The Blue Note Thread

Is anyone up on the Tone Poet/Classic restock situation? It seems they relisted a bunch of them but have already sold out. Is this really what happened?

My "research" shows conflicting reports of people having purchased restocks from here that have then shown as sold out again hours later and others saying that they won't be available for purchase till the 4th. I guess time will tell?

store.bluenote.com

Tone Poet Series

store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com
 
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johnpisme said:
Is anyone up on the Tone Poet/Classic restock situation? It seems they relisted a bunch of them but have already sold out. Is this really what happened?

My "research" shows conflicting reports of people having purchased restocks from here that have then shown as sold out again hours later and others saying that they won't be available for purchase till the 4th. I guess time will tell?

store.bluenote.com

Tone Poet Series

store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com
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My bet would be that they are deciding how much to stock online on a day-by-day basis. The repress volume is likely lower than the original runs, so they are also trying to balance out how much to send out to record stores. Sounds ad hoc, but the volumes of records we are talking about likely are not huge.
 
johnpisme said:
Is anyone up on the Tone Poet/Classic restock situation? It seems they relisted a bunch of them but have already sold out. Is this really what happened?

My "research" shows conflicting reports of people having purchased restocks from here that have then shown as sold out again hours later and others saying that they won't be available for purchase till the 4th. I guess time will tell?

store.bluenote.com

Tone Poet Series

store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com
Click to expand...
I also feel like the blue note web store itself has plenty of issues with keeping track of inventory (along with awful customer service), so I tend to avoid it and purchase from other sites like udiscover or plaidroom. I know plaidroom had restocks of moanin, somethin else, idle moments, speak no evil, and others last week but seemed like small numbers there, too.
 
So I ordered the Ornette Coleman box on Dec 27th from uDiscover, it still has not shipped, and they just keep telling me they are looking into it, is anyone else having this issue?

I am super understanding when it comes to these things, but this is an over $200 boxset, and other places seem to have this in stock, so not hearing from them for a week, and just getting the same canned response, when on their site it says it's "in stock"/
 
Ericj32 said:
I also feel like the blue note web store itself has plenty of issues with keeping track of inventory (along with awful customer service), so I tend to avoid it and purchase from other sites like udiscover or plaidroom. I know plaidroom had restocks of moanin, somethin else, idle moments, speak no evil, and others last week but seemed like small numbers there, too.
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Still waiting on my copy of Chet Baker from the beginning of the pandemic!
 
Lol the Blue Note store is awful. I ordered a bunch of records near the start of the pandemic, and then I get an email saying some are out of stock and to pick replacement records. I do so, and next email says "Sorry, you can't exchange albums in your order!", and im eventually sent a set of albums including 2 I never ordered or mentioned, and one of the "out of stock" records as well. Looking back on it it's kind of hilarious.
 
Why would anyone in their right mind order from Universal or any affiliated webstore? Universal is the worst, and biggest, record company in the world. They could care less about you, music, quality, vinyl, or anything other than shareholders.

Buy it in a store, a real store. Or buy it online from a real, independent store.

Giving money to Universal is just paying a bunch of lawyers, because that's all that Universal has working for them.
 
RHANDMJ said:
Why would anyone in their right mind order from Universal or any affiliated webstore? Universal is the worst, and biggest, record company in the world. They could care less about you, music, quality, vinyl, or anything other than shareholders.

Buy it in a store, a real store. Or buy it online from a real, independent store.

Giving money to Universal is just paying a bunch of lawyers, because that's all that Universal has working for them.
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While I get this (trust me I ran a record store so I didn’t need to order from them I “know better”, I agree with what you are saying, but I had a gift card so there is that), this comes off as gatekeeper-ish. There are plenty of people that can’t get to a physical store or may just be getting into vinyl and may not know.

Furthermore, with vinyl prices increasing when UD does have sales it can be an option for someone who may not have the money to spend full MSRP. Should you support independent record stores, of course. Is UD the devil? Ok.

If someone grabs a fugazi or crass record from Walmart who the hell am I to shame them. Sometimes that’s the only option. Posts like the one above can alienate people from buying records. Full stop.
 
NoTrend said:
While I get this (trust me I ran a record store so I didn’t need to order from them I “know better”, I agree with what you are saying, but I had a gift card so there is that), this comes off as gatekeeper-ish. There are plenty of people that can’t get to a physical store or may just be getting into vinyl and may not know.

Furthermore, with vinyl prices increasing when UD does have sales it can be an option for someone who may not have the money to spend full MSRP. Should you support independent record stores, of course. Is UD the devil? Ok.

If someone grabs a fugazi or crass record from Walmart who the hell am I to shame them. Sometimes that’s the only option. Posts like the one above can alienate people from buying records. Full stop.
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Fair enough. I get it about discount codes. But that's how the devil works! Gets you in with the discount code, then you have sold your soul!

Remember, it all started with the Devil tempting Eve to give Adam the apple. It all went downhill from there, and then you get to Donald Trump.

Just kidding. But I doubt anyone would be alienated from buying records because of an online post.
 
RHANDMJ said:
Fair enough. I get it about discount codes. But that's how the devil works! Gets you in with the discount code, then you have sold your soul!

Remember, it all started with the Devil tempting Eve to give Adam the apple. It all went downhill from there, and then you get to Donald Trump.

Just kidding. But I doubt anyone would be alienated from buying records because of an online post.
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Trust me I understand where you are coming from. I ran/owned a record store, ran a fiercely indecent record label for many years. I am with you

But I also understand not everyone has the same privilege or knowledge to support Indies, and if you want people to be accepting of that knowledge so to speak, while your post is just on some message board, it is representative of something that has and continues to turn away people who should dive deep on why say, a UD or a corporate store isn't the best option. Your heart is totally in the right place, I get it, but not everything is so black or white.
 
RHANDMJ said:
Why would anyone in their right mind order from Universal or any affiliated webstore? Universal is the worst, and biggest, record company in the world. They could care less about you, music, quality, vinyl, or anything other than shareholders.

Buy it in a store, a real store. Or buy it online from a real, independent store.

Giving money to Universal is just paying a bunch of lawyers, because that's all that Universal has working for them.
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For udiscover, I think it boils down to them having free shipping and lots of 30% off sales that you can combine with rewards points. They also used to have stacking coupons that you could combine so you’d get 30% off with a sale + 20% off with a coupon code = 50% off everything in the store. They didn’t advertise that the codes stacked and they seem to have shut all of that down now, so it felt fine to take advantage of those kinds of loopholes while you could. Same with Target’s “buy 2, get 1 free” sales. As long as you’re still also supporting smaller independent stores consistently, I don’t think you need to feel bad about getting some good deals with the big box corporations.
 
With UD's discounts and rewards points, I can prettymuch stay up to date on all the fantastic jazz releases we've been getting these few years. If I had to pay full price I'd have to really limit my buying to maybe 3 or 4 a month and not have the luxury of exploring new titles. I'd much rather take the former and make trips to the local just once in a while.
 
I also though don't want @RHANDMJ post to just get lost. What they are saying isn't wrong at all, and if you can, you should try to buy from indie stores, but you shouldn't have guilt about it if you do not have that privilege or option to always support an indie. if you have an indie you like and can't always go, telling your friends or leaving them a review if they treated you well is super helpful (I get 99% of us here know this already, but it's always good to say sometimes).
 
NoTrend said:
Trust me I understand where you are coming from. I ran/owned a record store, ran a fiercely indecent record label for many years. I am with you

But I also understand not everyone has the same privilege or knowledge to support Indies, and if you want people to be accepting of that knowledge so to speak, while your post is just on some message board, it is representative of something that has and continues to turn away people who should dive deep on why say, a UD or a corporate store isn't the best option. Your heart is totally in the right place, I get it, but not everything is so black or white.
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I was talking to a friend who is opening up a record store. He said that he concentrated on used vinyl because the margins are higher. While new stuff from labels weren’t worth his time. He’s sticking some favorite stuff from specific labels, but not a large new release section.
 
Dtknuckles said:
I was talking to a friend who is opening up a record store. He said that he concentrated on used vinyl because the margins are higher. While new stuff from labels weren’t worth his time. He’s sticking some favorite stuff from specific labels, but not a large new release section.
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Yeah. Used records were our bread and butter. It’s no secret stuff like Led Zeppelin, queen, or other classic rock can get people in the door.

The best story I have is a kid who was buying classic rock but wanted to get into some blues. We had a Leadbelly comp in my store. He took a chance. The came came in a few weeks later and was saying how awesome that Leadbelly record was. He asked what was next? He bought a Charley Patton LP. That ruled. That right there made every tight rent month at the store, sleeping on the floor to make sure RSD was correct, and giving up my own collection to the store worth it.

Back to jazz though. Where the hell is my Ornette Coleman box?
 
DJSJ said:
With UD's discounts and rewards points, I can prettymuch stay up to date on all the fantastic jazz releases we've been getting these few years. If I had to pay full price I'd have to really limit my buying to maybe 3 or 4 a month and not have the luxury of exploring new titles. I'd much rather take the former and make trips to the local just once in a while.
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This. I exclusively use UD to keep up with Tone Poets and the AS series. I’ll take trips to my local more often than I purchase from UD anyways, so I don’t really feel too guilty about it.
 
Dtknuckles said:
I was talking to a friend who is opening up a record store. He said that he concentrated on used vinyl because the margins are higher. While new stuff from labels weren’t worth his time. He’s sticking some favorite stuff from specific labels, but not a large new release section.
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Valid, and successful vinyl stores I know of all deal extensively in used vinyl. The margins on new vinyl are not as high, and the cost of returns eats into that. However, not all are equal.

There are those who achieve high margins by taking advantage of customers needing cash. They pay low for records and price high. These are bottom feeders. For example, here in Toronto Sonic Boom is known for that.

Then there are those who are fair, and have built a business based on honest treatment of customers. They will usually pay 40-50% of Discogs median value. That gives them a 50% markup, notwithstanding factoring in that some will not move, and some will sit in inventory for longer than others. In Toronto, Rotate This is known for that.

The first type may move lots of product, but they won't get the prime used records that knowledgeable collectors will know the value of.

The second type achieve higher profits by virtue of being able to attract better records, and can achieve higher turnover - which ultimately more than makes up for the gap in gross margin while establishing superior customer loyalty.
 
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