How do you justify $125.00 for a new vinyl record

I guess you could compare the price to West Palm beach's only audiophile store's $1500 and $2000 LP'S.

My (ex)wife threw away a cutout album, Toshiko Akioshi, Lew Tobackin Big Band, Warming Up.  I miss that album more than all the others.  I found one for sale....$400.  I don't miss it THAT much.

Back in the early 80"s MFSL made UHQR's that listed for I think $50. Have great packaging and sound fantastic. Now the new 45's sound really great and they sell for about $50. They're not quite as good as the UHQRs, but with inflation, those $50 records would probably cost at least $200 (maybe $400 depending on what inflation numbers you look at). Try buying a used UHQR of Dark Side or Sergeant Pepper. Much more than $400, and if it is new, probably $1000.

I resent the collectors who never play and enjoy an album, and then try to sell them later on for profit. It's not a stamp or a coin. If someone is going to enjoy a record, then they can pay whatever they think it's worth. If they are a monopoly money VC or investment banker, then their opinion of worth are usually a lot higher than mine.   

I purchased the Yes Fragile One Step Album. I always liked that record, so I took the plunge, to see how good these records really are. I compared a regular pressing to the One Step and there is a huge difference. Listening to Mood for a day, it sounded as if Steve Howe was playing the guitar in my living room. There is more body and clarity at the same time making me feel the emotion of the performance. Incredible! Then I listened to the regular pressing again and it was a letdown. So is it worth it ? My answer is hell yes. I know they are expensive and I can't buy too many of them, but I'm sorry I didn't buy Santana Abraxas and a couple of the earlier ones because now the prices of them are really high and out of range for me.

1.87 lbs. of Cougar Gold cheese is $150. Cheese! and you only get to enjoy it once. 

these are the ultra disc 1 step pressings, not your run of the mill pressing, so if you want the quality , you pay. What would you rather play on your system?

You could purchase 2 pounds of Diane St. Clair butter for that (if they weren’t currently sold out).

@dekay I just looked this up. Would be f'ing hilarious if it weren't such a sad indictment of our times.

Lalitk
While somebody may find that to be a good deal and will pay it, I just could never ever do that unless I won the lottery big time.
But even then my common sense would likely kick in and prevail.
Not knocking anybody who does pay that at all but it just seems outrageous to my eyes.

If you want a real non-real Blood On The Tracks, look no further...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bob-Dylan-Blood-On-The-Tracks-Vinyl-MISPRESS-VERY-RARE-1of-216-Promo/143459478163?hash=item2166d9ea93:g:G-wAAOSwbEFdqjZG

Speaking of Blood On The Tracks, I have a record, CD, Mini Disc, cassette, SACD, and think I am missing 8-Track. How much do they go for? How much is a player?

..."a digital download at 16/44 using an allpass filter to remove the dynamic compression for the loudness wars and then re-encoded with the 33 hertz frequency..."

Right.

Why anybody even pays attention beats me.

@uberwaltz,

Wait, check this out...last copy, anyone? 

https://elusivedisc.com/the-bill-evans-trio-sunday-at-the-village-vanguard-180g-45rpm-2lp/

Thats just crazy.....

Only few copies left, grab it while you can -:)

https://elusivedisc.com/bob-dylan-blood-on-the-tracks-numbered-limited-edition-180g-45rpm-supervinyl...

$125.00, that's just crazy!!!

You could purchase 2 pounds of Diane St. Clair butter for that (if they weren’t currently sold out).

DeKay

String - I am this close to ordering a car $99£ and the engine ( 4 banger Turbo ) is good for 80 hours before rebuilding.... excellent value - for a race car !!!!

fun, but I agree, why justify anything?

While no one has to justify anything, and it is true that "high end' has always been expensive, but that was for a reason, "expensive parts and construction"; now we have totally absurd prices for many items, and those prices only exist because the rich have gotten much richer, so rich as a matter of fact that they simply buy the most expensive and assume it is the best.

I worked for rich people in the 80's, and they were always "cost conscious"; however, I don't believe those same people are cost conscious today, because there are ways that rich people have made "astronomical profits" since then, and when you earn that much excess cash, simply buy the most expensive and assume it is the best.

There are so many of those people around, that some manufactures test the limit at to how much they will pay; compare the most expensive turntables and cartridges to get an example; also don't leave out the most expensive interconnects.

Why should anyone have to justify anything?  If you want it and can afford it, buy it.  If not, don't.

I own it and it sounds excellent via my ears.  Just purchased an unopened 33.3 MoFi of Low Spark of High Healed Boys from 1985 (I think) for $150.  Amazing sound.  Jumps out at you and you can hear the subtleties that You can hear on the other versions I own.

@guitarsam 

Sam here and record store day and single vinyl records going for upwards of $50.00 lf i didn't know better i would think the record companies were either trying to commit vinyl suicide or the greedy bastards are trying to establish the tipping point either way this is madness and there is 100% an agenda behind the madness.

Don't worry Sam, markets are amazingly efficient at self correction.  A pricing equilibrium is quickly established at what the market will support.  An immediate feedback loop.  You think an industry is willing to lose money for decades selling to a non-captive market at prices that are unsupportable by buyers? lol  You find it offensive which simply means you aren't part of this particular market and the market seems perfectly content with your non participation.  Time to move on to your market demographic - flea markets where you can participate based on your value model and sense of equity.  

and there is 100% an agenda behind the madness

Its called business.......

Sam here and record store day and single vinyl records going for upwards of $50.00 lf i didn't know better i would think the record companies were either trying to commit vinyl suicide or the greedy bastards are trying to establish the tipping point either way this is madness and there is 100% an agenda behind the madness.

I do not consider myself an audiophile. I own blood on the tracks Ud1s for one simple reason. I want to be able to have the choice of playing that pressing. I knew it was going to sell out and I had a straight choice of buying for the retail price or ponder buying it for a ridiculously marked up price from a reseller at some point later. Not owning it was not an option. Justified. 

Are Kenjit and Sam the same individual? I like to seek out “used” early presses, sometimes they aren’t cheap. I did buy the new Zepp 2 box set recently. Very happy with it, and didn’t flinch at the 125.00 price...

Drove the new Porsche electric....fabulous car, but at over 200,000, I had to pass.

How do you justify $125.00 for a new vinyl record?

Easy, be rich or not married.

I have 5 hot stampers in my collection and all were worth the money imo. Will gradually add more when I’m able. He, Tom, has weekly coupons that I utilize to save some money. I typically pay just under $100 bucks for each, as I usually only go for the $99 ones he has. Minus the coupon, typically 15 to 20 %, it’s a decent deal for a guaranteed great sounding record. This expensive record buying is a bit new to me, as I generally buy my records at thrift stores, crate digging, etc.....the most expensive record I ever bought was a sealed original copy of The Who, Who's Next, on ebay for about $200. 

I bought a couple of records roughly in that price range and at least one more than that, all new. I copied them into digital and that was about it. I paid that much because that was the price 

Question?
There ain't no stinkin' question.
Just sam latin.

@cfarrow 
Oh I am definitely cheap and pretty, ask the wife.
Oh shoot you said petty......

Question:  How do you justify $125.00 for a new vinyl record? 

Answer: It sounds great with my $7500 cartridge, on my $3500 turntable, through my $15,000 SET monoblocks and my $25,000 line array speakers.

Real answer: I find decent first or second pressings at my local record store. $10 to $25 for higher demand, listenable, used LP's. Get credit for trades. 

I did buy a MoFi "Dark Side of the Moon" for about $18. Wasn't impressed.  

If you can’t spend the dough or justify paying the asking price keep it to yourself.  You sound cheap and petty..

You do not need to justify that expense. It is just money and if that record is what you want, why not.

Curious how many Hot Stampers you guys have in your collections?

None. Never heard of them until you mentioned them a while back. I'm with @Uberwaltz on this. Something like an original NM 60s six eye Columbia for $10 does it for me.

How much?

Curious how many Hot Stampers you guys have in your collections?

Zilch, Zero, Nada, None.

45 RPM has a sonic advantage over 33 RPM. The reason MoFi cuts at that speed is economics. Forget where read but someone said the cost for 33 RPM rights is just too expensive.

Oh, for the days when I could be satisfied with any old cheap $150 record. https://better-records.com/ Curious how many Hot Stampers you guys have in your collections?

There is no record out there that I know of currently that I would pay $125 for. Then again I have been at this for many years and have access to streaming services to hear a lot of things that I don’t already own. Newbie vinyl fans who are also big Dylan fans might very easily decide to take the plunge.  If the packaging is nice enough, that would help justify the cost.

A lot of great answers above. When I read this I am reminded of a conversation I had in the early 1980s with a (since) departed friend. I was recently married and he had just completed grad school as a conductor.

My friend and I shared a love of some obscure classical music and he was urging me to purchase a couple of LPs a week at about $10 ea., although we had little spare cash available then.

So friend asks me "do you go out to eat?" Yes, but not often. "Do you spend more than $10 when you go out to eat?" Sure. "How long does the meal last?" I don't know, 45 minutes maybe. "An LP can provide up to 44 minutes of musical enjoyment that you can listen to again and again. A meal is enjoyed once and done. What's the better investment?"

I don't think we ate out once for the next couple of years. And BTW, I would probably never pay $125 for an album but I might make exception for something really rare and collectible.

I do not get 45 rpm records as it is just a way of making you spend more money on the same record.If i have the original pressing than I’m more than happy with it even though the 45 may be a little better.Thats my take on the reissue game.

“l can damn sure bet you that a digital download at 16/44 using an allpass filter to remove the dynamic compression for the loudness wars and then re-encoded with the 33 hertz frequency will blow the mofi vinyl away.” 

Then why don’t you, why make such a fuss about the escalated price of a sold out ‘limited edition’ item. It’s a hobby, if you can’t justify paying $125 for a collector’s item, stick with digital downloads or streaming. 

Really hate when records which are items of pleasure with music are treated as a commodity.
Yes I know that is the world we live in and always has been but does not mean I have to like it.

Quite happy most of the time with my bargain $1 bin dive finds!

My local dealer sells MoFi albums. He still has one copy of Blood on the Tracks New for $149. I had a crazy moment some months ago and bought this Album from his store. A great pressing.

Easy. Even if I didn't think these releases are "worth it"on their own... go try to buy almost any out of print MFSL release. 

uberwaltz

.... I can agree with the sentiment in general on the ever increasing spiral of pricing on new and remastered lps.
Obviously demand and it being a still booming niche market has a big effect on pricing but $100+ for new records? ...

Parts of our little hobby have always been pricey, so it can be amusing when some object. That’s particularly true in this instance if you consider the facts.

The premium LP market really began around the mid-’70s with labels such as MoFi, Nautilus, and Sheffield, and coincided with the nascent hi-end audio industry that companies such as ARC and Mark Levinson were defining. At the time, most of those records cost around $20 - sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. That was a lot of money back then, when the list price for a new LP was typically $6.98 and could be bought on sale at Sam Goody or Korvette’s for about $4.

Using the government’s inflation calculator, that $20 premium record in 1975 would cost about $100 today. So a two-LP box set at $125 isn’t such a crazy price. I’m sympathetic to those who think that price is too steep - I’ve never spent more than $50 for any LP - but it isn’t really accurate to claim it as an example of an "ever increasing spiral of pricing on new and remastered lps."
three_easy_payments

How do you justify the cost of anything that’s in the collectible market?

Exactly. It’s a collectible.

I own all the MFSL Ultradisc and as far as I am concerned, Blood On The Tracks is a priceless collectible for one simple reason. The first thing my 2 year old grandson would say to me in the morning is "Bob Dylan". He would then point to the music room. We would then go to the music room and he would smile as I put the disc on. We would then sit on the floor side by side and he holds my hand and breaks out in a bigger smile when the music starts. Does life get any better for an audiophile, I think not.

How do you justify the cost of anything that’s in the collectible market? 

While I would agree it is hard to comment when you have not heard it I can agree with the sentiment in general on the ever increasing spiral of pricing on new and remastered lps.
Obviously demand and it being a still booming niche market has a big effect on pricing but $100+ for new records?
Now I will admit to having paid just over $100 for some older rare records that I wanted to complete my collection of a certain artist and that again is market driven and maybe more fool me...lol.

Sam, thanks for another clueless post.

You haven't heard it so how can you possibly have an opinion on how it sounds.