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- Thread starter vinojasan
- Start date
Today I met a person called Mani, a LP vendor in KK Nagar, Chennai. It is really a bad experience. I decided to meet him after seen his number posted by one of the FMs in a thread.
This guy is having some LPs and EPs in mint condition (but much dusted). But the outer covers are really in poor condition.
When I inquired the price, he quoted Rs 300 for old LPs and 400 to Ilayarajaa and non Ilayarajaa collections. He listed many reasons and show his customers list (mostly from abroad) After spent just 15 mins, I almost ran away from his house even without seeing remaining LP bundles.
This kind of persons wanted to cash the enthusiasm of LP lovers as much as possible and must be avoided.
This guy is having some LPs and EPs in mint condition (but much dusted). But the outer covers are really in poor condition.
When I inquired the price, he quoted Rs 300 for old LPs and 400 to Ilayarajaa and non Ilayarajaa collections. He listed many reasons and show his customers list (mostly from abroad) After spent just 15 mins, I almost ran away from his house even without seeing remaining LP bundles.
This kind of persons wanted to cash the enthusiasm of LP lovers as much as possible and must be avoided.
hildebrand
Active Member
There are many like these.
I visited Balaji in Bangalore for records. He quoted 250/- per LP and refused to budge from the price. No point telling the details of the take-it-or-leave-it attitude and other things told. He had some LPs I really wanted but bought anyway (He wasn't ready to make it even 200). Others have also reported the same issue. The quality was good though. Taking more price is one thing but I like vendors to be humble. Seetaphone proprietor is always so polite.
And what the websites and people on e-bay/bollywoodvinyl etc are charging is no less than a scam. A friend "bargained" with someone on ebay who is in Mumbai and was asking mega dollars to get LPs for around 500/- each. My eyes almost popped out yesterday when I found 78 rpms being quoted for 2000/- plus shipping on ebay by a Mumbai based shop.
It is really discouraging no doubt. Prices for records have really gone up thanks to all these great people unnecessarily. Amusingly, many of these records sold for hundreds have MRPs of Rs 45 on them
I visited Balaji in Bangalore for records. He quoted 250/- per LP and refused to budge from the price. No point telling the details of the take-it-or-leave-it attitude and other things told. He had some LPs I really wanted but bought anyway (He wasn't ready to make it even 200). Others have also reported the same issue. The quality was good though. Taking more price is one thing but I like vendors to be humble. Seetaphone proprietor is always so polite.
And what the websites and people on e-bay/bollywoodvinyl etc are charging is no less than a scam. A friend "bargained" with someone on ebay who is in Mumbai and was asking mega dollars to get LPs for around 500/- each. My eyes almost popped out yesterday when I found 78 rpms being quoted for 2000/- plus shipping on ebay by a Mumbai based shop.
It is really discouraging no doubt. Prices for records have really gone up thanks to all these great people unnecessarily. Amusingly, many of these records sold for hundreds have MRPs of Rs 45 on them
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It is really discouraging no doubt. Prices for records have really gone up thanks to all these great people unnecessarily. Amusingly, many of these records sold for hundreds have MRPs of Rs 45 on them
In the early 80s, LP were indeed available new for Rs.45 to 50. Taking inflation and relative cost of living into account, in 2013 rupees that should work out to approx. Rs.1500 today.
I've been buying used LPs for a long time now, and the prices slowly rose from Rs. 20 to Rs. 100 right until 2009, when the vinyl revival struck India. The traders have wised up since then, once they came to know that new LPs were once again available in the stores for Rs.1000 on an average. Nowadays, used LPs (for western music) tyically start at 300 to 500 and generally top 1K for the major groups (Floyd, Stones, Led Zep, etc.). The new generation of vinyl buyers are also to blame for clueing in the traders about all these big names, about which they'd had little knowledge in earlier times. ('Can you get me this, this and that LP', they'd eagerly ask, setting the stage for inflated prices). Old style buyers would NEVER let on about what they'd found in a lot, keeping a poker face even if it was a holy grail rarity. Times have changed.
The outcome of all this is a reduced supply, as many traders now are hoarding their LPs for their big ticket buyers, who are plentiful. Many are on eBay these days selling Bollywood LPs to the (nostalgic) diaspora in the US for huge prices. There's also a network of traders who buy in bulk to sell in other cities or on the 'net. Some of the old suppliers no longer allow cherry picking - they want you to buy the entire lot.
Me, I've reconciled myself to flipkart, ebay and discogs, and the odd trip overseas. The inflation argument (above) helps to justify the higher prices, even though as I'm more often than not actually paying less than I used to (for new LPs) in real world prices.
There are many like these.
I visited Balaji in Bangalore for records. He quoted 250/- per LP and refused to budge from the price. No point telling the details of the take-it-or-leave-it attitude and other things told. He had some LPs I really wanted but bought anyway (He wasn't ready to make it even 200). Others have also reported the same issue. The quality was good though. Taking more price is one thing but I like vendors to be humble. Seetaphone proprietor is always so polite.
And what the websites and people on e-bay/bollywoodvinyl etc are charging is no less than a scam. A friend "bargained" with someone on ebay who is in Mumbai and was asking mega dollars to get LPs for around 500/- each. My eyes almost popped out yesterday when I found 78 rpms being quoted for 2000/- plus shipping on ebay by a Mumbai based shop.
It is really discouraging no doubt. Prices for records have really gone up thanks to all these great people unnecessarily. Amusingly, many of these records sold for hundreds have MRPs of Rs 45 on them
Thanks for Sharing...
If the regional audio companies starting to release LPs again for Rs 200 to 300, definitely these kind of persons will be vanished or reduced the cost to Rs 30 to 50 automatically. Echo, AVM, HMV must rethink to release their old famous albums in vinyl again.
Shivam
Well-Known Member
In my opinion LPs in good condition should not cost above 200-300 for Indian pressings and 400-500 for pressings from US, England, Germany etc. Asking anything above is not ethical.
Unfortunately even the new LP pressings are priced high and lack the quality of the original pressings. This is further pushing the prices up.
I do remember buying some Hindi LPs from a shop in Chandni Chowk a couple of years back for 200 each. They were in good condition, free of dust, with intact covers and the shop owner also offered tea and snacks even though he knew that I was interested in only a few albums. The owner was a young chap but knew his music. I'll try to find his visiting card for those interested.
Unfortunately even the new LP pressings are priced high and lack the quality of the original pressings. This is further pushing the prices up.
I do remember buying some Hindi LPs from a shop in Chandni Chowk a couple of years back for 200 each. They were in good condition, free of dust, with intact covers and the shop owner also offered tea and snacks even though he knew that I was interested in only a few albums. The owner was a young chap but knew his music. I'll try to find his visiting card for those interested.
hildebrand
Active Member
G401fan: You have summarised the situation very well. Your theory on inflation is interesting but over all one can say its a sellers market in a way these days. The reason is simple. There are a lot of people today with a lot of disposable income who are ready to shell out a lot of money. Why they do this, for that many reasons are there. A few of them are:-
1. Many people are really earning a lot more money than their parents earned in the 80s thanks to cushiony high paying MNC jobs, foreign trips and in some cases, they even stay abroad.
2. Many families these days have multiple earning members and the expenditures get shared. Hence, more saved money to spare.
3. Due to more business opportunities some businessmen have more disposable income.
4. Due to real estate picking up, quite a few people became millionaires overnight.
People are ready to pay for nostalgia. Thanks to the net and other media explosion, a vendor is able to reach customers everywhere easily. Earlier, one needed a physical shop. An online shop doesn't cost that much and many have joined the bandwagon. Old timers will agree, going to a record shop was a more personal experience but searching many shops wasn't so easy.
Of course, the quality of music has been declining steadily over the years. People are getting attracted to old music. The old music being a bit obscure relatively, people are ready to pay. Being from the vintage music lover community, I know many people who have literally spent lakhs on their collections and put in efforts to get the songs from all over the world.
There is of course the "Me too" phenomena. Nothing like a dose of jealousy that boosts sales. I have seen many people spending lots of money to get rare songs because they want to show their "friends" that they have "better" collections and tastes as they get that obscure artist which no one has heard. Often the raving doesn't match up to the quality expected when heard. This particular kind really gets my goat as it spoils the market. God alone knows how much music has been hoarded because of an "inferiority/superiority complex" in people and people have bought things at unwanted prices for unwanted items. If people just were happy with what they have and appreciated, the situation in the world in most spheres would be so much better.
Vinojasan:
You are most welcome. Yes, smaller and regional companies could have done something to repair the situation. (T-series had done such a thing to bring down costs in the 80s for casettes and later by MP3 CDs). But, they are fast shutting shop just like the music shops for whom they worked. Profit margins are not much and the input/operating costs these days are pretty high. Digital recordings and easy Piracy means CDs don't sell anyway. Due to this, I don't see prices for vinyl (which has an appeal for a selected few) falling to those kind of levels you talk of.
We can only hope for those prices from those wanting to give away their collections to music lovers who will take care of them. (May the tribe of such people increase
)
Shivam:
I also agree. These are the ethical prices according to me as well. Above prices though according to me are not just unethical but also in some cases blasphemous
The new pressings are costing more due to the limited quantity of pressings and other costs I mentioned above. They are not worth it.
My personal opinion is that digitisation is useful to share the limited copies of music available as various analog recordings and should be encouraged. However, putting the digital recordings on records doesn't help much. For me, the best records to listen to are the 78 rpms which were pure analog recordings in every way. There is something really warm about those!
Which is this shop you bought records from in Chandni Shop? Will wait for you to search the visiting card. Maybe can see it if I visit it sometime. The prices certainly don't sound like New Gramophone House
1. Many people are really earning a lot more money than their parents earned in the 80s thanks to cushiony high paying MNC jobs, foreign trips and in some cases, they even stay abroad.
2. Many families these days have multiple earning members and the expenditures get shared. Hence, more saved money to spare.
3. Due to more business opportunities some businessmen have more disposable income.
4. Due to real estate picking up, quite a few people became millionaires overnight.
People are ready to pay for nostalgia. Thanks to the net and other media explosion, a vendor is able to reach customers everywhere easily. Earlier, one needed a physical shop. An online shop doesn't cost that much and many have joined the bandwagon. Old timers will agree, going to a record shop was a more personal experience but searching many shops wasn't so easy.
Of course, the quality of music has been declining steadily over the years. People are getting attracted to old music. The old music being a bit obscure relatively, people are ready to pay. Being from the vintage music lover community, I know many people who have literally spent lakhs on their collections and put in efforts to get the songs from all over the world.
There is of course the "Me too" phenomena. Nothing like a dose of jealousy that boosts sales. I have seen many people spending lots of money to get rare songs because they want to show their "friends" that they have "better" collections and tastes as they get that obscure artist which no one has heard. Often the raving doesn't match up to the quality expected when heard. This particular kind really gets my goat as it spoils the market. God alone knows how much music has been hoarded because of an "inferiority/superiority complex" in people and people have bought things at unwanted prices for unwanted items. If people just were happy with what they have and appreciated, the situation in the world in most spheres would be so much better.
Vinojasan:
You are most welcome. Yes, smaller and regional companies could have done something to repair the situation. (T-series had done such a thing to bring down costs in the 80s for casettes and later by MP3 CDs). But, they are fast shutting shop just like the music shops for whom they worked. Profit margins are not much and the input/operating costs these days are pretty high. Digital recordings and easy Piracy means CDs don't sell anyway. Due to this, I don't see prices for vinyl (which has an appeal for a selected few) falling to those kind of levels you talk of.
We can only hope for those prices from those wanting to give away their collections to music lovers who will take care of them. (May the tribe of such people increase
)Shivam:
I also agree. These are the ethical prices according to me as well. Above prices though according to me are not just unethical but also in some cases blasphemous
The new pressings are costing more due to the limited quantity of pressings and other costs I mentioned above. They are not worth it.
My personal opinion is that digitisation is useful to share the limited copies of music available as various analog recordings and should be encouraged. However, putting the digital recordings on records doesn't help much. For me, the best records to listen to are the 78 rpms which were pure analog recordings in every way. There is something really warm about those!
Which is this shop you bought records from in Chandni Shop? Will wait for you to search the visiting card. Maybe can see it if I visit it sometime. The prices certainly don't sound like New Gramophone House
anujmishra
Active Member
Apart from we few forum members how much vinyl is getting popular? I don't see that it started penetrating to the masses. And our numbers are very less. Due to this some of the inhouse vinyl sellers started exploiting us particularly.
Shivam
Well-Known Member
Which is this shop you bought records from in Chandni Shop? Will wait for you to search the visiting card. Maybe can see it if I visit it sometime. The prices certainly don't sound like New Gramophone House
It was a small shop near metro station, some distance from the Gramophone House. I'll try to visit the shop again on my next Delhi visit and post the address then. Can't find the visiting card now.
But, I often seeing many persons visiting shops to purchase vinyl records (Even they don't know about this forum!). A shop in moore market having hundred plus regular customers. Whenever I visit this shop, I found two or three guys flipping the vinyl bundles and selecting their favorites.
One of the sellers say that nowadays the sales is gone up and some times he is selling 100 plus records in a single day. This is the reason behind the inflated price of Vinyls.
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G401fan: You have summarised the situation very well. Your theory on inflation is interesting but over all one can say its a sellers market in a way these days. The reason is simple. There are a lot of people today with a lot of disposable income who are ready to shell out a lot of money. Why they do this, for that many reasons are there. A few of them are:-
1. Many people are really earning a lot more money than their parents earned in the 80s thanks to cushiony high paying MNC jobs, foreign trips and in some cases, they even stay abroad.
2. Many families these days have multiple earning members and the expenditures get shared. Hence, more saved money to spare.
3. Due to more business opportunities some businessmen have more disposable income.
4. Due to real estate picking up, quite a few people became millionaires overnight.
People are ready to pay for nostalgia. Thanks to the net and other media explosion, a vendor is able to reach customers everywhere easily. Earlier, one needed a physical shop. An online shop doesn't cost that much and many have joined the bandwagon. Old timers will agree, going to a record shop was a more personal experience but searching many shops wasn't so easy.
Of course, the quality of music has been declining steadily over the years. People are getting attracted to old music. The old music being a bit obscure relatively, people are ready to pay. Being from the vintage music lover community, I know many people who have literally spent lakhs on their collections and put in efforts to get the songs from all over the world.
There is of course the "Me too" phenomena. Nothing like a dose of jealousy that boosts sales. I have seen many people spending lots of money to get rare songs because they want to show their "friends" that they have "better" collections and tastes as they get that obscure artist which no one has heard. Often the raving doesn't match up to the quality expected when heard. This particular kind really gets my goat as it spoils the market. God alone knows how much music has been hoarded because of an "inferiority/superiority complex" in people and people have bought things at unwanted prices for unwanted items. If people just were happy with what they have and appreciated, the situation in the world in most spheres would be so much better.
Vinojasan:
You are most welcome. Yes, smaller and regional companies could have done something to repair the situation. (T-series had done such a thing to bring down costs in the 80s for casettes and later by MP3 CDs). But, they are fast shutting shop just like the music shops for whom they worked. Profit margins are not much and the input/operating costs these days are pretty high. Digital recordings and easy Piracy means CDs don't sell anyway. Due to this, I don't see prices for vinyl (which has an appeal for a selected few) falling to those kind of levels you talk of.
We can only hope for those prices from those wanting to give away their collections to music lovers who will take care of them. (May the tribe of such people increase
Shivam:
I also agree. These are the ethical prices according to me as well. Above prices though according to me are not just unethical but also in some cases blasphemous
The new pressings are costing more due to the limited quantity of pressings and other costs I mentioned above. They are not worth it.
My personal opinion is that digitisation is useful to share the limited copies of music available as various analog recordings and should be encouraged. However, putting the digital recordings on records doesn't help much. For me, the best records to listen to are the 78 rpms which were pure analog recordings in every way. There is something really warm about those!
Which is this shop you bought records from in Chandni Shop? Will wait for you to search the visiting card. Maybe can see it if I visit it sometime. The prices certainly don't sound like New Gramophone House
Thanks for the analysis...
As a Journalist, one day I spoke to the Chief of Echo recording company and told them the present demand for vinyls and how their old releases are now selling for usurious prices. He was really shocked and revealed the actual cost of a vinyl (Cost price is Rs 25 then and retail selling price is Rs 40).
He also told that even now they could sell the newest LPs for Rs 300 to 350. If their disputes with Maestro Ilayarajaa were settled asap they are ready to release their old albums in new vinyl format.
Hi all,
Leave alone LPs let them first sell quality recorded CDs in first place, for which they had the rights earlier, which they miserably failed to do.
N.Murali.
Shivam
Well-Known Member
I had got the DDLJ LP from the first batch and it had sounded worse than the CD. If you have found the new ones better then that is a good sign.
krishnadas
New Member
came across an ad in quikr offering records tocollectors . i contacted the said person who was offering each record whether lp , 78 rpm or ep at the same rate of rs 3000. when i asked him he said that in terms of money value, thats what they would cost now irrespective of what size it is
reubensm
Well-Known Member
Is he offereing extremely rare collector's titles for Rs.3k/record? If no, then there is only one word to describe the seller, "Greedy".
bhaskarcan
Well-Known Member
In this stressful life, sometime we need comic relief......what our life would be without these jokers....
:lol:Yes, very often this type of ads are surfacing in the quikr/olx sites....better to ignore them.
Regards,
Bhaskar
shafic
Well-Known Member
In this stressful life, sometime we need comic relief......what our life would be without these jokers....
Yes, very often this type of ads are surfacing in the quikr/olx sites....better to ignore them.
Regards,
Bhaskar
+1 Bhaskar,
I am searching one 'NIGHT IN LONDON' LP for a long time.Recently i asked one LP dealer. I couldn't control my anger
after hearing his price. He coolly asked for Rs 25k. MAD.bhaskarcan
Well-Known Member
+1 Bhaskar,
I am searching one 'NIGHT IN LONDON' LP for a long time.Recently i asked one LP dealer. I couldn't control my anger
Ignorant people are trying to en-cash the so called demand of the records.
I don't know about the rarity of this record (NIGHT IN LONDON), let me check Kolkata market. I'll let you know if I get any here.
Regards,
Bhaskar
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