Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)

I remember working for a company that had a pie chart in 4 quadrants

Customers High Maintenance/High Spender
Customers High Maintenance/Low Spender
Customers Low Maintenance/High Spender
Customers Low Maintenance/Low Spender

We were told to do our best to eliminate the Customers that were High Maintenance/Low Spenders and focus on the higher spenders I feel VMP trying a similar approach. For the record that company ended up going out of business.
 
MikeH said:
Here's the thing though...all those labels you mention are WAY higher in quality, CS, QC...they exceed VMP in nearly every category of business. They are almost always AAA from master tapes, they are mostly up front about sourcing, process. They know where their records are pressed. They, for the most part, have great packaging, high quality art work, etc. You're comparing apples to oranges, not to mention that now VMP is charging MORE than AP for a single LP for something of inferior quality. I think I can count on one hand the number of VMP releases that have rivaled the sound quality of AP/MoFi from VMP and I was a member for 4 years. There's absolutely no justification for charging $40 for a single LP pressed at GZ.

On top of all of that, if I want an AP, MoFi, etc, I can choose the title I want and feel comfortable spending $40 on. I'm not forced into buying Patrice Rushen for $40+. I know there are swaps, swaps for credit, etc now but A) there's nothing stopping them from just cancelling the swaps for credit option and B) then I also have to have faith that they will release other albums I want but those too will be overpriced.

It seems they want the audiophile money without doing any of the actual steps to get there. Also, their marketing is CRAZY to me. Most "audiophiles" see VMP as an overpriced gimmick because of how they are marketed. When I tell people that Kevin Gray has done work with VMP and that the classics track was mostly AAA, pressed at good plants and actually sounded good, they were really confused by it.
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I don’t disagree with most of what youre saying but I do think it’s subjective whether it’s worth it. Do all of the titles match the Quality and Curation of those other labels? Of course not. But you’ll find stinkers in those audiophile labels as well.

The big difference is the subscription aspect which locks you in as opposed to picking and choosing. But people want audiophile and out of print titles as well as prices to be affordable, its hard to do both consistently on a monthly basis.

But to each their own, its just records. I used to get outraged and stressed every month because of their BS shipping but Ive let it go, and enjoyed it alot more while realizing the delays dont bother me as long as I end up getting all Ive ordered (which luckily I have for awhile now).
And Im staying on board. For at least Classics (and the potential Vinyl Me Pardner). The extra cash is still worth it to me for how much I enjoy that track

If it’s not worth it to you, I get it. Unsub and tell VMP to fuck off and exactly why they are losing you and leave it at that. Some people are taking this a bit too personally and that stress is not worth it for a hobby
 
Rahawk2 said:
I mean they offered a 299 plan for the year which is less then I pay now a month. But yeah it's weird I guess but I'd rather know the prices before hand so I can budget accordingly. I would be annoyed if they went up a few dollars every month
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that’s not really properly incremental either though. Incrementally is keeping an eye on your costs and having sensible price reviews every 6-12 month. It’s not have one off 50% jumps to cover your inability to get your fucking logistics sorted out. This is paying for the QC errors, poor packaging practices and the gross wastage causes by forgetting how to bundle shipments. This is not a rise based on the product itself because it quite simply isn’t worth close to that money.
 
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Joe Mac said:
Wanting to? The might actually show that by releasing that quality of record, even just once. The AAA classics are a big step up for them but still they aren’t close to being at the level of the $40 1LP mofi and so to ask $52 for them is insane
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Its $40 for me if I stay on a 3 month and honestly Ill probably go to a 1 year with $33 for 1 add on. Thats worth it for me at the quality its at.
If you think thats absurd that’s fine. Its my money.
 
Rahawk2 said:
I think I prefer that they just ripped the band-aid off instead of going up few bucks every few month. Hopefully this is as high as they go for a few years.
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The way they went about it is the worst and most unprofessional thing I have seen in some time from a company like them. They are crazy to do it at this time when there have been so many issues plaguing the company. They have used the "we're just a small company trying to figure it all out" excuse for 7+ years now. You can't start charging $40+ for a single LP pressed at GZ, not respond to customers for weeks, allow flippers to get your product and sell hundreds of copies of it, have a non-functioning website, press dollar-bin items and expect people to trust you when you say we'll use the 40% price increase to keep the quality up.
 
wynn72 said:
Its $40 for me if I stay on a 3 month and honestly Ill probably go to a 1 year with $33 for 1 add on. Thats worth it for me at the quality its at.
If you think thats absurd that’s fine. Its my money.
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It is your money and it’s your call. You only have to justify it to yourself. It doesn’t justify it to others or make it comparatively worth that. $33 without shipping would be fair with less of a commitment for me, as an international I used to pay $36 a month on the 3 month plan. Given the quality of their curation the $33 would personally really bite on the weak months. $52 for one month and $49.66 for 3 for me would be unsustainable even if I loved everything about them, especially as the $10 rise in add ons has taken the goodness out of the shipping benefit.
 
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wynn72 said:
Its $40 for me if I stay on a 3 month and honestly Ill probably go to a 1 year with $33 for 1 add on. Thats worth it for me at the quality its at.
If you think thats absurd that’s fine. Its my money.
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Is everyone not getting this offer?

As a loyal member, you will receive special one-time discount if you upgrade to a multi-month term. Once your plan renews, you will receive an email confirming your discounted price.
  • 33 month term: New member price $119, your renewal price $89.25
  • 66 month term: New member price $219, your renewal price $164.25
  • 1212 month term: New member price $399, your renewal price $299.25
This is a limited-time offer and subject to change for future renewals. 1 Month term will renew at $43 (no special offer).
 
Rahawk2 said:
Is everyone not getting this offer?

As a loyal member, you will receive special one-time discount if you upgrade to a multi-month term. Once your plan renews, you will receive an email confirming your discounted price.
  • 33 month term: New member price $119, your renewal price $89.25
  • 66 month term: New member price $219, your renewal price $164.25
  • 1212 month term: New member price $399, your renewal price $299.25
This is a limited-time offer and subject to change for future renewals. 1 Month term will renew at $43 (no special offer).
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They’re giving you 1001 years for $299.25? That might just about be worth it!
 
MikeH said:
The way they went about it is the worst and most unprofessional thing I have seen in some time from a company like them. They are crazy to do it at this time when there have been so many issues plaguing the company. They have used the "we're just a small company trying to figure it all out" excuse for 7+ years now. You can't start charging $40+ for a single LP pressed at GZ, not respond to customers for weeks, allow flippers to get your product and sell hundreds of copies of it, have a non-functioning website, press dollar-bin items and expect people to trust you when you say we'll use the 40% price increase to keep the quality up.
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Rahawk2 said:
Is everyone not getting this offer?

As a loyal member, you will receive special one-time discount if you upgrade to a multi-month term. Once your plan renews, you will receive an email confirming your discounted price.
  • 33 month term: New member price $119, your renewal price $89.25
  • 66 month term: New member price $219, your renewal price $164.25
  • 1212 month term: New member price $399, your renewal price $299.25
This is a limited-time offer and subject to change for future renewals. 1 Month term will renew at $43 (no special offer).
Click to expand...

They are apparently but it only goes out before renewal, so Im up for renewal 9/30 and should see it next month. $300 for 12 months is a pretty good deal for me.
 
Joe Mac said:
It is your money and it’s your call. You only have to justify it to yourself. It doesn’t justify it to others or make it comparatively worth that. $33 without shipping would be fair with less of a commitment for me, given the quality of their curation it’d really bite on the weak months. $52 for one month and $49.66 for 3 for me would be unsustainable even if I loved everything about them, especially as the $10 rise in add ons had taken the goodness out of the shipping benefit.
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It's exactly that. For internationals in order to make it worthwhile there needs to be a commitment and anything under 12 months seems to fall into the land of shady economic benefit and anything over 3 months hits massive risk reward on VMPs sustainibility. I mean. If they didn't seem so shakey at the minute 2 subs on a yearly for the main would be £48 a month. That's, like, €53/54 euros a month. Its not bad. Its just the bloody risk!

Plus at this point it's rare I actually want both the classic and essentials
 
Joe Mac said:
It is your money and it’s your call. You only have to justify it to yourself. It doesn’t justify it to others or make it comparatively worth that. $33 without shipping would be fair with less of a commitment for me, as an international I used to pay $36 a month on the 3 month plan. Given the quality of their curation the $33 would personally really bite on the weak months. $52 for one month and $49.66 for 3 for me would be unsustainable even if I loved everything about them, especially as the $10 rise in add ons has taken the goodness out of the shipping benefit.
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Yeah makes sense, if I was in your position I probably wouldnt either, especially if records are available and cheaper for you elsewhere. I know it varies wildly for international members.
 
wynn72 said:
Yeah makes sense, if I was in your position I probably wouldnt either, especially if records are available and cheaper for you elsewhere. I know it varies wildly for international members.
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It’s not even cheaper I’ve been interested in 5 records they’ve done out of 27. I already owned good copied 2, got another Irish member to bag me the third and let Otis go. Spiritualized is the one that really burns, I love that record and would like a good copy but at that price they can go and whistle.
 
The problem is that I have to give them a year's worth of commitment to get a reasonable price. I just cannot do that with how crappy the Classics curation has been, swaps have been a wasteland, and they haven't told me in advance what records I'm getting. If I am going to gamble $300, I'd rather do it at the blackjack table next time I am in Vegas.
 
The 299 for 12 months is pretty good at face value. But a lot of people do add-ons so that could run you an extra 10-20/month (120-240/yr) so there go your savings. As well, the idea of being in the pocket of a record subscription service for a year is unsettling. I was always month-to-month. Only reason they ever got me to a 3-month was cause of that 3 for 2 deal. Besides not liking a long contract, who knows if they'll make it that year and if they do go out of business then good luck getting blood from a turnip - you'll never see a refund.
 
The number of folk in here saying "the year is a good deal, I might go for it" baffles and concerns me. Of course it's an individual's prerogative, but look where this company is now compared to last year. Do you really want to financially commit to them for another year? More importantly, do you trust/believe in them to be here let alone offering a good value product this time next year?
 
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