Every year on the third Saturday of April, record stores across the globe celebrate Record Store Day. Hundreds of thousands of people flock to their local records to buy up all of the vinyl, cassettes, and CD’s they can. This single day can pay the rent of the store for a few months.
But the stores are not the only ones that are making large amounts of money on this day. Many people do their research to find out which special release vinyl records will be going for some real cash on eBay.
For example, fans of the band Cake that missed out on the 2014 vinyl box set will have to pay a pretty penny if they want to get their hands on it. Many of the listings on eBay currently range from $250- $300 or more.
This type of instance of record flipping creates two teams in the record buying community. There are the people that want to make money and those that are passionate about music.
I asked Peter Kreten, Director of Student Media, what he thought about the act of flipping records. He responded, “I personally don’t like it, because it jacks up the price on records and makes it more expensive for the regular everyday person to be able to collect records.”
When one goes to a record store, they can typically buy a recording ranging from $5-$30. Many stores even have bargain bins, where someone can find old, used records for a dollar or two.
The problem is that all records are not worth the same amount; there are first pressings, color variants, cover variants, limited pressings, etc. This is where the real money is made. Bryan Mohr, a vinyl collector, is both passionate about records and flips them when he can, “I’ve been collecting records for fifteen plus years and everyday is Record Store Day for me. With this recent hype of companies cashing in on the vinyl craze, it had caused me to try and profit from it, too. Being able to grab rare pressings that people are dying to get and making a marginal profit is the name of the game.”
Unfortunately for the flippers, many people oppose this and Mohr is perfectly aware of their opposition, “It is looked down upon in the community as a whole, but it’s a buyer’s market and the money I get from these records are used to support independent bands and labels that are putting out a product I actually want.”
So here lays the dilemma: the records are getting out there, but at a price. The record stores are making their money, as well as the band themselves, so is flipping a record really that wrong?
Kreten explains, “It is kind of like scalping tickets, but people that collect records are passionate individuals. When you resell stuff, you make it unaffordable. The joy of going to a record store is you go in with $20 in your pocket and leave with a multitude of records. However, if you have someone that is reselling them, they are going to sell it at a higher price, which does not go back to the record store.”
It seems like me that buying low and selling high is just a fact of life.
We cannot blame these people though. Sure, they may upset consumers, because these buyers are then forced to pay a much higher price if they want the goods, but is not everyone trying to make a quick buck?
I have been on the buying end of someone who is flipping a record I want and it sucks, but I know that it is partially my fault. If I had jumped at the opportunity to buy the record when it was first released, then I would have it at normal market price.
This is the same thing that happens when people attend Record Store Day to flip vinyl records and even cassettes. The list of special releases are posted on the website well before the day comes. Therefore, if someone really wants to get a certain album, then the buyer better set his or her alarm for early in the morning to get it. If they want to beat any flippers, the simple solution is to be the first in line.
And hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, you could always just join ‘em.
Lauren Dwyer
Senior Features Editor
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