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

Ethos99 said:
If they added 2k more that's impressive numbers to move in a few days.

1784 now.
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Yeah.

It was definitely in the 2 hundreds, before it was supposed to officially go live to the public. Of course, it already was available to non-members via the magazine link, but who knows if they were aware of that. I've already seen 2 copies sell for $80 on ebay, which makes zero sense, but that's people. But let say a bunch sold so people could flip them -- very likely-- and VMP sees they're about to sell out for a pressing they won't even ship for months anyway. They would probably assume that non-members were waiting to get on this and that another 2k would be easy to move. Plus, fuck what they said about "initial" run, if they already removed that number and don't feel they need to stick to it.

If you monitored the inventory dropping, though, you could definitely see that they moved a lot of units.
 
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signed back up under the pretense that Fiona was gonna be limited, once I signed back up, issues with swaps happened and Fiona isn’t limited not even to Members. Asked for a refund on sub and it was granted. I’m glad they refunded but they still have so much clean up to do.
 
Dead C said:
Yeah.

It was definitely in the 2 hundreds, before it was supposed to officially go live to the public. Of course, it already was available to non-members via the magazine link, but who knows if they were aware of that. I've already seen 2 copies sell for $80 on ebay, which makes zero sense, but that's people. But let say a bunch sold so people could flip them -- very likely-- and VMP sees they're about to sell out for a pressing they won't even ship for months anyway. They would probably assume that non-members were waiting to get on this and that another 2k wiuld be easy to move. Plus, fuck what they said about "initial" run, if they already removed that number and don't feel they need to stick to it.

If you monitored the inventory dropping, though, you could definitely see that they moved a lot of units.
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Remember that “buyers group” in sports cards that I was dm’ing you about a while back? It’s starting to filter into records now.
 
Memo said:
signed back up under the pretense that Fiona was gonna be limited, once I signed back up, issues with swaps happened and Fiona isn’t limited not even to Members. Asked for a refund on sub and it was granted. I’m glad they refunded but they still have so much clean up to do.
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At least if they let the initial run sell out yesterday morning, there would have been an impression of some level of membership value, because it reflects why that 48hr membership only window mattered. I know it doesn't really, because of the workaround through the magazine, but at least it would seem like it. Days later and nearly half of what they initially claimed they were pressing is still available for anyone to buy it. Appealing to the non-members first continues to work...

...in making people not see the point of being a member.



Just imagine if this gets "oversold" and/or delayed.
 
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Dead C said:
At least if they let the initial run sell out yesterday morning, there would have been an impression of some level of membership value, because it reflects why that 48hr membership only window mattered. I know it doesn't really, because of the workaround theough the magazine, but at least it would seem like it. Days later and nearly half of what they initially claimed they were pressing is still available for anyone to buy it. Appealing to the non-members first continues to work...

...in making people not see the point of being a member.
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This "mistake" however does not happen with every exclusive. The most limited pressings are usually protected by the member requirement.

This wasn't advertised as limited, only exclusive and still available so there shouldn't be anyone angry about it being sold to non members.
 
Ethos99 said:
This "mistake" however does not happen with every exclusive. The most limited pressings are usually protected by the member requirement.

This wasn't advertised as limited, only exclusive and still available so there shouldn't be anyone angry about it being sold to non members.
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It was originally advertised as limited to either 2000 or 4000. I forget which.
 
Ethos99 said:
This "mistake" however does not happen with every exclusive. The most limited pressings are usually protected by the member requirement.

This wasn't advertised as limited, only exclusive and still available so there shouldn't be anyone angry about it being sold to non members.
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Yeah, nobody is going to be "angry," which is why they can do it. That being said, there's still a purpose and intention with initially advertising it as limited to only 4k and to members only for 48hrs. They put that in for a reason. The implication is that, if you want to insure that you're able to grab a copy, become member. Otherwise, that 48hr window means absolutely nothing. And, of course, it doesn't. If the pressing is unlimited anyway, why not just do like they've done for other pressings and make it open to the public from the jump? My guess is that with those other releases they were the only ones selling them, while this is a simple variant. A variant with a potentially endless run. They're rocking back and forth between narratives that cancel each other out.

Even when they specify that 4k is an initial run with a "potential" repress down the line, it puts the idea in heads that another pressing is only likely, but not guaranteed. With what Idler Wheel is selling for now, there's still incentive to buy, because there's no guarantee when that repress might come and, if you want it later, you might be stuck dealing with the secondary market.

I should clarify that I'm not complaining, I'm just somewhat fascinated. They opted to scrap that initial plan after they already began the roll out. They're weighing what makes more short term financial sense, while trying to balance the implied value of exclusivity, rarity, and being a member, with trying to sell as many as feasible with an uncapped run.
 
Dead C said:
Yeah, nobody is going to be "angry," which is why they can do it. That being said, there's still a purpose and intention with initially advertising it as limited to only 4k and to members only for 48hrs. They put that in for a reason. The implication is that, if you want to insure that you're able to grab a copy, become member. Otherwise, that 48hr window means absolutely nothing. And, of course, it doesn't. If the pressing is unlimited anyway, why not just do like they've done for other pressings and make it open to the public from the jump? My guess is that with those other releases they were the only ones selling them, while this is a simple variant. A variant with a potentially endless run. They're rocking back and forth between narratives that cancel each other out.

Even when they specify that 4k is an initial run with a "potential" repress down the line, it puts the idea in heads that another pressing is only likely, but not guaranteed. With what Idler Wheel is selling for now, there's still incentive to buy, because there's no guarantee when that repress might come and, if you want it later, you might be stuck dealing with the secondary market.

I should clarify that I'm not complaining, I'm just somewhat fascinated. They opted to scrap that initial plan after they already began the roll out. They're weighing what makes more short term financial sense, while trying to balance the implied value of exclusivity, rarity, and being a member, with trying to sell as many as feasible with an uncapped run.
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And just to clarify, I wasn't insinuating that you were complaining. My initial reason for posting countdowns is that is what facinates me, the speed of how they are selling.

The double edge to them having this purchase link that non members can use and you can buy any quantity through is that we can check stock.
 
However, I do think any company would try to sell as many as possible while trying not to piss off their members. That's just business.
 
Dead C said:
Yeah, nobody is going to be "angry," which is why they can do it. That being said, there's still a purpose and intention with initially advertising it as limited to only 4k and to members only for 48hrs. They put that in for a reason. The implication is that, if you want to insure that you're able to grab a copy, become member. Otherwise, that 48hr window means absolutely nothing. And, of course, it doesn't. If the pressing is unlimited anyway, why not just do like they've done for other pressings and make it open to the public from the jump? My guess is that with those other releases they were the only ones selling them, while this is a simple variant. A variant with a potentially endless run. They're rocking back and forth between narratives that cancel each other out.

Even when they specify that 4k is an initial run with a "potential" repress down the line, it puts the idea in heads that another pressing is only likely, but not guaranteed. With what Idler Wheel is selling for now, there's still incentive to buy, because there's no guarantee when that repress might come and, if you want it later, you might be stuck dealing with the secondary market.

I should clarify that I'm not complaining, I'm just somewhat fascinated. They opted to scrap that initial plan after they already began the roll out. They're weighing what makes more short term financial sense, while trying to balance the implied value of exclusivity, rarity, and being a member, with trying to sell as many as feasible with an uncapped run.
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Not many people realized that the link through the magazine worked for non-members though and that's where the sketchiness/ineptitude comes in. I'd also bet that something like 70% of members are not members here or on reddit. I have come across so many people who don't even know you can swap hah. This was presented as BREAKING NEWS! WE HAVE A LIMITED VARIANT OF FIONA'S 10/10 ALBUM THAT YOU CAN ONLY BUY HERE! I can see how people thought it was limited to members only. They wrote 4,000 in their initial post but it was a bit hidden (didn't say it IIRC on the store page and hid it in the article) then only said 4K was the limited run when someone asked on twitter and it was not a tweet, but a reply to someone so it didn't show up on their main twitter page...so I understand why people would be mad if they thought they had to become a member to purchase. At least they are giving refunds.

After the swaps fuck up, VMP eventually cancelled my membership for me and sent me a refund even though I wasn't charged yet for the month...which kind of sums up VMP nowadays. Works for me. I used that money to buy Fiona indie variant elsewhere.
 
Ethos99 said:
And just to clarify, I wasn't insinuating that you were complaining. My initial reason for posting countdowns is that is what facinates me, the speed of how they are selling.

The double edge to them having this purchase link that non members can use and you can buy any quantity through is that we can check stock.
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Yeah. I didn't think you were insinuating anything, I just wanted to point out why it was interesting to me.

Ethos99 said:
However, I do think any company would try to sell as many as possible while trying not to piss off their members. That's just business.
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Definitely. I still like watching VMP try to maneuver that. Personally, I feel like it often backfires in the long run.

If you were motivated to purchase it based on any of those factors related to it being a limited variant that could easily sell out, but then you just continue to see it in the store for an extended period of time, I'm not so sure that your're going to be as inclined to pull the trigger as quickly next time. Case in point is how someone suggested in here earlier that, if you don't want to hassle with trying to get it later, you should probably buy it from VMP right now, and they made that case based off of that idea that they were only pressing 4k at first and we have no idea when a repress is coming. That's a likely conclusion to come to, but now it's proving it might not be the case, after all, and taking that reasoning with it. If they did, in fact, add 2k to the initial pressing, that changes things a bit. The "repress" is kind of already here.

VMP or not, this is somewhat of a FOMO market. If they announced this by highlighting that you wouldn't get it for months anyway and there's no chance of missing out, I don't think they'd move quite as many units quite as quick. With so many preorders coming out all the time, certain things can take priority in a buyer's mind. It's like when they added to the Bon Iver pressing. Next time you see something like this, you might just figure you can get to it when you get to it, because you were duped by FOMO last time. Never presenting that FOMO element at all with an initial run count and a 48hr window doesn't make anyone feel duped in any way later. At least with Idler Wheel there was a discount during the first couple of days that added to that motivation and made it feel like a sound move.

This is also interesting because it explores the question of appeal around variants. The VMP variant is actually proving easier to acquire than the indie variant this time.
 
Dead C said:
VMP or not, this is somewhat of a FOMO market.
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Their email about it was just about as FOMO as it gets...I think it even had the alert emojis and said "BREAKING NEWS". Their tweets also said members only for 48 hours (which was obviously not true).



You're correct though--VMP is not the only one doing this. It's pretty much all record stores now/places that sell exclusives. I think VMP is a bit more of an offender than others though as they constantly push things. It's part of the beast now though...the hard part is not falling for it. I still fall for it sometimes and buy albums I don't really need just because they are limited. I snagged the Zia repress of Fleet Foxes even though I already have the regular black variant.
 
MikeH said:
Not many people realized that the link through the magazine worked for non-members though and that's where the sketchiness/ineptitude comes in. I'd also bet that something like 70% of members are not members here or on reddit. I have come across so many people who don't even know you can swap hah. This was presented as BREAKING NEWS! WE HAVE A LIMITED VARIANT OF FIONA'S 10/10 ALBUM THAT YOU CAN ONLY BUY HERE! I can see how people thought it was limited to members only. They wrote 4,000 in their initial post but it was a bit hidden (didn't say it IIRC on the store page and hid it in the article) then only said 4K was the limited run when someone asked on twitter and it was not a tweet, but a reply to someone so it didn't show up on their main twitter page...so I understand why people would be mad if they thought they had to become a member to purchase. At least they are giving refunds.

After the swaps fuck up, VMP eventually cancelled my membership for me and sent me a refund even though I wasn't charged yet for the month...which kind of sums up VMP nowadays. Works for me. I used that money to buy Fiona indie variant elsewhere.
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Good point. I have seen people on reddit asking who else signed up for Fiona, only to be informed they never needed to. If you did that by signing up for the one month membership, then got screwed dealing with swaps... not a good first impression. Especially, if Fiona is still sitting in the shop when the next ROTM announcement comes in.
 
MikeH said:
Their email about it was just about as FOMO as it gets...I think it even had the alert emojis and said "BREAKING NEWS". Their tweets also said members only for 48 hours (which was obviously not true).



You're correct though--VMP is not the only one doing this. It's pretty much all record stores now/places that sell exclusives. I think VMP is a bit more of an offender than others though as they constantly push things. It's part of the beast now though...the hard part is not falling for it. I still fall for it sometimes and buy albums I don't really need just because they are limited. I snagged the Zia repress of Fleet Foxes even though I already have the regular black variant.
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It's also about how they are playing it, if it's effective, and for how long. Even Fiona's site sold enough copies based on the fear they might not appear elsewhere. To get someone to then buy another open variant, when they might have already purchased the black, is a tricky move.
 
Dead C said:
Good point. I have seen people on reddit asking who else signed up for Fiona, only to be informed they never needed to. If you did that by signing up for the one month membership, then got screwed dealing with swaps... not a good first impression. Especially, if Fiona is still sitting in the shop when the next ROTM announcement comes in.
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I have friends who are tech savvy, are on reddit, etc who are VMP members, signed up for a year and had NO idea that you could swap the album of the month or do add-ons for a cheaper price hah. They just set and forget. I'd be willing to bet that is a large percentage of VMP subscribers. We're in a bit of a bubble in that A) a lot of us have been members for awhile, B) we're on a forum that spawned from VMP and most of us are pretty avid record collectors and C) we get news from each other instead of VMP itself.

People on reddit, when I told them that you could order Fiona without being a member, asked "well what's the point of being a member then?" and I said, at this point....even I don't know anymore haha. This month was the perfect shitstorm IMO. No must-haves on any track, swaps being a mess so most people didn't get what they wanted and then a lot of the "exclusives" either had diff variants elsewhere or could be purchased by non-members. Definitely a bad first impression for a lot of people, especially those who signed up for the buy 2 get 1 free month deal.
 
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