RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

You

Local 506 wrote:

> PS: As far as my self-serving hipocrisy, I do see your points.  But I
> don't think increasing a door price that has somehow avoided inflation
> should be considered overpaying.  Or spending an extra buck and
> getting a decent beer instead of crappy PBR is overpaying (heck, I
> consider that a wise investment!)  But paying four or five extra
> dollars for the exact same CD in order to avoid a certain retailer,
> that gets harder to justify.

Those "extra" dollars are called "profit margin" and they're what normal 
record stores use to pay the rent, keep the lights on, pay employees, 
all those little things. If you got those releases for $8.99 then you 
were paying wholesale, and taking part in Best Buy's ongoing attempt to 
run all the other record stores out of business. I assume they make up 
the difference in jacking up the prices on computer gear & other hardware.

If, as you say, you wouldn't have bought those CDs at all otherwise, 
then only you know whether that's true or not. But when I took a shot at 
you, I specifically took a shot at how absurd it was for you to suggest 
that people should be willing to pay a fair market rate for live music, 
but that record stores should sell you stuff at their cost.

If you were trying to suggest that the wholesale price of CDs should 
drop to $5 so that they wind up being $9 with a reasonable markup, then 
I'm all in favor of that. But that's not what you said, and you as a 
businessman should be able to spot a market-poisoning loss leader when 
you see one.

Ross