Proposal for getting European releases in the USA

[tactix]

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...

[Reggaemusicstore]

Yes just expensive for shipping full stop indeed.

I was not aware that quantity bought you better postal rates. Maybe in the UK things are set up different and you can indeed buy better postal rates if you do sufficient quantity. I do not think that is so at all in the usa unless you qualify for bulk postage, and a massive quantity of random shipments do not qualify as such. So as far as I know there is no such break for quantity here in the USA. Amazon or WalMart or other giants may be an exception that I do not know of, and don't think Juno does that kind of quantity.

I think it must be that Juno can afford to drop a little on the shipping and make it up on the costs of the item times their large quantity of sales. Its actually a nice sales tactic, I hardly notice I can get the item a bit cheaper elsewhere, but of course the post is gonna be more. Even there I am surprised at Juno, I was pricing records there and elsewhere (Amazon etc) and they (Juno) pretty much always had the best price plus the best postage deal. Which is pretty strange because records (and other consumer goods) typically cost more in the UK and yet Juno outprices even Amazon on at least some things.

one love
jb

JB - As far as I can tell the US post office is a monopoly in terms of there's nowhere to get better prices for international shipping. If there is then I'd love to know about it. The UK is very different. I used to get a little discount from the UK post office when I was running reggaemusicstore but I never qualified for larger discounts as I wasn't doing enough business to justify it. The big difference with the UK however is there's a number of shipping companies operating who offer substantially better prices than the post office and that's probably why some British companies doing a lot of business are able to offer much better shipping deals.

[skunkride]

Re: Pressure Sounds - they are a label so guess they concentrate in selling large quantities to distributors.

Prices on their website are very low, guess they are not interested in packing small parcels all day long for a very minimal profit so they offset it with relatively high shipping costs.

[jb welda]

Russ, all my purchases from Juno come via Royal Mail, so I don't think third party mail houses are the answer. Or, possibly, do these third parties still use royal mail, but do it in quantity enough and regularly enough for THEM to get a discount?

Here of course there are alternatives, but like Russ says they all are more expensive, especially for international shipment. I have tried them all, seems like, though I gave up some time ago.

one love
jb

[feury]

I just ordered two LPs from Juno, and shipping to California was just a little over seven dollars US. That is pretty darn reasonable. I added a third record, a two LP set, but did not go through with that purchase, had I, it would have only added two or three dollars to the total postage. So there is some reasonable shipping available from the UK/Europe. Just not from Pressure Sounds; last i checked they wanted insane amounts for postage to the USA. If Juno can do it...why can't PS?

one love
jb

I was also very excited about juno low shipping cost for LPS and wen´t ahead and bought one album , 2 months and a half later I receive the album I wanted but on CD format , no wonder the shipping was so low..... they made a full refud for the mistake however....

[jb welda]

I ordered my latest two LPs last Saturday, and this Saturday they arrived in California at my doorstep, in solid packaging in perfect shape. Bloody good deal if you ask me.

one love
jb

[C-H-G]

Someone will just have to bite the bullet and import these releases to the US and sell them, that person will be ME. I'm going to start a small import of Euro releases, I will start with a large number of "Partial Records" 7" releases (I got the new Danny Red-Don gorgon coming), Jah Marshall releases, some Salomon Heritage etc...

It will not be a very huge thing with tons of titles to begin with but if I get the needed support I will import more and more. An 7" will usually be $8-9 (+ shipping), I got this Swedish production of Jamaican veteran White Mice under his new name IWA coming in and that will be a bit pricier as it's a very limited release which costed me a bit to get.

One problem iv'e had is that many of these small labels in the EU has not even bothered to get back to me which I find strange as I'm trying to buy their music, perhaps not in huge quantities but still.....

[minidub]

so let me see if i have this right...

you're saying $8-9 for a 7" is fine, but $50 for a 2LP is "black mailing"?

m.

[C-H-G]

Guess that is what I'm saying, one has to consider the prices it cost to import stuff but ultimately the consumer will be the judge.

[kalcidis]

Curious about what Ras Iwa tht might be. Or rather who the Swede is.

[C-H-G]

Curious about what Ras Iwa tht might be. Or rather who the Swede is.

Det ar Uppright sounds ifran Upsala, yep jag ar Svensk. But i guess i should write in English to not annoy anyone.

[kalcidis]

Tack för infon! Didn't know Upright was active still.

[martin]

hi CHG i have lots of labels on ditribution i try to mp for sending you my wholesale listing but pm doesnt work please link me at deeprootsdist@gmail.com
thanks marin