Comments on: A Trip To a Record Store

By: Chris Erskine

Chris Erskine — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 23:58:20 +0000

I sympathize. I live near Santa Cruz, California, where one long-standing record store, Logos, closed a few weeks ago. They had the annoying practice of putting those pesky price tags not only on the record cover, but also on the actual record label (which tends to be more vulnerable). I hate to see record stores close, but I won’t miss that practice. When I buy records from local private citizens, I still find those tags from Logos, placed on the record years ago and now fused with the underlying label.

It’s maddening. I just scraped one off an early Coltrane LP, but the label will never look right again. At least with the price tags on the cover, you can try heating them with hair dryer. That usually loosens the glue. But you can’t do that on the label without warping the record.

BTW, I worked at PRE in the early 1980s, when it first opened (at the Nassau St. location) – a summer job for me as a grad student. I learned a lot and enjoyed it.

By: gary

gary — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 21:15:54 +0000

just buy a small container of lighter fluid and soak the price sticker and carefully remove. done it thousands of times.

By: Joe Mc

Joe Mc — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:24:43 +0000

I purchase records at princeton all the time and have found that the use of lighter fluid,plastic, a heavy book and a putty knife will remove the sticker without damage. the process i follow is:
1) pour some lighter fluid into a small plastic container(i use a left over laundry detergent measurer)
2)using a q-tip soak cover the label with the lighter fluid
3) now place a piece of plastic over the label( i use a piece of an old 3 mil album cover, the type you use on the outside of the albums.
4)place a heavy book over the album/plastic
5) wait a minute or two and using a putty knife lift one edge of the sticker enough you can grab it comfortably, and carefully lift the sticker off.
6)if there is any residue left from the sticker use the q-tip/lighter fluid application and using an old piece of cotton (i use a sock wipe the residue away)
7)this process will also work with the albums that have multiple price stickers where they have been reduced but you must repeat the process for each sticker
8)WARNING: if the album as an old princeton sticker from the seventies the process will only remove the current stickers. The old stickers will not come off with out ruining the cover

By: Robin B

Robin B — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:36:46 +0000

Hi Guys

I am based in the UK, but my spouse is from NJ so am fortunate enough to be able to hit Prex regularly.

In the 20+ years I’ve been going I’ve never left with fewer than 100LPs, and more usually 200+.

Now, I know you’re all wondering how I got them all home? Well, once upon a time BA would let you take 2 suitcases per person and weren’t that bothered about weight – unfortunately those days have gone so its excess baggage charge time.

However, even with the baggage charge (which works out at about $1 per LP), these records are still a fraction of the price they’d be in the UK or Europe, even if you could find them.

When I do go I allocate a whole day – yup, 10am to 8pm. That’s just about enough time to look at everything in the store (I collect all kinds of music as well as jazz)and you MUST look at the $1 bins meaning a graceless crawl on the floor is in order (so don’t wear your best “pants”, as you colonials like to call trousers) and watch out for banging your head on the way back up.

Great finds there over the years including artist-signed albums everyone else (incl. Prex themselves!) had missed.

As for the price stickers: yes, a complete pain. I use Zippo lighter fluid. It does take a few applications to get the label thoroughly soaked through to dissolve the glue underneath but plenty of time and patience will leave most LPs clear. However, if the guy pricing has been using a heavy hand with the biro pen there’s still a faint imprint left – grrrrr!

One final thing I do you might find useful is to take a LED pen torch with me to check condition – worth it as it’s kinda hard returning an LP from 3,000 miles away…

robin_bryson at hotmail dot com

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:23:54 +0000

I do a lot of thrift store scrounging, Those places have got to be the worst. One such smaller non national chain here in Ohio, actually puts the price on the cover in black permanent marker, probably a sharpie, They sometimes do it on the label too.

They also have a policy if a price is not on the item, they won’t/can’t sell it. “I have tested this rule out, they are sticklers” I found An Original Art Farmer Early Art LP once, I went to the back and luckily found a manager,he would not sell it unless he wrote 59 cents on the cover. I pleaded like a baby, he insisted. At least he put it on the back where I asked him too.
I felt like I was dealing with a Government bureaucrat or something.

By: Jason Sweet

Jason Sweet — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:43:27 +0000

For price stickers on the covers of lps, I just remove the vinyl and hold the cover under a light for a mintue or two. The heat loosens the adhesive and the sticker peels right off. Then use any of the above methods to remove the residue.

By: ceedee

ceedee — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:08:56 +0000

Bestine? Sounds like one to ck out,thanks Carl! Re;Princeton-they have listed their rare jazz “finds” on Youtube in months past. Worth a look,just for curiosities sake. A phone call might clarify if they still carry on the same practice…

By: Carl

Carl — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:35:18 +0000

Used a product called Bestine for years.
It’s used to thin rubber cement.You can get it at any art supply/drafting supply.
I use eye dropper to apply,wait then label comes right off.No residue or stain.
Have used it on over 4000 records,never a problem

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:24:02 +0000

I have been using Un-du for years on stickers. Never failed me, even with older lps.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:16:12 +0000

Sounds a little strange but I have had great success with Ronsonol lighter fluid. Similar to the Goo-Gone in that it will leave a stain which evaporates/dries after 20-30 min.

I am amazed how some record stores fail so miserably at pricing and use extra sticky labels. There’s more than a few stores here in Toronto that need to wake up and smell the sticky residue.