[jck_strw]

I realise that sometimes I say things and people (usually my wife) have no idea what I'm talking about. :)

So just in case there's people out there going, what the fuck is B&P, here's a quick description:

<old man mode>
Back in the day, before we had torrents/dimeadozen/archive.org/etc. (but still in the days of the Internet), a popular method for getting shows was doing a B&P. This means "Blanks and Postage". Back when we used to trade shows ("your list gets mine"), if you were first starting out, you had nothing to trade. So, B&Ps came about. Someone would offer to do a B&P for x number of people. The method works like this:

Let's take my offer as an example, 4-27-71. This is a 3 CD show. An offer is made (by me) and people sign up (respondents). To those that express interest, I'll send them my name and mailing address. The respondents then ship 3 CDs (the "blanks" in B&P) in a bubble mailer to me. Included in the mailer with the CDs is return postage (stamps--the "postage" in B&P). After I get the CDs, I make copies of the show on the CDs you sent me, repackage it in the same bubble mailer, slap the pre-paid postage on it and ship it back to you. Simple!

So for a show like this, it would cost you:

--3 blank CDs
--A bubble mailer
--Postage to me
--Postage from me back to you

That's it. This site explains it as well as providing some good "netiquette" (don't use pre-paid metered postage, use stamps, include a self-addressed label to make it easier to send back, etc.)

http://www.mcnichol.com/bnp/