was going to keep getting records in and he maintained that his garage was still 2 thirds full from his years of stockpiling. i hope it works out for him, but theres dudes in this town who are very much on the grind turning up new shit. hopefully he thought it through

    what's this new Philly spot?

    where tequila sunrise used to be. there is a nice variety of old records now...especially rock
  • cookbookcookbook 783 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    I simply can't withstand as it is so entirely filled to the brim with reissues mixed indiscriminantly in with their few overpriced og's.

    we have a spot here like that, quite annoying
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    TheKindCromang said:
    Is there such a thing? A grip of new boutique shops have been opening up right and left around here. My competitve hoarder side thinks this will dry up all the resources, but my utopian libertarian side thinks an over-saturated market will just drive the prices down. The more the merrier, right?

    your in LA right? what spots are you talking about?
  • TheKindCromangTheKindCromang 1,463 Posts
    Guzzo said:
    TheKindCromang said:
    Is there such a thing? A grip of new boutique shops have been opening up right and left around here. My competitve hoarder side thinks this will dry up all the resources, but my utopian libertarian side thinks an over-saturated market will just drive the prices down. The more the merrier, right?

    your in LA right? what spots are you talking about?

    I'm actually combining LA and OC.

    I support anyone's endeavors to own a record store, (it's been a dream of mine) and I do believe the more there are the better. I'm just noticing the rate at which these are popping up has multiplied exponentially.
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    It's really not that many more than there used to be down there. It was a pretty dismal 10 year stretch from about 2000 on when it seemed like 2 outa 3 shops closed. At least there's some places to look now, even if most of them are pretty savvy.
  • TheKindCromangTheKindCromang 1,463 Posts
    hcrink said:
    It's really not that many more than there used to be down there. It was a pretty dismal 10 year stretch from about 2000 on when it seemed like 2 outa 3 shops closed. At least there's some places to look now, even if most of them are pretty savvy.

    Amoeba recovery?
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    I think a lot of them were suffering anyhow, even pre-Amoeba/eBay. I guess it's unfortunate that what makes a shop appealing to DIGGER TYPES is probably exactly what put a lot of these places out of business. But in the past that was always a record store rich area.
  • TheKindCromangTheKindCromang 1,463 Posts
    hcrink said:
    DIGGER TYPES


    also, just sayin' - I'm not solely looking to grip and flip. The beauty of a record store vs. eBay is you can check the condition right then and there, plus you don't have to pay for shipping. I'm stoked to find good records at the going rate. It's just the overpriced shit that brings me down.

    Always plaesed to support a local record store
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Ebay is completely mental and if you truly expect store owners to hew exactly to last week's completed auctions while their wielding their price gun, you can expect most of them to go out of business in short order. Of course, there's people out there egregiously misinterpreting popsike listings, and you're welcome to punish them by taking your business elsewhere. But dudes who want to nickel and dime on records that are relatively hard to find in the field are strictly amateur hour.
  • overflooverflo 59 Posts
    hcrink said:
    I think a lot of them were suffering anyhow, even pre-Amoeba/eBay. I guess it's unfortunate that what makes a shop appealing to DIGGER TYPES is probably exactly what put a lot of these places out of business. But in the past that was always a record store rich area.

    What are you saying is putting them out of business?

    I think poor management, poor marketing, decreases in sales, & all around a music industry that can never be what it once was kills record stores. Diggers keep record stores in business. Sure we come up, but most stores have priced their inventory for profit. So even if you paid $5 & sold for $500, they still made a profit. Also, it's easy to sell a $5 record in a record store. It's hard to sell a $5 record online due to over-saturation. For flipping the greatest factor is how easy it is to sell.
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    The craziest thing I've seen is within the past year or so, Half Priced Books has gone on an overpricing bonanza. $30 for Bob Marley Legend and such...yikes!
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    overflo said:
    Diggers keep record stores in business. Sure we come up, but most stores have priced their inventory for profit. So even if you paid $5 & sold for $500, they still made a profit.

    this is, unfortunately, bullshit
  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    New shop here in Brooklyn:
    Co-Op 87 Records & Tapes
    http://www.yelp.com/biz/co-op-87-brooklyn

    This place is GREAT!
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Jonny_Paycheck said:
    overflo said:
    Diggers keep record stores in business. Sure we come up, but most stores have priced their inventory for profit. So even if you paid $5 & sold for $500, they still made a profit.

    this is, unfortunately, bullshit

    Word, I can't think of any store owner I know who would cosign on such a belief. If only though!
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Guzzo said:
    TheKindCromang said:
    Is there such a thing? A grip of new boutique shops have been opening up right and left around here. My competitve hoarder side thinks this will dry up all the resources, but my utopian libertarian side thinks an over-saturated market will just drive the prices down. The more the merrier, right?

    your in LA right? what spots are you talking about?

    I know one of the stores he's talking about. Atwater Village...Jack Knife Records. If he's still in business in 3-4 months, I'll be amazed
  • TheKindCromangTheKindCromang 1,463 Posts
    mannybolone said:
    Guzzo said:
    TheKindCromang said:
    Is there such a thing? A grip of new boutique shops have been opening up right and left around here. My competitve hoarder side thinks this will dry up all the resources, but my utopian libertarian side thinks an over-saturated market will just drive the prices down. The more the merrier, right?

    your in LA right? what spots are you talking about?

    I know one of the stores he's talking about. Atwater Village...Jack Knife Records. If he's still in business in 3-4 months, I'll be amazed

    Damn! You're good! What gave it away?
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    If I don't know that a record is worth $500 and I price it for $5, I do not get mad at someone for flipping and gripping.

    Mis-pricing happens all the time. I don't have time to worry about it.

    Most the times when people think they got over it is because they don't know how to grade, or price.
    I might well put $5.00 on a P copy of a $500 record.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    TheKindCromang said:
    mannybolone said:
    Guzzo said:
    TheKindCromang said:
    Is there such a thing? A grip of new boutique shops have been opening up right and left around here. My competitve hoarder side thinks this will dry up all the resources, but my utopian libertarian side thinks an over-saturated market will just drive the prices down. The more the merrier, right?

    your in LA right? what spots are you talking about?

    I know one of the stores he's talking about. Atwater Village...Jack Knife Records. If he's still in business in 3-4 months, I'll be amazed

    Damn! You're good! What gave it away?

    Your description of "clearly a well-kept collection but uses popsike for pricing." I've been to a few of the other stores around town that have opened up and Jack Knife is the only one that fits that description. Great condition, decent titles, but the pricing is ridiculous. The guy who runs the store is a nice guy but he's not playing the game right.

    Unless he got in new stock, it's not remotely worth anyone's time to go there. Unless you like really overpriced classic rock and the occasional quadraphonic jazz LP.
  • overflooverflo 59 Posts
    Jonny_Paycheck said:
    overflo said:
    Diggers keep record stores in business. Sure we come up, but most stores have priced their inventory for profit. So even if you paid $5 & sold for $500, they still made a profit.

    this is, unfortunately, bullshit


    Well, it's an exaggeration & not ideal for a record store, but profit is profit. So call it BS, but if they paid $1 for a record, couldn't figure out what it was, & put it out for $5 they quadrupled their money. And, in most industry that's outstanding profit margin.

    Besides, they rip people off all the time! If you see a record hanging in a store for $500 they probably paid $5, maybe less.

    Record stores need regular customers, which are diggers.

    Also, Laserwolf brings up a good point. A lot of people think they just bought a $50 record in the dollar bin, which would undoubtedly be a grade of G & was correctly priced. Not to mention, they probably received the dollar record for free.

    To put my point into better light I will say, a record is only worth what someone will pay. A record store may not have clientele that buys latin records & therefore, have a good selection for hella cheap. So, 1 man's $5 record is another man's $20 score.
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    overflo said:
    if they paid $1 for a record, couldn't figure out what it was, & put it out for $5 they quadrupled their money.

    umm 5 ?? 1 = 4?


    Besides, they rip people off all the time! If you see a record hanging in a store for $500 they probably paid $5, maybe less.

    please stop
  • overflooverflo 59 Posts
    SoulOnIce said:
    overflo said:
    if they paid $1 for a record, couldn't figure out what it was, & put it out for $5 they quadrupled their money.

    umm 5 ?? 1 = 4?


    Besides, they rip people off all the time! If you see a record hanging in a store for $500 they probably paid $5, maybe less.

    please stop


    Um, $5 minus $1 (they paid for item)=$4 profit. You need more math help?

    Please stop what?????
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