danielmak wrote:Second, another option might be to create a partnership with someone in the UK where you trade shipping. For example, let's say there are records you can get in the US at a better price than those same records would cost in the UK. Your shipping partner pays for the records and has them sent to you. You buy your UK records and have them sent to your partner. Then you send your partner's records to her/him and s/he sends to you. Of course, this type of thing would only be useful in situations where the shipping costs are way higher to the US (and for your partner, costs are ridiculous to the UK). Because you now have to build in the domestic shipping costs with the total shipping costs. But if the record shop/distributor is charging insane costs and your partner can get decent prices, this might make sense. Moreover, if you are both buying the same records, you might get discounts on the records themselves by purchasing multiple copies of the same release. Again, this might be way off but I figured I'd throw it out there since I've done something like this with football DVDs and trading partners I have who live in areas where postal services are really poor.
Yeah I think something like this only really makes sense if you're buying wholesale.
I'm going to do the math and outline my proposal and then yours:
Reggae buyers club/coop
We get a commitment from 10 people in the USA to buy the latest and greatest 12" UK record.
Let's say that 12" cost 12 GBP at Dub vendor which I'd say is about average. Rather than buying retail we negotiate with the distributor who sells it at %50 retail which I believe is the standard markup. So we pay 6 GBP each + shipping. Assuming the package weighs a little over 2kg that would be 24 GBP tracked with insurance. Total cost 84 GBP or about 112 USD or 11.20 per unit. Media mail person is 2.75 + USD. Total cost per 12" =14 USD
To order a 12 GBP 12" from Juno shipping is 3.60 GBP. = 15.60 GBP or a the present exchange rate 20.75 USD
To order a 12 GBP 12 from Dub Vendor shipping is 10.50 GBP = 22.50 GBP or 30 USD
Assuming you're competing against Juno's pricing where the difference between ordering from them and via distributor/label owner is 6.75 USD and you give the organizer of the buy half of that (3.50 say) for their trouble and material cost the buyers club could deliver the 12 for say 17.25 and the organizer gets $30
This price difference is a little better when you run the numbers for ordering 20 records or say 2 releases.
Then it's 20 X 6 = 120 gbp for the records, 33 GBP for the shipping, so 153 GBP or 204 USD or 10.25 USD per unit + 2.75/2 for the media mail = 11.75 USD.
Shipping for two 12"s from Juno is 5.60 GBP or 14.80 GBP per unit or 19.75 USD so the differential is 8 USD
If we assume the 50/50 split the records cost the end buyer is 15.75 USD and the organizer pockets 80 USD
Where things get make a ton of sense is if you want something that Juno doesn't carry. Ordering 2 12's from Dub vendor is £13.50 in shipping so at 12 GBP per record your total unit cost is 18.75 GBP or 25 USD. Now your differential is 13.25 USD.
The pen pal reciprocal idea:
USA gent orders a 12" from Dub Vendor for 12 GBP and it costs 2.80 GBP shipping or £14.80. Shipping from UK to US is 8 GBP for a total of 22.8 GBP or 30.50 USD
UK gal purchases a 12 " from Dusty groove for 13 USD and 4 USD local shipping and then 22.5 USD (post office rate) for USA to UK shipping so 39.5 USD
It cost the USA gent essentially the same to do it through the intermediary. The cost to ship a 12" to the UK directly from Dusty groove is 9.16 USD or 19.16 USD. I don't know how Dusty groove does that rate (same as Juno?) but in either case I don't see how the pen pal idea works...