This weekend, music fans flocked to their local indie shops to purchase a huge range of exclusive, limited-edition releases for Record Store Day (April 19). Now, here comes the ugly part: many of those releases are now being flipped for exorbitant prices on eBay and the like.
The biggest seller on eBay, unsurprisingly, seems to be Jack White's live "Lazaretto" single, which he's claiming is the world's fastest recorded record. It was only available to folks who showed up to his Third Man Records facility in Nashville. We've now seen a copies now sell for over $600, with one topping out at $649.99 U.S.
But while only a couple "Lazaretto" singles seem to have been sold so far online, numerous copies of Cake's vinyl box set have fetched over $300 on eBay. Also on the box set front, R.E.M.'s Unplugged collection has gone for as much as $279, LCD Soundsystem's The Last Goodbye has sold for $230, Dave Matthews Band's latest Live Trax box went for $200, the 50th anniversary edition of The Folk Box has gone for $199.99, and Soundgarden's singles box has earned $189.90. Meanwhile, Spacemen 3's Translucent Flashbacks 12-inch set sold for $199.98.
The prices that we find truly crazy, however, aren't for the lavish box sets, but the smaller-scale releases. Camera Obscura's 12-inch 4AD Session EP has gone for $249.99, while Pixies' Indie Cindy LP earned $199.99, Fear of Men's Loom reissue fetched $199.95, and the videogame soundtrack for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon netted $197 (with several copies also fetching well over $100).
Elsewhere, the unreleased EP Put Your Sad Down by School of Seven Bells roped in $175, while those glow-in-the-dark Ghostbusters records are selling for as much as $152.50. Green Day's Demolicious vinyl has gone for $132.50, and Jon Brion's ParaNorman soundtrack and Jerry Garcia's Garcia reissue have respectively reached $125.
Prior to Record Store Day, a test pressing of Mudhoney's live EP (recorded atop Seattle's Space Needle) sold for $504. This shouldn't be considered a proper RSD release, however, since it's the exclusive test pressing rather than the commercial version.
However, one of the biggest's sellers isn't even a record: a Crosley turntable branded with Peanuts comics has fetched as much as $230.
So, yes, it's all a little crazy. But of course, if you still want these releases, chances are you can still track many of them down without paying insanely high eBay flipper prices.
The biggest seller on eBay, unsurprisingly, seems to be Jack White's live "Lazaretto" single, which he's claiming is the world's fastest recorded record. It was only available to folks who showed up to his Third Man Records facility in Nashville. We've now seen a copies now sell for over $600, with one topping out at $649.99 U.S.
But while only a couple "Lazaretto" singles seem to have been sold so far online, numerous copies of Cake's vinyl box set have fetched over $300 on eBay. Also on the box set front, R.E.M.'s Unplugged collection has gone for as much as $279, LCD Soundsystem's The Last Goodbye has sold for $230, Dave Matthews Band's latest Live Trax box went for $200, the 50th anniversary edition of The Folk Box has gone for $199.99, and Soundgarden's singles box has earned $189.90. Meanwhile, Spacemen 3's Translucent Flashbacks 12-inch set sold for $199.98.
The prices that we find truly crazy, however, aren't for the lavish box sets, but the smaller-scale releases. Camera Obscura's 12-inch 4AD Session EP has gone for $249.99, while Pixies' Indie Cindy LP earned $199.99, Fear of Men's Loom reissue fetched $199.95, and the videogame soundtrack for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon netted $197 (with several copies also fetching well over $100).
Elsewhere, the unreleased EP Put Your Sad Down by School of Seven Bells roped in $175, while those glow-in-the-dark Ghostbusters records are selling for as much as $152.50. Green Day's Demolicious vinyl has gone for $132.50, and Jon Brion's ParaNorman soundtrack and Jerry Garcia's Garcia reissue have respectively reached $125.
Prior to Record Store Day, a test pressing of Mudhoney's live EP (recorded atop Seattle's Space Needle) sold for $504. This shouldn't be considered a proper RSD release, however, since it's the exclusive test pressing rather than the commercial version.
However, one of the biggest's sellers isn't even a record: a Crosley turntable branded with Peanuts comics has fetched as much as $230.
So, yes, it's all a little crazy. But of course, if you still want these releases, chances are you can still track many of them down without paying insanely high eBay flipper prices.
