On-line Stores & Sellers

Started by Expresso, July 02, 2007, 09:09:12 AM

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Lethevich

Weird question, but - do you ever take into account the area of a country (a large one, such as the US) when purchasing?

An example: I just bought a marketplace item. Both sellers advertised it as new condition, one in California, one in New York. My only reason for picking the latter was that it was potentially going to be better for not having sat in a baking hot warehouse as it may have done from the other, potentially sunnier vendor.

Irrational, or? :P I suppose I could also pretend I am saving the environment by reducing air miles too ;)
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Coopmv

Quote from: Lethe Dmitriyevich Shostakovich on August 03, 2011, 04:29:53 PM
Weird question, but - do you ever take into account the area of a country (a large one, such as the US) when purchasing?

An example: I just bought a marketplace item. Both sellers advertised it as new condition, one in California, one in New York. My only reason for picking the latter was that it was potentially going to be better for not having sat in a baking hot warehouse as it may have done from the other, potentially sunnier vendor.

Irrational, or? :P I suppose I could also pretend I am saving the environment by reducing air miles too ;)

Interesting concept.  I have been buying my CD's mainly from the UK and now Germany.  I am just amazed at the good availability of some recordings in Europe which are otherwise quite difficult to find stateside.

KeithW

QuoteWeird question, but - do you ever take into account the area of a country (a large one, such as the US) when purchasing?

An example: I just bought a marketplace item. Both sellers advertised it as new condition, one in California, one in New York. My only reason for picking the latter was that it was potentially going to be better for not having sat in a baking hot warehouse as it may have done from the other, potentially sunnier vendor.

On the other hand, I suspect that temperature fluctuation in California (between summer and winter) is less extreme than in New York, and that this stability is better for media.  Perhaps warehouses will have better aircon in California? 

Whilst I have been living in Australia I have certainly been conscious of the source location when placing orders - more to do with shipping times than anything.  Generally, I find the UK (home for me) fastest of all.

kishnevi

Modern warehouses should be temperature controlled to at least some degree: I think more important is the simple length of time the item has been sitting around in the wearhouse,  getting more and more chances for the packaging to get dinged, etc. 

My usual preference is to buy American, simply because that avoids customs delays for me, and usually means shorter shipping times.  (But not always.  The York Bowen I ordered from a UK Amazon vendor on 7/27 arrived today--air mailed--three weeks ahead of suggested delivery time.  In contrast, the Arkivmusic order I placed on 7/29 arrived in the same mail.)   At least one UK vendor I won't order from again (Zoverstocks) because it took so long for my order with them to arrive (over a month).

Opus106

Could someone please enlighten me on UK VAT?

For those who are not aware, the prices listed in Amazon UK include a UK VAT wherever applicable, but once you move the items to the basket and provide a shipping address it is altered (or not) accordingly. If I read this page correctly, the VAT on CDs is 20%. However, the final price shown in my invoice was arrived at by deducting from the original by a few percent less. After a couple of mails back and forth between myself and the customer service team, who said the price shown was due to a technical error, I've been promised a refund of the difference. To see how things were done at other UK stores, I checked MDT and their rate was the same as that used by Amazon. I have sent them (Amazon) feedback regarding this numerical mismatch which I hope they read, or else I've to keep badgering them after every purchase for refund on the count of misleading information. :P
Regards,
Navneeth

The new erato

#525
Quote from: Opus106 on August 10, 2011, 09:14:50 AM
Could someone please enlighten me on UK VAT?

For those who are not aware, the prices listed in Amazon UK include a UK VAT wherever applicable, but once you move the items to the basket and provide a shipping address it is altered (or not) accordingly. If I read this page correctly, the VAT on CDs is 20%. However, the final price shown in my invoice was arrived at by deducting from the original by a few percent less. After a couple of mails back and forth between myself and the customer service team, who said the price shown was due to a technical error, I've been promised a refund of the difference. To see how things were done at other UK stores, I checked MDT and their rate was the same as that used by Amazon. I have sent them (Amazon) feedback regarding this numerical mismatch which I hope they read, or else I've to keep badgering them after every purchase for refund on the count of misleading information. :P
Well 20% is added to the basic price making a 8 £ CD costing 9,60 £ which will be the listed price. Now, 8 £ is 16,66 % less than 9,60....

20% of 8 is 1,60,  16,66% of 9,60 is 1,60 too.

Opus106

Quote from: The new erato on August 10, 2011, 09:30:12 AM
Well 20% is added to the basic proce making a 8 £ CD costing 9,60 £ which will be the listed price. Now, 8 £ is 16,66 % less than 9,60....

20% of 8 is 1,60,  16,66% of 9,60 is 1,60 too.

Thanks, Erato. I shall now go think this over. :-[

Regards,
Navneeth

The new erato

20% added to the price without VAT = 16,66% deducted from the price with VAT added.

Opus106

Quote from: The new erato on August 10, 2011, 09:36:18 AM
20% added to the price without VAT = 16,66% deducted from the price with VAT added.

Oh, I got that part. ;D Just not happy with myself not thinking about it that way initially.
Regards,
Navneeth

The new erato

Quote from: Opus106 on August 10, 2011, 09:47:48 AM
Oh, I got that part. ;D Just not happy with myself not thinking about it that way initially.
Selfrecrimination? I know a lot about that.

The new erato

They charge when they ship. And they ship when the release is received by them. For some labels, releasedays are quite approximate.

The new erato

Sometimes earlier, sometimes later (for shipping that is). It is more in the hands of the distributor than of the shop. As for receipt, I don't receive the discs before Norwegians customs has inspected the package, which may well take a week or two in addition to the transport.

Wanderer

Quote from: George on August 16, 2011, 06:30:10 AM
Sorry, one more question: so does this mean I can cancel my order at any time, as long as its prior to shipping?

Yes, just e-mail them with your order number and the item(s) you want canceled. They're very obliging.

Coopmv

Quote from: George on August 16, 2011, 06:30:10 AM
Sorry, one more question: so does this mean I can cancel my order at any time, as long as its prior to shipping?

My latest order from Jpc just arrived today and it was shipped on 8/1.  USPS attempted to deliver the package this past Saturday but the package could not be dropped off without my signature.  It was finally delivered today without a signature since I authorized my wife to be my agent who in turn requested the USPS to deliver without a signature.  What a hassle!  My first order from jpc did not require a signature, probably due to the dollar amount being below certain threshold.  That fix-rate shipping (12.99 Euro) charged by jpc discourages people from placing small order.  At least I did not get a bill from the US Customs ...   :)

kishnevi

Quote from: Coopmv on August 17, 2011, 07:03:11 PM
At least I did not get a bill from the US Customs ...   :)

Which reminds of a question I should have asked some time ago.  How is US Customs handled on foreign purchases.  Are there thresholds and limits?  Do I just get a bill in the mail.  (So far, the couple of overseas purchases I've made seem to have fallen under whatever radar Customs uses.  Or maybe I'll get some gigantic bill three months from now.)

Vesteralen

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 18, 2011, 06:48:33 AM
Which reminds of a question I should have asked some time ago.  How is US Customs handled on foreign purchases.  Are there thresholds and limits?  Do I just get a bill in the mail.  (So far, the couple of overseas purchases I've made seem to have fallen under whatever radar Customs uses.  Or maybe I'll get some gigantic bill three months from now.)

I don't know the answer to this, but you're scarin' me.   :o

Que

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 18, 2011, 06:48:33 AM
Which reminds of a question I should have asked some time ago.  How is US Customs handled on foreign purchases.  Are there thresholds and limits?  Do I just get a bill in the mail.  (So far, the couple of overseas purchases I've made seem to have fallen under whatever radar Customs uses.  Or maybe I'll get some gigantic bill three months from now.)

You guys in the US are lucky, Dutch customs get their hands on everything, EVERYTHING. :'(

Q

The new erato

Quote from: ~ Que ~ on August 18, 2011, 01:18:44 PM


You guys in the US are lucky, Dutch customs get their hands on everything, EVERYTHING. :'(

Q
Yep, duty free CDs AND a budget deficit!

DavidW

Quote from: ~ Que ~ on August 18, 2011, 01:18:44 PM


You guys in the US are lucky, Dutch customs get their hands on everything, EVERYTHING. :'(

Q

Well you can think about that again when you're placing another jpc order with free shipping! :D

Coopmv

Quote from: DavidW on August 18, 2011, 02:30:44 PM
Well you can think about that again when you're placing another jpc order with free shipping! :D

I think the relatively steep shipping fee charged by jpc for shipping to the US is in part mitigated by the elimination of the VAT.  But then we here in the US also get to buy some CD's that are not even available stateside.