Hi All,

I hope I've got this in the correct forum. Lately I've tried selling off a few of my cheaper records, to fund a couple of more expensive wants, mainly on Ebay, but also on SS and Facebook, as well as carrying a sales box around to just about everywhere I go. Nothing new in this, of course, except that, of late, I'm having very little success, with no sales on SS or Facebook, or from my box. As an experiment recently I posted six records on Ebay, that would normally fetch between £5 and £10 each, with a start price of just 99p. The listing was for ten days. Three of the records attracted no interest at all, while the other three went for just the start price, 99p. Is anyone else suffering from the same problem? Is there just a glut of cheap records about at the moment, or is there really a serious decline in sales generally? I notice many higher priced items seem to be becoming cheaper as time goes by. I've also noticed a number of long-term collectors who are selling up for various reasons. Any comments would be very welcome.

Thanks

John

 

Hot-boxing is okay if you are playing an hour here and there up and down the country - you can't do it if you are playing six hours solid regularly at a local night (av 3 mins a track, 20 records an hour x 6 = 120 records a night) - you need a fairly wide and extensive collection to carry that kind of thing off or else you'd be stale in a few months.

 

Add in the fact that you should be tailoring your selection on where you are playing, how you feel that week, what time of the year it is, whether you think it's gonna be a humdrum night attendance-wise and need working a bit or whether it's gonna be busy etc etc

 

Yes, you always need new sounds to keep it fresh but there's that much good, playable stuff out there that won't break the bank it's do-able without moving stuff on (and yes, I understand that hot-boxers are generally scene-led and they are big ticket items but you get my drift I hope!)

 

 

 

I have never heard of a northern night / nighter having anyone Dj for 6 hours. Even Butch would find that a challange. 

Edited December 10, 201311 yr by Quinvy

I have never heard of a northern night / nighter having anyone Dj for 6 hours. Even Butch would find that a challange. 

 

I've played that length of time in bars/clubs in Warrington for twenty odd years - used to start @ two in the afternoon some days and finish at 1am.

 

And why mention Butch - is he Super-DJ?

Here,s another that stands up against anything for me, postage will probably cost as much as the record,   

 

Artistics-You left me-Brunswick Thinking mans soul, in fact it jumps right out at ya IMHO

 

 

Kev  

Edited December 10, 201311 yr by kev cane

I've played that length of time in bars/clubs in Warrington for twenty odd years - used to start @ two in the afternoon some days and finish at 1am.

 

And why mention Butch - is he Super-DJ?

 

Me too, Barry, until about ten years ago I used to DJ in clubs and bars and it meant four to six hours each night for three to five nights a week so it needed a big collection of new releases and a lot of older soul and funk and disco tracks.

It keeps you on your toes.

 

 

It keeps you on your toes.

 

 

 

...and every fecker else too

As someone who doesn't buy records, I think this is one of the most interesting topics I've read in years on here. Thanks gents 

Sorry Nev, it wasn't intentional, I just selected a couple of examples but when you said you couldn't entertain cheap records I didn't realise you meant selling cheap records ...and that makes a lot more sense of course!

And it's a good point because a lot of dealers and collectors can't be bothered to sell cheap 45s (especially individually) because the margin is so low and it requires the effort of the transaction and the trip to the post office etc.

I'm glad you've cleared that up because I was getting a bit worried about you  and was starting to think bricklayers must be way overpaid these days!

Paul

P.S.  Yes I used to write for a tabloid but I didn't hack anyone's phones   

 

That's brilliant, I didn't understand Nev's post either, but now I have had it explained, I agree with him wholeheartedly. Unless you have hundreds of cheap records to sell, then the effort required to advertise each one with sound files and scans means it's just not worth the effort.

 

If on the other hand you have two or three big ticket items to sell, you can make far more profit for very little effort. The only problem is actually finding the big ticket stuff in the first place, hence why they are so in demand.

 

Another analogy to add to what I was saying earlier. Karl Heard did what chalky and Kev were extolling in their posts, he spent many hours and a lot of money listening to cheap records at nighters and on line, and he created his own very original sound. In fact I can't remember anyone else who has made such a name for himself in so little time, without buying the big ticket items.  

 

The problem was, every Tom, Dick and Harry went out and bought his set and played it, and it isn't just as simple as that either. To find the 20 to 30 records that were good enough to play out, Karl had bought many hundreds of other 45's that he realised weren't that good when he got them home. 

 

I think he's still trying to get rid of the rejects to this day. And there's the point. They might be cheap for Tom, Dick and Harry, but they were bloody expensive for Karl who put all the effort in. I'm not saying it's right, but I can understand why most people take the safer route of buying the established big hitters.

That's brilliant, I didn't understand Nev's post either, but now I have had it explained, I agree with him wholeheartedly. Unless you have hundreds of cheap records to sell, then the effort required to advertise each one with sound files and scans means it's just not worth the effort.

 

If on the other hand you have two or three big ticket items to sell, you can make far more profit for very little effort. The only problem is actually finding the big ticket stuff in the first place, hence why they are so in demand.

 

Another analogy to add to what I was saying earlier. Karl Heard did what chalky and Kev were extolling in their posts, he spent many hours and a lot of money listening to cheap records at nighters and on line, and he created his own very original sound. In fact I can't remember anyone else who has made such a name for himself in so little time, without buying the big ticket items.  

 

The problem was, every Tom, Dick and Harry went out and bought his set and played it, and it isn't just as simple as that either. To find the 20 to 30 records that were good enough to play out, Karl had bought many hundreds of other 45's that he realised weren't that good when he got them home. 

 

I think he's still trying to get rid of the rejects to this day. And there's the point. They might be cheap for Tom, Dick and Harry, but they were bloody expensive for Karl who put all the effort in. I'm not saying it's right, but I can understand why most people take the safer route of buying the established big hitters.

Having your own EAR was mentioned earlier Phil, and in all this, that was one of the points I was trying to get over, I think its a great little statement, and oh so very true, rather than following the crowd with your cheque book trying to acquire the "biggie". Karl obviously did that(used his own ear), and fair play to him, regardless of whether he bought cheap records or rare records, they appealed to him, what he wanted to listen to and play out, did his own leg work instead of becoming a sheep and buying records to impress other people. I don,t buy cheap records to make a statement, like I said previously, some records I have had to shell out a lot of cash for, but, they were for me, just like the cheap one's that take as much pride of place as the expensive one,s. Could have posted for example, Enchanters, "Look about you" but I think The Esquires and The Artistics that I posted are every bit the equal if not better, just 2 great examples in my opinion of stuff ignored through snobbery and lack of vision, taste and initiative, The Carnival catalogue is rammed with cheaper records that stand toe to toe with so called biggies. They are out there, in there thousands, looking for good homes, and I will say it again, buy a record because YOU like it, thats all that counts, use your own ear, not other peoples (recommendations by all means)

 

Kev 

Edited December 10, 201311 yr by kev cane

That's brilliant, I didn't understand Nev's post either, but now I have had it explained, I agree with him wholeheartedly. Unless you have hundreds of cheap records to sell, then the effort required to advertise each one with sound files and scans means it's just not worth the effort.

 

If on the other hand you have two or three big ticket items to sell, you can make far more profit for very little effort. The only problem is actually finding the big ticket stuff in the first place, hence why they are so in demand.

 

Another analogy to add to what I was saying earlier. Karl Heard did what chalky and Kev were extolling in their posts, he spent many hours and a lot of money listening to cheap records at nighters and on line, and he created his own very original sound. In fact I can't remember anyone else who has made such a name for himself in so little time, without buying the big ticket items.  

 

The problem was, every Tom, Dick and Harry went out and bought his set and played it, and it isn't just as simple as that either. To find the 20 to 30 records that were good enough to play out, Karl had bought many hundreds of other 45's that he realised weren't that good when he got them home. 

 

I think he's still trying to get rid of the rejects to this day. And there's the point. They might be cheap for Tom, Dick and Harry, but they were bloody expensive for Karl who put all the effort in. I'm not saying it's right, but I can understand why most people take the safer route of buying the established big hitters.

 

As you know Phil,Karl collected more genres than just funky dance music.For the "nighter crowds" he  dug out off the radar tunes,saw the gap in the market and went for it.He was also very shrewd in the fact the he recognised the shelf life. 

Everybody has had turkeys in their collections.Not all cheapies either.

Everybody has had turkeys in their collections

 

 

Speak for yersen

Sometimes i think we are in danger of over - analysing .Taking the fun out of everything.

 

I think it's well past that point for some mate.

 

Len  

I think it's well past that point for some mate.

 

Len  

 

Exactly what did you mean by that Len???

I think it's well past that point for some mate.

 

Len  

 

I am not a number.We are all individuals. 

I am not a number.We are all individuals. 

 

I heard you smoke No.6 Kev!?

As you know Phil,Karl collected more genres than just funky dance music.For the "nighter crowds" he  dug out off the radar tunes,saw the gap in the market and went for it.He was also very shrewd in the fact the he recognised the shelf life. 

Everybody has had turkeys in their collections.Not all cheapies either.

Absolutely Kev, but he had to start buying some big money tunes when everyone had copied the cheaper stuff that he played.

And that was my point, the whole ethos of the scene was built on (to quote from other posts) willy waving. Why else did we travel all over the country to hear this music? Because some guys were willy waving saying "come and hear this incredible music, you can't hear it anywhere else, because we've got the only copy"

Ok so those days are numbered, but there are still a few one off's out there. Would you travel to listen to Butch if he was playing a set of cheap records? I'm not saying Butch doesn't play the odd cheapie because he does. But the reason he is number one is the fact he has the big hitters and his own one off's.

We all want to go out and here the one off the rarities and those we cant't hear at home, that's what it was all about at one time. But the days of going out and hearing something you can't hear via other mediums is fast becoming a thing of the past. At any given night there are very few DJ's who play something you can't hear via CDs or the internet. I don't think anyone would say anything different.

But the point I'm making and I guess Kev is that there is room for cheap stuff as well and I would sooner hear those than rarities that are simply dross or bore me to death. Too much snobbery when it comes to records and prices, too many are simply a case of emperors new clothes. Too many rarities have been hammered to death simply because they are rare whilst many good cheaper end stuff is ignored.

Karl proved you can play a set that is built of cheaper end stuff mixed in with rarer stuff if you put the time and effort in. But i can't think of too many willing to do that. Too many build there sets doing the same as others.

Edited December 11, 201311 yr by chalky