# What's your favorite online source for your cd purchases?



## Itullian

If Amazon dealer, which ones?

thanks


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## JCarmel

The ones that say 0.1p plus 1.26 p & p!


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## Vaneyes

For new, Import CDs at Amazon, MDT, Presto, Crotchet. For used, numerous Amazon dealers with high 90's ratings. :tiphat:


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## mamascarlatti

Presto Classical:trp:


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## Winterreisender

Selections is a good website. You can get big box sets for quite cheap there. 

Of course Amazon.co.uk is the best, as are many of the "new & used" dealers on Amazon such as "All Your Music" (but not zoverstocks because they keep bloody undercutting me on everything!!)


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## JCarmel

I love zoverstocks!!


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## Vaneyes

JCarmel said:


> I love zoverstocks!!


Troublemaker, you. :lol:


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## Bas

Ebay for second hand / older recordings, arkivmusic or bol.com for recent releases.


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## arpeggio

arkivemusic and amazon


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## bigshot

I tried Archiv for the first time. They sent no confirmation and a month later cancelled my order. What are they doing offering CDs for sale that they don't stock? Back to Amazon for me.


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## moody

Presto Classical mostly.


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## DavidA

Amazon or some of the others it supports.


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## ptr

Several, MDT and Crotchet in the UK, JPC in Germany, FNAC in France, and very often for limited editions HMV in Hong Kong and even very often their Japanese branch for OOP discs I often trawl GEMM and Discogs or what ever site ole' friend Google turns up, for small specialist labels I often check if they sell directly because I'm more keen on them getting a bigger chunk of my cake-money! (Déjà vu, feels like I have written this before and not so long ago in a similar thread!)

/ptr


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## Itullian

bigshot said:


> I tried Archiv for the first time. They sent no confirmation and a month later cancelled my order. What are they doing offering CDs for sale that they don't stock? Back to Amazon for me.


I've had similar bad experiences with Archiv. And their prices seem very high too.


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## techniquest

Mostly ebay, but also Play.com. If I'm going to buy a recent release - especially Naxos - I prefer to go to the one remaining shop that still sells a reasonable range of classical CD's in the county!


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## moody

techniquest said:


> Mostly ebay, but also Play.com. If I'm going to buy a recent release - especially Naxos - I prefer to go to the one remaining shop that still sells a reasonable range of classical CD's in the county!


That's certainly unfair to Crotchet and Presto.


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## samurai

For me, it's been almost exclusively *Amazon U.S.A.*


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## mtmailey

AS for me it is EBAY & AMAZON.COM the prices there are pretty low.


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## ClassicalDJ

Amazon (usually for new), Ebay (usually for used), and sometimes importcds.com for me (I am a US buyer). As an SACD fan I often rely on sa-cd.net for reviews and discussion (they also have vendor links to Amazon with current prices).


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## moody

moody said:


> That's certainly unfair to Crotchet and Presto.


I thought you said in the country so I'll withdraw my comment.


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## chrisco97

Almost all of my purchases have come from Amazon. They have awesome deals and awesome customer support.


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## Celloman

Zoverstocks almost always has the best prices, so I generally go with them. The only downside is that they're a British seller, which means I have to wait a bit longer for them to come across the pond. But it's always worth the wait.


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## Itullian

Which of these vendors packages well?
My cd cases are always cracked.


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## starthrower

^^^^^
I placed a big order with Presto Classical last December, and the stuff was packaged like it was going to Mars. No broken cases or cracks crossing the Atlantic!

Presto also has the best designed site for cross referencing multiple recordings of a work. I also buy from many Amazon vendors, but some of them send punch hole/promo copies without specifying. That annoys me. But I've had good luck with I-deals, Importcds, Dolphywasone, and several others.


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## Turangalîla

I shop for CDs on ArkivMusic (which has an excellent online catalogue system) but I always order from Amazon, which usually has prices half that of the former...


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## Ukko

I check with berkshirerecordoutlet.com first, then amazon.com's marketplace sellers. I'll buy from any of them in the US with a rating over 95%.

When I buy from Berkshire it's usually several CDs at a time, and their packaging is excellent, would do fine for overseas shipment.


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## Ukko

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I shop for CDs on ArkivMusic (which has an excellent online catalogue system) but I always order from Amazon, which usually has prices half that of the former...


I buy something from ArkivMusic every year, as a thankyou for the excellence of their website and service.


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## bigshot

That's safe, because they probably don't have it in stock anyway!


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## Ukko

bigshot said:


> That's safe, because they probably don't have it in stock anyway!


Hah. I mostly go for something on special - those they usually have.


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## realdealblues

Once in a while I'll find a CD on the Weekend Sale from ArkivMusic that will be lower than Amazon, but in general Amazon is cheaper, especially with the Amazon Marketplace Sellers. I've purchased CD's from many of the same sellers on there over and over and often times even with the $3.99 shipping fee they still beat Amazon with free shipping and ArkivMusic by $10 or more.

I have had 2 CD's I purchased lately though from Presto as neither Amazon or ArkivMusic even listed them as available.


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## Turangalîla

Hilltroll72 said:


> I buy something from ArkivMusic every year, as a thankyou for the excellence of their website and service.


I usually do too, often because their specials beat Amazon's prices anyways. For example, I just ordered the boxed set of all the Perahia Mozart concerti for twenty something dollars...that's a price you won't see anywhere else.


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## Ukko

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I usually do too, often because their specials beat Amazon's prices anyways. For example, I just ordered the boxed set of all the Perahia Mozart concerti for twenty something dollars...that's a price you won't see anywhere else.


I noticed that offer. Unfortunately, I like the playing of only the young Perahia, and don't care for the early concertos. Kind of a double whammy there.


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## Itullian

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I shop for CDs on ArkivMusic (which has an excellent online catalogue system) but I always order from Amazon, which usually has prices half that of the former...


Archiv is VERY expensive and I find their packaging wanting.


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## bigshot

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I usually do too, often because their specials beat Amazon's prices anyways. For example, I just ordered the boxed set of all the Perahia Mozart concerti for twenty something dollars...that's a price you won't see anywhere else.


I got the complete Perahia box set 70 someodd CDs for $75 at Amazon.


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## Itullian

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I usually do too, often because their specials beat Amazon's prices anyways. For example, I just ordered the boxed set of all the Perahia Mozart concerti for twenty something dollars...that's a price you won't see anywhere else.


18.68 on Amazon right now.


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## Oreb

I've always been more than happy with Amazon (US, UK and Germany) for their customer service which is second to none in my experience.

I've noticed a few recommendations here for Presto, so will check them out.

re cracked cases: perhaps it's a function of the discs having so far to travel, but I would say cracked cases are getting increasingly common for me. It's not a HUGE issue - I have plenty of spares - but I would certainly want a replacement if equivalent damage occurred to a digipak or box-set.


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## TurnaboutVox

Presto Classical are excellent; Naxos and Hyperion are very helpful for their own catalogues (Hyperion replaced a set of Mendelssohn discs with 'bronzing' and significant aural deterioration, free of charge many years after purchase, so that was excellent service).

Various second hand dealers, Crotchet occasionally. I never use Amazon if I can help it, not after I learned of their tax avoidance activities in the UK.


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## Turangalîla

Itullian said:


> 18.68 on Amazon right now.


I stand corrected! :tiphat:


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## moody

TurnaboutVox said:


> Presto Classical are excellent; Naxos and Hyperion are very helpful for their own catalogues (Hyperion replaced a set of Mendelssohn discs with 'bronzing' and significant aural deterioration, free of charge many years after purchase, so that was excellent service).
> 
> Various second hand dealers, Crotchet occasionally. I never use Amazon if I can help it, not after I learned of their tax avoidance activities in the UK.


I find Crotchet's web site impossible to navigate,but it may be me.


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## MaxB

I'm ready to pay a few more dollars to support arkivmusic or any other site that's devoted to Classical music.


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## SimonNZ

Presto, Presto, Presto. Nothing but love for Presto.

And they've always got some good specials going. Check out the current DG/Decca "Collectors Editions" prices:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/collectors.php?k=0&w=all


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## elgar's ghost

Exclusively Amazon and its marketplace, although I'm a bit disappointed that one of their European branches haven't managed to source my order for Reger's complete chamber music yet (it's not a stock item and marketplace prices for this collection are astronomical due to limited availability). I have found a German site that's selling directly this rather large box set for similar money, assuming it is still available, but I can't be bothered to register with them quite yet for just this one purchase while Amazon are saying they are still trying.

Of the marketplace sellers Zoverstocks are criticised for their aggressive and allegedly unethical price war policy but the fact remains that I've bought some real goodies from them at ludicrously cheap prices. I suppose I'll have to carry on wrestling with my conscience on that one... :lol:


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## Guest

For the most part Amazon's sellers--I rarely buy directly from Amazon itself due to ridiculously inflated prices. MDT is my second choice.


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## Itullian

Kontrapunctus said:


> For the most part Amazon's sellers--I rarely buy directly from Amazon itself due to ridiculously inflated prices. MDT is my second choice.


I know. Why does Amazon charge so much?


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## SixFootScowl

I like Amazon, but they raised the shipping to $4, so I will try to find the same recording on Half.com where it is still $3 shipping. I usually buy used too. But I still like my local music store and have gotten some great used CDs there. If you ever come to the Detroit Area, visit Dearborn Music. Other than that I like to search garage sales for CDs and once got about 20 classical CDs for under $1 each, good stuff too, complete works, not samplers. Also a local library has three used book sales yearly and a lot of CDs too.


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## sabrina

I've bought most of the CDs from Amazon and its vendors. Amazon itself does not charge any transport fees (started like a year ago) and it arrives in a couple of days, but sometimes it is cheaper with another vendor including shipment. I generally buy from the Canadian Amazon, though sometimes the American site might have better deals. Transport could be an issue if I use the American Amazon, though sometimes it is still cheaper even with the transport included.


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## Cascade

Grooves-inc.
JPC.
Importcds.
CDJapan.


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## Varick

Pretty much Amazon exclusively. What I like about Amazon are all the customer reviews (on everything, not just music). When I started buying on Amazon, I read a lot of reviews on recordings I already owned & loved. I saw patterns on certain reviewers that were very consistent with my taste. So whenever I explore uncharted territory of music, I can usually find a few reviews from some of my trusted sources and make my decision of which recording of a certain piece to buy.

V


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## Bulldog

It's ArchivMusic for me. I love the screens and sequencing. I only acquire discs "in stock"; after ordering thousands of discs, I'm pleased to report that each one arrived promptly. As for price, can't say I pay it much attention. The only caution I would offer is that I've always had good luck receiving the correct disc within a reasonable period of time (regardless of the source).


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## BRHiler

I'm also an Arkivmusic buyer. Their website is top notch, and like Bulldog, I usually only order ones that say "In Stock".

But, I am also a person that doesn't worry about paying extra for using their services.

I only buy from Amazon if I can't find it on Arkiv. I don't know why, but Amazon makes me feel like I"m walking in the local _Dollar General_ store


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## Xenakis

Itullian said:


> Which of these vendors packages well?
> My cd cases are always cracked.


most of the time MDT is a little bit more expensive than the best Amazon marketplace sellers, but if you care for your CD cases their packaging is the best.


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## Ukko

BRHiler said:


> I'm also an Arkivmusic buyer. Their website is top notch, and like Bulldog, I usually only order ones that say "In Stock".
> 
> But, I am also a person that doesn't worry about paying extra for using their services.
> 
> I only buy from Amazon if I can't find it on Arkiv. I don't know why, but Amazon makes me feel like I"m walking in the local _Dollar General_ store


Not to worry. Social acquaintances won't see you, eh?


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