Stupid Priced new records

[supplanter]

I did pick up the Black Skulls 12". It was twice the price I would have liked to have paid, but figured it's one that will stand the test of time and get lots of play over my lifetime. Especially the long dub. Plus, I could not get an OG copy in this format (as far as I'm aware). Ultimately it meant that there were two or three records I normally would take a chance on that I didn't buy. My budget don't budge. There's always next month's budget and more new releases to look forward to. Can't wait.

[Reggaemusicstore]

Charlie, in general I agree with your point and things were a lot healthier all round sales wise when prices were lower. However there are times when certain tunes might have big production/licensing costs involved, for instance I know the Dub Store Bunny Wailer tunes would have involved some hefty fees for Bunny and those sort of expenses have to be recouped, plus anything coming from Japan becomes expensive with the shipping & import fees to bring them in. I have absolutely no idea why the Black Skull was priced like it was but what I can tell you is my sale price of 27 quid as far as I can tell was the cheapest & most other stores were doing them at 30! And as it happens they sold quick time at RMS and are now sold out! Respect!

[message_music]

lol 30 pound for a repress. . . . . . JOKE TING

ill jus run my og copy

[Mark T]

I hadn't looked at the actual article and price until just now. That is a lot of money. My take is that I amply won't spend that kind of money on something like that - plenty of other great tunes to be had for less money.
I don't think it's really a **** take of people without much money - it's aimed at a few people who really want it. I'm guessing most people on the forum spend more than that most months on records. After all, we can't have everything - my want list is longer than my arm and probably always will be.
The obvious solution for anybody is to go and do a legit repress for less.
Mark T

[Jack Johnson]

hahahaaa what a sign of the times!

[Baba Jonah]

I'm aware of pressing costs and target audiences, and agree with a lot of whats been said by others, and glad I'm not alone in feeling this. I guess my main point is that record labels if they really hold true to the sentiments expressed in lyrics and want to be respected by buyers then do everything you can to keep costs at the lowest possible price.

Steve your points from a shop perspective are good to hear, glad the sales are going / went, well, and have helped me understand my initial 'throwing my toys out the pram' reaction that I started this thread with, and I hope future big tune releases will be basic sleeve / black wax, and the cheapest price that will benifit the audience the majority of which are on a tight budget these times.

[David]

This record will go for much less in a few weeks! They never find 288 persons willibg to spend 30 euros.

I remember hypes like this one, people claming on the board, that a press will sell out soon, some 6 or 7 years they said that about the then new art&craft represses (which were normally priced). These 12s are still around in shops today....

[Mark T]

"I'm aware of pressing costs and target audiences, and agree with a lot of whats been said by others, and glad I'm not alone in feeling this. I guess my main point is that record labels if they really hold true to the sentiments expressed in lyrics and want to be respected by buyers then do everything you can to keep costs at the lowest possible price."

I can't say I fully agree with this Baba Jonah - I want people to put out a great product but I also want all involved to be able to make a good living doing it. I want to be paid well for what I do (which is not music related in the least) and I think they should as well. That said, there's no reason to exploit markets. A good product at a fair price, B&F modelled this and plenty of others do as well.
Mark T

[jb welda]

first of all no one is getting "ripped off" unless someone is holding a gun to their heads to make them buy something. and in the vast majority of cases, no one is.

second of all, 300 copies is a limited run; very very very limited run by the standards of just about any other genre besides reggae. I don't think you can get less than that pressed.

finally, if you don't like the price, don't buy it. theres a good chance something will be available a bit later for a more reasonable price, if and when no one cares to spend the dough to buy them on release, and that often happens. on the other hand, I recently sold, for example, the makasound issue of mighty threes rasta business for, I forget exactly but it was over 70$ and that was released only a few years ago. and I sold the makasound what a man sow for 40 just last week. surprised me too but just goes to show: once they are bought up they become much more desirable and a few pounds original cost pales in comparison to what they fetch when sold out. so it can work both ways.

ernie b for instance has a lot of those dub store 7"s for offer at around 5US$ and that's a bargain compared to what they originally went for.

again no one is holding a gun to anyones head here...and if you cant afford a certain record theres plenty more where that came from that you can afford, and its not a life and death situation to begin with.

they wouldn't be putting these out at these prices if they didn't think they could sell out the run...and if they don't no one profits but the buyer when they are significantly reduced.

as compared to those 10" "gold" series of records (observer gold, king jammys gold, attack gold, etc) that were slightly expensive but total trash (imo anyway), spending more for something with some real value is a treat.

one love
jb

[MulatuAstatke]

300 maybe about the lowest pressing plants go but it doesn't mean that a lot of reissues are not around this mark. Defintely not a limited press in the reggae world, and though it drive's up the price of the pressing, it doesn't drive it up that much. Our first release (7inch) was pressing of 300 and we still managed to have it sell at normal prices in shops (around £5.00) AND make a profit (not massive). We used good quality pressing plant (MPO) and good masterering etc. I imagine there costs could be more but nothing to justify £26.99

I agree no ones getting 'ripped off'' as you say no one is forced to buy it, but I think they are taking advantage of people and there wallets. When people see a high price they can mentally think it is 'worth' more.

Unless the publishing costs were completely mad I can't see any other reason for the price being so high.

By the way only talking about the Black Skull reissue, not the dub store ones. Can see how they might have cost so much, because of the before mentioned postage round the world and the silk screen etc..

[Chaz]

That Black Skull one does seem to be sold out everywhere, so the marketing did seem to work. I'd hazard a guess that although a few people would swallow it once, they wouldn't pay this much on a regular basis. What do I know though?

[Reggaemusicstore]

This record will go for much less in a few weeks! They never find 288 persons willibg to spend 30 euros.

I remember hypes like this one, people claming on the board, that a press will sell out soon, some 6 or 7 years they said that about the then new art&craft represses (which were normally priced). These 12s are still around in shops today....

Sorry but you're totally wrong on this, they're finished and I've tried to get more but can't. If anyone can find somewhere with a copy for sale and wants one then I'd suggest they snap it up while they can...

[Mark T]

"I agree no ones getting 'ripped off'' as you say no one is forced to buy it, but I think they are taking advantage of people and there wallets. When people see a high price they can mentally think it is 'worth' more."

So Maluta, is it the price that is stupid or the people?
I'm essentially with jb on this. I can complain about the price of gas (petrol) because I have no choice (and if you live in North America you often have no choice) but I can't really complain about the price of a record. I can laugh at some people who ask ridiculous sums but at the end of the day I just don't buy anything that is stupidly priced.

Mark T

[Dubba]

This record will go for much less in a few weeks! They never find 288 persons willibg to spend 30 euros.

I remember hypes like this one, people claming on the board, that a press will sell out soon, some 6 or 7 years they said that about the then new art&craft represses (which were normally priced). These 12s are still around in shops today....

Sorry but you're totally wrong on this, they're finished and I've tried to get more but can't. If anyone can find somewhere with a copy for sale and wants one then I'd suggest they snap it up while they can...

Thanks for the advice steve, was too late to get one from you, however after much scouring on the tinternet just got a copy from Discogs for the same price as you and the other stockists were selling at.