The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[kishnevi]

Hah, I am 90% sure that that is Naxos.

I ordered Tharaud's new CD via Amazon MP from Classical Music Superstore
It landed yesterday, with a shipping label whose return address (preprinted of course) was Naxos of America.

[Mirror Image]

A lot of us really like Classical Music Superstore, who are always my first choice if prices are very close.

Yes, Classical Music Superstore (aka Naxos of America) are a great seller. I use them a lot sometimes even when the prices aren't that close. They're a seller I can trust (there are only a handful on Amazon that I do business with anyway).

[AnthonyAthletic]

Just wondering:

Do you the buyer, purchase your music...

Always New
New & Sealed/Like New/Very Good/Good/Acceptable from Marketplaces/eBay
Non too discerning from Marketplaces/eBay (price issue/used cheap etc)
A mixture of both/all

I now tend to buy new cds when the urge and price are acceptable, especially the great heads up from this thread.  I do buy a lot of "as new" ones from Amazon MP/eBay but you can get the odd one who are not as accurate in their discriptions, and their version of as new is really only in the good to acceptable range.  A scratched or hairlined cd drives me crazy if a seller says its "as new", but if I buy from say zoverstocks for 1p a cd then I accept that there is a good chance it will have minor scratches but its great value, that way it doesn't bother me. 

Yesterday I bought the Beethoven Blomstedt symphonies with the Staatskapelle for 10p and the usual £1.26 delivery charge.  It wasn't the newer clamshell set; but the first edition 5cds jeweled in the big box slip case.  And all the discs were MINT and looked like they had never been played, or taken out the box.  10p for a really decent set.  I owned this years ago and sold it in a batch for a further funding of other cds. 

So you take your chances and it pays off, mostly it does pay off.  Even a scratched one is now acceptable to me at the price, a few listens then pass it on.

Anyone here more fussy or less fussy as me? or about the same?

[Karl Henning]

Most of the time, either Like New or Very Good.  The one time I tried out an item which was billed as Good, that mp seller had too broad a working definition of the adjective;  and the price was just high enough that I felt I had been misled.  We sorted it out, but I had no intention of finding out how widespread this lax notion of Good may be . . . .

[AnthonyAthletic]

Exactly Karl,

Over this side of the pond, when I sell my cds basically "Like new and Very good" are the same in my vocabulary.  That goes for inserts/cases.  "Without scratches" would be better 

Most sellers don't really care, in my buying experience on say eBay, "Like new" 99% of the time is correct, but Very good, Good & Acceptable all = scratched or blemished in one way or another, this is what I have found out over the last few years.

The cd selling market is saturated....and the British Postal System and their pricing is killing the seller off slowly.  First class delivery of a jewel cased singular cd is £1.20p or £1.10p second class, plus of course your packing bag, then the 10% deduction from not only your sale but your postage.  Not forgetting Paypal's slice too.

I can see why people are selling en bloc or giving to charity shops more often, the latter being a good thing, something I do regularly.

[jut1972]

Anthony I do exactly the same as you.
Though trying to cut down these days....

[Jo498]

My experiences with used stuff are mostly good. Although the ratings/descriptions are all over the place and one can have bad luck once in a while. From professional used sellers I have received a few discs with visible wear/tear (fortunately they played o.k.) and once a crude copy of an original disc with photocopied or printed inlay! The latter I sent back and was refunded, but if I have paid very little and the disc plays fine, I will keep even a slightly scratched disc.
With super cheap bundles on Ebay when the seller obviously had no clue and was probably selling off Granddad's little classical collection or whatever, I have once or twice received discs that were so badly scratched they would not play and also rarely really dirty or waterstained booklets. Again, I might leave not so great feedback, but I will not start haggling after having received 10 discs for a few Euros.

But overall my impression is that most classical CDs on the used market are in very good condition because people either treat them well or have hardly play them at all!

[kishnevi]

Online I buy only new, and only through Amazon MP or the more recognized vendors, unless I really want a CD and a new copy is either unobtainable or really expensive.  Usually I do not need to do that, thanks to the prevalence of reissues.
There is a CD store near me I patronize, but I can examine the CD before buying and price is usually either $2.99 or $5.99

[Mirror Image]

Just wondering:

Do you the buyer, purchase your music...

Always New
New & Sealed/Like New/Very Good/Good/Acceptable from Marketplaces/eBay
Non too discerning from Marketplaces/eBay (price issue/used cheap etc)
A mixture of both/all

I now tend to buy new cds when the urge and price are acceptable, especially the great heads up from this thread.  I do buy a lot of "as new" ones from Amazon MP/eBay but you can get the odd one who are not as accurate in their discriptions, and their version of as new is really only in the good to acceptable range.  A scratched or hairlined cd drives me crazy if a seller says its "as new", but if I buy from say zoverstocks for 1p a cd then I accept that there is a good chance it will have minor scratches but its great value, that way it doesn't bother me. 

Yesterday I bought the Beethoven Blomstedt symphonies with the Staatskapelle for 10p and the usual £1.26 delivery charge.  It wasn't the newer clamshell set; but the first edition 5cds jeweled in the big box slip case.  And all the discs were MINT and looked like they had never been played, or taken out the box.  10p for a really decent set.  I owned this years ago and sold it in a batch for a further funding of other cds. 

So you take your chances and it pays off, mostly it does pay off.  Even a scratched one is now acceptable to me at the price, a few listens then pass it on.

Anyone here more fussy or less fussy as me? or about the same?

Always new unless I can get it cheaper in 'like new' condition.

[Artem]

I buy used cds at local shops, because new always cost more than if i would order them on amazon and I only buy used on amazon if it is an out of print cd going for a decent price, like those old montaigne disks.

[Ken B]

Always new unless I can get it cheaper in 'like new' condition.

Me too. I have had good luck with used cds, not so much books, but I pick my vendors carefully.  I use Mirror Image a vendor in NE Georgia somtimes ... And Z overstocks.

[Mirror Image]

Me too. I have had good luck with used cds, not so much books, but I pick my vendors carefully.  I use Mirror Image a vendor in NE Georgia somtimes ... And Z overstocks.

I've been burned several times, but this was towards the beginning of my buying from Amazon back in 2000. Now, I've assimilated a list of great MP sellers and forget about the rest. If one of my MP sellers of choice doesn't have the recording I'm looking for, I simply will have to do without.

[bogdan101]

On amazon, I buy from whoever offers the lowest price on any given item. Sometimes things go missing or arrive damaged, but I never had any problem getting a refund in a case like this.

[Moonfish]

Purcell/Brilliant Classics/16 cds/    25 euros at Amazon.de
Great set if you enjoy Purcell! 

http://www.amazon.de/Purcell-Collection-Pieter-Jan-Belder/dp/B00ARL9PYY

[asin] B00ARL9PYY[/asin]

[Moonfish]

Price drop on the Schütz Edition (19 cds) as well at Amazon.de. Now 23 euros.

http://www.amazon.de/Sch%C3%BCtz-Edition-Capella-Augustana/dp/B007762J4K

[asin] B007762J4K[/asin]

[Harry]

At JPC de they are even cheaper, 19,95 euros

[Mookalafalas]

One for you, Moonfish, the Solti box at Amazon.jp has dropped about $10 in price...

[Moonfish]

One for you, Moonfish, the Solti box at Amazon.jp has dropped about $10 in price...

Thank you (I think..   0:))

[Mookalafalas]

Thank you (I think..   0:))

Yeah, it still doesn't qualify as a true "Super bargain" by any means (unless you really like to watch classical music on DVD--there are 5 in the box).

[Christo]

On amazon, I buy from whoever offers the lowest price on any given item. Sometimes things go missing or arrive damaged, but I never had any problem getting a refund in a case like this.

Same here. Never had a bad experience, in many hundreds transactions.