Did you see this e-article in Yahoo news today??

A fool and their money are quickly parted.

I think I will start selling my hot...Hot stampers @ twice the price. Some of them have been through a 40 year evaluation and listening process. That must be worth something.

BTW, just to be clear: I'm not taking sides one way or the other re. hot stampers vinyl & their pricing but I'm merely pointing you to some additional info.
Apparently this topic is not new & the pricing is also not as ludicrous as it 1st seems - there's this company called Better Records that's been pricing such vinyl at these stratospheric prices for a while now......

Taters, I tend to agree with you that the pricing on these "hot stampers" vinyl is ludicrous BUT there just might be some truth to it.
Read this forum thread (as I did) & also watch the Mike Fremer video (see the post by Qdrone) in its entirety (I'm in the process of - watched 20 mins of the 60 mins).
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?gmusi&1399384539&&&/Hot-Stamper-myth-or-reality-

after all of this you might still be unconvinced but at least you'll be better educated (I was/am).

Of what I understand the equipment he uses is highly modified. Nothing is as purchased. How can you judge a record that most people will be playing on standard stock equipment regardless of its cost? Is the system on the analitical solid state side or the warm tube side as that will effect playback?. I would like this information before purchasing. Also shipping cost for the return of a 750.00 record is what?
I would rather talk with a local dealer to listen to what he has to pick the best sounding version on MY system. He would get back all clean records for his trouble. If you buy used records then you will have a store you go to often and have a relationship with the owner. I do with 3 stores and all have great return policies especially since everything is cleaner upon return than when it leaves

The whole thing is just stupid!

I think a QA listening test is of value to the customer but his prices are beyond the pale.

Used album: $2.00
Cleaning: $2.00
Listening time 1 hour $35.00
Wear on equipment: $2.00
Cataloging/Stock time $2.00
Shipping/Receiving cost $10.00
Operational cost: $10.00
Total cost $63.00

$63.00 would seem to be a reasonable cost for the service but obviously he is not using this method as his business plan. He is looking at low volume and high prices, therefore decreasing his actual work load and increasing his profit margins. He would need to sell 12 copies of DSM for every single copy that he sells for $700 or more. Also, at the lower rate it would beg the question..."how many supposed hot stampers are there?" At $700 a pop it rises to the level of exclusiveness and therefore meets the emotional need of his consumers.

Rlwainwright,
my 1st point was supposed to be very tongue-in-cheek (hence the exclamation mark) but I did not know a better way to show that in my post. Agree, his prices for those 2 particular albums is ludicrous.
the other 3 points: it was refreshing to see somebody outside the small world of Audiogon/AA/AudioCircle recommend products you + I would use.

Rl- If it's not one of his vaunted "hot stampers" he won't give you diddledy squat for it. Leaving that issue aside, I was flabberqasted to read that he is buying and cleaning "used" LPs for those prices!!!! That's a mark-up that would make le Donald weep w jealousy ;-) Somehow I thought he had access to warehoused new LPs that he sorted through to find his super disks. Silly me.

Another audio scam artist. I bet he would sell you a bridge in Brooklyn.

You gotta be kidding me!! Here's a direct quote from that article:

"The online store’s offerings are mostly classic albums like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon or Carole King’s Tapestry. They aren’t obscure bootlegs or limited-edition collectables. But just those two records will cost you a whopping $749.99 and $349.99, respectively."

You gotta be outta yer mind to pay those prices for what is simply run of the mill record store vinyl. Even the article states that Amazon will sell you the very same vinyl for $31.99

I don't care how much "customer service" this guy provides, it damn sure ain't worth over $700 per album. I do have to credit the store owner with finding a niche market of OCD laden fools who will pay those prices.

For me? No thanks!!

-RW-

PS: Hmmm, I wonder how much he could get someone to pony up for my un-opened MoFi copy of DSOTM?