It's been a while, but I think it's OK to do another Record Raid now.
Where: Howlin' Wolf 907 S Peters Street, New Orleans
When: Saturday, January 22nd. 10am-5pm. Load-in begins at 9am, need to be out by 6pm.
How Much Does it Cost to Sell? $40 per 8 foot Table if reserved before December 15th. $60 after that. Registration closes January 7th. If this is your first Record Raid, you get 50% refunded off your first table (after payment). Limit of 2 tables per vendor. Chairs will be provided for free. You cannot provide your own table.
What you can sell: Music of any format, vintage, used or new. Record labels are free to sell their music as well. Consumer audio equipment is great too. Music-related ephemera (books, movies, memorabilia, t-shirts) are OK so long as they're not the focus of the table. We do make some exceptions, so feel free to ask.
What you can't sell: Food and drink. As above, Crafts are generally discouraged unless they're clearly a "side item", musical instruments are discouraged, though you may leave a paper at your table letting people know (so long as they're not the focus). You should be selling *something*, for instance you cannot set up a table promoting another event.
Venue Load-in and Load-Out: Load-in starts at 9 am. No advance table designations, first-come first-serve. This is our first time at this venue, but generally everything is ground-level and should be handtruck friendly (and you should definitely bring a handtruck if you have one). We will add more details to this section closer to the date.
About the Venue: Howlin Wolf is a long-standing music venue in the heart of the New Orleans CBD -- fairly close to the French Quarter and the interstate. This is our first time working with this venue, as the New Orleans Jazz Market was unresponsive when planning (though it looks as though they might be coming back to life). Parking in the area will likely be sparse, but there are nearby parking garages. If you're traveling, there are many hotels very close by. It is air-conditioned and there is a kitchen and bar, not to mention other eating options within close walking distance. Our primary concern is lighting: it's adequate but not ideal. We're going to look into a solution for this. This is a large concert hall and it is unlikely that there will be power available at your table.
About Record Raid: Record Raid has been New Orleans' largest record show since 2010, averaging between 300 and 400 customers. We like to keep an informal, fun and funky vibe that can cater to serious collectors but not intimidate casual buyers. Our free entry helps keep a diverse group of shoppers. We want to create a show where people can be excited about records and talk about them while they shop. We also like to have DJs at conversational volumes playing obscure vinyl.
It's been over two years since we did one of these. We just wanted to make sure everybody felt safe.
Other details: It's generally a REALLY good idea to have a Square reader, venmo account, or some way to accept credit cards. We'll never force you to accept credit cards, but it's nice for customers. I've heard from several vendors about how carrying a credit card reader has given them a big bump in sales. You are your own storefront: Record Raid does not need to know how much you sold (though it's nice to give feedback) and any issues are between you and the customer.
We expect to have a table at the front to help people with questions (though the event itself is free). We've been assigning nametags to tables and people. The point is to make sure people know whose records belong to who, and who they should talk to when they're ready to buy. To be honest, we don't care what’s written on the nametag exactly, the important thing is that it matches what's written on your table.
People often ask what they should sell. My answer is always "Play to your strengths". We get a very diverse crowd, and there's often somebody that's into what you have. Our recent poll had a few people complaining that there was too much classic rock and other "beginning record collector" stuff. People are definitely looking for deals, but don't leave the big ticket stuff at home either. Things that I always hear people saying they want to see more of: punk, reggae/ska, 90's-2000's indie rock.
We will continue to have early bird admission from 10am to 11am at $5 per head.
Covid precautions: We take everybody's health very seriously, and that's why it took us two years to even consider doing another one. By now, covid numbers are pretty low in New Orleans and I would expect them to remain this low or lower. Should we see another spike around this time (please no), I would likely cancel the event. If you are a vendor and you find yourself with health concerns before the event, please let me know and I will refund you. As this is still two months away as I write this and policies may change, I don't want to make any other promises about safety measures such as checking masks/vaccine status. Truth be told, we likely will not have the volunteer manpower to enforce any stringent policies, but this is something take seriously and I welcome any thoughts or concerns on the matter. I would also add that Record Raid at its busiest has never been all that crowded -- not a fact that I would normally advertise, but in this case I think it's worth it.
