I know the one thing this conversation needs is yet another person’s take, so here goes, haha:
1. When VMP announced the represses of the Archie Shepp and Alice Coltrane classics releases, I (and probably some others) asked Storf in the old forum specifically about whether JLH would EVER get repressed, and he repeatedly said no, and that we should have bought it when it was available. I asked this since JLH was from that same timeframe for the Classics track and had been sold out for a while - it would have made sense for them to repress JLH then, too, if they were ever going to do it.
2. Given that response, the only option for me to pick up the album WAS the secondary market. It’s not like I decided on my own, “oh wow, flippers are fun, I’m so excited to pay a bunch of money for this record to some random person on the internet!” But I don’t regret it, either. I just wanted to own a copy of the record and had no other options. It’s not like I had some kind of moral or mental failing because I wanted to own a record that was no longer available and had no indications that it would be available in the future.
3. If Storf had said something along the lines of, “well maybe eventually - I’m sure it we’ll repress it at some point in the next few years but can’t say when” I probably would have waited and saved my money.
4. I bought JLH off a Discogs seller for more than the amount VMP is currently selling it for (not quite double, but close).
5. Because of what Storf said, VMP won’t be getting one cent of what I paid for JLH, and they don’t deserve to.
6. I don’t think it makes sense to complain about flippers and FOMO culture as something separate and distinct from the entities that actually decide what the pressing quantities will be and have complete control over how their records are marketed to the public and what information they share about the likelihood of a repress (i.e. VMP). Flippers and FOMO culture do not (and cannot) manufacture scarcity - even extreme examples like Vinceron wouldn’t be able to do what they do if VMP didn’t create FOMO for them by hyping releases as limited and exclusive.
7. I don’t think that the person I bought my record from is even really a flipper. The record had been opened and played. Yeah, they charged me a bunch for it, but it was the best available price at the time. I was happy to have the chance to buy the record at all, and if the seller had charged less than that amount, someone else may have scooped it up.
8. I’m very happy for people who now have the chance to own this record, because it’s fantastic and deserves to be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible. I couldn’t care less about whatever the market value is for a record that I have no intention of selling, and I don’t mind that I paid an extra $30 or so to get this record a year ago.
9. I’ve never sold a record, and if I ever do, it will be just to create space in my Kallax and try to find a good home for the record in someone else’s collection (rather than just throwing it away).
10. Honestly, though, if I decided I didn’t want, for example, the De La Soul ROTM in the future, I’d list it on Discogs at or slightly below the lowest price that it was currently listed for in comparable condition, regardless of how much more that would be than what I originally paid for it, because that’s fair to the buyers who are looking for a copy. If someone wants to pay $100 for a record, it seems more fair that they should get more of a chance to get the record for that price than to list it for $27 and have it go to someone else who happened to see the listing first (and who might just as easily turn around and list it for $100 anyway). Ultimately, I don’t think it makes sense to try to impose ethical judgements on people or even businesses for selling things at prices that people are willing to pay if they’re not in a position to make more of that product available, even though it’s annoying and frustrating that there are people out there who are willing to pay more than I am for certain rare albums that I want. I can live with knowing that someone paid $200 or more to get a copy of Cut Copy’s In Ghost Colours on vinyl because that’s more than I want to pay. But I’d be annoyed if someone listed a decent condition copy of it for $30-40 and it sold immediately before I saw the listing because I’m willing to pay $75 for it - not because I think that’s a wonderful price, but because it’s really hard to find a copy for less than $200 right now, because it hasn’t been reissued in 7 years. So, in that environment that the record companies created, I’m willing to pay up to $75 for it and I don’t think anyone should feel guilty selling it to me at that price. It’s not nearly as bad as VMP manufacturing the scarcity, deliberately creating the FOMO, and now also raising their prices so dramatically to try to cash in on it.
. I like to say I collect music!