HELP // FAQ
Got a question or a problem? We've tried to address most common concerns below, but feel free to contact us at hello@amoebavinylclub.com!
What is Amoeba Vinyl Club (AVC)?
Amoeba Vinyl Club is a mail order monthly subscription service designed especially for vinyl fans and supporters of Amoeba Music. It is operated in partnership with Vinyl Moon, an L.A.-based indie that’s been making amazing vinyl records for years.
AVC offers a fun way to discover new music via vinyl goodness sent to your doorstep. Every month, the AVC team takes 10 of its favorite new songs by up-and-coming artists, presses them to gorgeous colored vinyl and works with a different visual artist to create exclusive artwork and deluxe packaging.
How do you choose the music and visual art each month?
Each month’s music is carefully curated by the AVC team to bring you the best new artists we’ve heard from all over the world. While we don’t stick to any specific genre, we tend to lean towards indie rock & electronic music. The contents of each month’s LP is meant to be a surprise, a wonder to behold once you receive it from your friendly mail carrier. You can check out previous Vinyl Moon records here: https://vinylmoon.co/pages/collection.
I am a Vinyl Moon member. How similar is the AVC record to my current monthly Vinyl Moon record?
The AVC records will have the following differences: unique vinyl color variant and AVC obi strip. The audio and album art will be the same as the Vinyl moon edition. Note that Vinyl Moon is working in concert with the Amoeba team to select the music presented to our collective subscribers.
Will the records include downloads?
Yes! Active members will receive a digital download code a few weeks after each monthly record has shipped.
How do I join AVC?
Visit our JOIN page to get started. AVC membership is available only through this website. We do not accept AVC memberships at any Amoeba retail stores or by phone.
What methods of payment do you accept?
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.
Can I give AVC as a gift?
Absolutely! Visit our Gift page to order a gift membership: https://amoebavinylclub.com/pages/gift
Can I purchase past AVC LPs without becoming a member?
If we have excess inventory, we may sell them on this website. But no promises, so you best sign up now. :)
When should I expect to receive my records?
AVC 001, 002, 003 and 004 are completely sold out!
We have a handful of copies left of AVC 005 thru 013 which can be purchased on this site.
AVC 014 is currently scheduled to ship in late December.
For new subscribers: The first AVC LP of your membership will be the curated LP for that particular month, unless it is sold out at the time you first subscribe. If that month's LP is sold out when you first subscribe, the first AVC LP of your membership will be the curated LP for the following month.
We ship each month's volume as soon as we receive them from the pressing plant. Typically, this happens before the end of the month. Sometimes unavoidable delays occur. Sometimes the planets align and we can ship early. Either way, please know we do everything possible to get these unique musical works of art in your hands as soon as possible.
After your shipment has left our warehouse, we will send tracking information to the email you provided on signup, so make sure you give us an email address you check regularly.
Why are Amoeba Vinyl Club records so late in 2021?
Pressing Plant Overwhelm
At the beginning of COVID, when we were all filled with uncertainty, nearly every record label in the world paused all their vinyl manufacturing out of fear of what the future might hold. Then, as the world stabilized, the record labels unpaused those months of paused vinyl projects and the pressing plants became overwhelmed. Many of the largest pressing plants are not taking any new customers. They have closed their doors to new business. That is how overwhelmed they are just pressing for their existing clients and projects.
Vinyl Manufacturing Timelines
Vinyl pressing plants have never guaranteed their turnaround times so it is up to us to plan according to current estimates. But when these turnaround times change quickly it can cause delays to ripple across multiple projects.
In 2020, our total production turnaround for our pressings was about 7 weeks . Right now, that turnaround has ballooned to 14-16 weeks. As the turnaround time started extending, our projects just kept getting delayed by the plant.
Since we make 1 record a month, we often have 3-4 records already in production with the old timeline expectation. So we have decided to shift our production expectations to 20 weeks. This means that we are basically working double time on all music curation, art direction, and vinyl creative as we push to shift a whole calendar year of production to be complete months earlier than it previously had needed to be.
Freight Shipping
Fewer flights = fewer planes to put freight on = more demand for freight shipping services than supply = skyrocketing prices. (Find a more complex analysis here)
We have seen the cost of getting our records from our pressing plant increase by about 500%. We have been eating that cost as a company and hoping that freight costs come down soon. But predictions for the next several months aren’t particularly promising.
What if I don't want to wait for a delayed record and want something right now?
No problem! We have several AVC past records in stock and ready to ship any day of the week. Just email Raechel at hello@amoebavinylclub.com and let her know that you would prefer to get a previous club record instead of waiting.
How will Amoeba Vinyl Club ever get back on time?
With a hell of a lot of hard work! (See above section on “Vinyl Manufacturing Timelines”). We are pushing the pressing plants to finish each month’s record delivered a little faster than the month before. Currently, April's record is shipping now and May's record hopefully shortly after that in late June. June’s record in early July. And... **fingers crossed** July’s record actually in July.
Looking even further ahead, we have already put October's record into production, and will have the following months submitted before long. Which means you can trust us when we say you have a lot to look forward to!
For international orders, who is responsible for import duties and taxes?
Sometimes there is a separate, additional import fee that is calculated by customs after your package has shipped. We cannot estimate this fee, but it is usually a percentage of the retail price.
You will have to pay this fee in order to receive your package, or else it will be returned to us. All import fees & duties are the responsibility of the customer.
If you are placing an international order, please include your phone number in your shipping address so the shipping carrier can contact you. We are not responsible for packages held or sent back as a result of you not paying this import fee.
How do I update my shipping address or billing information?
To change your shipping address, please contact us at hello(at)amoebavinylclub.com.
To change your billing information, log in to your AVC account by clicking 'My Account' from the main menu at the top of the site (if accessing on mobile), or the account icon (if accessing from a desktop computer).
Click on the 'Manage Subscription' link to change your subscription details.
Then click 'Billing Information' from the dropdown menu. From here, you can select 'Update Card' or 'Edit' under 'billing information' to view or update your payment info.
How do I renew, skip, or cancel my subscription?
AVC subscriptions are automatically renewed at the end of a member’s current plan. If you want to cancel, go to your 'Account Details' page and click 'Manage Subscription'.
Click the 'Subscriptions' tab at the top, then select the subscription you want to edit.
Select 'Skip Order' to skip your next order and resume the following month, or select 'Cancel Subscription' to stop all future renewals.
Please note all purchases are final and non-refundable, so cancellation only applies to records that have yet to be paid for or shipped.
What if my payment is declined?
If your payment is declined for any reason, we will contact you and re-attempt to charge your payment method several additional times over several days. We cannot ship your monthly box until any billing issues have been resolved. We know times are tough, so if you need a few extra days to pay for a particular month’s LP, please email us at hello@amoebavinylclub.com and we will do all we can to accommodate your situation.
What should I do if any of my records arrive damaged or don't arrive at all?
We ship our records in specially-made LP mailers that minimize potential damage, but sometimes things happen. If you receive a damaged record from us or anything else wrong with your order, please contact us at hello@amoebavinylclub.com, and we’ll do our best to make it right. Please note that we may not be able to replace or refund for slight cosmetic wear that may occur during shipping.
If any item in your order has been damaged, please email us a written description of the problem along with a photo of the damage to hello@amoebavinylclub.com. Once we have assessed and validated your claim, we will issue a return label to you via email. Once the returned item has been received at our warehouse, we will ship a replacement copy. If a replacement copy is unavailable, we will issue a refund of a portion of your purchase price that reasonably relates to the item you did not receive.
Members have a maximum of 75 days from the date of shipment to notify us at hello@amoebavinylclub.com about any claim that their package was lost in order to be eligible for replacement or refund.
If an item you have ordered runs out of stock after your order has been placed, we will contact you via email to offer to exchange the item for another item of equal value. If we do not receive a response from you within 10 business days regarding our proposed replacement item we will assume the replacement offered is satisfactory and ship it to you, or we reserve the right to refund a portion of your purchase price that reasonably relates to the item you did not receive.
Is there anywhere that you don't ship?
Amoeba Vinyl Club ships worldwide, with only a few exceptions. We no longer ship to the following countries due to unreliable delivery:
- Brazil
- Chile
- Columbia
- Russia