On-line Stores & Sellers

[Madiel]

Your symphonies are safe!

[Spotted Horses]

consumers count as importers. Probably not to be honest, but if they did it certainly isn't going to be the post office that collects tax. The tax is imposed at the point of entry into the country.

I don't know about what the U.S. will do, but in Canada the consumer ordering from an EU web site was assessed a tariff, collected by the Courier (in our experience DHL rather than Canada Post). Probably it was collected at the point of entry based on the customs declaration, then the courier demanded to be reimbursed upon delivery. For some vendors the tariff was charged by the seller, presumably to pre-pay the courier for the tariff collected al the point of entry. Probably there is a price threshold because tariffs seemed to appear on purchases of a few hundred dollars Canadian, and not on small items such as CDs. Perhaps even the U.S. will do something sensible such as wave tariffs on purchases that do not exceed a certain price threshold.

I recall it was revealed that the budget of the Canadian customs services far exceeded the customs collected. That is the sort of thing that passed as a political controversy in Canada.

[Kalevala]

I don't know about what the U.S. will do, but in Canada the consumer ordering from an EU web site was assessed a tariff, collected by the Courier (in our experience DHL rather than Canada Post). Probably it was collected at the point of entry based on the customs declaration, then the courier demanded to be reimbursed upon delivery. For some vendors the tariff was charged by the seller, presumably to pre-pay the courier for the tariff collected al the point of entry. Probably there is a price threshold because tariffs seemed to appear on purchases of a few hundred dollars Canadian, and not on small items such as CDs. Perhaps even the U.S. will do something sensible such as wave tariffs on purchases that do not exceed a certain price threshold.

I recall it was revealed that the budget of the Canadian customs services far exceeded the customs collected. That is the sort of thing that passed as a political controversy in Canada.

I believe that the last time that I had looked there was something like an $800 limit in the US before a consumer had to pay any taxes on purchases coming from outside of the country?  Who knows what will happen now though.

And yes, it would be a pain in the you-know-what for the post office or other delivery companies to have to collect checks(?) or cash for amounts like $2.98.

K

[DavidW]

Well, I just placed an order with Presto, meaning shipped to the US, and given to US Postal Service when it arrives here to be delivered to my mailbox. There was no change from prior procedure on Presto's end, nor change in price or shipping charge. I'll let you know in about 2 weeks if anyone tells me to pay extra once it gets to America.

That is good because Blackwell's and Waterstone's stopped shipping books to the US.

[Kalevala]

That is good because Blackwell's and Waterstone's stopped shipping books to the US.

Their websites haven't been updated to reflect this.  Where did you hear/read about this David?

K

[DavidW]

Their websites haven't been updated to reflect this.  Where did you hear/read about this David?

K

Wrong! Their websites was where I found out.

[Kalevala]

Wrong! Their websites was where I found out.

At the top of Blackwell's website, it says "Delivery included to the United States" and also further down  https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home/  Where did they say otherwise?  Just curious.

K

p.s. Or is this a different Blackwell's?

[DavidW]

At the top of Blackwell's website, it says "Delivery included to the United States" and also further down  https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home/  Where did they say otherwise?  Just curious.

K

p.s. Or is this a different Blackwell's?

No they both changed their minds. I'm telling you I wasn't lying, yesterday they both paused shipping to US. They seemed to have done a 180 today.

[Kalevala]

No they both changed their minds. I'm telling you I wasn't lying, yesterday they both paused shipping to US. They seemed to have done a 180 today.

No, I wasn't saying that you were lying!  I wondered later on (after posting) whether or not they had reconsidered.

K

[Mapman]

I received an order from JPC about a week and a half ago. Unfortunately, a 3-CD set was missing CD 1. I contacted them via their website, and they responded the next day that they would send the missing disc. A cardboard envelope arrived today with that disc. So I'm pleased with how they handled the issue, even though I'm in a different country!

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

I received an order from JPC about a week and a half ago. Unfortunately, a 3-CD set was missing CD 1. I contacted them via their website, and they responded the next day that they would send the missing disc. A cardboard envelope arrived today with that disc. So I'm pleased with how they handled the issue, even though I'm in a different country!

Excellent service. I remember one of the orders I had placed with JPC had a defective disc and they refunded and told me I didn't have to worry about sending it back. I had emailed them late the previous night and they responded within 12 hours. If I was still buying CDs, I would most likely end up using them again since they're a good company.

[Que]

If I was still buying CDs, [...]

You stopped buying CDs??

It cannot be! Who else will be buying all those CDs?

[Brian]

You stopped buying CDs??

It cannot be! Who else will be buying all those CDs?

Monday morning, share prices of labels and distributors will drop even more than the rest of the market 

[Madiel]

Monday morning, share prices of labels and distributors will drop even more than the rest of the market 

...do any of them even HAVE shares these days?

[Christo]

I received an order from JPC about a week and a half ago. Unfortunately, a 3-CD set was missing CD 1. I contacted them via their website, and they responded the next day that they would send the missing disc. A cardboard envelope arrived today with that disc. So I'm pleased with how they handled the issue, even though I'm in a different country!

Same experience with JPC here, even a couple of times: great service!

[Brian]

...do any of them even HAVE shares these days?

Alliance Entertainment is AENT on NASDAQ and claims to be the world's biggest remaining distributor of CDs and vinyl (including pop music). brb, short selling them 

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

You stopped buying CDs??

It cannot be! Who else will be buying all those CDs?

  I haven't bought a CD since March 24th, which must be like a new record for me. I just don't have any desire to acquire anymore CDs and if a new recording catches my eye, then I would, begrudgingly, just buy the digital download if it is available.

I've been actively collecting CDs since 1998. I'm now in early my 40s and I have to start thinking about the future and acquiring even more physical product (as much as I love it) is something that I'm not only tired of, but I've come to realization that I have enough.

As I mentioned before, if I lost my collection, then I would most definitely turn my attention to streaming, because I'm not going to acquire what I own in the physical media again. It's just time to finally enjoy what I have (and save space in process).

[Que]

I haven't bought a CD since March 24th, which must be like a new record for me. I just don't have any desire to acquire anymore CDs and if a new recording catches my eye, then I would, begrudgingly, just buy the digital download if it is available.

I've been actively collecting CDs since 1998. I'm now in early my 40s and I have to start thinking about the future and acquiring even more physical product (as much as I love it) is something that I'm not only tired of, but I've come to realization that I have enough.

As I mentioned before, if I lost my collection, then I would most definitely turn my attention to streaming, because I'm not going to acquire what I own in the physical media again. It's just time to finally enjoy what I have (and save space in process).

Streaming is a game changer....

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Streaming is a game changer....

Ah, but, for me, I'm not onboard with the idea of it due to my CD collection. Plus, I don't like paying monthly fees. Right now, I've got enough bills!

I've also mentioned before that the idea of streaming is overwhelming to me and find I get more enjoyment from music when I'm actually working with constraints. With streaming, there aren't constraints --- it's just thousands upon thousands of recordings at your disposal and given the physical collection I own, I'm just not comfortable with the idea of it as strange or askew as all of this sounds.

[Spotted Horses]

It seems like something is up with on of my favorite vendors, importcds.com. Their main page just changed and refers to alliance entertainment. Also, an order starus email I recently got from them contains a broken link to an image from deepdiscount.com (not the same vendor in the past). Seems like there has been some sort of realignment of ownership. I hope things don't change. My purchases these days are almost entirely artist boxes, and they have often had the best price on that sort of thing.