Record store tip: use lighter fluid on a cotton ball and dab the sticker a couple times then gently peel it off. The fluid doesn't hurt the cover or the ink, but it breaks the sticker's adhesive down. Just remember to not smoke when doing it! POOF! There goes your record, your hair, and your house.
At most used record stores in my city, they put the sticker on the cover of used LPs because putting them on the outer sleeve makes it too easy for people to swap and change prices. It's still annoying, especially if it's an expensive, rare LP.
I don't mind them, in a weird way the add provenance–especially if they have an original sale sticker on them, or an earlier used price. Cool / infuriating to see how arbitrary record pricing is!
I hear you, Jamie. If they are promo stickers, with logos and the like, it’s a different story. If they are ugly, small stickers from my local store trying to resell, I do mind them 🤣
Or even if they put them on the plastic sleeve. Yes, that's better, but it still means either replacing the sleeve (which is more single use plastic in landfills) or dealing with the sticker.
I often find when they put them on the plastic sleeve they're a lot easier to remove. But if it doesn't come off easily, I just swap sides so that the sticker is on the back. Not ideal, I know, but better than on the front!
Very good point, Michael. When it’s a sticker you know will peel off easily, that’s one thing. But when it’s one of those stickers that requires the hands of a surgeon to avoid tearing off part of the cover when removing, that’s frustrating. Not to mention that sticky patch that’s still left after you remove it…Grrr!
The record store I go to most often posts their latest used vinyl on their FB page. When I see a title that prompts me to go in the hopes of grabbing it, occasionally there’ll be someone ahead of me just casually thumbing through that section oblivious of my sense of urgency. Of course I’m polite and never let it show. But on the inside, I’m thinking, “If this guy pulls the record I came in here for…”
There's always one, right? It's so annoying! You kind of feel like distracting them... hey, have you checked the records over there? You certainly don't want to miss out on THOSE... 😉😂
*Records that aren't where they're supposed to be. My fellow shoppers; if you change your mind, just put the record back where you found it!
*Being excited to grab a record, only to Hear "Sorry, we're out of that one, but we can totally order it for you."
*Albums that are overpriced for the condition they're in because of who the artist is. I get that some are so rare, they merit the price, but that's not what I'm thinking of here.
All great ones. The first one in particular annoys the hell out of me. Why do people do that?! It puts an unnecessary burden on staff and other shoppers alike.
Stickers on the album cover irritate me so much as well. Also selfish diggers who leave a mess behind.
As for prices… I genuinely wonder how many people actually fall for those prices (you know which prices I mean—those that we know don’t make a lot of sense). I mean I know it’s pure bait, but I often wonder how many actually get caught.
1. Getting cute with filing thinking it's clever and fun, rather than a big time suck for customers. example -- my local record store files artists by first name. They think they're being clever, but all it does is fuck with my brain and make browsing less fun and more stressful because I have to keep reminding myself not to go for last names, instead of just enjoying the browse.
2. Shoving country to the back in a tiny section. That's just ignorant genre snobbery and there's no excuse for it if you're a record store owner.
3. Stickers! Yes, what Michael Said.
4. Boxes of records uncategorized but for sale, while meanwhile the clerk is browsing their phone. If you've got time to browse your phone, you have time to look through those stacks and file the records appropriately.
5. Boxes of records that are uncategorized but NOT for sale. Why show me something that I can't have? Put your unsorted stock in the back until Phone Guy has "time" to sort it.
6. Artists who are filed incorrectly because the store owner doesn't actually know their music. (examples -- Emmylou Harris' electronic folk filed under country, post-1980 Leonard Cohen filed under folk)
7. Classic, iconic records in the bargain bin. WTF? I take no pleasure in seeing this display of musical ignorance.
and my main one:
7. Filing Yoko's solo "music" in the "Beatles" section. Do. Not. Even. Get. Me. Started. On. This. 😠
Soo many great ones! "Getting cute with the filing" 🤣 so true! And the pile of unsorted records while the guy is on his phone... do you even want to sell these records?
Your number 7, though, is the reason why I call you my friend. WELL SAID!!!!!
I can see the logic in putting J, P, G and R's solo work in the Beatles section, but there are only four people in the history of the world who have or ever will have earned the right to be filed under "Beatles," and Yoko Ono is not one of them.
Absolutely! The irony (and this is, I admit, the Latin American in me talking right now, and I apologise if overly dramatic and factually incorrect) is that she was partly responsible for their break-up (or so the adage goes). So it almost feels like a gratuitous provocation to file her records alongside theirs.
well, before your lovely pet peeve thread gets hijacked by the biggest Beatles argument of all time and I get called all kinds of names, I'll just say that Yoko is "in the mix" in a big big way (as is Linda), but it's so much more complicated than all of that, and neither of them could have disrupted anything without a whole host of other things having gone sideways first ,and that the fuller story will require at least 20 hours of podcast to set the context to be able to answer more accurately.
The only explanation I can find is that they are being lazy: they don't want to differentiate between artists with "traditional" names such as "Eric Clapton" and artists with more of a fancy name such as "Fantastic Negrito" as it would be silly to refer to him as "Negrito, Fantastic" in the same way as "Clapton, Eric". Having said that, they should do what most other stores do: file by surname for real surnames, file by first letter of first word for bands and fancy monikers (so you find Clapton in C but Fantastic Negrito in F just like you find Aerosmith in A but Walter Trout in T).
Aside from some of the great ones already mentioned here, the top shelves and the boxes on the floor. They are so hard to look through when they are almost out of reach, or if I have to sit on the floor to go through them. I realize space can be an issue, so I completely understand, but still don’t like it.
I hate people behind you looking over your shoulder while you peruse some records. One time a guy got a little too close for my comfort so I let out a juicy fart. said "Enjoy" and walked away...
As a veteran of the used record biz and a vinyl lover for life, I agree with & share pretty much all of the same pet peeves in the other comments here - a few tips/habits I have to deal with these things:
1) When removing stickers with lighter fluid, one of those old-style, single-edged razor blades can be really helpful. If it's a delicate cover, I will put few drops of lighter fluid on the blade itself and then gently work the blade under the tag starting at the corner - usually works pretty well, with additional fluid applied as needed. If it's a big sticker, pull it back flat against itself as you go - not up and away from the cover - that way makes it much more likely to damage it.
2) When the bins are too stuffed to flip through, I just pull out the first 20 records or so & stack 'em flat on the next bin over, then replace them when I'm done flipping. I can forgive this because too many LPs is better than too few imo.
3) Genre filing can be tricky. . . we don't all agree on exactly what "kind" of music an LP represents - but Yoko in the Beatles section or Marshall Tucker Band in country is just plain WRONG! I've actually been known to just re-file stuff myself. . .
4) One of my pet peeves that I don't think I saw is - not enough bin divider cards. A card for the Beatles and Bowie and then a "B Rock" card dividing 150 records is just plain lazy on the part of the store. Invest in some cards and put those Boomtown Rats records where they're easy to find!
5) As for records under the racks, I agree that it's a pain in the butt (sometimes literally) - however as I've already said too much is better than too little, and my favorite shops provide small stools that one can sit on to browse all the extra stuff that doesn't fit up top (thanks, Day Break!).
6) I guess my number one peeve, as stated elsewhere here, is 'conditional' assessments of condition. In other words, a record is either in VG (or whatever shape) or it's NOT - it ain't a sliding scale. Doesn't matter if it's an original mono Beatles or a Rupert Holmes cut-out, if it's got ring wear, a split sleeve, or someone's initials on it - IT'S NOT VG+! And I also have issues with what constitutes "Mint" (though I know that's a losing battle) - in my opinion, once a record has been stripped of its original shrink wrap and played, even once, it's VG+ to Near-Mint at best. To me, Mint means un-touched.
Thank you so much, Hugh, and welcome! You raise very good points, and thank you for sharing such useful tips!
The razor blade for stickers, and how you tackle “overcrowding” of records, are great tips I’ll definitely implement asap!
I hear what you say about dividers — they are so badly needed, and stores would make our lives a lot easier if they used them more!
Totally with you re grading — not too long ago, I wrote about some of the things I wish I knew before I started collecting, and I mention my frustration with generous grading:
I did miss this - so appreciated your ICYMI (I have post notifications turned off as there are too dang many!).
I loved reading all the pet peeves from folks below (or above depending on how you sort the comments!). Related to most of them.
I tend to feel similar to Kristin in that I find stores will often have boxes of records down at floor level and I never know if it's overstock or additional albums. So I'm hunched over trying to go through them and when I stand back up I smack my head into the rack above and end up with a sore back and a lump on my head. And if I hit my head twice or three times because I never learn from my mistakes, I always hit the same spot.
Wait, was the question pet-peeves about myself when in a record store? 😄
Stickers - usually the small, yellow kind -stuck directly on the cover that need to be sandblasted off, but they’ll take part of the cover with it.
Oh YES!! Thank you, Michael. I hate them as well. Why why whyyy do they have to stick them on the record cover?!
Agreed.
Record store tip: use lighter fluid on a cotton ball and dab the sticker a couple times then gently peel it off. The fluid doesn't hurt the cover or the ink, but it breaks the sticker's adhesive down. Just remember to not smoke when doing it! POOF! There goes your record, your hair, and your house.
At most used record stores in my city, they put the sticker on the cover of used LPs because putting them on the outer sleeve makes it too easy for people to swap and change prices. It's still annoying, especially if it's an expensive, rare LP.
I don't mind them, in a weird way the add provenance–especially if they have an original sale sticker on them, or an earlier used price. Cool / infuriating to see how arbitrary record pricing is!
I hear you, Jamie. If they are promo stickers, with logos and the like, it’s a different story. If they are ugly, small stickers from my local store trying to resell, I do mind them 🤣
Or even if they put them on the plastic sleeve. Yes, that's better, but it still means either replacing the sleeve (which is more single use plastic in landfills) or dealing with the sticker.
I often find when they put them on the plastic sleeve they're a lot easier to remove. But if it doesn't come off easily, I just swap sides so that the sticker is on the back. Not ideal, I know, but better than on the front!
Cool trick with the lighter fluid! Thanks!
YES!
Very good point, Michael. When it’s a sticker you know will peel off easily, that’s one thing. But when it’s one of those stickers that requires the hands of a surgeon to avoid tearing off part of the cover when removing, that’s frustrating. Not to mention that sticky patch that’s still left after you remove it…Grrr!
Fingernails and shit tons of patience
The record store I go to most often posts their latest used vinyl on their FB page. When I see a title that prompts me to go in the hopes of grabbing it, occasionally there’ll be someone ahead of me just casually thumbing through that section oblivious of my sense of urgency. Of course I’m polite and never let it show. But on the inside, I’m thinking, “If this guy pulls the record I came in here for…”
There's always one, right? It's so annoying! You kind of feel like distracting them... hey, have you checked the records over there? You certainly don't want to miss out on THOSE... 😉😂
^Relatable^
A few of mine (some rational, some not):
*Records that aren't where they're supposed to be. My fellow shoppers; if you change your mind, just put the record back where you found it!
*Being excited to grab a record, only to Hear "Sorry, we're out of that one, but we can totally order it for you."
*Albums that are overpriced for the condition they're in because of who the artist is. I get that some are so rare, they merit the price, but that's not what I'm thinking of here.
All great ones. The first one in particular annoys the hell out of me. Why do people do that?! It puts an unnecessary burden on staff and other shoppers alike.
Used Steely Dan or Thin Lizzy records shouldn't go for $35...
Biggest things for me
1. Stickers on the album cover.
2. Disorganized racks
a. Alphabetical out of order
b. Misplaced albums in the wrong genre
3. Blatantly overpriced albums just because who the artist is. Not all Grateful Dead albums are worth over $50 and the same goes for the Beatles.
Cheers, Joe! I hear you, and yep, yep, yep…
Stickers on the album cover irritate me so much as well. Also selfish diggers who leave a mess behind.
As for prices… I genuinely wonder how many people actually fall for those prices (you know which prices I mean—those that we know don’t make a lot of sense). I mean I know it’s pure bait, but I often wonder how many actually get caught.
I've seen new collectors fall for those prices. Granted you have to make money to stay in business but there is a fine line.
Absolutely. And so long as there are fckers who pay those prices there will be fckers who charge them! *big sigh* 🤣🤣
1. Getting cute with filing thinking it's clever and fun, rather than a big time suck for customers. example -- my local record store files artists by first name. They think they're being clever, but all it does is fuck with my brain and make browsing less fun and more stressful because I have to keep reminding myself not to go for last names, instead of just enjoying the browse.
2. Shoving country to the back in a tiny section. That's just ignorant genre snobbery and there's no excuse for it if you're a record store owner.
3. Stickers! Yes, what Michael Said.
4. Boxes of records uncategorized but for sale, while meanwhile the clerk is browsing their phone. If you've got time to browse your phone, you have time to look through those stacks and file the records appropriately.
5. Boxes of records that are uncategorized but NOT for sale. Why show me something that I can't have? Put your unsorted stock in the back until Phone Guy has "time" to sort it.
6. Artists who are filed incorrectly because the store owner doesn't actually know their music. (examples -- Emmylou Harris' electronic folk filed under country, post-1980 Leonard Cohen filed under folk)
7. Classic, iconic records in the bargain bin. WTF? I take no pleasure in seeing this display of musical ignorance.
and my main one:
7. Filing Yoko's solo "music" in the "Beatles" section. Do. Not. Even. Get. Me. Started. On. This. 😠
Soo many great ones! "Getting cute with the filing" 🤣 so true! And the pile of unsorted records while the guy is on his phone... do you even want to sell these records?
Your number 7, though, is the reason why I call you my friend. WELL SAID!!!!!
I can see the logic in putting J, P, G and R's solo work in the Beatles section, but there are only four people in the history of the world who have or ever will have earned the right to be filed under "Beatles," and Yoko Ono is not one of them.
See now, you got me started. 🤣
Absolutely! The irony (and this is, I admit, the Latin American in me talking right now, and I apologise if overly dramatic and factually incorrect) is that she was partly responsible for their break-up (or so the adage goes). So it almost feels like a gratuitous provocation to file her records alongside theirs.
well, before your lovely pet peeve thread gets hijacked by the biggest Beatles argument of all time and I get called all kinds of names, I'll just say that Yoko is "in the mix" in a big big way (as is Linda), but it's so much more complicated than all of that, and neither of them could have disrupted anything without a whole host of other things having gone sideways first ,and that the fuller story will require at least 20 hours of podcast to set the context to be able to answer more accurately.
Yes, makes a lot of sense. Contributing factor, sure, but the whole thing is way too complex to “blame” it all on one person (or event).
Oh, I so blame Yoko....😂😂
Why would any store file records by first name?! That would break my brain too. I have so many questions...
The only explanation I can find is that they are being lazy: they don't want to differentiate between artists with "traditional" names such as "Eric Clapton" and artists with more of a fancy name such as "Fantastic Negrito" as it would be silly to refer to him as "Negrito, Fantastic" in the same way as "Clapton, Eric". Having said that, they should do what most other stores do: file by surname for real surnames, file by first letter of first word for bands and fancy monikers (so you find Clapton in C but Fantastic Negrito in F just like you find Aerosmith in A but Walter Trout in T).
You and me both. But I pick my battles, so I abide.
Aside from some of the great ones already mentioned here, the top shelves and the boxes on the floor. They are so hard to look through when they are almost out of reach, or if I have to sit on the floor to go through them. I realize space can be an issue, so I completely understand, but still don’t like it.
Yes! And in a similar vein: when they squeeze a million records into the same rack. I mean, how are we supposed to flick through them? 😅
oh yes! this one too!
YES!!!!
Not always, but often:
- the music they often play (blaring, niche, 90s German techno (or other) which only the shop assistant is into).
- talking of shop assistants, they’re either too friendly and eager to talk to you, or so pretentious and aloof, you dare not engage in conversation.
- smell of “humanity”
The smell, oh the smell! And in summer? Even worse. Nice vinyl, bro (or gal or whatever they are happy with). Now have a shower! 🤣
The music - I hear you. It’s sometimes so loud that it’s deafening.
Records being categorized wrong. Or the rack being full to the point where you can't thumb through anything.
Thanks, Mark! Two of my “favourite” pet peeves, indeed! 😆
I hate people behind you looking over your shoulder while you peruse some records. One time a guy got a little too close for my comfort so I let out a juicy fart. said "Enjoy" and walked away...
🤣🤣🤣 brilliant!! I’m soooo with you: it’s so annoying when they look over your shoulder. The juicy fart trick is a great one. Thanks, John!
As a veteran of the used record biz and a vinyl lover for life, I agree with & share pretty much all of the same pet peeves in the other comments here - a few tips/habits I have to deal with these things:
1) When removing stickers with lighter fluid, one of those old-style, single-edged razor blades can be really helpful. If it's a delicate cover, I will put few drops of lighter fluid on the blade itself and then gently work the blade under the tag starting at the corner - usually works pretty well, with additional fluid applied as needed. If it's a big sticker, pull it back flat against itself as you go - not up and away from the cover - that way makes it much more likely to damage it.
2) When the bins are too stuffed to flip through, I just pull out the first 20 records or so & stack 'em flat on the next bin over, then replace them when I'm done flipping. I can forgive this because too many LPs is better than too few imo.
3) Genre filing can be tricky. . . we don't all agree on exactly what "kind" of music an LP represents - but Yoko in the Beatles section or Marshall Tucker Band in country is just plain WRONG! I've actually been known to just re-file stuff myself. . .
4) One of my pet peeves that I don't think I saw is - not enough bin divider cards. A card for the Beatles and Bowie and then a "B Rock" card dividing 150 records is just plain lazy on the part of the store. Invest in some cards and put those Boomtown Rats records where they're easy to find!
5) As for records under the racks, I agree that it's a pain in the butt (sometimes literally) - however as I've already said too much is better than too little, and my favorite shops provide small stools that one can sit on to browse all the extra stuff that doesn't fit up top (thanks, Day Break!).
6) I guess my number one peeve, as stated elsewhere here, is 'conditional' assessments of condition. In other words, a record is either in VG (or whatever shape) or it's NOT - it ain't a sliding scale. Doesn't matter if it's an original mono Beatles or a Rupert Holmes cut-out, if it's got ring wear, a split sleeve, or someone's initials on it - IT'S NOT VG+! And I also have issues with what constitutes "Mint" (though I know that's a losing battle) - in my opinion, once a record has been stripped of its original shrink wrap and played, even once, it's VG+ to Near-Mint at best. To me, Mint means un-touched.
Eye thank yew.
Thank you so much, Hugh, and welcome! You raise very good points, and thank you for sharing such useful tips!
The razor blade for stickers, and how you tackle “overcrowding” of records, are great tips I’ll definitely implement asap!
I hear what you say about dividers — they are so badly needed, and stores would make our lives a lot easier if they used them more!
Totally with you re grading — not too long ago, I wrote about some of the things I wish I knew before I started collecting, and I mention my frustration with generous grading:
https://open.substack.com/pub/vinylroom/p/the-benefit-of-hindsight?r=222vb3&utm_medium=ios
Hope you enjoy!
I did miss this - so appreciated your ICYMI (I have post notifications turned off as there are too dang many!).
I loved reading all the pet peeves from folks below (or above depending on how you sort the comments!). Related to most of them.
I tend to feel similar to Kristin in that I find stores will often have boxes of records down at floor level and I never know if it's overstock or additional albums. So I'm hunched over trying to go through them and when I stand back up I smack my head into the rack above and end up with a sore back and a lump on my head. And if I hit my head twice or three times because I never learn from my mistakes, I always hit the same spot.
Wait, was the question pet-peeves about myself when in a record store? 😄
Thank you, Steve! I'm glad the ICYMI helped! I don't blame you -- it does get crazy busy sometimes, doesn't it?
Thanks also for making me laugh -- I knew your response would not disappoint! Pet peeves about ourselves are always the most fun 😂