The 5 Hardest Things About Owning A Record Store

[@adamkinowski2354]

This video sums up the saying "a small business owner/entrepreneur will work 80 hours a week just so they dont have to work 40 hours a week". Glad you found your calling in life Matt- keep grinding

[@faulrevere8938]

“…so they don’t have to work 40 hours a week FOR SOMEONE ELSE.”

[@GeorgeGidim]

An idea for price changes is making a scrapper that is linked with your inventory, that gives you a list if price changes by % (5% threshold for example) on the record (linked to the specific pressing), scrap it every morning and change prices before you open. An idea.

[@around-about-recordsllc4243]

Nobody gets rich owning a record store.. Glad to see you’re still passionate about all this. I’ve been burnt out for years, and I finally liquidated inventory last week. Now I’m terminating the LLC, and washing my hands of this. I’ve got a great system and collection, but it came with some heavy costs.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Wonderful video! I am fortunate to have a great indie record store 8 minutes from my door. This reinforces the need to go there first before buying online. Thanks for posting this!

[@musicforhappypeople4608]

my opinion in any business apart from what you have mentioned are three things LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION !!!

[@usquebaugh1]

Quick comment about the hold policy. My local go-to shop will hold for two weeks and because it's a 45-60 minute drive downtown, I often opt to have them ship it (free shipping after a certain threshold). Occasionally I can head down and pick them up in person. Only one time I had forgotten and at the end of the two weeks, I received an email reminder and paid immediately. I don't know how much of an issue they have overall, but I have always found this arrangement very functional; a nice compromise between the hold indefinitely, versus no hold...with the understanding that after two weeks, the record is no longer held and gets put back into the bins for sale. I enjoyed the video and its insights. Cheers!

[@HouseofRecordsTacoma]

Could easily make the list ten. My pet peeve is the browser who stashes a cool rock record in the Bing Crosby section then never comes back to pick up his stash.

[@DavidHeafield]

U.K. ex store owner here …….i had a bricks and mortar store before vinyl had its rebirth , so let me throw this at you that happened to me….. As you know it takes quite a while to build up good stock , stock that people can’t find everywhere else. There used to be a Japanese buyer whose sole job was to continually tour the record shops of Europe (maybe America too?) he was renown throughout the U.K. …….he would buy it all up , ship it to London where it would be stored until they had enough to fill a shipping container and then ship it all back to vinyl loving Japan. So , one afternoon in he walks and I immediately recognise him but had never done business with him before , he comes over , introduces himself and negotiates a fixed discount rate over a certain amount spend with me which I agree to. Well , no word of a lie , he was pulling out and stacking up everything ! From the £10 items to the £150-£200 items , he literally cleaned me out of anything even half respectable ….and paid in £50 notes cash. ….a bumper payday for me ! …great right? Well no actually , once the euphoria of that bumper payday had subsided I was left with a half empty shop that only contained the usual £2-£5 “meh” records for the rest of my local customers to browse through until I restocked over a large amount of time again…..and lost many regulars along the way What seemed like an ideal situation (and it was right?) definitely turned into a double edged sword ….be careful what you wish for!

[@TooManyRecords]

Very interesting story, and a cautionary tale!

[@vinylwood]

This is an idea I see at my favorite local record store which may help you regarding your pricing issues. I know this doesn't help the price info hunt on Discogs you were talking about but this helps customers, your staff and you after that album is in your bins. So my local record guy uses medium sized information stickers that are placed on the outer poly sleeves he uses. The stickers have his logo and spaces with lines stating pressing year, quality (vg, vg+ nm) region of pressing, artists name, then a large space to write any special info pretaining to that re ord. I leave those stickers on for my own recall etc. Hope that helps.

[@vinyl2149]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about it....I own a record shop in Germany. I see the problems are all the same 😉

[@scottylovesthings]

Without a doubt, the best record store I’ve never been to!

[@TooManyRecords]

2024 is the year!!

[@Louisejames23]

I sell records at fairs in the UK and would love to have a store, however the biggest problems we have are high rents/taxes, high stock costs and generally people expecting (what they think are )Amazon prices whereby you’d make next to nothing. You’d really need to sell in volume to make it worthwhile unless you could sell rarer vinyl at higher prices. Your store looks great, keep it going! 😬👍❤️

[@d.dacumos4667]

Heading to OR next month! Can’t wait to visit!!!

[@vinnyjoemusic]

Thanks for posting this dude, truly insightful. 🙏

[@corporalquigg7873]

I've got a strict 1 week hold no longer than that you do have ro learn the hard way though 😂 As for what you can do to get the word out more. Maybe sponsor some local events to do with music or even do some pop ups and markets where you can bring some great records and pass out business cards etc. Also can't go wrong with a little guerilla advertising. Buy big stickers and put them in places where music lovers will be. Just some ideas you may even be doin em already but they weren't mentioned so I figured I'd toss em out. Good luck man were all in this together 🤘

[@MickSupper]

Our local record store does vinyl giveaways on a rock radio station.

[@raytodwal]

Glad I found out about you on Instagram! I'll have to drive up to North Portland and check you all out sometime (I live in SE). I love your type of shop. 🙂

[@kristennorth3268]

Newish record store owner. Can relate to most of these, except holds are rarely a problem so we still do them. We’ve brought in a lot of new people by participating in neighborhood business association events, like First Thursday type things. We advertise with the high schools and colleges and donate a lot of gift certificates to silent auctions, etc.

[@DorianPaige00]

Take out an add on local radio. Partner with antique malls not only for space but networking. Hold for a time period that customer states and then it goes out on shelf.

[@bacarandii]

I just discovered your channel and I enjoy your videos -- especially your engagement with the medium (LPs or KZbin? Both!). Your store stories bring me back to my days as a small business proprietor in Seattle in the 1980s -- but it wasn't a record store, it was a little single-screen independent movie theater in Seattle's Pike Place Market (which is still there, but doesn't show movies). We played mostly indie and foreign films -- and really scored with the months-long first-run Seattle engagement of "Stop Making Sense" (in amazing then-state-of-the-art Dolby surround) in 1984. I'm also a lifelong record collector -- still working on my collection after impulsively selling most of my LPs in 1992, when they were worth practically nothing (I sold them to a guy who was opening a record store when I was about to leave town for an extended period and had no place to store them). I've been rebuilding and expanding my collection ever since because I missed my records so much during the CD era (roughly mid-'80s to mid-aughts). Anyway, FWIW: We used to have a guy who put up posters for our theater -- and whatever movie we were showing -- around town in places we thought might appeal to our regulars: other indie theaters we were friendly with, of course, but also in bookstores, cafes, bars, music venues (the Showbox was just across the street), thrift/vintage shops, galleries, audio gear retailers, other record shops, and so on. We'd also put up their posters at our place when that seemed like it might be a mutually helpful exchange. Your store has a nice logo, so just getting a poster that reflects an image of your store around town might help build awareness, especially since you're in a location where you don't get a lot of walk-ins. Maybe ask some of your customers what other places they like to frequent. Just an idea I hope you'll find useful. Next time I'm in Portland (and that does happen occasionally since I have several friends in the area), I'll try to seek out your store...

[@TLA1014]

Loved this video, Matt! It's great hearing about the inter-workings of your shop! I only wish I lived in Portland and would be bugging you A LOT!

[@willfromw00tsup29]

Really good video. You do put a lot of hard work into this. I enjoy every time I come into the store, not just to browse, but to also chat music with everyone there.

[@TooManyRecords]

Thank you Will!

[@glennbarret-jy5ut]

I’m aware of the small profit margins on new records. Problem is my local store never has any second hand records worth buying, as i’m fairly certain he holds the records worth buying for his other regulars, so I tend not to be the most loyal customer.

[@ThiKu]

Love this type of video! Thanks Matt!

[@saxonjulin7482]

What a great video! As a shop owner I totally sympathize with #4 and #5 the most!

[@TooManyRecords]

What else did I miss?!

[@diskilleur]

*Super interesting, thank you, good job!*

[@jobarrios]

Very interesting video, I get your point oo the no holding policy, but what about hold something for a specific period of time and make it clear? Hope one day I can make to Portland and check your store out!

[@MickSupper]

That also means keeping up with the date it should be put back on the shelf. There is zero money to be made in holding when it could be out for sale.

[@TheAgeOfAnalog]

My general hold policy, unless it's a customer with a very good track record of keeping their word, is I'll hold it for that day, but any longer, you pay a PayPal invoice.

[@MikeKovalesky]

Matt - to help boost visibility, register for as many online directories as you can. There are 100’s of directories that are highly visible. It will help build visibility. Make sure business name, address, phone number and web address are exactly the same across all platforms. Great video and happy selling.

[@BlacqueJacqueShellacque_]

I'm selling a good portion of my personal collection on Discogs. It's decent money (since I don't have overhead). I have considered maybe buying local collections to continue to sell on Discogs, but the thought of travelling and finding out the collection is junk is just too much for me. Kudos to you for taking it another step with the store. It seems like a lot of work for me. I suspect if I didn't have another job it might be more appealing to put the hard work in to acquire more stock. I agree with you on the pricing. I price my records towards the low end. Occasionally I find someone bought something for $20 less than the next cheapest version. I'm fine with that. Overall I'm still making money, and if it goes to a home where it will be loved, I'm fine with that.

[@patrickcardon7114]

You could always try a HOLD process whereby the potential buyer leaves a partial deposit. Let them know that they would forfeit the deposit if they don't pay and pick it up within an agreeable time limit. Small deposit gets you very short HOLD time and large deposit buys you a little more time. Just a thought!

[@ljensen5503]

Head over to the University of Portland and see if they would be interested in someone spinning records at the Pilot House one evening. Hand out your business cards. Maybe a college student or group could play at your shop. Great video and shop!

[@ljensen5503]

Thought of some more: See where you can post flyers around campus…to reach staff and students. They probably have a communications office with guidelines Ad in the student newspaper Ad on the college radio station Good luck!

[@Dorgon]

I just opened a store in October and i relate to all of these. The garage sale person who says "no early birds" and then sells to early birds is basically why I opened a store! I also do in-store only for 30 days, will answer the "when did you open?" question every business day for rhe rest of my life, and offer very limited holds. When it comes to pricing different pressings, I've discovered that the vast majority of customers don't care about pressings. A Dark Side Winchester 1977 has rhe same value to most as a Los Angeles 1983. My "collector grade/first pressing" stuff just sits as i sell many multiples of the later issues in VG+. Some day I'll make it up to Portland, like if my store goes under. I'm committed to employees=0. Cheers!

[@Vinylfromtheunderground]

Killer video for those that are considering opening a shop. I respect you for taking the plunge as it’s not an easy decision. I would love to open a shop but I am not willing to leave the security with Amazon to take the risk and fulfill my dream. If I lose my job then the option is there. Thanks for posting this

[@FendersRule]

IMO, an end of day hold policy would be easy to implement and more customer friendly.

[@TooManyRecords]

That's more or less what I do now if I know the customer.

[@andyshacks7812]

I found that a really interesting video. You really can’t beat independent shops - of all types not just record stores. It’s true what you said about developing friendships with the owners and staff. I definitely feel that with the independents in my area. Apologies if you mentioned this and I missed it but couldn’t you have a time limit for holding stuff, say 21 days? Thanks Matt!

[@TooManyRecords]

21 days seems like a lot, IMO! If you can't come and get it in 3 weeks... maybe it shouldn't be yours :P

[@machiel5888]

great video! I've always wanted to work in a record store, but owning one always seems daunting to me. I think something as simple as a sticker/poster campaign with a fun slogan could work.

[@tylerleeger5034]

I really wish there was a record store operating like yours here in Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley, I really resonated with your last point all the record stores down here do not care about community or creating relationships, the one record store that’s decent in Palm Springs. I’ve given them so much business and I’ve told them countless times when you get a certain record would you guys let me know and they have always said of course we have your number we will let you know! when it comes in. In fact, you will be first! come to find out the record is right there on the shelf or they sold it once it came in to someone else🤦‍♂️ That’s the frustrating part for me as a buyer they’re really not connecting with their customers they say one thing, but really don’t care, it really seems like you do if I ever go to Portland too many records where I’m going still love the videos thanks man!

[@TooManyRecords]

Hopefully will see you some day!

[@celtic-audiophile]

Attract new customers, one easy option is to sponsor a kids sports team, so you buy a few junior outfits with your name on it. You get the PR, and the chance to integrate with potential new customers

[@TooManyRecords]

That's an interesting idea!

[@Bobbo-h2h]

Location is crucial, if you are the only store within 30-50 miles you tend to got a lot of vinyl dropped off and can more easily pay peanuts for it. I've seen folks take collections to these stores and when the owner says they are not for them, the seller just leaves them outside as the thought of taking them home again is not bearable. You could adopt the Record and Tape Exchange in London process, every week or two reduce the price by a dollar, saves wasting time on keeping track of supply/demand and market rates.

[@ilj1259]

My local record store would have live bands in the store... And sell records in bins for 2 bucks each if they were in fair condition.

[@TooManyRecords]

We do in store shows too!

[@TheNuklearMoose]

I often thing about the stores I regularly visit and wonder if they ever remember me. Sometimes I come in weekly sometimes once a month, but I always love my regulars. I just wish they would buy more classic country haha :D

[@sk1design]

Great vid. Can’t wait to get out to Portland and stop by…

[@keithwilson6674]

I've run and owned a bricks and mortar shop for about 5 years. I agree with 1-4. I allow for holds up to 7 days and after that it goes back in the bin. I let every customer know. I've never had a problem and the majority of the customers show up and pick up their record(s). Don't feel bad I've been at my current location for 2 years and still get people asking when we opened. The reality is advertising is tough and social media only gets you so far. Keep your google rating high so that your listed ahead of other shops in your town. A high google rating and good word of mouth will eventually get people to notice your shop. Best of luck! Keith St. Pete Records

[@TooManyRecords]

Thanks Keith! I gotta come check ya out one day.

[@keithwilson6674]

Definitely. Next time I'm in Portland I'll drop in! @@TooManyRecords

[@jonathanforgit2438]

My local record store does holds for a week. At the end of that week they post a video of any holds that weren’t picked up.

[@Louisejames23]

Oh also (as a dj) talk to your local radio stations and see if they can spread the word about your store! Sometimes they’ll plug you for free 👍

[@steveacordtx]

Great Video! Thank you for that. Have you thought about collaborating with those nearby businesses? Maybe sell something of theirs, but at your shop and vice Versa? Maybe Holiday bundles with nearby businesses? It doesn’t even have to be the holidays really. I think collaborative marketing is the way to go. Especially if they’re locally owned businesses.

[@hitonesrecordstore]

Enjoyed your pretty spot on video!

[@markschroeder5559]

Some people think if you own a store you have pockets of expendable wealth. Truth is you're having to put most of it back into the store. Getting in new customers is so important. If you have room for in-store performances even for an excuse to hang some awesome posters around town. People often forget to use grass roots resources like small comics, flyers, and coupons.

[@spatulacityrecords6263]

One of your best spending demographics is gen x. They now have kids in middle and high school. Sponsor a local sports team. It’s usually pretty cheap and it’s a solid marketing for bored parents at a kids game.

[@vinyltalkwithtavis3145]

This is my dream. “MINNER’S MUSIC STORE” ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@williamdenton5716]

I owned a small business in Portland. As ridiculous as it may sound, the most successful advertising I did was to attend every festival and community activities and hand out flyers. I had a couple of attractive young people wearing shirts from my business to hand them out for me. The personal invitation combined with a physical confirmation of business location and contact information is the most time proven successful advertising in business history.

[@johncampbell3390]

In our store we do holds but they have to say when they are picking it up. If it's past that point it goes out. We also do layaway but again it has to be done in a certain time frame. We also need want lists.

[@st.louiscatchup9676]

In my city the biggest record store vintage vinyl gives out huge pink stickers for free ive seen them on thousands of cars its how I learned about it

[@VinylLatte]

Record stores that hold records for weeks without payment drive me crazy. Especially when it’s someone just messaging them on social asking to hold something they see in a video or photo. I totally understand if they are paid for and waiting on pick up, or held for a few days. But, I’ve been to stores where they are holding albums for weeks for someone, that’s never even physically seen the record, meanwhile I have cash in hand to purchase it, that day, the next day, the next week. I know the flip side is that you want to treat your regulars or locals well, but the same should be true for the shopper-they should treat their local well. When I ask my local to hold for me, I send them cash in advance. If it doesn’t work out when I get there (not happy with the pressing, etc), we apply the money towards something else or refund. Since my local knows my taste, we rarely run into an issue where I don’t collect what I hold. Anyway, rant over. Great video and good luck with the store. Portland is on my list to visit and I’ll be sure to check you guys out! 🙌

[@jessemcfadden3230]

To your fence problem, maybe ask the town or neighbors if you could hang Vinyl records spaciously in the area your store is so people turn heads. I know if i saw a bunch of records on a fence i would investigate. 🤘💯

[@blackgold7416]

Really great video. I see alot of young people buying new remastered albums from the 70's and want to point them to the used sections to a great original copy. I guess the price thing is about someone having a discussion and making a offer. If you think it's fair its a deal. It's building a relationship and a good experience. I would say I would hold for 1 day, it's policy!. If they want it that badly they will appreciate your even holding it. Maybe joint involvement with other record stores to help each other 🤔. ✌️

[@johncarsell1205]

Great video and you seem like a personable guy who relates to his customers. There's 3 record stores in my area and all three suffer from the same problem which is the indifferent attitude they all have with their customer base. One day they'll be all buddy buddy and cheerful the next time they'll act like they don't know you. I have asked other customers about this and they've agreed with me. This has got to hurt them in the pocket book in the long run. I'm not saying they should kiss my ass or anything like that but on any given day they're not SELLING records but just CLERKING at best.

[@andrewdemers5095]

The holding records thing is interesting because I don’t understand asking for it to be held and never coming in to pick it up. It’s usually a desirable record so let the store sell it

[@TooManyRecords]

Totally. People get busy, we aren't their number one priority, but it's frustrating.

[@vagabond197979]

This is why I switched to exclusively buying CDs.

[@tylerchisman9434]

Interesting video, Matt! I toyed with the prospect of opening a store before, but the aspect of constantly looking for used collections and pricing felt like it would be to much for me. Working at a predominately new vinyl record store was a whole other beast, but lacking in qualities of a great used store. I relate to the holds topic to and have been burned bad, but ultimately I remember to not take it too seriously because at the end of the day a a record is just that.

[@SlamDunkRecordsTV]

Thanks for this! Really helpful

[@brentcunliffe745]

Put customer purchases in a bag that has your store name clearly displayed. I’ve found plenty of places to investigate through spotting somebody sporting a cool looking record bag.

[@philipungerrealtor]

Additionally, I grew up in retail. I don’t understand hold policies. If they can buy, they buy it and if they can’t, they can’t. A compromise might be a nonrefundable deposit, and must be picked up within a small but reasonable.

[@onebigholiday42]

New records just don’t have much margin, makes a lot of sense. Tough to probably find good used stuff on the regular.

[@JRW1971]

I know I'm late to this video, but ... thank you for using some sort of logic to your pricing. I've been to so many stores and I will see something that they've obviously (like, no debate whatsoever) underpriced. That's great for me (although, I've more than once said "um, you need to charge me more for this, and let's strike a fair deal -- just because I'm trying to help you here ..."). But I always leave thinking "they don't know what they're doing, and that means I can't really count on them as a serious player / collaborator / dealer." It's much better, long term, for your serious collector customers to view you as an informed broker. Otherwise, you're just a dumping ground; a dumping ground I'll visit periodically, but I won't engage with you as a knowledgeable dealer of good things.

[@TooManyRecords]

This is a really interesting perspective I never really thought through. Thank you for this!

[@SeanLamb-I-Am]

To your point on getting new visitors to the store... You mention Instagram and other social media marketing, but not much of anything about in-person networking. I'm sure you're connecting with your local Chamber of Commerce, but one organization near me that has helped my business is Dane Buy Local my area's Buy Local organization. I don't see you listed in the directory for Portland Buy Local, so I'm guessing that you haven't joined that organization yet. Strictly Discs, my local record store, is a member of Dane Buy Local.

[@TooManyRecords]

Great idea! I'm not familiar but will do some research.

[@Ben12670]

I'm in my 50s now but I've been going to record stores since my early teens. One thing that has kind of ruined the record shopping experience for me is stores using discogs as the pricing Bible for everything. Even the dollar bins that I used to look forward to finding a hidden gem in has now been completely plundered and everything marked up to what the supposed "going rate" is. I accumulated most of my vinyl collection in the early to late 90s when LPS were going for pennies on the dollar because the CD was king. I've since gone back to buying CDs almost exclusively now when I go to record stores because now they are the undervalued physical media where you can actually score a bargain. Whereas with vinyl everybody thinks they are sitting on a gold mine and record stores just feed into the hype and just price gouge on vinyl now. And new pressings? Forget it. Way too overpriced now.

[@davidebentonjr]

If you don’t mind me asking, who did you say you use to fill spots when needed?

[@EvanVincent.]

Hey Matt! Have you tried partnering with other record stores and tried a record store pub crawl? So the idea would be each person participating in the pub crawl would need to go to each store and get a stamp on a special card, proving the visited the store. Then when someone completes the card, maybe they get some sort of special deal? Like 15% off. That way some of the more recognizable stores like Music Millenium, Jackpot, Little Axe, Landfill and Everyday Music will send people your way.

[@TooManyRecords]

I think planning something like this would be awesome for the spring or early summer.

[@EvanVincent.]

@@TooManyRecords I might have some other ideas as well

[@LukePlaysUke]

I was deployed to Germany for a couple months and volunteered what off-time I had at a used bookshop on base and they had a similar issue regarding holds. People would find out about a certain classic (the shop owner had a passion for going to the UK to dig through estate sales, shop closings, charity shops, etc and buying nice classics to bring back to her shop and sell at really good prices because she wanted to get more people into collecting vintage books) and ask them to set it aside and a lot of times they wound up never coming in. But to the owner, that was money that could have been made sooner to help pay the rent. So her solution was to establish a hold period of… 5 days? 7 days? Not a long period of time but probably enough time to give the person a window to come into the shop. Life gets busy, especially for military folks, and she recognized that. So she set aside a shelf behind the counter and would write on a slip of paper the name and date when the hold would expire. That way, if a volunteer was running the register, they could verify that the right person was getting the books OR they would know it’s time to put the books back out on the shelves. Some exceptions applied but it wasn’t just for regulars, you know? She had to be super careful about when to allow longer holds and it usually had to do with how much she liked the person. For instance, she’d hold all sorts of classics for a mother/daughter duo who were building libraries in tandem for something like a month (or two!) so they could come in at their leisure and examine the books in person. I’d say about half of the books went back on the shelves so it’s not like the owner was giving these two special consideration because she knew they would drop a lot of money on them. I wouldn’t do that if I ran the shop but maybe something like a regular who’s deployed would make sense. Deploying sucks and maybe them looking forward to coming home to buy these books is what helps get them through it all. But even then, they’d need to be a staunch regular, you know? But I digress. A strong hold policy with definite deadlines and the statement that when that deadline expires, it WILL go out on the floor, and a little organization to make seeing what is new or due would probably help increase loyalty from the customers, frequency of traffic, and overall satisfaction. Hell, you might even want to consider displaying the records on hold to the rest of the shop with the deadline visible to drum up excitement in case the holder doesn’t come in. As a kid, I would definitely go to pawn shops and see pedals or guitars and know when they would be relinquished by the owner and be able to be bought by me and it made me frequent the shops even more. I can only imagine this would be increased in a record shop because the holder has already singled something out as being at least cool to them. Maybe it would be cool to me, too. I’d definitely look at it at least!

[@philipungerrealtor]

You’re a retail store, while record grading is important. You should be based in your price on a cost basis mode, and with a minimum markup/margin. You can buy a simple calculator with an MU key that helps with that also for promotion consider trying to sponsor community events.

[@MattCupan]

If you based pricing Used vinyl record stock on a markup percentage it could be borderline criminal. Most records in stores are obtained for a dollar or less, and then out in the bins for $5-20 or more. The 25-33% nominal markup definitely can't apply in selling records. I mean, they'd definitely move product fast. But wouldn't be able to substantiate buying more inventory, paying overhead and pocketing profit.

[@thibs2442]

Man Portland is the worst for garage sales and estate sales. SOOOOO much competition and there is always always always someone that has dug before you.

[@TooManyRecords]

facts

[@troyarmatti7167]

What about returned records, especially new ones. Do the distributors support you or reimburse you for damaged goods?

[@TooManyRecords]

We don't do much distro so we haven't had that issue yet thankfully.

[@vrp_pdx]

No, vinyl is non returnable. I've been fighting against this policy for over 10 years now. Luckily we rarely see defects though. Lots of seam splits which again you can't return

[@zzzandy]

That how it be ✨

[@wasteist]

Shirts and totes could help, walking ads if you haven’t already

[@TooManyRecords]

We always have a new, limited edition shirt for sale. We're on our 4th store design. We just made totes, too!

[@EldenRinging]

Make some flyers, hire some kids and have them throw the flyers in mailboxes in your neighborhood - old school, not gonna lie, but for your immediate area, that could be more effective. I was once one of these kids 😄!

[@TooManyRecords]

I personally hate unsolicited flyers but it isn't the worst idea...

[@EldenRinging]

@@TooManyRecords I feel you. But just recently I had one which told me that my kebab store changed ownership and would have special prices for one week. I damn made sure to get some kebab in 🤤🤭!

[@jonaskazlauskas9084]

I have one golden rule. I sell records( depending on condition 20% LESS ) than Discogs prices. For me pricing is No 1. I try to do as much bargains as possible , because people LOVE good prices. Not discogs, popsike...

[@cliffordyamasaki6169]

They're called pressing plants

[@draftriots]

I don't get the holds things, you either buy the record or you don't buy it.

[@Billy-zc8qd]

Promoting at record shows- i assume that would help with promotion!

[@TooManyRecords]

Each show does get a few new customers to come check out the shop but not as many as you'd think.

[@oldskool1979]

Running a store and making good money is tough... too much work and what ifs....theres easier ways to make the same or more money !

[@MDMediaTV]

put your it in Google maps.

[@ForeverAnalog]

I think a hold policy should be the same as not selling online. They are using social media to "buy" it by asking you to not sell it to someone else in the store. I would match those policies to make things easier. Are there any local markets in your city where you could rent a table to sell records? And not just traditional record shows, but like neighborhood fleas, etc. The clothing flea markets around me often like having someone selling records and they pull a VERY young audience shopping for clothes and it will give them a chance to learn about your store in the city. And you get to sell stuff so it's kind of win/win?

[@TooManyRecords]

We've done record shows but haven't really delved into fleas yet.. this spring would be a good time to try that out!

[@ForeverAnalog]

@@TooManyRecords yeah I do both and the record shows can be kind of dull selling to the same old picky collector heads (lol) but the younger flea style shows can sometimes be fun seeing a new audience find records they love! I find they aren’t often looking for retail stores since they’ve grown up with online shopping so you kind of have to find them at these markets. I hope to get out there next year and visit your place. It looks awesome!

[@thibs2442]

I don't think Portland has any good flea markets or any flea markets in the city really. Not like other areas of the country. @@TooManyRecords

[@user-yk4gd1fl4z]

Yabba Dabba do mofo’s!