The Boxing Day to RSD's Christmas

What day follows Record Store Day, year-in, year-out?

Ah, yes, 'rushing to lob everything onto eBay to sell for a healthy profit day'. Very much the cold leftovers from Record Store Day's turkey lunch.

Amongst the spirit-missing money-grubbing, there's someone trying to shake down £400 for the Dave Matthews stuff and Sex Pistols box sets listed with prices well over a hundred quid; David Bowie's 2012 RSD Starman 7" has been bidded up from a start of 99p to - at time of sighing heavily and typing - £101.

I collect, I reject: Courtney Love's clobber

Good news for people making wrong soup: Courtney Love is selling off her unwanted clothes.

Some are only previously owned by her; others are expressly described as having been worn by her.

I'll say this for her: she has excellent shoes.

Gordon in the morning: Adele meets her public

More from Gordon today on the public, as Adele adjusts to fame:

IF ADELE was a footballer Chelsea would be trying to sign her for £50million in the transfer window.

Well, no; the FA wouldn't allow her to play at a senior level for a team like Chelsea. I suppose they might consider her for the Chelsea Ladies team (Chelsea Ladies?) but given that it's a semi-pro side, they'd be unlikely to pay such a large... oh, hang on. It's topical whimsy, isn't it?

But rather than soccer agents cashing in on her talents, "eBay weirdos" have been trying to drum up unusual memorabilia to sell on t'internet

Yes, he's still calling it t'internet.

The phrase "eBay weirdos" is built on very slim grounds:

The singer explained: "The other day I was up north and there were these - well, I don't think they were fans actually, they were like eBayers."

So, actually, Adele isn't even sure they were getting stuff to sell. So are they weirdos?

"I'd be at the venue, they'd be there. I'd leave the venue and they'd be there. Then they started taking pictures of my dog doing a s*** and stuff like that. It was really weird."

Adele added: "I was on my own taking Louis out for a walk. One of them just got in the lift with me and I got really panicky."

So, yes, you can see that that might be alarming - but is there really any evidence that there was anything "weird" about this bloke who just wanted an autograph? Recently, every time a fan has got a little too over-excited about meeting somebody famous Gordon is quick to suggest they might be some sort of nutter - which, of course, just fuels a cycle of well-known people coming to see over-pushy fans as mentally unstable threats.

But what of the photographs of the dog pooping? Gordon latches on that:

She rumbled one fan taking pictures of her dog Louis Armstrong doing its toilet.

Rumbled? Didn't she just "see" them? And clearly the example of the shitting hound was used by Adele as a shorthand, but Gordon makes it sound like she's got some sort of celeb canine scat stalker. Selling the pictures on eBay.

There are people who hang around singers taking pictures of them doing everyday things in order to sell them, but they're not eBayers. They're the people who sell you photos, Gordon.

Still, there's a world of difference between you and some sort of stalky weirdo, right? Oh... hang on, Gordon's still typing:

Adele has a mysterious new boyfriend who she describes as a "wannabe comedian".

He'd have to be, to cope with the "one-woman Carry On film" as her pals describe her.

She added: "It's early days. He wants to be a comedian. He makes me laugh. We're still getting on, so yeah, it's nice."

Do you know the identity of Adele's comedian boyfriend? And don't ring up and say SID JAMES.

Well done, Gordon. Only you could start an article with faux-concern that Adele is being surrounded by strangers trying to make money off her by grabbing her secrets, and then end it by calling for strangers to make money by revealing her secrets.

Jack White defends profiteering as customer's fault

Having spotted that selling limited-edition vinyl records tends to see them turn up on eBay, and going for exorbitant prices, Jack White has hatched a cunning plan. He's cut out the middlemen and just released the new Wanda JacksonWhite Stripes reissue through eBay.

Perhaps understandably, the fans aren't thrilled by this - under a normal release, you at least stand a chance of getting hold of a record at normal prices. This way, it's all overpriced.

Jack doesn't see it that way, though:

"We sell a Wanda Jackson split record for 10 bucks, the eBay flipper turns around and sells it for 300. If 300 is what it's worth, then why doesn't Third Man Records sell it for 300? If we sell them for more, the artist gets more, the flipper gets nothing ... We thought we'd let you decide how much they cost this time."

Or you could produce enough of them that there's not an artificially small market forcing prices upwards - that's a bit of a thought, isn't it? And it would deal with the other problem of a fan who can afford a tenner, but not three hundred.

The world responded to White's suggestion that somehow it's a treat to be ripped off when it's him doing it with the sort of abuse you'd expect. Apparently, he hadn't expected it, though, and threw a hissy fit:

"You would go so far as to say f--- you to us? For what? We didn't do anything to you but give you what you want ... If you don't want [this record], DONT[sic] BUY IT. And if you do want it, don't act like you DON'T want it. Get in line like anyone else ... It's you and others wanting them that dictates the price and the entire nature of the idea."

It's your own fault for feeling ripped off as if you didn't desire the record, it wouldn't be expensive.

Who, exactly, asked Jack White to sell these records for the highest price he could? Does he really believe that manipulating a supply to create huge demand and then creaming off the profits is really acting in anyone's interest other than his own?

Prince helps out the Mirror

So, how did the Prince album giveaway do for the Mirror? Pretty well, from the paper's perspective:

Their sales increased by 334,000 and 45,000 [for sister paper the Daily Record] respectively when compared with sales on the previous Saturday.

The Mirror hopes that people will have been so thrilled with the paper that came with the record that they'll be back for more Andy Capp and 3AM. Good luck with that, Mirror.

They're also convinced they've created something collectable:

According to the Mirror, copies of its Saturday issue have "become an instant collector's item" and the CD itself has "sparked a global bidding war" with copies "being touted for $22 - £14.60 - last night on the internet...

Perhaps. But you can pick it up for 99p right now. Which, to be fair, is still a profit - although the large number of 'no bids' suggests it might not have been such a canny investment after all.

Ringo blames money-grabbers for his withdrawal from autographs

A couple of years ago, Ringo Starr made himself look a bit of a soft lad by taking to YouTube to tell fans he wouldn't sign anything any more.

In his original video, he told the world he was too busy, but - having had over a year to come up with a better line - he's now insisting he was just trying to stop himself being taken for a ride:

Now he has told BBC Radio 2 that the move was due to people selling on his signiatures.

"I was signing and then they were on eBay the next day," he said. "So I just decided, 'I think I've done my share. That's it'."

Odd he didn't think to mention that at the time, isn't it?

He added: "I honestly didn't think it was going to be world news – BBC and CNN," he laughed.

Clearly, Starr hasn't seen the lengths 24 rolling news leads some stations to go to in order to fill the hours.

I collect, I reject: Pink's breath

Currently available on eBay: Pink's breath. In a bottle.

Handy, I guess, if you're pretty good at magic and want to use the breath, along with certain roots and the heart of a koala to create a Pink of your very own.

Even the seller admits that, you know, this might look a little odd:

PINK'S BREATH IN A BOTTLE

YES WEIRD BUT TRUE

To be fair, at no point does the seller imply it's Pink's entire breath. Just some of it.

This was captured by my 10 year old at her Melbourne concert .on the 14th of August 2009

My Daughter is such a huge Fan That she Thought of this on her own and got close enough for her to breath in the bottle ,

She has kept This bottle since the concert BUT She now wants to save any from this bottle money to try and meet Pink One Day So thats why she has decided to sell it.

If I was Pink, I'd be worried what this kid was planning to capture on the next meeting - kidneys? arms? Is she attempting to create Pink in kit form?

My Daughter Has asked that it go to someone that will Tresure it and Respect it for What it REALLY IS

Yeah, she doesn't want it to go to any old Joe who'd simply flog it on eBay for a... oh, hang on a minute.

So, how can we be sure that this bottle really contains Pink's breath, and isn't merely a bottle with ordinary air - air expired by non-famous people - collected within?

She has also Taken Pics with the Ticket So you Know she was really at the concert

Strictly speaking, having a ticket doesn't actually prove you were anywhere - I know a bloke who has a ticket for the maiden voyage of the Titanic, but I don't think that suggests he's over ninety and escaped a watery grave. And simply being at a concert doesn't mean the bottle was close enough to Pink's lungs on an expiration heave.

The bottle has never been opened since as there is no way in the world she would EVER allow it .

... because one whiff would tell you it's full of Corey Hart's butt and not Pink's lips.

The bids currently stand at $31. Think of it as an investment.

StubHub have trouble with "sent" and "receive"

StubHub, eBay's US scalping operation, are subject of a minor roasting on Consumerist - albeit from one side of the story. A Consumerist reader complained to the company that the tickets he paid handsomely for never arrived; StubHub's response was that they sent them, so they must have arrived:

And again I re-iterated that I did not receive them and StubHub should refund my money. She said they cannot do so. After a few minutes of this, I asked her if she can trace the email. She says, "No". At this point, I asked for a supervisor, hoping that maybe there is some recourse. Felica, at this point, tells me that I can't speak to a supervisor because there is nothing a supervisor can do to help. I ask again, stating that I'd still like to speak to one and again she refuses this time adding that no supervisors are available for these types of issues.

Aren't these services - much admired by the official music industry - meant to be protecting us from scalpers and being ripped off? Now, it might be that the complainant has no complaint to make. But if I'm going to have someone laugh in my face and say "there's nobody to complain to, kid", I'd much rather it be a smelly bloke in a raincoat outside the venue - at least you know you're taking a punt.

I collect, I reject: It's not the turboprop which carried him off, but the coffin they carried him off in

Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? Nope? Well, why not treat yourself to get the New Year under way, huh? How about, for example, the Big Bopper's coffin. They moved him to a new one last year, and so his son has decided it's the right time to stick Dad's original permanent resting place onto eBay:

"I have no personal use for the casket," he said. "When you get down to it, it is just a metal box. More important is what this particular metal box represents.

"In another 200 years, will people care about rock 'n' roll?" Jay asks. "Who knows? But why would I want to destroy it? Even though it was Dad's resting place for 48 years, it's also a unique opportunity to learn more about the early years of rock 'n' roll."

Did I not mention he was originally buried in a steel coffin? Turns out to have been a prescient move - after all, if he'd been put into a wooden box, there'd be precious little to flog to Hard Rock Cafe by now, right?

Current highest bidder: BoJo, London

At last, a bus that only winners will be able to take, as it's up for auction on eBay: the Spice World bus used in the movie of the same name.

Yes, it could be yours, if you outbid everyone else and assuming you have money still. Most of the insides have been ripped out, so there's nothing going on upstairs. Which, of course, you might feel would be an apt description of someone bidding thousands for a clapped-out old bus that only has a massive Union Flag paintjob to link it to its former life as a star awkward vehicle for some stars' awkward vehicle.

[via PopJustice]

Britney Spears: Sweat not included

Someone is flogging Britney Spears' old sweatpants on eBay. The seller bought them five years ago, so has a genuine reason for sale (the soup they make from them no longer has any taste of Britney at all, so it's time to move on.):

You are bidding for the actual Pants worn on the DVD Front Cover of Britney's 1st Movie. They were designed by "Abercrombie & Fitch." She also wore them in the movie. I purchased them in June 2003 when Britney hosted her 1st ever online charity auction to raise money for her charity; "The Britney Spears Foundation." The pants come with a Letter of Authenticity HAND SIGNED by Britney Spears HERSELF!

Not just signed - but signed by Britney HERSELF with her HAND. Don't you hate it when pop stars use their feet to sign autographs?

We love the mention that they're Abercrombie & Fitch - as if someone might be reading the description thinking "it'd be great to do some sort of DNA scrape on those trousers, but they look like they might be from American Apparel... oh, hang on, they're not! I'll bid..."

US court: Promos belong to the owner, not the labels

Another little humiliation for the major labels: The case brought by Universal against an eBay seller of second-hand promos has been tossed out of court by the judge:

Dismissing the American case, US District Court Judge S James Otero said that Mr Augusto was protected by the "first sale" doctrine in copyright law.

This says that once a copyright owner gives away a copy of a CD, DVD or book, the recipient is entitled to sell it on.
[...]
Record companies have long maintained that they continue to own these items and can ask for them back at any time.

They can be recognised by markings such as "For promotional use only" or "Not for resale", visible on the record or CD artwork and sometimes on the disc label itself.

But the judge said that such labelling did not alter the legal position.

This also means that writing "this belongs to ME" on someone else's stuff doesn't mean it becomes yours.

When parents sell your old stuff on eBay

We're blaming Adam and Joe. Last week, they were doing a feature on things you created when you were a kid - comics and so on. Surely, that must be where Hayley Williams' former stepfather got the idea for trying to flog a handwritten book she made when she was a kid on eBay.

Living up to her role as the WalMart Courtney Love, Williams got on to LiveJournal (still going, apparently - who knew?) and freeformed:

so... i've decided to do this. it was only half thought out but i'm doin it anyways.

i saw that post someone made about the "handwritten book" on ebay. yes, it's mine. hahah. i don't remember being a sad child but i definitely loved horror films at a really young age. i guess that was reflected in this particular assignment. anyway, that's not exactly what i'm posting about. i'm actually posting about the seller of this item. it happens to be my ex-stepfather. who is... well... insane, hence the reason he is my EX-stepfather. so, while i can laugh at the fact that a bit of my past has surfaced, i have to admit i felt like throwin shit when i saw the username. to be honest, i'd love to post his full name. where he works. possibly a phone number??? then all of you could show him what it feels like when your personal life is out there for everyone to put their hands on. fortunately for him... living with him for 7 years wasn't quite enough to make me turn out just like him... or was it?
don't buy it. i'm gonna buy it. hahaha.

The decision not to post his contact details was perhaps wise. Although bringing the auction to people's attentions if you're planning on bidding on a item, maybe less so.

Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can - but check the label first

The long-contentious status of the promo CD - seen by record labels as a way of spreading knowledge of bands amongst tastemakers and by journalists and DJs as their beer fund - has come to court. Universal Music Group is suing Troy Augusto, who sells on unwanted promo records through eBay.

Universal contends that the little label "this disc remains the property of Universal" is enough to make selling the records on illegal; the counterview is that if you send out thousands of discs, without keeping records of where they go, and without any expectation of return, you can't complain if the recipients sell them on. Wonderfully, Universal even claims that throwing the disc away is a breach of the rules - presumably, burying the discs in a wooden chest on a desert island, in the style of a pirate, would constitute, well, piracy.

eBay deal turns sour

Americans. They're not like the British. We learned the hard way never to trust an eye-catching auction bid, when that giant Blue Peter chocolate bar turned out not to be worth a million quid after all. Americans, though, didn't go through that experience so when someone bid three million dollars on eBay for that massive record collection, they didn't smell a rat. Of course, now the owner of the account on which the bid came claims he's been a victim of identity theft.

Do you need some more music?

For fifty years, Paul Mawhinney has been buying records. He's now got three million of them and - as his health starts to decline - he's looking for a buyer for his entire collection. He wants to find a caring buyer:

The History of American music belongs in a museum or a library; a place where people who love music and have an interest in history and popular American culture can look, listen, touch, read and appreciate this legacy for future generations. It could be part of a stand-alone music museum, a major exhibit in an existing museum, or the basis of a university music library. Cleverly arranged and displayed, and surrounded by additional cultural memorabilia, the collection could even become a tourist attraction.

We’re seeking a buyer who will guarantee to keep the collection intact (other than to sell duplicate copies, if so desired) and to keep the music alive for the enjoyment and music lovers, now and for years to come.

If you represent a museum, library, university, or charitable foundation, or you’re a philanthropist interested in purchasing the collection and donating it, please contact the owner’s representatives for more information, pricing and a personal on-site inspection.

Oddly, though, he's seeking this philanthropist through eBay. The opening bid being sought is three million dollars, but there is good news...

You can get ten quid back on that if you use an eBay credit card.

Management companies want share of second hand goods

How would you feel if, when you came to flog your old XBox on Ebay, Bill Gates turned up and asked for a portion of the cash?

What about if you went to sell your stamp collection at auction, and discovered the Post Office hanging around outside the auction rooms looking for ten per cent on the grounds that they printed the stamps in the first place?

It wouldn't happen, would it? And yet the music industry is trying to grab a slice of profits on tickets sold on to other holders.

It's being touted as a move by bands:

Radiohead, Robbie Williams and Arctic Monkeys joined calls yesterday for a levy to be added to tickets resold on the web to allow musicians to claw back some of the profits made by touts and fans.

Really? Radiohead and the Arctic Monkeys?

Not quite:

The acts' managers, together with about 400 other artists, including KT Tunstall and the Verve, said the move was vital to bring some regulation and rigour to a market they described as "the wild west".

Ah. So it's management, not actually bands, then.

The idea is to form a 'Resale Rights Society', which is being headed up by Marc Marot who was quite senior at Island Records a few years back until his circumstances changed; this body will, for some reason, insist on being given a portion of ticket sales on eBay and through secondary markets:

Marc Marot, chairman-elect of the RRS and the former chief executive of Island Records, said the levy proposal was a "grown-up solution" to a "completely unregulated area".

"The secondary ticketing market offers benefits to music fans and the live music industry alike. It does not make sense to try and criminalise it," he said.

Here, we totally agree with him. Making it a crime to sell something you have legally bought is absurd.

We think we're about to part company with him, though:

"On the other hand there are real issues of consumer protection here. It is unacceptable that not a penny of the £200m in transactions generated by the resale of concert tickets in the UK is returned to investors in the live music industry."

So the "real issue of consumer protection" is that, erm, no money goes back to the music industry? Isn't that an issue of music industry self-interest rather than "consumer protection"?

Let's split out that contention into the two separate pieces it clearly is. One, the issue of "consumer protection". Now, it's true if you buy a ticket on eBay, there's a chance it might not show up - although if you pay through PayPal or Credit Card, you have a degree of consumer protection, and many of the secondary agencies are large organisations; you have recourse to the trading standards just as when you buy anything else. And even if you didn't, how does giving a slice of your purchase to the music industry make you any more protected? Unless the RRS is proposing to set up a fund to recompense people who lose out if deals go bad - which sounds a splendid idea to us; something of a licence to print money for fraudsters who could offer tickets that don't exist, their conscience clear as the defrauded will get paid back from the RRS? We bet this isn't what the RRS has in mind, and the 'consumer protection' line is just an attempt to make a spot of highway robbery seem more acceptable.

So, then the complaint that "no money is returned to the live music industry". Well, no; nor do the Post Office get any money from the sale of rare used stamps. Even Paloma Picasso finds she doesn't get a few quid when one of her Dad's paintings are sold. The music industry sets the price for tickets when it places them on sale. If they feel the price of the ticket doesn't represent a fair return on their investment, they should raise their prices. Why should they be rewarded for underestimating the value of their tickets? Why should they make money off people who have decided to risk their cash in the hope of making more? Either these businesses embrace capitalism, or they don't.

The RRS seems to be like a welfare organisation designed to help rich businesses that have simply underestimated the value of their products.

Not, of course, that they seem themselves like that - as with the RIAA trying to tax filesharing, the RRS claims they're interested in the little artists:

Marot said the move was not intended to boost the bank balances of big names such as Mick Jagger and Sting but to help new artists who increasingly make less money from recorded music sales and rely on income from gigs to make a living.

Now, since Marc is not a foolish man, he must clearly be spinning here. Does he really believe that new artists' tickets are being sold on eBay for massive profits? That the Secondary Ticket market is awash with sales for Cats and Cats and Cats at the Leicester Princess Charlotte? Of course this is about making money for management companies of large acts.

It's also totally unjustified. Marot is right - don't criminalise people for selling second-hand goods. There's absolutely no reason to. There's even less reason to tax them on products they've legally purchased.

[Thanks again to James P]

Liam Gallagher explains just how relevant Oasis are to modern life

Furthering the suspicion that he might actually be living in 1968, and just dreaming that he's in 2007 - like Life On Mars, only in reverse and without the sexual allure - Liam Gallagher doesn't understand this computer thing:

"I don't get email. I wouldn't know how to do anything like that... I can get on eBay and look at things. I buy some clothes on there now and again, some instruments, bits and bobs. Nothing mad.”

Any betting he mainly buys retro stuff?

Led Zep eBay mixed messages

Jimmy Page has helped organise a charity auction through eBay designed to raise money for Brazilian street kids. It's a good cause, and a lovely gesture.

Hang on, though... isn't eBay evil? Wasn't it just last month that charming Harvey Goldsmith railed at them:

"I wish eBay would drop dead and die... I have begged them to take [the tickets] off and they have basically told us to fuck off. So I will do everything I possibly can to ruin their lives."

(We're not entirely sure, inter alia, how one ruins the 'lives' of a corporation and makes it drop dead.)

Do you suppose Harvey was aware the key draw of the night would be using eBay for a legit auction?

Sex Pistols: at 1977 prices

The great Sex Pistols comeback hasn't exactly seen them lifted onto shoulders as heroes. Indeed, the Mirror has peeked at eBay and found a somewhat cold reception:

Tickets for the Sex Pistols' latest comeback show are being desperately auctioned for as little as 1p.

To be fair, the penny tickets are merely being offered without a minimum bid rather than having actually attracted a bid of a penny; nevertheless, there are quite a few pairs of tickets for Manchester which haven't found any interest at all.