As I was reading this thread, I was wondering how business is going to have to change in the underground. Some thought digital was going to kill it, but I feel it is going to be shipping and the red tape. I don't suspect editions are going to be larger in number, giving labels and traders more time to wait and make larger trades to make it all more worthwhile, so maybe hold boxes are going to come back into play? I watch a punk label that updates its website nearly every day. Very small quantities of everything. Most of the stock sells out within minutes. From what I can tell, each day is considered new. No hold piles. The likeliness of the same small group of customers making orders several days a week, thus paying shipping several days a week. I can't imagine that model is sustainable for buyers, so the sellers are going to have to accommodate in some fashion. Hold boxes that get cleaned out weekly or monthly? Of course, this doesn't address the red tape and taxes, but what are labels willing to do to better their situation with buyers and traders? Or is this all better allowed to become more and more isolationist and unfriendly at the whim of postal services? I don't have any answers, just questions.
