CD prices - particularly Naxos

[mc ukrneal]

I've noticed at Amazon that Naxos discs (at full price) now range about $10-12. This seems like quite a jump from the 8.99-9.99 that they were before. The pricing seems terribly odd, as some discs are $10.14, others 10.45, 11.72, etc. - really random prices to me. They now seem like much less of a deal, even though they still tend to be cheaper than many other companies. I see other online retailers have not yet changed their prices. So I wonder if this is temporary or if the others will follow. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Gurn Blanston]

I've noticed at Amazon that Naxos discs (at full price) now range about $10-12. This seems like quite a jump from the 8.99-9.99 that they were before. The pricing seems terribly odd, as some discs are $10.14, others 10.45, 11.72, etc. - really random prices to me. They now seem like much less of a deal, even though they still tend to be cheaper than many other companies. I see other online retailers have not yet changed their prices. So I wonder if this is temporary or if the others will follow. Can anyone shed any light on this?

I hope I didn't date myself badly ('cause it wasn't that long ago) but Naxos' disks were $5.99 USD for the longest time. That's when the 200 or so in my collection got there. Never thought I would have to  shop around for used Naxos...

Of course, that doesn't shed any light at all on your current issue,  but it does give some background.

[Scarpia]

I've noticed at Amazon that Naxos discs (at full price) now range about $10-12. This seems like quite a jump from the 8.99-9.99 that they were before. The pricing seems terribly odd, as some discs are $10.14, others 10.45, 11.72, etc. - really random prices to me. They now seem like much less of a deal, even though they still tend to be cheaper than many other companies. I see other online retailers have not yet changed their prices. So I wonder if this is temporary or if the others will follow. Can anyone shed any light on this?

What would possess you to buy a Naxos disc from Amazon?  Amazon, proper, sells almost all classical discs for list price when almost all of them are steeply discounted by marketplace sellers that list their wares along side the proper Amazon listing.   I don't get that many Naxos discs, two I recently got of amazon.com were between 4 and 6 bucks, new.


$4.20, new


$5.77, new

[Todd]

What would possess you to buy a Naxos disc from Amazon?

Indeed.  The marketplace is the way to go.

[George]

Has the list price of a Naxos CD gone up again?

[Brian]

I hope I didn't date myself badly ('cause it wasn't that long ago) but Naxos' disks were $5.99 USD for the longest time. That's when the 200 or so in my collection got there. Never thought I would have to  shop around for used Naxos...

Fear not, Gurn. I, too, remember the days when Naxos discs were $5.99. For the longest time they were $6.99, then made the jump to 8 and now 10. Ugh. 

[Scarpia]

Fear not, Gurn. I, too, remember the days when Naxos discs were $5.99. For the longest time they were $6.99, then made the jump to 8 and now 10. Ugh. 

Naxosdirect sells them for $8.99.  That seems to be the list price, although I don't recall ever paying list price for a classical cd.

[Gurn Blanston]

Fear not, Gurn. I, too, remember the days when Naxos discs were $5.99. For the longest time they were $6.99, then made the jump to 8 and now 10. Ugh. 

My god, Brian, you wee just a child at the time...   Yes, the 'good old days' when I could really afford aught else and it didn't matter, because here was good quality for a price I could handle!  But as all the other lads are pitching in, I can only pile on; geez, some of these Marketplace vendors are so superb AND cheap. What are you thinking, Neal?!?

[Gurn Blanston]

Naxosdirect sells them for $8.99.  That seems to be the list price, although I don't recall ever paying list price for a classical cd.

You must not go for oddities at all. There've been many times when I would have been freakin' thrilled to only pay list price!

[Brian]

I definitely paid $6.99 for my first Naxos CD (Franz von Suppe Overtures) back in - wow, that would have been 2003 or so. (So you're right; I was 13!) Shortly afterwards I found out they were a buck cheaper on Amazon than they were at Borders. All through high school I avoided buying Naxos at record shops because they were $7.99 and I knew they were a buck less online...

[Scarpia]

You must not go for oddities at all. There've been many times when I would have been freakin' thrilled to only pay list price!

Many oddities, but I have a long list of oddities desired.  The ones that are expensive sift down to the bottom of the list.  When a fluctuation occurs and they percolate to the top, they are snapped up.   

[Mirror Image]

I seldom buy directly from Amazon. I use Amazon's Marketplace sellers to get a good deal, which I do. Naxos discs (single releases, not 2-CD sets) usually range from $1-$6 on Amazon's Marketplace.

[Scarpia]

I definitely paid $6.99 for my first Naxos CD (Franz von Suppe Overtures) back in - wow, that would have been 2003 or so. (So you're right; I was 13!) Shortly afterwards I found out they were a buck cheaper on Amazon than they were at Borders. All through high school I avoided buying Naxos at record shops because they were $7.99 and I knew they were a buck less online...

Borders.com, well maybe if they send me one of those 40% off coupons.  I have always looked hard for the cd vendor that had the lowest prices, which has been inconvenient because each one has gone out of business.  I first found out about online CD sales from "musicboulevard.com" (which was the host of "classicalinsites.com" one of the first classical music discussion boards.  I still occasionally see posters who I first encountered on classicalinsites.)  Then it was cdworld.com, then totale.com, towerrecords.com.  Now amazon marketplace sellers beat them all.

[mc ukrneal]

Well, I don't buy from Amazon either for the most part. But if retail prices are rising at Amazon, this may indicate others will too. If that happens, marketplace sellers may also raise their prices. On the other hand, if others leave their pricing, it would leave Amazon as a high cost provider like Borders is today (even their coupons don't help enough). So I was curious if anyone else knew what was going on.

As an aside, I always use the all in cost of the marketplace sellers. Once you added in postage, the difference between the old price ($8-9) and marketplace sellers was often minimal (though sometimes much better).

[springrite]

Not that NAXOS CDs are not good. On the contrary, they are mostly magnificent. But since I got most of mine in the early days and mostly on the 3 for $10 sales, I find it difficult to pay more than $6.99 for them nowadays.

[DavidW]

My god, Brian, you wee just a child at the time...   Yes, the 'good old days' when I could really afford aught else and it didn't matter, because here was good quality for a price I could handle!  But as all the other lads are pitching in, I can only pile on; geez, some of these Marketplace vendors are so superb AND cheap. What are you thinking, Neal?!?

I think those good old days were only the nineties and... everything from gas to food to toothpicks has gone up in price since that time since the dollar has been devalued a bit.  It's just inflation.  I don't see what is so bad about $10 per cd.  I think that any price from $10-20 per cd is fair.

[some guy]

A fifteen dollar CD costs fifteen dollars per listen if you only listen to it once.

Two listens and each listen has only cost seven fifty.

Three listens and each listen has cost only five dollars.

Listen enough to each CD and eventually they are all practically free.

[karlhenning]

A fifteen dollar CD costs fifteen dollars per listen if you only listen to it once.

Two listens and each listen has only cost seven fifty.

Three listens and each listen has cost only five dollars.

Listen enough to each CD and eventually they are all practically free.

For the record, I tried that at Borders. I said, "What if I pay you $1 each time I listen to the CD, and I contract to listen to it 15 times?"

I'm still waiting to hear back from their manager.

[springrite]

For the record, I tried that at Borders. I said, "What if I pay you $1 each time I listen to the CD, and I contract to listen to it 15 times?"

I'm still waiting to hear back from their manager.

Oh, so that was YOU? 

[karlhenning]

Oh, so that was YOU? 

They told me you were trying to figure out the accounting of the sales tax.