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

Biscuit said:
I would think the swap for credit is a liability. Look at all of these folks with hundreds in unusable credits (nothing worth buying) sitting around bitching now. If VMP folds, there's going to be legal fights for that credit to be refunded i.e. debt. If VMP is stuck unable to fulfill existing orders due to a lack of cash flow, but they owe people either product or cash back, that's a problem. Credits are money paid up front i.e. loaned to VMP without fulfillment if unused.

If you "close the loop" with each customer transaction- they either buy something by choice, VMP picks something for the customer, or you don't buy anything--then you don't have these piles of credit, it's cleaner if they are forced to close. Also easier to deal with Shopify and accounting-wise, rather than tracking all these credits year over year.

I am surprised they haven't had limits around credit, such as it must be used by end of each year or if they could, they'll refund it.
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I wouldn’t sit on hundreds in credit (which is why I said if you have a year long sub get your money back), but I don’t think one month’s credit is a liability. All depends on your situation IMO. They have had enough stuff for me the past few months to use credit on. I’m in a bit of different situation given mine were referral credits. I also like most of the jazz stuff they put out so can usually find something to pick up over time.

Many of the people complaining about credit are international subscribers who can’t use credit on preorders, can’t use credit to add months to their sub, etc. which is of course a very valid reason to be upset.

Assume as much risk as you feel comfortable with.
 
Biscuit said:
. If VMP folds, there's going to be legal fights for that credit to be refunded i.e. debt. If VMP is stuck unable to fulfill existing orders due to a lack of cash flow, but they owe people either product or cash back, that's a problem. Credits are money paid up front i.e. loaned to VMP without fulfillment if unused.
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Also if VMP folds, customers aren’t gonna get shit back. Members can sue all they want but they are at the very long line list of creditors if they go under. See: bandbox. Banks, investors, pressing plants, labels, artists will all be ahead of customers who lost a few hundred bucks. For bandbox, the artists and pressing plants never got paid. Customers didn’t get a cent back and never will (aside from those who were able to do chargebacks)
 
wmeugene said:
Given the change in terms of the subscription, they pretty much have to offer a refund since this is not what you signed up for or what they promised when you paid them. They give a date so they can say that silence as of that date in February implies consent with the changes. I think it is a no-brainer for everyone to seek a refund at this point.

This has restructuring/bankruptcy written all over it. Just look at the bandbox saga.
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You are 100% correct.

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stpaulbrowns said:
All this VMP doomer discourse has me wonderin' ...

How many of us former VMPers who joined Needles & Grooves after they shuttered the discussion board ever thought N&G would outlive VMP?

What VMP album will get your first spin after they fold?

I'll probably start with Fiona Apple - Tidal (followed by the Blue Note Anthology)
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I just pulled my VMP exclusive of Dan Deacan’s Spiderman Of The Rings off the self yesterday for the first time in an while and it reminded me what VMP could do when things were rolling. Great jacket with lots of sharp details the albums sounds great too. It’s such a a nice package and one they you could pick up as a swaption for under $30. They have always had random issues of varying degrees but when they do an album right they really did fill a nice hole in the industry.
 
stpaulbrowns said:
All this VMP doomer discourse has me wonderin' ...

How many of us former VMPers who joined Needles & Grooves after they shuttered the discussion board ever thought N&G would outlive VMP?

What VMP album will get your first spin after they fold?

I'll probably start with Fiona Apple - Tidal (followed by the Blue Note Anthology)
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I was lurking on the old forum for like 8 months before finally commenting. I’ll play the ROTM for the guess thread where I made my first comment, Moby’s Play. Or I’ll go with Feist which is easily my favorite album that VMP introduced me to
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I just pulled my VMP exclusive of Dan Deacan’s Spiderman Of The Rings off the self yesterday for the first time in an while and it reminded me what VMP could do when things were rolling. Great jacket with lots of sharp details the albums sounds great too. It’s such a a nice package and one they you could pick up as a swaption for under $30. They have always had random issues of varying degrees but when they do an album right they really did fill a nice hole in the industry.
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No doubt, they had some nice wins over their history.

in the end, I think this has been an example of the pitfalls of rapid company growth under a leadership team not experienced enough to handle it. That ultimately falls on their board and investors for allowing that to happen.
 
Biscuit said:
No doubt, they had some nice wins over their history.

in the end, I think this has been an example of the pitfalls of rapid company growth under a leadership team not experienced enough to handle it. That ultimately falls on their board and investors for allowing that to happen.
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Yeah, once they finally go belly up and the vitriol has melted away I think collectors will miss em and several of their releases will be the definitive version in the media.
 
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I make no bones about the fact that I will miss them. For a time they were doing the best presses of a lot of titles for the most reasonable prices, with by far the best jackets, were actually listing the pressing info that at the time NO ONE did, and actually sought out good engineers to do the work and prior to GZ actually got good plants to press a lot of their stuff. I will miss that.
 
Mather said:
I make no bones about the fact that I will miss them. For a time they were doing the best presses of a lot of titles for the most reasonable prices, with by far the best jackets, were actually listing the pressing info that at the time NO ONE did, and actually sought out good engineers to do the work and prior to GZ actually got good plants to press a lot of their stuff. I will miss that.
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i agree with all of this.

in hindsight, a lot of their early work feels like a fever dream in this hobby because they were seemingly doing a lot of things right in an accessible manner that wasn't always there in the audiophile world. my subscription finally lapsed last month and outside of a year after that big price hike during the pandemic, I was mostly a member from Donuts onward. the vibes are just really bad and there's no way the non-monetary costs of dealing with them coupled with the once again increased monetary cost of doing business with them are worth the hassle. i really do hope they pull out of all of this for the better, because I think they really do have some passionate, good people working behind the scenes, but the realist in me knows this feels eerily like a lot of other businesses i've been a fan of that are no longer around.
 
Mather said:
I make no bones about the fact that I will miss them. For a time they were doing the best presses of a lot of titles for the most reasonable prices, with by far the best jackets, were actually listing the pressing info that at the time NO ONE did, and actually sought out good engineers to do the work and prior to GZ actually got good plants to press a lot of their stuff. I will miss that.
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Prior to GZ, I mean Odeley was pressed there! 😜
 
I have some really great pressings from them, I rediscovered some old favorites, I discovered some new and old gems. I also found you good people. VMP was great. That’s what makes their nonsense so frustrating.
 
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