Needles & Grooves

Idk, vinyl prices in general have gone through the roof during this pandemic. It shits on those that are struggling, but I think they’re going to make more money :/

Not defending VMP but I have a bad feeling prices are going to go up on a whole lot things in the near future. I bought some peppers that used to be 1.50 a lb and they were 4 bucks a lb now. Pretty much my whole grocery list doubled in price. from the last time I went shopping.

Let's expand. Food is a necessity, VMP is a "luxury". Adding to the stress of these times when you're not a needed commodity is a gamble. Once you've lost a customer it's really hard to get them back. But, and this is just my opinion and not meant as a knock to VMP subscribers, VMP operates on the assumption of FOMO, which to me, again, in these times, becomes an ethical thing more than ever.

@Rahawk2 I saw an article that said grocery prices have risen between 15-30% from March this year. Which makes you're point, Anthony, even more poignant. To raise rates on a luxury item when everything else is also going up in price is not always the best economic decision.

@Rahawk2 prices on food are going up on labor intensive foods like certain veggies and fruits because of labor shortages due to restrictions. Other prices are going up due to price gouging and supply/demand. VMP is raising prices mostly due to incompetence and inability to do simple jobs. They were having issues long before the pandemic started.

@MikeH Yes, this is the only thing that annoys me with the price increase. If the reasons were what they state and we could see the quality going up these past years, I'd be more Ok with it.
But as you say, all evidence points to to the incompetence and inability to fix the issues they have had for years as the reasons for the price hike.

Check the pre-order thread. Vinyl prices have gone up across the board. I agree that VMP does some boneheaded things, but I image they are trying to keep their company solvent.

@Kris , ya, I see that as well, but the VMP model is built on hooking you, that's my opinion and it's gonna be hard to change it, that being said, the "non-contractual" nature of vinyl prices going up with random vendors is easier to "just say no" or wait for a deal, coupon code or payday if it's something you REALLY want.

@Kris yes preorder prices have gone up but $40 for a record that has 10K or so copies pressed isn’t the norm (yet). I don’t entirely blame the small guys for charging $30 for an LP but the big labels and sellers like VMP jacking up prices to $40 for some dollar bin albums is frustrating.