Good places to buy CDs

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bdb

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There have been a lot of recent posts about peoples' buying habits, and a lot of us still like to buy CDs. So I thought a thread of store recommendations might be good.

1. Amazon.com Resellers. For just about every CD sold at Amazon (and even some not in stock at Amazon), you can buy new and used CDs from individuals (usually small home-based businesses). Prices can be as little as under a dollar, but $3 shipping raises everything a bit. This is particularly good if you want to be legal but you don't want to reward the label (I do this for RIAA labels). Of course, the artist doesn't get rewarded either. Be sure to pick a reseller with good ratings - i.e. high 90's.

2. Tower.com. Or as they call it, "the new tower.com". I'm not sure what's so new about it, other than its completely separate from their failed brick-and-mortar business. Their prices often beat just about everything. I ordered from them once, and it wasn't the perfect experience - they said they shipped everything right away, but some CDs didn't arrive for almost 2 weeks, and they don't make it as noticeable as I'd like whether the item is vinyl or CD. But for the price, I can put up with these things.

3. Deepdiscount.com. Their prices are pretty good, and their shipping is free. Their delivery tends to be very slow, though.

4. Amazon.com. Good service, decent prices (sometimes), and free shipping over $25. I'll usually keep a list of CDs to buy and tack one on when I buy something from them. I've noticed a trend lately that if you use the free shipping, they may wait a few days before they actually ship it.

5. CDbaby.com. I don't know a lot about this place other than the majority of the money goes to the artist. One of these day I'll buy from them just for a "feel-good" purchase. Note: the music found here will generally be pretty obscure, since they work directly with artists.

Any others?
 
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Dr.Gonzo

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bdb said:
There have been a lot of recent posts about peoples' buying habits, and a lot of us still like to buy CDs. So I thought a thread of store recommendations might be good.

1. Amazon.com Resellers. For just about every CD sold at Amazon (and even some not in stock at Amazon), you can buy new and used CDs from individuals (usually small home-based businesses). Prices can be as little as under a dollar, but $3 shipping raises everything a bit. This is particularly good if you want to be legal but you don't want to reward the label (I do this for RIAA labels). Of course, the artist doesn't get rewarded either. Be sure to pick a reseller with good ratings - i.e. high 90's.

2. Tower.com. Or as they call it, "the new tower.com". I'm not sure what's so new about it, other than its completely separate from their failed brick-and-mortar business. Their prices often beat just about everything. I ordered from them once, and it wasn't the perfect experience - they said they shipped everything right away, but some CDs didn't arrive for almost 2 weeks, and they don't make it as noticeable as I'd like whether the item is vinyl or CD. But for the price, I can put up with these things.

3. Deepdiscount.com. Their prices are pretty good, and their shipping is free. Their delivery tends to be very slow, though.

4. Amazon.com. Good service, decent prices (sometimes), and free shipping over $25. I'll usually keep a list of CDs to buy and tack one on when I buy something from them. I've noticed a trend lately that if you use the free shipping, they may wait a few days before they actually ship it.

Any others?
There are quite a few good Used CD places around here. If you are anywhere near a major metropolitian area or college town you're sure to find at least one or two.
 

bigbabydaddy196

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I've subscribed to yourmusic.com for a few years now and love the service. $6.99/CD w/ free shipping no matter how few or many you buy. It does require registering with the service (e-mail + credt card) and you have to keep a list updated (they ship a CD from your list once a month automatically, but you can buy any CD at any time as well), but there's no catch--cancel anytime without penalty. Good selection though new releases are a bit scant, sometimes.

Oh...US residents only, I'm afraid.
 

bdb

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bigbabydaddy196 said:
Good selection though new releases are a bit scant, sometimes.
Their selection may be good if you're into major-label music. I've gone there searching for independent-label music (stuff that was on critics' top 10's for '05/'06) and didn't find anything.
 

kevin40

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Play.com is a UK-based online retailer of DVDs, CDs. Fast delivery, huge selection, low prices!
 

speedythecat

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I bought 3 CDs from BestBuy.com this week. I had not bought any music in years and I was totally clueless where to buy it from. My local BestBuys and Wal-marts, Targets had a craptacular selection of anything beyond new release and the prices were pretty stout on a lot of it. Looks like all the music stores have gone teets-up around here.

So I went online to shop. Came up kind of empty there too only finding CD Universe, FYE, BestBuy, and Amazon (Before I found this thread). BestBuy beat the other 3 by a slim to small margin and offered free shipping, plus allowed me to use my BBRewards card. I'm happy with that purchase but there has got to be better deals somewhere... i'm not anti-download at all, but I really like having the actual CD of the ones I really care about.
 

speedythecat

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Just wanted to update this thread since I got my Best Buy orders..

1. Order #1 was for 3 CDs. They arrived in about a week and 2 of the 3 had majorly cracked cases. I decided to just buy new cases myself, but wasn't 100% satisfied with that experience as you can imagine.

2. Order #2 was for 4 CDs. Three of them came in 3 or 4 days. 1 of them still hasn't left the warehouse (day 6). Going to call tomorrow.

I like their prices and free shipping over $25, but 0 for 2 ain't good odds for future orders unless I give it one more shot.

The next 3 CD's I want are cheaper at Tower and I won't have to pay tax like I do with BestBuy so I think I'll try them. free ship with them over $25 as well.

I feel like there has to be a better/cheaper/more reliable place?
 

Galley

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I had VERY bad luck with ordering CDs from Tower. It literally took a month (and even longer) to get my order. One disc never arrived after three months, and I eventually got a refund.
 

speedythecat

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Sorry to hear that. I may have to pass on Tower then. BestBuy still hasn't shipped the cd I ordered 7-16-09 this is getting ridiculous. The other 3 cd's on the order arrived the 19th and the one that is sitting there is in-stock. Going to a big mall tomorrow that has a FYE store. That will be nice so I can pay $18 for a $10 cd.... LOL : )
 

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Tower.com orders are handled by Caiman.com. They used to be a great 3rd-party seller on Amazon, but then I began to have problems with them. Now I prefer "ImportCDs".
 

speedythecat

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Yeah I'm going to avoid Tower since you told me, thanks!

I went with my wife to a big mall 2 hours away yesterday and they had a giant FYE store and a gigantic BestBuy. It was nice to flip through the CDs but honestly the prices were ridiculous at FYE and I'm not sure how they expect to compete with downloads. BestBuy was better but still pricey. I wrote down all the prices of the stuff I wanted and came home and bought it all for a fraction of the price brand new from Amazon. I do mean directly from Amazon. Could have been much cheaper from one of the other sellers there but these prices were really fair in comparison.

I imagine used is the way to go depending where you find them, but I have that OCD thing about wanting them new & pristine which is an expensive fetish.
 

kornchild2002

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FYE is a terrible store to purchase CDs from. They charge $19.99 for a standard CD release with 13 tracks, that is a prime example of price gouging. I never understood how these stores survived. The funny thing is that FYE often teams up with Ozzfest and has a tent. You purchase an album and you can get the artist to sign it at the tent. They will often sell CDs for $10 at events like this. I don't understand how they can sell a CD for $10 at Ozzfest (and you get it signed!) and then turn around and sell the same CD, without a autograph, for $20 in their stores. Forget about buying movies from FYE as well. The store nearest to me closed down not too long ago. They were charging $35 and $45 for Blu-ray movies and $29.99 for DVDs.

I suggest going with Amazon's marketplace. I have purchased a bunch of new CDs from a bunch of other people. You just have to be careful as people charge $3 for shipping. Still, you can often find new CDs for $3 which means that you will spend a total of $6 for something. I have purchased over 30 CDs from Amazon's marketplace and have been screwed over only 4 times. One user sent me a used CD even though it was listed as being new and sealed. I contacted both him and Amazon.com. He never returned my e-mails and Amazon refunded my purchase while letting me keep the merchandise. I also gave them a poor rating and review, they directly responded to my review saying that they tried to contact me and even sent me a pre-paid box to send the CD back to them. What a load of BS.

There was another time when I received a new CD but the USPS threw it around like it was a football as the jewel case was literally broken into peaces. The CD was still fine though. Amazon.com refunded my shipping cost. The other two times were orders where I received the wrong CD. The users happily replaced them for free and even overnighted the correct CDs to me.

I also purchase a bunch of CDs from a store called Hastings. Their prices are outrageous, just like FYE, as they will charge $25.99 for a limited edition CD. However, they often have weekly sales and drastically drop the prices of their CDs. There have been times when I walk in, plop down $40, and walk away with 6 CDs. Another thing I like about Hastings is that they will keep up with concerts and find out who is coming to our area (on tour). They will then offer their entire catalog for discounted prices ($4.999-$9.99 a CD).

Best Buy isn't bad if you can catch a CD during its release week. That is when they will often charge $7.99 for single-disc releases and $9.99-$13.99 for special edition CDs.
 

speedythecat

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kornchild2002,

Thanks for sharing! Until recently I had not cared 2cents about music since I was like 25 (40 now), but some recent eye problems have kept me away from my compulsive dvd watching and forced me to find new ways to entertain myself. I pulled the 2 year old and seldom if ever used ipod I gifted my wife 2 years ago from the closet and have now become addicted to music again and to the ipod itself.

My wife has 600+ CD's, most of which you'd have to pay me to listen to and are not my cup of tea to be nice about it. Hence I've gotten into buying CDs like they are going out of style. As hard as they are to find around here I'm starting to think they are going out of style.

I've been messing with eBay with my other hobby stuff for I guess atleast 5 years or a little more, but for some reason I never messed with Amazon and was (still are) totally clueless about how it all works. i've bought from there 2 or 3 times but always directly from Amazon. I take it that I just search for the CD I want, then click where it says "new & used from $2.75" or whatever the price is, correct? Anything else I should be aware or careful of? Do those sellers normally combine shipping like eBay?

Speaking of eBay, how does that compare for buying new CDs?

We have a large flea mkt nearby and quite a few yard sales in season. I had thought maybe they'd be a good source for CDs as well. As stated I am kinda super funny (anal) about the CDs being new or like new but atleast at a flea mkt or yard sale I would get to see the discs first hand and jewel cases are cheap enough to replace.

Between playing with iTunes, and the iPod, and the forums I found, and hunting down CDs I want, and most importantly, listening to the music, this has become a full time hobby for me. I suffer from chronic head to toe pain from a 1989 auto accident and I find the music helps keep my stress down and it's really been good for me. Appreciate the help. :)
 

kornchild2002

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Yeah, just lick on that link that says "new and used from $X.XX" It will take you to private sellers. Shipping comes at an extra cost though. You will see the price and then, in gray text under the price, the shipping price will be shown. Shipping is normally $2.98 or $3.98, I don't remember what it is. So the prices of CDs will generally come out to $6 by the time shipping is factored in. I still think that is pretty good for new CDs. Amazon is a lot like eBay in that you try to settle a dispute with the seller first. Then they will intervene and solve a problem. It normally takes them a couple of business days to fix something.

I don't use eBay, I have had too many negative experiences with that service.
 

speedythecat

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I will give it a shot, sounds pretty good.

I finally got my BestBuy fiasco settled today as I made my 3rd call in 18 days and finally spoke with a CS person there that had atleast 1/4 of a brain. Apparently a glitch in their system just kinda froze it there in time. I asked her nicely if I could get some sort of good faith gesture like a coupon code or upgraded shipping since my first order 2 out of 3 arrived with cracked cases and then in this last case 18-19 days before an instock disc shipped. Her reply was "we don't do that". My responce was to that, it's your loss because this coupled a couple of fiascos at their B&M store have left be permanently disgruntled with them. Where I live, ever since CircuitCity went teats-up it kinda left my local BestBuy stores to not really give a crap if they lose your business or not. Lack of competition is never good for the consumer.

Thanks again for your help!

Eric
 

Galley

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Half.com offers shipping discounts when you buy multiple items from the same seller; Amazon Marketplace does not. I buy most of my OOP CDs, and imports from Amazon Marketplace. Just check the seller ratings. I always look for 98% or higher.
 
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