Music Feeds recently reported on the wave of eBay flips that appeared online in the wake of this year’s Record Store Day, with Jack White‘s record-breaking Lazaretto among the most expensive resales — see the top 10 here — much to the ire of UK music legend and RSD fan Paul Weller.
“I agree with all of you who have sent messages expressing your anger and disappointment at the exploitation of these ‘limited editions’ by touts,” the former Jam frontman writes in a statement via his Facebook page. “Apart from making the record, the rest has very little to do with me but I am disheartened by the whole thing and unfortunately I won’t be taking part in Record Store Day again.”
Weller calls his boycott “a shame” due to his longtime support of independent record outlets, but says “the greedy touts making a fast buck off genuine fans is disgusting and goes against the whole philosophy of RSD.” He writes that copies of his RSD single were on eBay before shops opened.
“We share Paul Weller’s frustration at evidence that Brand New Toy has been offered for sale on eBay, and we are disappointed that despite our best efforts to drive out the touts, once again some people are seeking to exploit the goodwill of artists,” RSD organisers responded on their website.
With Weller’s single limited to 500 copies, “re-selling was expected,” but “thanks to the measures we have taken on re-sales, overall the number of complaints about unauthorised sales this year is well down on previous years, though we continue to monitor eBay on an hour-by-hour basis,” they add.
Meanwhile, RSD co-founder Michael Kurtz has told Billboard that most eBay sellers looking to hock RSD items ahead of release were fraudulent and were reported to eBay admins. Kurtz’s sentiments echoed those of RSD’s official statement, which says flipping is largely out of organisers’ control.
