Wed 2 May 2007
What Do You Think We Should Do?
Posted by virgil under Vinyl Collective, What do you think?
I need your thoughts on how we should handle a situation we keep running into at Vinyl Collective. From time to time, we get offered multiple colors of a particular vinyl release and we always try our best to offer them to you since I know some folks like to seek out either all of the color options or particular color options. The problem occurs when the label shrinkwraps the vinyl without stickering it which color option it is. This leaves us in a pinch when we pride ourselves in trying to send the correct colored vinyl to you. Moving forward, we can either: a. open the shrinkwrap so we know which color the record is and offer the individual colors or b. just offer the record without noting which color it is. I lean towards a. but I would like to know your thoughts on this. I value your opinions so please leave your comments.
And if you are a vinyl label reading this, make sure you sticker your shrinkwrap. We started doing so with Limbeck and Fear Before and labels like Second Nature have always been great about labeling their vinyl.
Vinyl Collective
May 2nd, 2007 at 9:15 am
definately a for me…id rather know the color
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:43 am
i dont have a problem with the shrink wrap being opened
May 2nd, 2007 at 11:16 am
A, I’d rather know what I’m buying than order a color I’m really excited to see and then get standard black.
But, to go on what you said, the bigger problem seems to be the companies not signifying what is what. This should be their responsibility, not yours.
Either way, thanks for asking the consumers. It’s nice to see someone who actually cares and encourages interaction. Keep up the great work!
- Jeff
May 2nd, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Remove the shrink wrap, check the color and then put the album in a record Jacket sleeve and send that out to the customer.
May 2nd, 2007 at 5:02 pm
as far as i’m concerned, i hate paying full price for a new record online and getting something that’s already been opened.
but i enjoy surpises and am not afraid of the unknown.
May 2nd, 2007 at 7:55 pm
open that shit bitch
May 2nd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
as someone who collects and sells vinyl, i find its better for people to know exactly what theyre getting. when i sell a record and its sealed, i always check the color but i do this by just slicing the shrinkwrap at the end of the jacket with a blade just so i can slide the record out and check the color. i leave the shrinkwrap actually intact on the jacket itself. more often than not, i will never buy a record without knowing exactly what im getting.
when i didnt check colors for stuff i was selling, i actually found that i sold less. so for what its worth, i dont think it would decrease business at all. lets face it, people buy vinyl to listen to it but they also buy vinyl to collect it and when youre a collector (records or otherwise), you want to know exactly what youre getting.
i think some labels shrinkwrap things to keep the e-bay fiends at bay (no pun intended) but other labels choose not to shrinkwrap their records at all because it saves them a ton of headaches from having order mixups as far as sending someone the wrong color(s). from what i understand, escape artist had this problem with the first color sets of the isis - celestial repress. i think any label releasing colored vinyl should either shrinkwrap and designate the color or not shrinkwrap at all. just my long-winded two cents.
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:36 am
I prefer to be the one to open my vinyl. As long as you’re sure that it’s colored and not black, which you typically do, it’s down to the luck of the draw.
But whatever you decide, be sure you state that the vinyl is open. I wasn’t thrilled about my Converge LP being opened without knowing it. I know you didn’t open them but it should have been stated. In fact, even though you mention that the Comback Kid albums aren’t labeled as to color, you don’t specifically mention that they are indeed opened. That can be misleading to some people
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:04 am
Hi Virgil
By all means open the shrink wrap, it is best to know what you are buying. Another reason is that most collectors remove the shrink wrap anyway and put their collectible albums in polyeurethene covers, thereby reducung the risk of warping the record by keeping it in the shrink wrap.
Thanks for a wonderful venue to find collectible vinyl!
Robert
http://www.collectingvinylrecords.com
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Option A all the way!
May 3rd, 2007 at 2:44 pm
yeah that is typically what i do with mine when i get them if possible…just cut open the side with a blade to check..
May 4th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
I too like to know exactly what color I’m getting, and I buy vinyl to listen to. So I say go with what commenter #4 said and throw it (not literally, please) in a sleeve after opening to check.
May 5th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I’m with the guy that said open the shrink and send it out in a plastic sleeve. People make such a big deal on ebay or whatever about things being “brand new, still in the shrink wrap.” Who cares? It’s not like you can’t re-shrink a record to make it look brand new.
Also, I rather have 180 gram black vinyl than some crazy colored record any day.
May 7th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
open it. i don’t like surprises. i want to know im getting what i paid for.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
“says:
May 2nd, 2007 at 7:55 pm
open that shit bitch”
hahahahahahahahahaha
but on a more serious note, i’m fine with the vinyl being opened. push comes to shove, you could do a quick high-heat hair dryer blow on the side you open to re-shrink the shrink wrap…then again, you run the risk of warping the vinyl. i doubt it would warp though…
cheers!
May 14th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
I don’t know what the cost would be (and this is way off topic), but a forum on this site would be awesome. I’m not aware of anything like that besides the hardcore label forums which are blowful. Just a thought. I’d be willing to kick in a few bucks for bandwidth, and I’m sure others would too.
Just a thought.
O
May 15th, 2007 at 9:36 am
oakland, I think that is a great idea. I will look into it. I will make a post on it right now.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:53 am
you should open every record you ship and send them outside of the jacket to avoid seam splits