Ernie B's Good or Bad ?

[Ernie B]

Yes the "bootleg" business as you call it is indeed complicated, very well put!

I call the shots on what gets issued on Negus Roots but I telly ou it is tough to turn a profit. Look what I am selling the Castell product for now, just trying to get back some cash (surplus stock).

The Don Carlos is great but I doubt we'll do it on vinyl. I'll think about it though.

$150 on Ebay? Wow. I'd sell mine for $75

[Lion]

What about Clock Tower!
They bootleg Blood & Fire albums etc.

Lion

[6anbatte]

Hi Ernie B

I don't seem to be able to PM you so I have sent you an email.

Incidentally, what's the story behind the release of "Straight To The Government" as opposed to "Tullo At Home"?

[Ernie B]

A very old thread but I can't resist responding. King Power is right that it is bad for record stores for distributors to sell to customers directly. However, in a free market society (which is the best kind of society), this is going to happen no matter what. We have to evolve to stay in business. My ultimate goal from the start was to provide reggae to fans and that's what I do. Whomever wants to buy from us is welcome. I don't play favorites, or protect any customers (to do so would harm other customers). If you want reggae, then here is the product and here is the price..very simple and fair for everyone. If we went into "store-protection" mode and raised our mailorder prices, then the Amazons, eBays and others would take over and we all would lose because customers would be buying under their rules and with their inferior selection and service.

Stores dies for these reasons:
1) iPod
2) buddy-copying (CD-R's)
3) transition from vinyl to mp3 by many DJ's
4) physical piracy (selling counterfeit copies of CD's, esp. in New York, Miami, Caribbean)
5) people spending money on other things such as video games

I don't think EB selling to the public would make the top 100 reasons. I agree it does not help stores, but stores thrived while we were selling direct. We sold direct from day 1 back in 1993 and never stopped. Stores starting declined when the CD-R's hit and then again when the iPod hit.

As for the claim we sell or even manufacture "bootlegs", actually a misnomer because bootlegs are illegal copies of live recordings, we have never manufactured (or copied) any product of any kind. We simply buy and sell finished product, from legit sources. We know illegal product when we see it, and we don't sell it. If some of the products we sell look homemade then you are encouraged to take it up with the record label that made them (some artists press themselves at home). We don't disagree on the quality issues, but we are not in a position to tell our suppliers how to make their products (that would not go over well). We do make suggestions to them, but still even poor quality is better than nothing at all sometimes. We, perhaps more than anyone, take a strong stand against all forms of piracy.

As for the Wackies DVD, Wackies himself burned those and sold them to us.

I empathize with King Power and all stores. Certainly we need stores to survive, but please don't blame us because we are not the reason for the decline.

Thank you to all of our customers and supporters!

-Ernie B

[gunosantos]

It's been more than 10 years already buying from Ernie, first as a individual and now, for the last 4 years, as a small record shop owner.

All I have to say is that he's simply THE BEST record supplier to deal with. And to blame him for the downfall of small record stores is just plain stupid.

If you happen to own a record store these days, you have to KNOW your music and, most important of all, KNOW THE MUSIC YOUR COSTUMERS LIKE.

When you have a record store, you'll always gather a loyal following as long as you have a good service and get good records at a good price. You just have to know what your costumers are willing to find in your store, and do your best to always fulfill their needs.

Thank you Ernie for all these years of great business. Without your help I probably wouldn't even dare to open my record shop.

All the best,

[TINO]

huge selection and low prices fast shipment packing well cared.very good

[Mark]

>
Holland's Dr Buster Dynamite Vander Hoek or whatever his name is (Jamaican Gold label) He never paid me for his orders and I found out later he never even got rights for the Studio One CD's he issued (wow!)

Now reading:

"In end of January 2012, Ernie B in the USA will take care of the distribution overthere! Nice and welcome Ernie B!!

http://www.drbusterdynamite.com/DrBuste ... dates.html

Everything has been settled perhaps?

[GreedyG]

I used to buy from Ernie in the 90s before the internet and make my order by telephone from the UK but nowadays despite his great selection and nice prices, I'm afraid the shipping and import taxes are crippling so I buy my tunes from places in France and Germany mostly to save a few pounds.

If there was a way of not getting burnt on the shipping (not Ernie's fault - it's what these companies charge for packages) I'd buy from there most of the time.

G

[Funky Punk]

I used to buy from Ernie in the 90s before the internet and make my order by telephone from the UK but nowadays despite his great selection and nice prices, I'm afraid the shipping and import taxes are crippling so I buy my tunes from places in France and Germany mostly to save a few pounds.

If there was a way of not getting burnt on the shipping (not Ernie's fault - it's what these companies charge for packages) I'd buy from there most of the time.

G

Sometimes when buying from cheap(er) US sellers (I'm in the UK), the only thing you can do is work out how much you're going to save by buying loads of items at once, then factor in delivery costs *and* how much customs/the RM are going to charge if they decide that they're going to levy fees on your package if outwardly marked as being over £15 in value. If it's still cheaper than buying anywhere else, then do so...

Or at least that's how I go about it.

I rarely buy from France or Germany - too expensive, I find (is it just me, or does just about every new CD cost at least €13 from those two locations now?).

[drive instigna]

GreedyG wrote :I used to buy from Ernie in the 90s before the internet and make my order by telephone from the UK but nowadays despite his great selection and nice prices, I'm afraid the shipping and import taxes are crippling so I buy my tunes from places in France and Germany mostly to save a few pounds.

If there was a way of not getting burnt on the shipping (not Ernie's fault - it's what these companies charge for packages) I'd buy from there most of the time.

G

Sometimes when buying from cheap(er) US sellers (I'm in the UK), the only thing you can do is work out how much you're going to save by buying loads of items at once, then factor in delivery costs and how much customs/the RM are going to charge if they decide that they're going to levy fees on your package if outwardly marked as being over £15 in value. If it's still cheaper than buying anywhere else, then do so...

Or at least that's how I go about it.

I rarely buy from France or Germany - too expensive, I find (is it just me, or does just about every new CD cost at least €13 from those two locations now?).

13 euro is very cheap.. most cd´s in physical stores (pop music and such) are 20 plus euro..