The crazy world of Taylor Swift new merch marketing - Kevin Buckle

I have no idea what the thinking is behind this, as the album is certain to sell in huge numbers without this sort of marketing and all that has happened is that all these different formats are now being sold on eBay at grossly inflated prices by people who as yet clearly do not have the items and at best will only have an email confirming they will be sent what they have ordered. Something that it is said is aimed at fans unfortunately is actually more aimed inadvertently at scalpers.

The item currently on offer on Taylor’s website is a Life of a Showgirl cardigan box set. For £65.00 you can order a bright orange cardigan that will arrive in a bright orange box with a limited edition CD. What is especially odd is that when a shop sells a limited item it will only allow one sale per customer. Now what the scalpers do is have numerous accounts set up so they can buy multiple items to sell on but they will have to pay shipping for each one as they will be sent out individually.

However when I checked the Taylor Swift website to see what the latest thing was on offer and discovered the cardigan there was a note at the bottom of the page saying customers could order no more than FOUR cardigans. Now, of course, it is perfectly possible that a couple of sisters in the same family might both want the cardigan and could save on shipping by ordering two but I would bet that virtually all the people who order four will be doing so so they can then resell them at an inflated price.

Understandably customers have started to ask what versions of the new album shops will have and the answer to that at the moment is we have no idea. Suspicious that maybe HMV had been given details while independents were left in the dark I checked their website and all they had on the page for the new album was Sign Up to Be Notified When Pre-order Is Available.

I then checked with the record company and was told they were waiting to hear from Taylor’s management in the US and would let me know as soon as they knew.

Seemingly after being criticised over all the extra tracks that went with her last album Taylor has said there are no extra tracks to this new

album just the twelve that have been announced.

However there has been no such declaration about merchandise so it would not surprise me at all if an entire wardrobe of clothing gradually became available over the next few weeks.

The frustrating life of an independent record shop indeed!