How to Open a Record Store (Part Five) New Vinyl Inventory | Talking About Records

In the fifth installment of our "How to Open a Record Store" series we discuss all things NEW VINYL. Should you stock new releases and reissues in your store? Where do you get them? How much money do they cost you upfront, and how much profit can you expect to make? We tackle all this, and more, in this episode of Talking About Records.
✶ Talking About Records is presented by NTX Vinyl, a local, independent, chain of community based record stores in the DFW area.
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[@colbeats]

A couple friends and I have just recently started up our own online vinyl store. This video could not have come at a more perfect time, and your advice is very helpful. I appreciate this content so much, thank you!

[@NTXVinyl]

Awesome! Love to hear it’s helpful

[@asbigasthis]

Thank you so much for making these videos. Super helpful. Just wondering… can’t find part four. Did you take it down?

[@NTXVinyl]

kzbin.info/aero/PL8faDrV1lcp1x-2rGMt4a0DHBA1dxeYiC&si=xqyy4R7KWaV7ITX2

[@FridayGuyRecords]

Great Videos! Very helpful! What POS/Inventory system do you prefer? Do you keep used inventory or just new? Thanks!

[@UrbanSwagger]

I revisited your Frisco booth last weekend and was impressed with your growing selection. At the same time I wondered if you could really make profit spending say $500 a month on the rental space ... and you have 3 of these booths! I did purchase a cool used record by the way. If there are new arrivals coming in, I'll keep checking back.

[@NTXVinyl]

Awesome! Love to hear it. We typically add new arrivals on Saturdays - but it varies by the week. And yes…wouldn’t be in business if we didn’t make a profit. ✌🏻

[@vintagemostwanted4557]

Very helpful video! Thank you for sharing. You mentioned that you price match. Is this with the big box stores only or with the other local shops? Looking forward to your next video. Thank you 🙏🏼

[@NTXVinyl]

Mostly to big-boxes, because they're the ones that undercut MSRP to screw indie retailers.

[@ensoph89]

Amazing video! considering opening a store in Germany :) Question: do you stock new vinyls that you think are music gems, you store them in your inventory (taking up space), with just the intention of selling them like in years, when they are not to find anymore and might get quite some value? All I mean is, do you bet on some bands and their music to sell their vinyls much later than the time you purchased their vinyls? Thanks a million!

[@t3dewys]

I would probably not visit a shop a second time if they only had preowned vinyl. Not that I never buy preowned. Maybe 10% of my 1500 albums are used, but I definitely prefer to buy new.

[@NTXVinyl]

So interesting. I often come across people that are one or the other. I don't discriminate at all - love aspects of both and my collection is probably 50/50

[@bobbyrencher1795]

wow, nice series. The one problem with new vinyl that I have been wondering about ( I used to own Phantasmagoria, a small chain in DC 1980-2000) is returns for overstock that will not sell. Do your wholesale distributors take back a certain percentage of returns based on your total purchases? In the past when you had a account set up with WEA CBS, RCA Capitol etc. you could return any in print LP that did not sell for full credit. If you bought through a one stop middleman because you did not deal directly with the major labels you could return 10% of the nonsellable titles. Certainly you are dealing with a tiny profit margin to begin with and not everything sells, some is defective and some just disappears. Are you sure you are making a profit from the new vinyl?

[@NTXVinyl]

No. You cannot return overstock to labels or distributors these days. That’s not a thing any longer.

[@rafinasrullah8533]

Hello peeps, any recommend big store wholesaler new vinyl records who can ship worldwide?

[@randymixter7432]

Although I still sell new albums in my store, the increased distributor cost per album has severely limited my purchases. Quite simply, my profit margins are much higher on used albums than on new albums. I will still buy new product from time to time, but used is where I make the most profit.

[@NTXVinyl]

It's understandable. My biz at this point is about 50/50 sales between new and pre-owned. Just have to be smart about the upfront costs and choosy on the titles I know will move quickly.

[@randymixter7432]

@@NTXVinyl I should add that the cash output is a huge factor. A $2,000 new album purchase will bring me around 200 albums. Whereas the same amount spent on a collection will result in around 1,500 to 2,000 records purchased. True, I'll get some duds mixed in but because I sell used albums between $5 to $15 I will make a bigger profit on bulk sales. Selling low has substantially increased my customer base, and because I visually grade, the labeling and cleaning (if necessary) is easy and not too time consuming. In closing I'll say that I still have the customer who is willing to pay between $30 and $40 for a new album but they're becoming few and far between.

[@NTXVinyl]

@@randymixter7432 Totally get it. The most important thing is to know your customer base. A large portion of my customers want new releases and reissues just as much as pre-owned titles - so that's been a huge factor on increasing my new vinyl inventory over the years

[@DorianPaige00]

How do you feel a used record store would do online with grading and picky buyers? Are margins typically to too tight for putting new on Discogs? Personally I'd actually stock a record where there was a $2 margin because in this market things go out of print faster than most people change their underwear. If it's in demand, margin shouldn't matter much. Not to get too personal but are records your full time job?

[@NTXVinyl]

Selling pre-owned online is totally possible. If I didn't have a local base I'm sure I'd do more of it. But your concern is valid, grading is so subjective that it's hard to make everyone happy. Selling new on Discogs is typically very competitive. A ton of larger shops (and even Distributors selling direct) typically buy a ton and price really low to increase volume. A $2 margin is basically a wash - by the time you add in labor/time costs. If I'm buying at $28, and selling for $30 I'm wasting my time - as it's smarter to lead that customer to spend their $30 on a title I paid $18 for. Because that may be the only budget they have. And yes, NTX is my full time job, as well as my wife's.

[@ScottTice1971]

Discogs takes their cut too, and it’s not small.

[@Diesskay]

Discogs takes 8% and since you have to use PayPal, that's another 8%. And you need to add the shipping and it is a huge additional cost.

[@DorianPaige00]

@@Diesskay That's not too bad. It's like social security.

[@ScottTice1971]

@@Diesskay Yep. That's a LOT.

[@jonshap9309]

In my brief searches on wholesalers, it asks for business specifics: EIN, physical store etc. if you’re just starting out, how difficult is it to get records from wholesalers? Love the series and your tiktok

[@NTXVinyl]

Thanks so much! I address this in the video specifically. Yes, many/most wholesale distributors will require a TaxID/EIN, and some have minimum order requirements in order to ship. But that’s about it. No distributors care about physical location, they’re fine to sell you albums and you can sell them wherever/however you want.

[@rafinasrullah8533]

@@NTXVinyl hello any recommendation wholesaler store for new records, like juno? and worldwide shipping? ty

[@Henry-lq6rt]

Great Video! Im looking to start a record store in Stillwater, OK. I was wondering what you use to track your inventory? I've been doing pop ups around town but when they're over I'm left with tickets that have all the vinyl I sold on them and then I take those tickets and delete the sold vinyl from a spreadsheet. Its a terrible system and I want something more automated. Any recommendations?

[@NTXVinyl]

Inventory is hard. I don’t track pre-owned LPs, only new. But even that is make shift at best

[@NTXVinyl]

My goal is always to move the inventory through in days/weeks so as not to need to track it long term. Fast turnaround, priority on cash flow

[@seabrookmendoza7378]

Do you have any suggestions for where one could by wholesale vinyl from?

[@NTXVinyl]

sure. Email us. [e-mail]

[@2B903]

I have been searching for distributors for a couple of days. Is millions of records reputable?

[@NTXVinyl]

Yup! Fast shipping too

[@2B903]

@@NTXVinyl you don’t understand how much of a help you’ve been!

[@dinoso]

After you purchase a new record from a distributor, how do you set its price at the store? I do a lot of comparison between online shops, and most of them have the same price for the same album. Do the label or the distributor set the price or can you set it to your needs?

[@NTXVinyl]

In most cases, like many retail industries, a MSRP (manufacturers suggested retail price) exists. It’s a baseline of where to start with pricing a record (or any product)

[@dinoso]

@@NTXVinyl thanks!

[@DoomDaniels]

Where can u buy new vinyl wholesale like that??

[@NTXVinyl]

From vinyl record distributors. URP, Alliance Entertainment, and All Media Supply are the largest in the U.S.

[@DoomDaniels]

@@NTXVinyl would you be able to recommended buying bulk at a certain amount of copies as far as how much bang for ur buck??

[@NTXVinyl]

@@DoomDaniels new LPs do not cost less the more you buy. I wish

[@mymixture965]

More and more people hunting for used records, here in Austria flea market prices go up and up. I see shops buying collections from ebay so get supply. There is a race, 5 min late on the flea market, the good stuff is gone and as a dealer you are competing with collectors. I still find stuff but not enough for a store, just for me financing my collection.

[@NTXVinyl]

Makes sense. Most of those scenerios are dried up here as well.

[@mymixture965]

@@DG-ie5ip Cd will come back and then the prices will go up. Vinyl will stay because it sounds better, bur Cd will get there place in the hard copy market. But the low prices will be over as it happened with vinyl.

[@miamiwax5504]

only gonna get harder too.. never gonna get easier

[@TJONGoogle]

The wholesale costs for new are too high, the prices of vinyl is still too high - it needs to come down to become a better value to buyers/sellers.