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

NathanRicaud said:
Well I do have a sugar daddy so that helps! 🤫😈

Nah, just joking!!! 😂😂😂

Yes, VMP will never be as good as MoFi in terms of general sound quality (some of their AAA Classics ROTM releases have been as good though in my opinion), but maybe it just costs a lot of money to repress The Idler Wheel...? And then on top, you would want to make sure you receive a high quality pressing of it! GZ can do it, but it’s less likely it will sound spectacular and will instead just sound good/great!

US$40 is close to like AUS$55 and that’s how much RSD release of Robyn’s Body Talk is, and i’d Rather The Idler Wheel much more, especially as three tracks I really like from the original release of Body Talk are missing!

Like, I know it’s expensive, but I’d definitely spend US$50 on The Idler Wheel if I knew I was getting a brand new, very high quality pressing on it! 😇🤷‍♂️
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The problem I have Nathan is that VMP are creating a normalisation of the $40 price tag being a fair level for their product. They haven’t put out any releases that I think are coming close to being worth it. They produce nice packages, not premium product.

You also have to bear in mind that there is no sales tax is the US and we in Europe are only getting away without paying that because they are committing mail fraud. I’m not complaining because it saves me money but it is a fact!

So if you take $40 as a base and run at a fair level against local pricing (so including the VAT) you are looking at UK £37.04 or IRE €44.45. That’s crazy money, you won’t get that paid outside of idiots and the very biggest of legacy artist for a standard 1LP.

Also a quick comparison. The last N&G AoTM, picked by @ThePakoBuelna , the Ruen brothers. It came in a heavyweight tip on jacket, it was beautifully pressed and mastered, an all around great package, easily better than all pre-Al Green classics and the equal of all inc and post. I bought it from America, including postage and correctly declared VAT, it cost me a total of €22.84.

Don’t believe the hype and don’t feed the hype machine.
 
Joe Mac said:
The problem I have Nathan is that VMP are creating a normalisation of the $40 price tag being a fair lever for their product. They haven’t put out any releases that I think are coming close to being worth it. They produce nice packages, not premium product.

You also have to bear in mind that there is no sales tax is the US and we in Europe are only getting away without paying that because they are committing mail fraud. I’m not complaining because it saves me money but it is a fact!

So if you take $40 as a base and run at a fair level against local pricing (so including the VAT) you are looking at UK £37.04 or IRE €44.45. That’s crazy money, you won’t get that paid outside of idiots and the very biggest of legacy artist for a standard 1LP.

Also a quick comparison. The last N&G AoTM, picked by @ThePakoBuelna , the Ruen brothers. It came in a heavyweight tip on jacket, it was beautifully pressed and mastered, an all around great package, easily better than all pre-Al Green classics and the equal of all inc and post. I bought it from America, including postage and correctly declared VAT, it cost me a total of €22.84.

Don’t believe the hype and don’t feed the hype machine.
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I completely agree with you on this one @Joe Mac but I would also say that quite often buying a record from VMP is cheaper that getting it here in the UK for me. This was more obvious when they used to sell standard items in the store, but lets say and exclusive from them is around 27usd (which was the price of the last few I got) well thats around £20. I would struggle to find those exclusives equivalents for that price, especially when you factor in shipping (which ranges from £3.50 - which is the actual price for 2nd class through Royal Mail btw, to £8!!). Im obviously paying for the shipping within the international subs, but as long as im still finding value in their ROTM's then every add on exclusive I buy (at the price point I have currently been paying) is pretty reasonable even factoring that in.

Saying that, 40usd is around £30 I believe, it would have to be something special to warrant that from me.
 
Selaws said:
I completely agree with you on this one @Joe Mac but I would also say that quite often buying a record from VMP is cheaper that getting it here in the UK for me. This was more obvious when they used to sell standard items in the store, but lets say and exclusive from them is around 27usd (which was the price of the last few I got) well thats around £20. I would struggle to find those exclusives equivalents for that price, especially when you factor in shipping (which ranges from £3.50 - which is the actual price for 2nd class through Royal Mail btw, to £8!!). Im obviously paying for the shipping within the international subs, but as long as im still finding value in their ROTM's then every add on exclusive I buy (at the price point I have currently been paying) is pretty reasonable even factoring that in.

Saying that, 40usd is around £30 I believe, it would have to be something special to warrant that from me.
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It is and although we don’t pay the VAT because they’re being a bit shifty, again not complaining while it saves me money, I still think you have to figure it into the equation. They are still charging the same money for it as mofi with a $40 record that you are paying £7 more from because they declare properly. That seems absurd to me because VMP have got to be spending less on their product in the first place
 
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Joe Mac said:
It is and although we don’t pay the VAT because they’re being a bit shifty, again not complaining while it saves me money, I still think you have to figure it into the equation. They are still charging the same money out of it as mofi with a $40 record that you are
paying £7 more from because they declare properly. That seems absurd to me because VMP have got to be spending less on their product in the first place
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True. Again, completely agree with you there, the quality is certainly dropping. I was listening to the VMP/Blue Note records they released back in 2018 (Donald Byrd, Eddie Gale, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse) and the overall quality is super high. I cant remember the last time we got something that good in terms of package, vinyl weight, colour, etc.
 
Selaws said:
True. Again, completely agree with you there, the quality is certainly dropping. I was listening to the VMP/Blue Note records they released back in 2018 (Donald Byrd, Eddie Gale, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse) and the overall quality is super high. I cant remember the last time we got something that good in terms of package, vinyl weight, colour, etc.
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I agree that VMP has gone down quality wise... except for the classics track. You can't get legit AAA reissues for that price anywhere. And their jackets are nicer than Pure Pleasure, for example, plus the liner notes are a nice bonus. In general I think their exclusives are kind of crappy... but classica is still a fantastic bargain.
 
botherly said:
I agree that VMP has gone down quality wise... except for the classics track. You can't get legit AAA reissues for that price anywhere. And their jackets are nicer than Pure Pleasure, for example, plus the liner notes are a nice bonus. In general I think their exclusives are kind of crappy... but classica is still a fantastic bargain.
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Yeah true the Classics are always consistently good quality, but then Classics is almost always the one I have issues with when it comes to warps, which I believe is because they insist on putting the booklet in the jacket with the record.
 
botherly said:
I agree that VMP has gone down quality wise... except for the classics track. You can't get legit AAA reissues for that price anywhere. And their jackets are nicer than Pure Pleasure, for example, plus the liner notes are a nice bonus. In general I think their exclusives are kind of crappy... but classica is still a fantastic bargain.
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You can get AAA cheaper in many cases. Rhino particularly. Kinks reissues. Hendrix reissues. I could go on. Jackets aren't usually as fancy, but that is secondary.
 
Joe Mac said:
The problem I have Nathan is that VMP are creating a normalisation of the $40 price tag being a fair level for their product. They haven’t put out any releases that I think are coming close to being worth it. They produce nice packages, not premium product.

You also have to bear in mind that there is no sales tax is the US and we in Europe are only getting away without paying that because they are committing mail fraud. I’m not complaining because it saves me money but it is a fact!

So if you take $40 as a base and run at a fair level against local pricing (so including the VAT) you are looking at UK £37.04 or IRE €44.45. That’s crazy money, you won’t get that paid outside of idiots and the very biggest of legacy artist for a standard 1LP.

Also a quick comparison. The last N&G AoTM, picked by @ThePakoBuelna , the Ruen brothers. It came in a heavyweight tip on jacket, it was beautifully pressed and mastered, an all around great package, easily better than all pre-Al Green classics and the equal of all inc and post. I bought it from America, including postage and correctly declared VAT, it cost me a total of €22.84.

Don’t believe the hype and don’t feed the hype machine.
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There is absolutely sales tax on online sales in the US, where are you getting that from?
 
RobbieBobby said:
There is absolutely sales tax on online sales in the US, where are you getting that from?
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my understanding was that it wasn’t included in prices on online stores because the regimes differed in each state and so it was added in the basket when you put in your address. I was also under the impression that several states had 0% and that no state really had a percentage that held any real significance (coming from someone living in a European country with a VAT regime). Correct me if I’m wrong by all means.
 
Joe Mac said:
my understanding was that it wasn’t included in prices on online stores because the regimes differed in each state and so it was added in the basket when you put in your address. I was also under the impression that several states had 0% and that no state really had a percentage that held any real significance (coming from someone living in a European country with a VAT regime). Correct me if I’m wrong by all means.
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That changed somewhat recently starting last year and most states (if not all) are now required to collect whether there is physical presence or not. Web stores have slowly started to implement it. Amazon does across the board, VMP started when Motown Anthology was released (which was a painful way to find out). Bull Moose, Plaid Room, and alot of indie stores havent yet but Im sure will sooner rather than later.
 
wynn72 said:
That changed somewhat recently starting last year and most states (if not all) are now required to collect whether there is physical presence or not. Web stores have slowly started to implement it, Amazon does across the board, VMP started right around when Motown Anthology was released (which was a painful way to find out). Bull Moose, Plaid Room, and alot of indie stores havent yet but Im sure will sooner rather than later.
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Yeah I’d heard of that Supreme Court ruling. My point is more that it’s added to the price when you buy so the $40 (or $32 or whatever) is the price before tax. The tax is added in your basket. Therefore for us over here when we’re doing a fair comparison with local prices, and US companies who don’t commit postal fraud, I can add my 23% VAT on to it and that’s a fair reflection of where they are actually placing themselves relative to other sellers in my marketplace.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah I’d heard of that Supreme Court ruling. My point is more that it’s added to the price when you buy so the $40 (or $32 or whatever) is the price before tax. The tax is added in your basket. Therefore for us over here when we’re doing a fair comparison with local prices, and US companies who don’t commit postal fraud, I can add my 23% VAT on to it and that’s a fair reflection of where they are actually placing themselves relative to other sellers in my marketplace.
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Got it.
Not that it effects anything but VMP is the one online store on the planet that doesnt show your total with tax until AFTER you pay. Which is annoying for price comparisons (and other reasons) especially since I live in NY which has really high taxes. Hopefully something that changes in the new platform.
 
wynn72 said:
Got it.
Not that it effects anything but VMP is the one online store on the planet that doesnt show your total with tax until AFTER you pay. Which is annoying for price comparisons (and other reasons) especially since I live in NY which has really high taxes. Hopefully something that changes in the new platform.
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Id kill for VAT between 4% and 8.875%...

For luxury items such as vinyl it’s 23% here!
 
Joe Mac said:
Id kill for VAT between 4% and 8.875%...

For luxury items such as vinyl it’s 23% here!
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Yeah thats nuts. Even when I lived in NYC (which I thankfully left earlier this year), my total tax would reach around 10% area which was super high for here.

23% I'd be analyzing every purchase alot more closely (which wouldnt be a bad thing, but thats not the reason I'd want to cut back).
 
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