Does anyone still shop at HMV?

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MVE would be best if they'd stop using such ridiculously sticky stickers! Keep seeing things I want in digipaks for a couple of quid but you know trying to get the sticker off will end up tearing half the cover off with it.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:43 (seventeen years ago) link

I was in the Camden Lock branch of MVE the other day (the one near Fopp) and it seemed to be staffed entirely by twattish gap year students rather than the usual suicide cases. What's up with that, huh?

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:43 (seventeen years ago) link

The thing about the Oxford Circus HMV is that they always seem to have one copy of whatever I'm looking for in stock where nobody else in central London has. It's almost as if they have a premonition: "oh get a copy of that - MC'll buy it."

MVE Notting Hill are v. good. Camden MVE is in a bit of a mess. The Berwick Street one is good though - I particularly like that shelf they have in between the main stock and the bargain basement downstairs where things are sort of semi-bargain priced; handy for picking up new releases you're not sufficiently sure about to pay full price.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Last time i was in before xmas there was a new shop in it's place. But didn't look any good.

whatever it was (i can't even remember), it was only open for about two weeks.

― stirmonster, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:45 (seventeen years ago) link

There are some bloody good charity shops dotted around various quarters of the capital, but I'm loath to identify them since if I do that then the professional crate diggers will move in.

Flashback in Islington is a terrific second-hand shop with a good vinyl basement.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:46 (seventeen years ago) link

That's my favourite shelf too! Anyone know when the Reckless fire sale might involve the shop that isn't full of deep house 12"'s?

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:48 (seventeen years ago) link

HMV sales are often really good, bought shitloads more stuff in HMV than any other major high street retailer

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:52 (seventeen years ago) link

I also regularly peruse that middle shelf at Berwick St MVE. I might go there this lunchtime. They had some of the Can remasters last time I was in there but they were 6 quid and I'm a bit skint at the moment. They'll be gone before they get cheap enough for me I expect.

When/how often do they mark down their prices? Some things I've been watching never seem to get any cheaper.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:52 (seventeen years ago) link

If only. Clearly they're trying to get rid of all the unsellable stuff and most likely will flog the good stuff off privately.

I see that Sounds Of The Universe have moved their modest post-punk stock to the basement so that's the end of that particular craze, then.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:54 (seventeen years ago) link

I see the Mr. CD in Berwick Street is no more

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:54 (seventeen years ago) link

(Reckless fire sale xpost, that was)

MVE tend to mark down their prices fortnightly.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:54 (seventeen years ago) link

Yep, Mr CD gone and also its sister shop up the road, whatever that was called. Expect HIP HOP IS DEAD thinkpieces in next Friday's Grauniad.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:55 (seventeen years ago) link

No great loss there really.

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:59 (seventeen years ago) link

Mr. CD? I bought some good stuff in there, downstairs in the smelly tubercular basement... but not after they smartened themselves up and promptly went out of business

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:03 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm going to take a trip to the enormous Dalston Oxfam, to get rid of some unwanted old CDs and hopefully find some vinyl gems!

― Neil S, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:06 (seventeen years ago) link

So who will sign up for the social networking site? haha

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:08 (seventeen years ago) link

I've been to that Dalston Oxfam a couple of times but didn't see anything special; maybe the blogger routnely buys all the decent stuff.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Is beanos actually gone?

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:14 (seventeen years ago) link

I just dumped a load of terrible 90s hard house 12"s on Dalston Oxfam ha ha

― blueski, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:19 (seventeen years ago) link

Oxfam run specialist shops just for music now don't they? No chance of bargains now.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:20 (seventeen years ago) link

sp: "routinely"

No, Beanos is still functioning on two floors, selling off all its stock at half price. They were going to close but it looks as though they'll be trading on the ground floor only (the other floors will be given over to market stalls and suchlike).

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Oxfam do indeed do specialist music shops here and there, and no they don't offer much in the way of bargains; what's the point in paying a fiver for something second-hand which you can get brand new for the same price in HMV or Fopp?

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:24 (seventeen years ago) link

I got Syd Barrett's single there for £50, sold it on...

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:25 (seventeen years ago) link

A fiver? Add a couple of squids on to that and you're getting there

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:25 (seventeen years ago) link

What some of the general Oxfam shops do is: find out how much an LP is worth, and price it accordingly.

Without checking the condition...

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh dear, so much for my dreams of cheap LPs then. I'll just pick up some paperbacks instead, I guess.

― Neil S, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:35 (seventeen years ago) link

There are specialised bookshop Oxfam branches now as well. They don't do much in the way of bargains either.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:47 (seventeen years ago) link

Do they try emotional blackmail with "but it's for a good cause" if you complain about the prices?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:48 (seventeen years ago) link

there may be a music-only Oxfam opening just a few doors down from the one in Dalston.

― blueski, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:52 (seventeen years ago) link

I never haggle about charity shop prices unless something is actually unpriced.

Hamilton has quite a lot of charity shops, but these are literally a different world, as BL-P will no doubt confirm.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:53 (seventeen years ago) link

Me neither.

You either

1) want it, in which case put up..
2) want bargains, in which case shurrup.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:56 (seventeen years ago) link

I did get mmmmmmmm skyscraper I love you 12" for 50p in a charity shop in Hamilton along with an early Elvis Costello lp and a Talking Heads lp once. In one just up Cadzow Street(where Impulse used to be). That was about 10 years ago. God knows what it's like now.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:58 (seventeen years ago) link

An Oxfam, IIRC.

From recent visits: if you're into Sydney Devine and Anne Lorne Gillies, you'll be in heaven.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:00 (seventeen years ago) link

I used to work in an Oxfam and we were absolutely not allowed to change the price of anything if a customer tried to haggle. We were allowed to mark it down after they'd gone if we thought it was overpriced though!

OTM about pricing records according to what a mint copy is worth, ignoring the condition of actual record! The Cancer Research shops in Muswell Hill do that as well.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:01 (seventeen years ago) link

What some of the general Oxfam shops do is: find out how much an LP is worth, and price it accordingly.

Without checking the condition...,

Absolutely. I have to tell off some of the other volunteers for Oxfam to look at more than just the Big Record Price Book to see how much stuff is worth. A lot of CDs and DVDs we look up on EBay to see what the going price is, and then put it at about that, give a take a quid or two. End of the day, we try and get the most money we can for the donations we get, so if we can sell a DVD for £10 that's £12 in HMV, then we'll do that. Yes, it IS for a good cause, and no, don't go there looking for bargains. Go there because the music section is often well looked after, and there's often cool stuff there, and it WILL be cheaper than buying new/ebay/whatever, and yes, it IS for a good cause.

― The Wayward Johnny B, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:04 (seventeen years ago) link

I can honestly say that, in many years of shopping in charity shops, I have never once thought, "This is for a good cause"

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:06 (seventeen years ago) link

Agreed on all those points. The Oxfam on Oldham St in Manchester has a very good music section, obviously run by people who know what they're doing.

― Neil S, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:07 (seventeen years ago) link

i hate the atmosphere and vibe in the one in manc. always have really. they don't seem to give a fuck about making it any nicer either. it's a dump and it feels like a morgue.

― pisces, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:34 (seventeen years ago) link

From recent visits: if you're into Sydney Devine and Anne Lorne Gillies, you'll be in heaven.

It's been like that since before I was born I reckon. These records will just ALWAYS be there.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:40 (seventeen years ago) link

That end of Oldham St is a bit scummy in general, with that pub that has bouncers outside all hours of the day. It is difficult to make Oxfams feel anything other than what they are, which is musty charity shops.

― Neil S, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:43 (seventeen years ago) link

As part of a three-year turnaround plan, HMV plans to save £40m by 2010 by reviewing all aspects of its business, including its stores, supply chain and administrative operations.

Unprofitable stores plus those deemed surplus to requirements following Waterstone's purchase of Ottakar's last year are likely to be closed.

New initiatives

HMV also plans to refurbish its stores and introduce new products including portable music players and gift stationery at Waterstone's.

Goodbye bookshops too. And the portable music players being sold just sounds like when Our Price started hawking virgin mobile phones instead of cds.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:46 (seventeen years ago) link

Just at the point when Virgin took over Our Price as well.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 13:20 (seventeen years ago) link

It was all downhill from that point.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 13:37 (seventeen years ago) link

yes.

Returning to an earlier point...

If something was overpriced, part of me wants to tell the charity shop, part of me says 'whatever'...

If it was something I wanted, I either want it or get put off by the price. I'd not try the knockdown.

Only time I did this was a non-charity shop, and the bloke said "If it's still here in a week,ask again"

And it was. So I did, and he said "Oh yeah, you did. OK then." and the Monkees Head DVD (test pressing) was mine for a fiver.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 15:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Returning to a much earlier point...

Hey, y'all prepare yourself
For the White Van Man
You're about to get new sounds
From the White Van Man
You're bound to lose control
When the White Van Man delivers those jams

(commence scat singing)

― henry s, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 16:52 (seventeen years ago) link

"I ordered CDs, not bleeding jam!"
"I'm only doing my job mate."

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 16:55 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm now wondering why Smuckers never saw fit to use the MC5 in an ad campaign...

put that bread in my hand
and let me spread on the jam
yeah
spread on the jam
come on, spread it out

spread on the jam, soccer mothers!

― henry s, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 17:54 (seventeen years ago) link

charity shops should be charity for the people going in there as much as the customers IMO. maybe not so much with records and books but the prices for their bric a brac sections (which is the first bit i look at) always amaze me. 20 pence ikea tealight holders and whatnot being sold for £2.99.

― jed_, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 22:38 (seventeen years ago) link

but yeah, HMV. you're unlikely to find some of the more obscure DVD's in fopp but they will, at least, usually be on sale in HMV even if the price is a bit high.

― jed_, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 22:40 (seventeen years ago) link

Got this in the email to day - sound 323's myspace

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 22:58 (seventeen years ago) link

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just in time for Christmas bankruptcy

― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Monday, 14 October 2019 09:00 (four years ago) link

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