If you live in a major metropolitan area, you just need to plan to hit a few shops. They all order different copies of things, I find. I live in L.A., and the best concentration of shops for me last year was in Long Beach. I really wanted to get a copy of The Judybats debut album that was being released on vinyl for the first time. I probably could have called ahead to the stores and asked if any had it. Apparently only one shop bought any, and he had 5 copies that no one had interest in (except me).
Also picked up a Devo picture disc, a live release from Pete Townsend and a special edition Joni Mitchell, all at different places.
Before a bunch of people start piling on here on this thread (there’s a fair amount of anti-RSD sentiment here), the downsides are it’s a lot of hype and extremely overpriced stuff that has probably been released before. And stereo vinyl only, no multichannel anything usually.
But it’s a cool way to support the record stores and maybe pick up something interesting for your collection. A super collectible item though requires some luck and perseverance. Last year one of the bigger shops had the Taylor Swift RSD item. People were lining up around the block to get their name in a hat for a random draw to buy whatever it was. Was kind of surprising. I walked in past the line and bought my Judybats.
Have fun if you participate this year!