German vinyl sellers to be hit by “exponential rise” in DHL shipping prices

Record store owners and distributing labels in Germany may run into problems in July when the cost of shipping vinyl-sized parcels will be amended by DHL.

From July 1, shipping costs are set to change impacting the sales of 12-inch records, which could ultimately put many German stores out of business.

Right now, posting one or two records from Germany to the rest of the world — including countries as far as Australia — costs just €5, which is subject to reach as high as €19.89 with tracking come next month. Sending a record to the UK could cost as much as €16.70.

The cheapest option left, record store owners argue, is Päckchen M International, which could still cost two to three times the amount of Warenpost.

“Currently, I can send two 12″ records to the US, Canada, or even Australia for €5. From July, that same parcel will cost €20 to ship,” says Andy Vaz, owner of German record shop Yore Store, chatting to Mixmag.

“They changed the format size of the parcel in a way that vinyl records wont fit for that cheapest rate – we’re missing about 5cm. There’s no way people will want to pay €20 for shipping on a €10 or €15 record.”