Dollar Bins? Must Peruse or Must Skip?

[Dan Gould]

So TTK's latest got me wondering.  I hardly ever, bordering on never spent time in dollar bins at vinyl shops, for simple reasons: The covers generally looked horrible, they would never waste a poly sleeve on those LPs, they were poorly organized or not organized at all, so finding cheap jazz was a challenge to begin with, and what is the condition of the vinyl likely to be when it's a dollar record, purchased for 5 cents?

So am I the only person who avoided dollar bins because I'd rather play in the $5 and up section to get something that might not be beat to hell, or what?

[JSngry]

Dude.. when I discovered cutout bins, which was a few weeks after discovering jazz, the bottom of the barrell was the 3/0.99 bin. I always looked, and always found.

But those were cutout bins, totally different supply chain. Cutouts hardly still exist. 

Today, the dollar bin is not something towards which I gravitate. Once a year per store, generally. And as the "vinyl revival" goes in and prices continue getting batshit crazy, the less incentized I am to play that game 

[HutchFan]

I still pull stuff out of the dollar bin regularly.  That said, all dollar bins aren't created equal.  Sometimes, I quickly get a sense that there's not much to find and quit searching.  And sometimes it's just the opposite. 

Last December, I pulled all these LPs from the dollar bins at one shop:

- Oscar Peterson Trio, Clark Terry - Oscar Peterson Trio + 1 (Mercury)
- Thad Jones, Mel Lewis - Live at the Village Vanguard (Solid State)
- Les McCann, Eddie Harris - Swiss Movement (Atlantic)
- Herbie Mann - Concerto Grosso in D Blues (Atlantic)
- Billy Eckstine - Mr. B and the Band: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy)
- Mel Torme - Songs for Any Taste (Bethlehem)
- Marcio Montarroyos - Magic Moment (Columbia)
- Ken Peplowski Quintet - Sonny Side (Concord)

All vinyl VG+ condition or better.  Admittedly, that was an exceptional day.  But still.

 

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

... And as the "vinyl revival" goes in and prices continue getting batshit crazy, the less incentized I am to play that game 

This is very true.  There's one shop where I sometimes go.  What was formerly his dollar bin is now his FIVE dollar bin.  Uh, no thanks.

OTOH, the price of CDs are still cratering in most shops.

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by HutchFan

[Teasing the Korean]

I don't know if anyone here remembers Princeton Record Exchange during its heyday, but on a typical Saturday trip, I would spend literally the whole day on the floor buying from the dollar boxes placed under the regular racks.  It was unbelievable. 

When I made it through the dollar boxes, after slowly standing up and remembering what it was to walk upright, I would spend about one hour going through their regular jazz section.

And whenever I would go to Stereo Jack's in Cambridge - which was weekly, at one time - I would routinely look through their dollar jazz, dollar classical, and dollar vocals bin.  Everything was always in great shape - it was just stuff that they either had too many copies of, or things that didn't move.  

To say nothing of the dollar records I've picked up at thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales over the years...

All that said, my vinyl buying days slowed down considerably about 6 years ago.  

Edited April 24, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[HutchFan]

1 minute ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I don't know if anyone here remembers Princeton Record Exchange during its heyday, but on a typical Saturday trip, I would spend literally the whole day on the floor buying from the dollar boxes placed under the regular racks.  It was unbelievable. 

I was able to go there a couple times, many years ago.  Both times I was on business trips to NJ, so I didn't have as much time as I would've liked. 

Even so, it was great!  I brought a BUNCH of Charles Ives records home from there, many of which I'd never even seen before -- back in those pre-internet days.   

 

[Dub Modal]

If I have the time, I dig those crates. 

[mjzee]

I find dollar crates are valuable to go through once in a location.  I've gone to a store, found amazing things in the dollar bin, then went back a few months later to find nothing additional of value.

And let's talk about how filthy our fingertips get after an afternoon of dollar bin hunting!

Someday I'll have insight into why going through the bargain CD bins is a totally different experience.  I lose interest very quickly.

[Brad]

2 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I don't know if anyone here remembers Princeton Record Exchange during its heyday, but on a typical Saturday trip, I would spend literally the whole day on the floor buying from the dollar boxes placed under the regular racks.  It was unbelievable. 

When I made it through the dollar boxes, after slowly standing up and remembering what it was to walk upright, I would spend about one hour going through their regular jazz section.

And whenever I would go to Stereo Jack's in Cambridge - which was weekly, at one time - I would routinely look through their dollar jazz, dollar classical, and dollar vocals bin.  Everything was always in great shape - it was just stuff that they either had too many copies of, or things that didn't move.  

To say nothing of the dollar records I've picked up at thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales over the years...

All that said, my vinyl buying days slowed down considerably about 6 years ago.  

I think they still have the dollar bins at Princeton. 

[JSngry]

23 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Someday I'll have insight into why going through the bargain CD bins is a totally different experience.  I lose interest very quickly.

Computerized inventory controls reduced overstock of all but really "bad" products.

Chuck pointed this out while it was happening and I was asking where all the cutouts had gone. 

[Big Beat Steve]

I do check "our" equivalent of the "dollar bins" from time to time at my favorite local secondhand record store - 2.50 EUR per record, either vinyls in separate crates or CDs in racks on the shelves underneath the regular racks (so I do sympathize - a lot! - with TTK's comment about "after slowly standing up and remembering what it was to walk upright" ).
Renewal of the jazz stocks in those bins varies, but except for the occasional somewhat scruffy item (often 50s or 60s originals) the records and covers usually are in fairly clean condition - either items that were downpriced after they had sat for years (which you can see by the multiple price stickers) or recent arrivals that the staff figured would not move rapidly anyway. What does move in their opinion seems to be jazz from Hard Bop ONWARDS. So those who go for earlier jazz styles should be in for a treat every now and then. The other day I picked up pristine spare copies of several of those 80s Savoy twofers, for example.

The fairly beat-up vinyls usually end up at their twice-a-year clearout Sale weekends (currently at 1 EUR per item) which are a different story because nothing is organized (so they do test your stamina). But even there you can round up amazing items. In addition to 50s originals mentioned elsewhere earlier, last time I pulled out a dozen Classics CDs and the Johnny Richards CD on Uptown, for example, among many other vinyls and CDs. And at that price you can take chances anyway ... or add a duplicate item for convenience, i.e. a CD for the car - or lazy evenings - of music that you already have on vinyl).
But indeed - talk about filthy fingertips after THESE perusals ...
 

[jcam_44]

I might quickly go through a dollar bin. Maybe spend 2-3 minutes to see if it’s worth the effort. Usually it’s not. My biggest reason is why I don’t dig certain locations, I’m at a point where there has to be some organization for me to start. Preferably alphabetized, but at minimum by genre. 

[Teasing the Korean]

9 hours ago, Brad said:

I think they still have the dollar bins at Princeton. 

On my last visit, they had far fewer dollar albums, and the selection was not as good.  This says less about Princeton than it does about market changes.  There was a brief period where all these LPs were available, and few people wanted them.

[Teasing the Korean]

A friend of mine in SoCal says that the vinyl market there is comparable to what it was everyplace else in the 1990s.  But in every place I've lived or visited frequently, it has dried up.  The glory days of the dollar vinyl bins are long behind us.

[Stereojack]

I can only speak about the dollar bin at my store, but the pricing had nothing to do with condition. There were many gems to be found in the dollar bin, and they were there simply because they were items that we had determined that customers wouldn't pay any more for. New customers routinely asked about the condition of the records in the dollar bin, and we reassured them that everything was in clean condition.

Of course times are changing, and perhaps a dollar isn't what it used to be! Many stores may now feel that records that will only bring a dollar just aren't worth putting out.

[gvopedz]

The BackSpin Records store in Austin had a bin on the floor for free records.  There you could find LPs such as the first LP of Olivia Newton-John (may she rest in peace).  The store closed more than 10 years ago.

[Teasing the Korean]

30 minutes ago, Stereojack said:

I can only speak about the dollar bin at my store, but the pricing had nothing to do with condition. There were many gems to be found in the dollar bin, and they were there simply because they were items that we had determined that customers wouldn't pay any more for. New customers routinely asked about the condition of the records in the dollar bin, and we reassured them that everything was in clean condition.

Of course times are changing, and perhaps a dollar isn't what it used to be! Many stores may now feel that records that will only bring a dollar just aren't worth putting out.

I still have dreams about Stereo Jack's dollar bins!!!

[Pim]

I always give it a go but give up after ten minutes of going trough what really mostly is garbage. The endless row of cheap compilations and musicians you'd wish they never made a record, all unorganized an put down on the floor so you're doing you're daily squat exercises without getting a reward for it. I never picked anything up from it. As I also have limited storing space I try not to buy any 'let's give that one a try' records but only stuff that's on my wishlist. The chance of them being in one of those bins is nihil.

But I'm always tempted when I see them. Thursday is a national holiday here: Kings day. Lot's of flea markets with hundreds of bins filled with these guys:

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Pim

[Teasing the Korean]

46 minutes ago, Pim said:

I always give it a go but give up after ten minutes of going trough what really mostly is garbage.

What years are we talking?  You may have missed the golden era.  In the 1990s, everyone was ditching vinyl for CDs, the internet hadn't caught on, and the WWII generation was either downsizing or dying.  All three of these factors converged to produce a flood of LPs - cheap, desirable, and often in very clean condition.  Most of my LPs were acquired during this time.  It is hard to describe this amazing blip in time to those who either weren't there or engaged in other interests.

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

What years are we talking?  You may have missed the golden era.  In the 1990s, everyone was ditching vinyl for CDs, the internet hadn't caught on, and the WWII generation was either downsizing or dying.  All three of these factors converged to produce a flood of LPs - cheap, desirable, and often in very clean condition.  Most of my LPs were acquired during this time.  It is hard to describe this amazing blip in time to those who either weren't there or engaged in other interests.

There was also a fourth factor around this time: record labels remaindering the vinyl in their warehouses.  Super cheap, sealed...just great.  That era was my first big plunge into classical music; Polygram unloaded so many boxed sets on DG, Philips, etc.

[Teasing the Korean]

17 minutes ago, mjzee said:

There was also a fourth factor around this time: record labels remaindering the vinyl in their warehouses.  Super cheap, sealed...just great.  That era was my first big plunge into classical music; Polygram unloaded so many boxed sets on DG, Philips, etc.

Yes, that is true also!  I remember picking up the Nick Drake Fruit Tree box set on vinyl, sealed, for $20.  And lots of other stuff being dumped by record labels.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[Pim]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

What years are we talking?  You may have missed the golden era.  In the 1990s, everyone was ditching vinyl for CDs, the internet hadn't caught on, and the WWII generation was either downsizing or dying.  All three of these factors converged to produce a flood of LPs - cheap, desirable, and often in very clean condition.  Most of my LPs were acquired during this time.  It is hard to describe this amazing blip in time to those who either weren't there or engaged in other interests.

Recent years. I was born in 1990 so I missed those golden years. Generally I missed a lot jazz wise unfortunately.

[Stereojack]

4 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I still have dreams about Stereo Jack's dollar bins!!!

I recently had a conversation with the current owner of Stereo Jack's at its new location, and he confessed to me that because they have less display space than at the old store, they simply don't have enough room for the many rows of dollar bins. ☹️

[Brad]

7 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

On my last visit, they had far fewer dollar albums, and the selection was not as good.  This says less about Princeton than it does about market changes.  There was a brief period where all these LPs were available, and few people wanted them.

When were you last there? It’s probably a year since my last visit. 

[Jack Pine]

My entire collection is from dollar bins, more or less. Lots of Four Lads, Freshmen, and the like, but also plenty of Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Errol Garner and other quality artists who tended more towards the pop side.

[Teasing the Korean]

49 minutes ago, Brad said:

When were you last there? It’s probably a year since my last visit. 

Long before that.  I am comparing my more recent trips to my first visits in the 1990s, during the Great Vinyl Purge.