I agree! When I see people do it, I always cringe, especially at stores but also at fairs or other "informal" markets. Even if it's friendly and inoffensive (i.e. how about £20 instead of £22?) I still think it's weird. Only exception perhaps is if you are a child trying your luck with your pocket money 😅
I briefly felt too embarrassed to comment this but I realize I'm way too old to continue caring about people who are cooler than me judging me for uncool things I do.
I once only had $20 at a very remote flea market that only took cash and had no ATMs. i found a copy of gang of four's solid gold being sold for $40 and kind of sheepishly asked if he didn't suppose he'd take $20 for it. he said he had no clue who that band was so yeah whatever.
everyone was haggling at that flea market (and every flea market I've ever been to) including with him, and it's not the first or last time I've encountered a record seller who had no idea what he was selling.
i would never do this at a brick and mortar store, but I'm having trouble understanding what's so cringy or awkward about this. except that the guy didn't even know what records he was selling.
Thanks, Gabbie, for sharing! I think it's great you went for it. Personally I wouldn't have the balls to do that. That is, in my case, what I'd find cringy about the situation. Perhaps I'm too British at this point, too proud, or admittedly too much in my London bubble but I admit I would personally struggle because I'd fear rejection so I'd rather not even try (really sad I know! but since we're sharing 🤣).
I think in a car boot sale (I think you guys call it garage or yard sale?) or flea market there's a bit more discretion especially as many sellers actually want to get rid of the records and/or may not necessarily know what it is exactly they are selling (as was the case with your record).
I also think it's one thing to ask politely like you did, which I think is a WORLD away from what I sometimes see in record stores here in London. I need to be careful as I don't want to hurt cultural sensititives but I've already said it in my comment to Brad so I guess I might as well repeat it here: some middle eastern tourists can be very pushy, and you can clearly see they CAN actually pay the advertised price, but they just want to get a bargain at all costs. Now, it's not exclusive to middle eastern tourists though--I see a lot of Germans do it as well 😂
I hope this helps clarify what I meant when I said what I said. Thanks again for sharing!
First, please never feel embarrassed to comment! I know this isn't my page, but I'm always interested in hearing what you have to say.
Anyway, I think at a place like a flea market it's more of a grey area, but even then it's nuanced. In my head I was thinking of people that were making a declarative statement of what they'd pay, rather than asking.
You sheepishly asked the vendor. That's fine- what's the worst that can happen? But that's also wholly different than if you'd just stepped up and said, "I'll give you $20 for these."
Thanks, Kev — this is exactly what I had in mind as well. That kind of aggressive, declarative as you say, statement “This is how much I’m paying, and you will accept it”.
That's a great story, Gabbie, and I've seen (and maybe even been a party to) similar "out in the wild," myself! Flea markets, as we've mentioned a lot here, do seem a lot more free-wheelin' in those bargaining regards, and I've had little problem asking for a "little help" from time to time, in the totaling department!
Having been an occasional flea market and record convo-table-renter, myself, I've been on the flip of that scenario, and have enjoyed offering deals when I felt it was "warranted," judging person's "tone" and the record in question.....these were all my records in the first place, so there was that!
It's been a while, but when I worked at record stores in the US haggling happened routinely---especially with our regular customers---and don't ever remember it being a big deal. Mostly stuff like, "Would you take $8 for this single (marked at $10)." If it's something that had been on the shelf for a long time, it was easy to say yes or counter with some other discount ("If you get this other record you were looking at too, I'll give you both for $12"). Or if someone walked up with a big stack and asked if we would take a reasonable amount less than what was listed, we'd usually just give them one record in the stack for free.
That’s interesting to know! I guess the way you phrased those interactions could just about work around here (perhaps less so in central London but potentially in the suburbs and definitely in other regions of England). It’s not common at all in my experience. I mostly shop central though, and stores tend to get very crowded, especially at weekends, so there isn’t really a lot of room or time for negotiation.
I can't believe sellers would leave vinyl out in the rain! Who would buy them?! Anyway, hope to get back to London for a visit one of these days. If I do maybe we can have TWO pints!
Thank you, Dan! It’s the constant conundrum of unrestricted access so people can browse freely versus protecting them from the drizzle (which can be, as you know, completely unexpected).
'Mornin', Andy! I love your Tune Taggery teacup treasure! That color shows up well on-camera!
I wasn't aware of the "don't talk to strangers" (which phrase always reminds me of the Rick Springfield joint of the same title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp42V938eBA ....Rick plays a major role in this Tuesday's Tune Tag, as it happens, as we follow Rick, almost to the minute, of his early first quarter of 1981, when all but simultaneously, he and I meet "on the street" literally days before his world explodes with a hit song and his popular turn on a daytime soap opera merge...after which, his "going out in public" at all was, quite likely, severely restrained!)!
As for haggling at record shops....I get it at set-price, new-release shops....here, too. But, at UK used-record shops, do you mean there, as well? In the few times I've gone to used record shops in the U.S., the most I've done (when buying more than 1 LP) is to try to bundle a price...."What's that? My six records comes to $58? Any chance we could just round it to a comfortable $50?"-kinda thing. Would that "bundling notion" be possible at a used record shop there?
Thank you, Brad, and good morning to you! I'm glad you enjoyed my Tune Taggery Tea Time moment! The colour is gorgeous, as I always say!
Looking forward to this Tuesday's TT... consider me intrigued! Was this when you were working in LA? A record store nearby (perhaps the one you worked at) all dressed with his promo material? Alright alright I'll wait until Tuesday so as not to spoil it for other readers!
Perhaps I exaggerate with the "don't talk to strangers" but, compared with the average American (and I realise I'm generalising here), the average Brit is very reserved -- the average Londonder doubly so! Silence is not awkward at all here, and small talk between strangers is only tolerated in very small doses and when strictly necessary. A lot depends on the context as well, e.g. a bar is a lot more relaxed than the Starbucks queue on a Monday morning, as is the case in most places, but in general, the dynamics between strangers tend to be more distant this side of the pond.
I've seen haggling in a lot of different vinyl settings, especially coming from middle easterns (or Germans 🤣) and it's not something that lands very well here, at least in the stores I tend to shop at. The rounding up thing you mention is perhaps a bit more common, especially when paying cash (although that's become less and less common in London as of recent). At the same time, some smaller shops will actually encourage you to pay cash so they can save on credit card fees, so they tend to be more lenient with customers who are ready to pay cash, and they may offer those spontaneous discounts unprompted as a thank-you. But then again, there are shops that no longer accept cash, so it's really hard to tell what will go down well (or terribly wrong) in each place without reading the room a little bit (which some tourists don't seem very adept at! 😂).
I get the cash advantage....run into that myself at the used shops (and, certainly at record convos, although, now, with cash apps, booth vendors are far more apt to accept cards).
Yes (and, I won't be spilling the tea, here....still sort of PR "tea-sing" it out!😊), you remember.....Yep, record store in L.A., early '81, Rick walks in. He was recording in nearby Van Nuys (a San Fernando Valley suburb...."the Valley" you may have heard about....Moon Unit Zappa's "Valley Girl," etc), and I was in Glendale, a couple small suburbs away. I'd heard he lived in Glendale, so he may have been on the way home after a day of recording.
It's hard to believe, but his recording career was really sputtering to the point where, even after having just signed with RCA (and recording "Working Class Dog" had begun), his manager encouraged Rick to take the audition with "General Hospital" that led, eventually, to his role (we've got clips we'll be sharing!)....like, "yeah, your record probably won't do much, go ahead and take the soap gig!"
Rick had actually done a bit of acting, late '70s, in guest spots in prime time dramas in L.A. (after 3 failed albums in '72, '73, and '76, each with different labels!)....he really wanted to keep doing the music thing, but, as a handsome lad who COULD act, he was smart enough to keep doing whatever was paying the bills! We'll discover Tuesday that "The Exorcist" actress, gal-friend, Linda Blair, was Rick's benefactor for many of those lean '70s years who helped him pay the rent between failed albums and acting gigs!
Oops, I've said too much already! Leave it to me to spill the Tune Tag Tea!! See ya Tunes-day!!😁
Happy to be loose-lipped in TVR! As I look at my last full paragraph above, and Rick's decade-long struggling in L.A., I remember what Stephen Michael Schwartz (who was actually considered, at one point, by Rick's manager, as a possible new, "Rick-lite"-type singer/songwriter client in the late-'70s! Nothing panned out, though) once told me was his credo when engaged in similar recording/acting challenges early on: "Say yes until you HAVE to say no!"
Which matches what my acting/comedian brother said to me upon HIS move to L.A., late-'70s: "If they ask, in your audition, if you can ride a horse, say 'yes,' and then, go learn in 5 minutes!" How to survive in Hollywood, Chapter 1!
This is pure gold! I’d need an intensive course on that kind of chutzpah to say “yes I can do that”. But it’s great advice, especially in that field! Thanks!
The folks who muster the courage to haggle in a record store are good candidates to move to Hollywood, secure an agent and a SAG card, and get a small apartment!
Steps precisely taken by Rick, Stephen, and my bro, Clint, upon their respective arrivals in TinselTown (who, to my knowledge, ironically enough, never haggled in a record store...I can certainly speak for Rick on that score)!😂
So, from this I'm supposed to assume that, as an American, I'm not suppose to tap random people on the shoulder and ask them, how much they would pay for the record, so I have a starting point for haggling?
Is that it?
What a relief! IRL, I abhor haggling. Makes me feel like I'm in the Kasbah. So this tracks.
I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone haggle of the price of a record (not even at a yard sale). I think it'd be really awkward, tbh.
I agree! When I see people do it, I always cringe, especially at stores but also at fairs or other "informal" markets. Even if it's friendly and inoffensive (i.e. how about £20 instead of £22?) I still think it's weird. Only exception perhaps is if you are a child trying your luck with your pocket money 😅
Exactly!
I briefly felt too embarrassed to comment this but I realize I'm way too old to continue caring about people who are cooler than me judging me for uncool things I do.
I once only had $20 at a very remote flea market that only took cash and had no ATMs. i found a copy of gang of four's solid gold being sold for $40 and kind of sheepishly asked if he didn't suppose he'd take $20 for it. he said he had no clue who that band was so yeah whatever.
everyone was haggling at that flea market (and every flea market I've ever been to) including with him, and it's not the first or last time I've encountered a record seller who had no idea what he was selling.
i would never do this at a brick and mortar store, but I'm having trouble understanding what's so cringy or awkward about this. except that the guy didn't even know what records he was selling.
Thanks, Gabbie, for sharing! I think it's great you went for it. Personally I wouldn't have the balls to do that. That is, in my case, what I'd find cringy about the situation. Perhaps I'm too British at this point, too proud, or admittedly too much in my London bubble but I admit I would personally struggle because I'd fear rejection so I'd rather not even try (really sad I know! but since we're sharing 🤣).
I think in a car boot sale (I think you guys call it garage or yard sale?) or flea market there's a bit more discretion especially as many sellers actually want to get rid of the records and/or may not necessarily know what it is exactly they are selling (as was the case with your record).
I also think it's one thing to ask politely like you did, which I think is a WORLD away from what I sometimes see in record stores here in London. I need to be careful as I don't want to hurt cultural sensititives but I've already said it in my comment to Brad so I guess I might as well repeat it here: some middle eastern tourists can be very pushy, and you can clearly see they CAN actually pay the advertised price, but they just want to get a bargain at all costs. Now, it's not exclusive to middle eastern tourists though--I see a lot of Germans do it as well 😂
I hope this helps clarify what I meant when I said what I said. Thanks again for sharing!
First, please never feel embarrassed to comment! I know this isn't my page, but I'm always interested in hearing what you have to say.
Anyway, I think at a place like a flea market it's more of a grey area, but even then it's nuanced. In my head I was thinking of people that were making a declarative statement of what they'd pay, rather than asking.
You sheepishly asked the vendor. That's fine- what's the worst that can happen? But that's also wholly different than if you'd just stepped up and said, "I'll give you $20 for these."
Thanks, Kev — this is exactly what I had in mind as well. That kind of aggressive, declarative as you say, statement “This is how much I’m paying, and you will accept it”.
That's a great story, Gabbie, and I've seen (and maybe even been a party to) similar "out in the wild," myself! Flea markets, as we've mentioned a lot here, do seem a lot more free-wheelin' in those bargaining regards, and I've had little problem asking for a "little help" from time to time, in the totaling department!
Having been an occasional flea market and record convo-table-renter, myself, I've been on the flip of that scenario, and have enjoyed offering deals when I felt it was "warranted," judging person's "tone" and the record in question.....these were all my records in the first place, so there was that!
It's been a while, but when I worked at record stores in the US haggling happened routinely---especially with our regular customers---and don't ever remember it being a big deal. Mostly stuff like, "Would you take $8 for this single (marked at $10)." If it's something that had been on the shelf for a long time, it was easy to say yes or counter with some other discount ("If you get this other record you were looking at too, I'll give you both for $12"). Or if someone walked up with a big stack and asked if we would take a reasonable amount less than what was listed, we'd usually just give them one record in the stack for free.
That’s interesting to know! I guess the way you phrased those interactions could just about work around here (perhaps less so in central London but potentially in the suburbs and definitely in other regions of England). It’s not common at all in my experience. I mostly shop central though, and stores tend to get very crowded, especially at weekends, so there isn’t really a lot of room or time for negotiation.
I can't believe sellers would leave vinyl out in the rain! Who would buy them?! Anyway, hope to get back to London for a visit one of these days. If I do maybe we can have TWO pints!
Thank you, Dan! It’s the constant conundrum of unrestricted access so people can browse freely versus protecting them from the drizzle (which can be, as you know, completely unexpected).
Two pints to start with! 😎🍺🍻
'Mornin', Andy! I love your Tune Taggery teacup treasure! That color shows up well on-camera!
I wasn't aware of the "don't talk to strangers" (which phrase always reminds me of the Rick Springfield joint of the same title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp42V938eBA ....Rick plays a major role in this Tuesday's Tune Tag, as it happens, as we follow Rick, almost to the minute, of his early first quarter of 1981, when all but simultaneously, he and I meet "on the street" literally days before his world explodes with a hit song and his popular turn on a daytime soap opera merge...after which, his "going out in public" at all was, quite likely, severely restrained!)!
As for haggling at record shops....I get it at set-price, new-release shops....here, too. But, at UK used-record shops, do you mean there, as well? In the few times I've gone to used record shops in the U.S., the most I've done (when buying more than 1 LP) is to try to bundle a price...."What's that? My six records comes to $58? Any chance we could just round it to a comfortable $50?"-kinda thing. Would that "bundling notion" be possible at a used record shop there?
Thank you, Brad, and good morning to you! I'm glad you enjoyed my Tune Taggery Tea Time moment! The colour is gorgeous, as I always say!
Looking forward to this Tuesday's TT... consider me intrigued! Was this when you were working in LA? A record store nearby (perhaps the one you worked at) all dressed with his promo material? Alright alright I'll wait until Tuesday so as not to spoil it for other readers!
Perhaps I exaggerate with the "don't talk to strangers" but, compared with the average American (and I realise I'm generalising here), the average Brit is very reserved -- the average Londonder doubly so! Silence is not awkward at all here, and small talk between strangers is only tolerated in very small doses and when strictly necessary. A lot depends on the context as well, e.g. a bar is a lot more relaxed than the Starbucks queue on a Monday morning, as is the case in most places, but in general, the dynamics between strangers tend to be more distant this side of the pond.
I've seen haggling in a lot of different vinyl settings, especially coming from middle easterns (or Germans 🤣) and it's not something that lands very well here, at least in the stores I tend to shop at. The rounding up thing you mention is perhaps a bit more common, especially when paying cash (although that's become less and less common in London as of recent). At the same time, some smaller shops will actually encourage you to pay cash so they can save on credit card fees, so they tend to be more lenient with customers who are ready to pay cash, and they may offer those spontaneous discounts unprompted as a thank-you. But then again, there are shops that no longer accept cash, so it's really hard to tell what will go down well (or terribly wrong) in each place without reading the room a little bit (which some tourists don't seem very adept at! 😂).
Thanks a lot for watching and commenting!
I get the cash advantage....run into that myself at the used shops (and, certainly at record convos, although, now, with cash apps, booth vendors are far more apt to accept cards).
Yes (and, I won't be spilling the tea, here....still sort of PR "tea-sing" it out!😊), you remember.....Yep, record store in L.A., early '81, Rick walks in. He was recording in nearby Van Nuys (a San Fernando Valley suburb...."the Valley" you may have heard about....Moon Unit Zappa's "Valley Girl," etc), and I was in Glendale, a couple small suburbs away. I'd heard he lived in Glendale, so he may have been on the way home after a day of recording.
It's hard to believe, but his recording career was really sputtering to the point where, even after having just signed with RCA (and recording "Working Class Dog" had begun), his manager encouraged Rick to take the audition with "General Hospital" that led, eventually, to his role (we've got clips we'll be sharing!)....like, "yeah, your record probably won't do much, go ahead and take the soap gig!"
Rick had actually done a bit of acting, late '70s, in guest spots in prime time dramas in L.A. (after 3 failed albums in '72, '73, and '76, each with different labels!)....he really wanted to keep doing the music thing, but, as a handsome lad who COULD act, he was smart enough to keep doing whatever was paying the bills! We'll discover Tuesday that "The Exorcist" actress, gal-friend, Linda Blair, was Rick's benefactor for many of those lean '70s years who helped him pay the rent between failed albums and acting gigs!
Oops, I've said too much already! Leave it to me to spill the Tune Tag Tea!! See ya Tunes-day!!😁
Thank you, Brad! Glad I remembered, and I loved this exclusive teaser on my humble Vinyl Room! Tunes-day can’t come soon enough! 🤩
Happy to be loose-lipped in TVR! As I look at my last full paragraph above, and Rick's decade-long struggling in L.A., I remember what Stephen Michael Schwartz (who was actually considered, at one point, by Rick's manager, as a possible new, "Rick-lite"-type singer/songwriter client in the late-'70s! Nothing panned out, though) once told me was his credo when engaged in similar recording/acting challenges early on: "Say yes until you HAVE to say no!"
Which matches what my acting/comedian brother said to me upon HIS move to L.A., late-'70s: "If they ask, in your audition, if you can ride a horse, say 'yes,' and then, go learn in 5 minutes!" How to survive in Hollywood, Chapter 1!
This is pure gold! I’d need an intensive course on that kind of chutzpah to say “yes I can do that”. But it’s great advice, especially in that field! Thanks!
The folks who muster the courage to haggle in a record store are good candidates to move to Hollywood, secure an agent and a SAG card, and get a small apartment!
Steps precisely taken by Rick, Stephen, and my bro, Clint, upon their respective arrivals in TinselTown (who, to my knowledge, ironically enough, never haggled in a record store...I can certainly speak for Rick on that score)!😂
So, from this I'm supposed to assume that, as an American, I'm not suppose to tap random people on the shoulder and ask them, how much they would pay for the record, so I have a starting point for haggling?
Is that it?
What a relief! IRL, I abhor haggling. Makes me feel like I'm in the Kasbah. So this tracks.
Thank you, John! Lol definitely no tapping on anyone’s shoulder 🤣
Yes, I hear you. I feel the same way!
Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
“We don’t talk to strangers randomly”. So true! Totally reminds me of this video: https://youtu.be/PT0ay9u1gg4?si=p8fBekfoMmZAa8t3
LOL 🤣🤣🤣🤣 so true it hurts!