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

Looking through VMP's Twitter, I'd be surprised if they last much longer to be honest. I know Twitter isn't indicative of their entire subscriber base but pretty much every post has a Vinceron meme in the replies, and that whole mess happening simultaneously as the ridiculous price jumps has really turned people against them. I'm also seeing more and more people pestering them about missing records and their service. Again, I could be wrong as they've somehow managed to stay afloat as, despite their several misfires in the past, people keep coming back to them money in hand. But I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that they've killed off a large percentage of their subscriber base with this recent stunt and I don't know what they could do to bounce back from it. No gaffe before has gotten them this level of criticism in the public view, its usually been confined to this forum or Reddit or the controversy just dies out after a week or so. But I think they may have really done damage this time, because this price jump seemed to have one effect: making people realize that VMP just isn't worth it. They can't deliver the quality necessary to justify $40+ a month and that's their own fault.
 
I'm actually surprised the whole Vinceron thing is... a thing. Like that guys been doing that for... years? Like I've known about him for at least a year, probably more. He usually has stuff that's fairly easy to get, not a lot of hard to get now numbered exclusives from what I recall. He seems to have become more visible since he created his own actual website/webstore, but yeah... I'm kinda surprised.
 
Lord Diaper Baby said:
It's that one-time discount they're offering members to ease the pain of the price hike upon the time of their renewal. Lovingly referred to as the Bridge of No Return discount by CS
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I bit on the one timer for 299 . Boils down to 25 a record which seems like a good deal, will definitely cut down at add ons at 33 though
 
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Mather said:
I'm actually surprised the whole Vinceron thing is... a thing. Like that guys been doing that for... years? Like I've known about him for at least a year, probably more. He usually has stuff that's fairly easy to get, not a lot of hard to get now numbered exclusives from what I recall. He seems to have become more visible since he created his own actual website/webstore, but yeah... I'm kinda surprised.
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If I had to guess, it has to do with how hard VMP pushes the FOMO with numbered exclusives and how more and more people keep getting locked out of an AOTM they want because it is "sold out." When you miss out on a record you want, there's nothing more infuriating than seeing some jackass who clearly has more stock than he should reselling it usually for a higher price. I have no way of knowing if the allegations that Vinceron and VMP are in cahoots are true, but the fact that it wouldn't surprise me and that it's even a question says a lot about the way VMP conducts themselves and how fully they've hedged their business model on stoking peoples' FOMO.
 
Mather said:
I'm actually surprised the whole Vinceron thing is... a thing. Like that guys been doing that for... years? Like I've known about him for at least a year, probably more. He usually has stuff that's fairly easy to get, not a lot of hard to get now numbered exclusives from what I recall. He seems to have become more visible since he created his own actual website/webstore, but yeah... I'm kinda surprised.
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Is Vinceron actually 2 people? Like Vince and Ron?
 
I was grandfathered at 283, I think- ended up being a bit over 300 per year with tax and I was subscribed to both add ons @ 23 plus tax ( 25 something ) - I quit the ad ons as soon as I saw the increase but I am paid up for my yearly through April 2021 so sticking around- also have about 10 lp's on pre order so... I am frustrated that VMP did not email me with the details of a "bridge" offer- I saw it on here. Still don't know wtf it is in relation to my subscription. :-(
 
weezinwa said:
I was grandfathered at 283, I think- ended up being a bit over 300 per year with tax and I was subscribed to both add ons @ 23 plus tax ( 25 something ) - I quit the ad ons as soon as I saw the increase but I am paid up for my yearly through April 2021 so sticking around- also have about 10 lp's on pre order so... I am frustrated that VMP did not email me with the details of a "bridge" offer- I saw it on here. Still don't know wtf it is in relation to my subscription. :-(
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For me it was a one price of 299 because I was on a monthly . I think they send the offer when your current sub is done but who knows with them. I know it’s a gamble but hopefully they have some good stuff on the way,
 
The hard part for most will be when something hot like that 3 feet high album comes back (it will). Instead of just paying $45 for it I think people will find themselves back into a 3 month sub because of some silly 20% coupon that ends up getting them 3 feet high plus two other extremely mediocre picks for between $90-$120. So yeah, that works out to them spending between $23 and $37 per album and they’ll only ever play one of them.
 
weezinwa said:
so still no response regarding my lost record ... BUT... I did get an email from Jason -
Hey there,

Thanks for the feedback, we totally understand. We hope you'll stick around and take advantage of the bridge offer, but we understand if you need to cancel. Over the last several years, we have made significant investments into the quality of our products, including the details of the package, and the quality of the sound. Despite these investments, we have not increased our prices in more than 3 years, making it hard for us to maintain (and continue to invest in the overall experience) without sacrificing quality. We do appreciate your feedback, and I will be sure share your notes with our team. We will continue to invest in the overall experience and hope that you'll join us again sometime soon.

Not sure I know what a Bridge offer even is... AND I just got notice that my Fiona's, Bar Kays, Lord Finesse and Donald Byrd have shipped. Hmmmm. Not BVSC though. And still no mention of my wandering record... OK, OK I will admit, it is Joey Dosik. :) that is missing for a month. what? I watched Vulfpeck's Madison Square Garden and thought Dosik was good. And it was on sale for 11 bucks. LOL
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Ha...i got the same exact email from someone named Kelsey. Looks to be a stock email for those of us leaving.
 
weezinwa said:
Over the last several years, we have made significant investments into the quality of our products, including the details of the package, and the quality of the sound. Despite these investments, we have not increased our prices in more than 3 years, making it hard for us to maintain (and continue to invest in the overall experience) without sacrificing quality. We do appreciate your feedback, and I will be sure share your notes with our team. We will continue to invest in the overall experience and hope that you'll join us again sometime soon.
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What investments into the "details of the package" have they made? What about quality of sound - they still press the bulk of their records at GZ.

When they say "continue" to invest (meaning that they have been continuously) in the overall experience, I have no clue what they're talking about.

Their company talking points - which the CS team was very clearly issued - are completely disconnected from the user experience.
 
Mather said:
I'm actually surprised the whole Vinceron thing is... a thing. Like that guys been doing that for... years? Like I've known about him for at least a year, probably more. He usually has stuff that's fairly easy to get, not a lot of hard to get now numbered exclusives from what I recall. He seems to have become more visible since he created his own actual website/webstore, but yeah... I'm kinda surprised.
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I'd wager it's someone with multiple accounts and then a script to autobuy the hard to get titles.
 
Somewhat non-topical, but I finally got around to A/B-ing my VMP De Stijl with my 2010 TMR De Stijl and the 2010 mastering is significantly better. I've listened to both sides back-to-back alternating between the LPs several times now and the choice is clear; 2010 FTW! It's a bummer in that that the White Stripes have such a strong visual component that colored vinyl really seems to jive with their aesthetic. Not to mention that the VMP is clearly not 180g (maybe 140?), whereas the 2010 TMR is a substantial chunk of wax.

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere on the forum but I only have time to check in to a few threads a day so I haven't seen much. Although, the comments on the VMP pressing on Discogs are largely positive, so who knows?

EDIT: I should add that I never thought the 2010 master was all that amazing to begin with, so the VMP master is a double-bummer!

Anyway, back to watching the ship sink!
 
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Bloodlemons said:
Somewhat non-topical, but I finally got around to A/B-ing my VMP De Stijl with my 2010 TMR De Stijl and the 2010 mastering is significantly better. I've listened to both sides back-to-back alternating between the LPs several times now and the choice is clear; 2010 FTW! It's a bummer in that that the White Stripes have such a strong visual component that colored vinyl really seems to jive with their aesthetic. Not to mention that the VMP is clearly not 180g (maybe 140?), whereas the 2010 TMR is a substantial chunk of wax.

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere on the forum but I only have time to check in to a few threads a day so I haven't seen much. Although, the comments on the VMP pressing on Discogs are largely positive, so who knows?

Anyway, back to watching the ship sink!
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I think this also may be true of BVSC. I’m not going to harp on this pressing because I’ve made my thoughts known but I wonder if we’ll see the same thing where the other BG mastered pressing sounds the same if not better then the “definitive” VMP one.
I didn’t get the VMP one because I didn’t think it would add to my collection, I stand by this decision even though it is a fantastic album
 
CCKrone said:
I think this also may be true of BVSC. I’m not going to harp on this pressing because I’ve made my thoughts known but I wonder if we’ll see the same thing where the other BG mastered pressing sounds the same if not better then the “definitive” VMP one.
I didn’t get the VMP one because I didn’t think it would add to my collection, I stand by this decision even though it is a fantastic album
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Luckily, I don't already own BVSC, so I probably won't be tempted to compare masterings/pressings unless the VMP product is obvious garbage. And it's BG, so I have a little more faith that the new master will be satisfactory.
 
bdm105 said:
I'd wager it's someone with multiple accounts and then a script to autobuy the hard to get titles.
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The guy who has the Vinceron reddit account t said that they have over 100 unique email accounts to sign up for VMP with. I’d wager you’re right about the bots. They likely had bots grabbing swaps to maximize profits on titles. I don’t think they are in cahoots with VMP but VMP has had a ton of time to just say we aren’t in cahoots and this is what we are doing to help combat flipping. They still haven’t said anything beyond “we will take a look into it”. Pauly even said recently on Reddit that he has raised the issue to his superiors multiple times. That’s not really promising from VMP. If they aren’t in cahoots then it’s almost as bad that they continue to ignore it.
 
NewsFedora said:
Has yours even shipped? I’ve been checking on my status several times a day since that one redditor posted a shipping notification almost two weeks ago. The wait is killing me.
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Nope. I haven’t gotten anything shipped from VMP recently. They owe me quite a few things now that say in stock on my orders page but haven’t seen any movement on Skull Session, Fiona or Alfredo.
 
Mather said:
I'm actually surprised the whole Vinceron thing is... a thing. Like that guys been doing that for... years? Like I've known about him for at least a year, probably more. He usually has stuff that's fairly easy to get, not a lot of hard to get now numbered exclusives from what I recall. He seems to have become more visible since he created his own actual website/webstore, but yeah... I'm kinda surprised.
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I’m a bit surprised too...I didn’t think it would catch on that much but the reddit sub has spiked in membership the past 6 months or so. It’s at over 12,000 members now. The subreddit is really active and people were pissed at that post about Vinceron. And I think @gaporter is right—VMP is constantly pushing FOMO and then they only released a small amount of MmFood copies into swaps and charged $40 for the others. Meanwhile Vinceron had sold a ton of copies of it and restocked his discogs page after swaps. So many people are waiting for previous ROTMs to ship and when you see a flipper having tons of copies of sold out things, it gets really frustrating.

I noticed that the reddit crowd has become way more vocal about issues with the company. For every post about someone receiving their record and showing a picture, there are 4 posts about records not being shipped. Their social media team is a wreck too—they told people that some people have received Fiona because they aren’t members and got them shipped out first. Why would you ever say that, even if it’s true?? Especially when you’re raising prices so much to “maintain quality” and improve the member experience. Nothing says you value your members like sending records from a members club to non-members first...

it seemed like a perfect storm for vinceron to be brought back up when all those other issues were occurring and then VMP happened to announce the price rise very soon after before they even really addressed the Vinceron stuff.
 
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