EDITORIAL > ABBA FOR SALE
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ABBA for sale | 15 May 2009
In April the annual ABBA fan club day took place in Roosendaal. It was fun, but this year it was different. Every year I rent a table because I want to sell some of my ABBA goodies. In the past couple of years there is a tendency that sales go down. Slowly, but definitely. Not just for me, but for many of the ABBA dealers present. I wonder why. Are the products that I want to sell so uninteresting? Hmm, I don't think so, because the sales from my ABBA Plaza web shop remain the same. Is there a change of product focus? Well, that could be the case. It appears that some products don't sell anymore, like for instance vinyl records. Nobody wants that anymore. Regular LPs and singles don't sell at all. Oh yeah, occasionally I sold some coloured vinyl and picture discs, but that's about it. This makes perfect sense of course, because vinyl is soooooooo twentieth century. However: even more modern media, like CDs don't appeal anymore. Even DVDs with rare and unreleased recordings don't sell like they used to. Are ABBA fans tired of collecting ABBA? This definitely is something to take into account. I notice that it happens to me as well. I spend less and less money at the convention. Sometimes I see nice goodies, but I hardly ever buy them. I usually think "Oh well, it's OK if I don't own that 7" single from Peru or that book from France". Besides: do I have the space at home for this? My collection is large enough. Yes, there IS a bit of collector tiredness. Does that have anything to do with age? Hell, yes. We all get older and wiser and there's no urge to keep expanding the collection after so many years. At "our age" there are more important things in life than buying ABBA records. Right? Most fans are in their forties and they are a bit more specialized. I feel it too: Nowadays I focus on super rarities and on UK Epic 7" promo singles. Unfortunately these records are very hard to find at ABBA conventions. Does the ABBA day itself changes? It seems to me that the fan club day becomes more and more a social event (reunion style) and less a trading / buying event. People feel it's more important to talk and have a chat than to buy new records or books. Another thing that I can't ignore is the power of the internet. Whenever I want something, I buy it online. Instantly; from a regular CD shop or from eBay. It works flawlessly and it's fast. So why on earth should I wait until the ABBA day to get that unique single from Sweden? Is there too much ABBA stuff on sale at the convention? Probably! In Roosendaal you will find thousands of CDs, LPs, singles, books and other memorabilia. Most of the time I just don't feel like browsing through this flood of ABBA items. eBay seems a lot more attractive than that. Oh well, it might be a number of reasons why sales are not as good as they used to be. This year in particular you could definitely see the trend. Anyway: I didn't sell all my ABBA items in Roosendaal, so I have ABBA for sale! Anyone? |
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