Online Vinyl Deals

MikeH said:
www.deepdiscount.com

Bill Withers Still Bill on DeepDiscount

Still Bill, LP, 180 Gram Vinyl, Limited Edition, Soul/R & B, 821797152518
www.deepdiscount.com www.deepdiscount.com

Still Bill MoFi- $22

Should be an additional 15% off coupon somewhere
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Ashamed to say how much time I wasted looking for something else to hit free shipping. Even compared their eBay prices.
Then to learn shipping is $2. Thank you for the heads up!
 
Plaid Room / Colemine said:
Yeah most of these places just use Alliance for fulfillment. Deep discount, collector's choice, etc. Even 150+ indie stores that use Broadtime partially use Alliance for fulfillment.

It keeps investment low so they can work on smaller margins, no warehousing, less employees, etc. They beat our prices plenty of the time because of these factors. Great for customers because you can nab some crazy deals. Overall I think it's a bummer for the whole industry though. If you're a store not investing in growing your inventory, I don't know, it's weird to me. Also, if you're a local mom and pop shop but you're not handling your own fulfillment, it seems weird to me. Those sales/fulfillment should go to employing people in your local community, not going towards growing some fulfillment center 5 States away. I'm proud that we do as much in house as possible and it has helped us work to having a decent amount of staff that are all local. But I also realize the flip side of that coin is that without some of this 3PL shit - plenty of mom and pop stores wouldn't be around.

How did I get here? Why am I complaining about something nobody was talking about? Oh god - I've become that guy. The old curmudgeon record store owner that complains about any sort of change. But if I'm self-aware does that change it? No - probably not. I'll shut up now.

Thanks all of you for supporting us during this sale - it's been a great one so far!
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Thanks for the info - it's always funny watching the clogs/bottlenecks/gluttons in distribution. I'm more familiar with comic books, where there really only a couple distributors and both are terrible options. Good luck with the sale (that started right after I placed a big order :))!
 
Plaid Room / Colemine said:
Yeah most of these places just use Alliance for fulfillment. Deep discount, collector's choice, etc. Even 150+ indie stores that use Broadtime partially use Alliance for fulfillment.

It keeps investment low so they can work on smaller margins, no warehousing, less employees, etc. They beat our prices plenty of the time because of these factors. Great for customers because you can nab some crazy deals. Overall I think it's a bummer for the whole industry though. If you're a store not investing in growing your inventory, I don't know, it's weird to me. Also, if you're a local mom and pop shop but you're not handling your own fulfillment, it seems weird to me. Those sales/fulfillment should go to employing people in your local community, not going towards growing some fulfillment center 5 States away. I'm proud that we do as much in house as possible and it has helped us work to having a decent amount of staff that are all local. But I also realize the flip side of that coin is that without some of this 3PL shit - plenty of mom and pop stores wouldn't be around.

How did I get here? Why am I complaining about something nobody was talking about? Oh god - I've become that guy. The old curmudgeon record store owner that complains about any sort of change. But if I'm self-aware does that change it? No - probably not. I'll shut up now.

Thanks all of you for supporting us during this sale - it's been a great one so far!
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hopefully your margins aren't so tight that you're feeling insecure, what with being one of the most fairly priced independents in the country who offers free shipping at a reasonable order minimum. those are just a couple reasons why everyone loves plaid room!
 
GentleSenator said:
hopefully your margins aren't so tight that you're feeling insecure, what with being one of the most fairly priced independents in the country who offers free shipping at a reasonable order minimum. those are just a couple reasons why everyone loves plaid room!
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Thank you! No - not insecure anymore - although sometimes I do wonder how much easier my life would be if I had to manage less people and all of our fulfillment was done 3PL. It's all good though I wouldn't trade it for anything - I have a great staff and love them all. I probably did feel a bit insecure in 2021.

I feel like after 10 years of running this place we're finally getting into a groove. For years our inventory was growing at such a rapid rate it was a bit out of hand and profits were swallowed up by inventory growth (especially post pandemic). When we did our first big sale I finally started to see the light a bit about how and why big companies blow stock out sometimes. Our inventory was growing by like $200-300k for a couple years and that's just plain not sustainable (at our level). A big ol' sale like this - we lose on plenty of stuff but then we don't restock it or we restock ONE copy instead of 100. And of course the other side of it is that customers get some awesome deals and our name spreads a bit.

I'm just rambling and putting off work.
 
ShawnST said:
Thanks for the info - it's always funny watching the clogs/bottlenecks/gluttons in distribution. I'm more familiar with comic books, where there really only a couple distributors and both are terrible options. Good luck with the sale (that started right after I placed a big order :))!
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Yeah - there's not many distributors here either. The key is getting in with the major labels directly - which is basically impossible for new stores. I spent 3-4 years begging, growing the company, and sending sales data to each major before some of them would even answer my emails.
 
Plaid Room / Colemine said:
Thank you! No - not insecure anymore - although sometimes I do wonder how much easier my life would be if I had to manage less people and all of our fulfillment was done 3PL. It's all good though I wouldn't trade it for anything - I have a great staff and love them all. I probably did feel a bit insecure in 2021.

I feel like after 10 years of running this place we're finally getting into a groove. For years our inventory was growing at such a rapid rate it was a bit out of hand and profits were swallowed up by inventory growth (especially post pandemic). When we did our first big sale I finally started to see the light a bit about how and why big companies blow stock out sometimes. Our inventory was growing by like $200-300k for a couple years and that's just plain not sustainable (at our level). A big ol' sale like this - we lose on plenty of stuff but then we don't restock it or we restock ONE copy instead of 100. And of course the other side of it is that customers get some awesome deals and our name spreads a bit.

I'm just rambling and putting off work.
Click to expand...

Do you foresee ever offering up shipping to Canada, or is that just too much of a resource drain and logistical nightmare?
 
avecigrec said:
Do you foresee ever offering up shipping to Canada, or is that just too much of a resource drain and logistical nightmare?
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Oh we would absolutely love to - but it goes back to the major labels. When you sign on to get product from them you agree to not export products. For a while I thought it was just one of those small print things that nobody really cares about. Hell, I see a lot of stores that do export products (but maybe they're buying from a one-stop and not directly from the majors?).

Way way way back in the day we exported about 600 copies of a certain title. The label distributing definitely noticed and called in that clause in the contract we signed. They were not happy.

At this point - it's not worth the risk. If we lost our accounts with the majors, a lot of jobs would go away and we would have to scale back massively. We probably bring in between 135,000 and 165,000 pieces of new vinyl each year. All of those would cost us at the very least $1 more, but probably $2-5 more in a lot of cases. 135,000 * (a very conservative) $2 = $270,000 in lost profit. That would bring us upside down plenty of years.

TLDR: I wish we could - sorry we can't!
 
Plaid Room / Colemine said:
Oh we would absolutely love to - but it goes back to the major labels. When you sign on to get product from them you agree to not export products. For a while I thought it was just one of those small print things that nobody really cares about. Hell, I see a lot of stores that do export products (but maybe they're buying from a one-stop and not directly from the majors?).

Way way way back in the day we exported about 600 copies of a certain title. The label distributing definitely noticed and called in that clause in the contract we signed. They were not happy.

At this point - it's not worth the risk. If we lost our accounts with the majors, a lot of jobs would go away and we would have to scale back massively. We probably bring in between 135,000 and 165,000 pieces of new vinyl each year. All of those would cost us at the very least $1 more, but probably $2-5 more in a lot of cases. 135,000 * (a very conservative) $2 = $270,000 in lost profit. That would bring us upside down plenty of years.

TLDR: I wish we could - sorry we can't!
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Yeah, that definitely ain't worth the hassle! Thanks for taking the time to break it down so thoroughly.

I've been fortunate in the past to have some great members here play intermediary for some of your sales in the past and may do so again in the future if I don't wind up getting a US address sorted out sooner than later--which will be a high priority for me once I'm working again, so long as I can swing the logistics.
 
MikeH said:
Went 1/2 on Metallica Levi cuts. Black album seems to be the Levi cut. Master of Puppets was sent in this bag and was the CB cut

View attachment 215951

Record seems okay, jacket was bent all over. Target let me keep it and are sending me another one. Hoping the new one is a Levi cut!
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Consistency leaves a lot to be desired, hope the replacement is the Levi cut 🤞
 
Deep Discount blowout bin has some nice stuff going on:

Blowout Bin on DeepDiscount

Shop the Blowout Bin for the deepest discounts on last chance items, limited quantities available at these low prices.
www.deepdiscount.com www.deepdiscount.com

things that caught my eye:

boingo self titled
fall perverted by langugage
ministry animona
a bunch of X
upsetter
jeff beck wired
cibo matto
weather report
santana
tower of power
mindless self indulgence
aretha
 
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yukbon said:
Deep Discount blowout bin has some nice stuff going on:

Blowout Bin on DeepDiscount

Shop the Blowout Bin for the deepest discounts on last chance items, limited quantities available at these low prices.
www.deepdiscount.com www.deepdiscount.com
Click to expand...
I noticed this too after @MikeH posted the Withers MOFI.

In the jazz section, a few things caught my eye, including:

*I know the QC on these Third Man/Blue Note reissues has been questionable, but at $20 they are more attractive.
*Those recent Charles Lloyd albums
*Tony Allen
*Sun Ra, Space is the Place box set for $50

Blowout Bin on DeepDiscount

Shop the Blowout Bin for the deepest discounts on last chance items, limited quantities available at these low prices.
www.deepdiscount.com www.deepdiscount.com
 
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