On-line Stores & Sellers

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

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kishnevi

Quote from: Opus106 on October 12, 2011, 03:27:38 AM
It's all cookie-based. You can add items to your basket and and as long as you don't delete the pertinent cookies from that browser, the stuff in the basket stays until you check them out (again, as viewed from the browser from which they were added).
Wouldn't work for me.  To clarify with a concrete example:  I have two Amazon wishlists.  One of them has about thirty five items on it, and consists of the items I'll probably be ordering in the near future.  The other has about 250 items, some of stuff I intend to order but not very soon; some of it stuff I sort of want, but may never order, and meanwhile want a convenient place to keep track of; some of it recordings I simply want to remind myself about; and some I will order if the price ever goes down to a level I can live with.  My wishlist with Arkivmusic is much smaller but similar.  When I order from them, I pick out what I want, but I never order the entire wishlist.

It's not necessarily a problem when they have a sale on a specific label or group of recordings, because they keep those together on one page.  But they now have a sale on most of their box sets, and you have to hunt through different pages to track down each individual box set.  Which is a pain because I will need to do it twice for whatever I order--once to get the price so I can comparison shop, and then again to actually order whatever I end up ordering from them.  At the moment I have a list on paper sitting by my computer--and since I plan on ordering a bunch of Gardiner's Bach cantatas (I have enough of that cycle already to know I want the rest) before I order any of those box sets, I can't resort to your method.

Quote
You can't create an account with them, so how do you expect them to let you track your orders at their website? For convenience, I archive my order confirmation and dispatch e-mails at my end.

Every email I get concerning an order stays in my inbox until I get the items, and then is archived, so that's no problem.  But other sites (Arkivmusic, for example) have a setup by which you can track the individual order with the order number and your email address without creating an overall account, so I think Presto could do it.

But thank you for at least confirming that it wasn't simply me not seeing something painfully obvious.

Opus106

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on October 12, 2011, 06:41:45 AM
It's not necessarily a problem when they have a sale on a specific label or group of recordings, because they keep those together on one page.  But they now have a sale on most of their box sets, and you have to hunt through different pages to track down each individual box set.

They have a separate section for the boxes as well with search filters.

Quote
  Which is a pain because I will need to do it twice for whatever I order--once to get the price so I can comparison shop, and then again to actually order whatever I end up ordering from them.  At the moment I have a list on paper sitting by my computer--and since I plan on ordering a bunch of Gardiner's Bach cantatas (I have enough of that cycle already to know I want the rest) before I order any of those box sets, I can't resort to your method.

I would suggest adding your list to Presto's basket, then once you have compared the prices, change the quantity to 0 for whichever boxes you don't want, update and then check out. That's the easiest way I can see.

QuoteEvery email I get concerning an order stays in my inbox until I get the items, and then is archived, so that's no problem.  But other sites (Arkivmusic, for example) have a setup by which you can track the individual order with the order number and your email address without creating an overall account, so I think Presto could do it.

I too have a bunch of website suggestions that I must email them someday. Not being a frequent buyer though, permanent accounts isn't a priority for me. :)

Quote
But thank you for at least confirming that it wasn't simply me not seeing something painfully obvious.

:) You're welcome.
Regards,
Navneeth

Opus106

Dear Amazon,
                  What's the point of offering me free MP3 downloads after I purchase something from your store, if I can't buy them because of stupid copyright restrictions? >:(

Yours Cheated,
Navneeth
Regards,
Navneeth

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: Opus106 on November 23, 2011, 05:42:41 AM
Dear Amazon,
                  What's the point of offering me free MP3 downloads after I purchase something from your store, if I can't buy them because of stupid copyright restrictions? >:(

Yours Cheated,
Navneeth

Dear Navneeth,
         Dura lex, sed lex.

Amazon.com
Legal Department

;D

The new erato

What pisses me off with amazon is that I've bought tons of CDs from them over the years, still the only promotional credits I get from them are for buying MP3 downloads (which I've never ever have bought). With their systems they ought to know that, and to understand that offers slike these are only irritating. What with offering me credits with relevance to stuff I actually buy?

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: The new erato on November 23, 2011, 05:57:47 AM
What pisses me off with amazon is that I've bought tons of CDs from them over the years, still the only promotional credits I get from them are for buying MP3 downloads (which I've never ever have bought). With their systems they ought to know that, and to understand that offers slike these are only irritating. What with offering me credits with relevance to stuff I actually buy?

It's a reasonable point of view. I don't even know how to use those credits to purchase MP3 because I'm not interested in such kind of products... And Amazon knows this perfectly well. After all they have a complete record of my purchases and all the time they offer to me things adjusted to that record.

Opus106

Quote from: Antoine Marchand on November 23, 2011, 05:49:45 AM
Dear Navneeth,
         Dura lex, sed lex.

Amazon.com
Legal Department

;D

Dear Amazon,
      Now you're trying to communicate with me in a language I don't understand. I at least appreciate your consistency in maintaining disloyalty to your customer.

[Looking for Legalese Translators,]
Navneeth
Regards,
Navneeth

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: The new erato on November 23, 2011, 05:57:47 AM
What pisses me off with amazon is that I've bought tons of CDs from them over the years, still the only promotional credits I get from them are for buying MP3 downloads (which I've never ever have bought). With their systems they ought to know that, and to understand that offers slike these are only irritating. What with offering me credits with relevance to stuff I actually buy?

What is just as frustrating (to me) is that I have been a customer there since <>2001. I have purchased over 2000 CD's from them, which should be enough to establish at least a vague idea of what my interest is. And yet "Recommendations for You" never hits on anything relevant to my interests. No, sorry, I won't be buying the new "Il Divo" disk, why would you think I would? Because I bought Jacobs' "...Figaro"? I get an average of 30 recommendations a day for things that I can't even remotely see myself buying.

Relevance. Ha! I like that, Erato. :)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

The new erato

I wonder about the definition of classical and get slightly nauseated by what people buy under the impresson of it being classical - Il Divo, Bocelli, Libera (a popular kind of Diapers in Norway), Katherine Jenkins, Rieu,....page after page in the Top Sellers Classical.

Why can't someone invent a separate  category for this kind of stuff?

And any suggestions as to what to call it?

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: Opus106 on November 23, 2011, 06:06:47 AM
Dear Amazon,
      Now you're trying to communicate with me in a language I don't understand. I at least appreciate your consistency in maintaining disloyalty to your customer.

[Looking for Legalese Translators,]
Navneeth

  :D ;D :D

You know, lawyers love these Latin quotations; although they don't know Latin.  :)

Opus106

Quote from: The new erato on November 23, 2011, 06:18:41 AM
I wonder about the definition of classical and get slightly nauseated by what people buy under the impresson of it being classical - Il Divo, Bocelli, Libera (a popular kind of Diapers in Norway), Katherine Jenkins, Rieu,....page after page in the Top Sellers Classical.

Why can't someone invent a separate  category for this kind of stuff?

And any suggestions as to what to call it?

Faux-classical. Fauxical (with the X now back out of its vow of silence).
Non-canon/non-unsung-geniuses Classical
Not-so-serious music
Regards,
Navneeth


Gurn Blanston

Quote from: The new erato on November 23, 2011, 06:18:41 AM
I wonder about the definition of classical and get slightly nauseated by what people buy under the impresson of it being classical - Il Divo, Bocelli, Libera (a popular kind of Diapers in Norway), Katherine Jenkins, Rieu,....page after page in the Top Sellers Classical.

Why can't someone invent a separate  category for this kind of stuff?

And any suggestions as to what to call it?

Offal?   >:D

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

chasmaniac

If I have exhausted the justifications, I have reached bedrock and my spade is turned. Then I am inclined to say: "This is simply what I do."  --Wittgenstein, PI ยง217

Opus106

Regards,
Navneeth

hafod

Quote from: The new erato on November 23, 2011, 06:18:41 AM
I wonder about the definition of classical and get slightly nauseated by what people buy under the impresson of it being classical - Il Divo, Bocelli, Libera (a popular kind of Diapers in Norway), Katherine Jenkins, Rieu,....page after page in the Top Sellers Classical.

Why can't someone invent a separate  category for this kind of stuff?

And any suggestions as to what to call it?

It used to be called 'easy listening' and covered a multitude of sins.

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: George on November 23, 2011, 08:27:27 AM
Hi Gurn,

My understanding is that they base recommendations not on what we buy, but on what we rate. Sp if you haven't spent any time rating stuff, then the recommendations are bound to be poor.

Makes sense, but I have rated something like 550 items now (it tells you how many, but I've forgotten the exact number). I guess I need to rate badly the things I don't like, that would carry more weight than rating well the things I DO like. :-\

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

kishnevi

#577
I think Amazon knows my tastes fairly well, since they keep suggesting stuff that i've bought elsewhere.  But I am rather tired of the emails offering me less than specatular prices on fauxical music. A Diavolo con il Divo!   But it's still better than the first few ones they sent, which seemed to be based on the premise that buying Mahler recordings indicated a interest in death metal/goth music. 

Of course, I actually buy less from Amazon than any other place--Arkivmusic and Prestoclassical seem to be the prime sources at the moment.   But, while I have two more orders planned with Presto,  I'm going to try to limit myself seriously after next month.  For one thing, I've got a listen to pile of several hundred CDs to get through,  and for another I've caught up on almost all the series I wanted to catch up on when I started online ordering a few months ago.  I won't be totally stopping the purchases, but they'll be rather more targeted and limited than they have been up to now.

Coopmv

Quote from: The new erato on November 23, 2011, 05:57:47 AM
What pisses me off with amazon is that I've bought tons of CDs from them over the years, still the only promotional credits I get from them are for buying MP3 downloads (which I've never ever have bought). With their systems they ought to know that, and to understand that offers slike these are only irritating. What with offering me credits with relevance to stuff I actually buy?

You are not alone.  Those MP3 credits are absolutely worthless to me since I do not buy downloads, period ...

Will Sheard

Quote from: Antoine Marchand on November 23, 2011, 06:05:12 AM
It's a reasonable point of view. I don't even know how to use those credits to purchase MP3 because I'm not interested in such kind of products... And Amazon knows this perfectly well. After all they have a complete record of my purchases and all the time they offer to me things adjusted to that record.

I agree that Amazon's system should be able to provide more incentives to customers who don't want to go down the MP3 route. However, I tend to go with unusual, super-cheap album purchases with these MP3 deals - which, let's face it, either get used or don't. There are several excellent RAGA label CDs of Indian Classical music by the incomparable Nikhil Banerjee, the CDs of which are priced in the standard $10+ range, but for which the MP3 asking price is often just three or four dollars. They're certainly worth checking out.

As for the coupon value, it is automatically added to your account, so MP3 purchases just subtract from that value. Of course, if you buy more MP3s than the credit in your account, you have to pay with your debit/credit card to make up the difference. The system is actually pretty straight-forward.
Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist - Ralph Waldo Emerson