? for those who order from Soundstage Direct

Amazon doesn't have everything in stock either. I have seen backordered on Amazon many times.
Many sellers don't know what they are selling. I've gotten too many wrong pressings from Amazon.
Don't believe there is no limit on returns to Amazon. There is a member on this forum that was banned from Amazon because of returning records.
Amazon used to discount, not so much anymore. I doubt there are any records that are 20% off on Amazon.

 

My last order with Soundstage Direct was for a replacement vacuum pickup wand for my VPI 16.5 and a Nina Simone record put out by Pure Pleasure. I knew going into the process that they had neither in stock but I wasn't in a hurry. Soundstage Direct shipped the order in full within 10 days. I got 20% off on the vinyl and free shipping on everything. I was completely pleased with the results of the order.

I don't order as much from Soundstage Direct as I used to. Elusive Disc, Acoustic Sounds and Music Direct have all gotten more competitive, plus there are other alternatives like Insound and Bullmoose. More to the point, Amazon gets the bulk of my easy, in-stock, mass merchandised, commodity priced, I-want-it-now record orders. But if it makes the most sense to buy something from Soundstage Direct, I'm very glad to give them my business.

 

Yes, no perfect all in one solution for everyone. I mainly buy new releases that are for the masses, like the just released Greatest Showman soundtrack on vinyl, so it's pretty easy to get the bulk of what I want from Amazon. But your're right, I see a lot of stuff in the upcoming release sections of the other sellers that I'm sure aren't on Amazon. And I too have heard of bans from Amazon for high returns, though no one seems to know the metrics on how that works and they would be stupid to let that out. But I buy a lot from Amazon, a few thousand a month for business, so I'm guessing there are not going to boot me for returning some $22 vinyl albums as I'm sure some things I buy have much better margins. I have called a couple times to ask about that, including two weeks ago, and they looked up my acccount and both times said they saw nothing to indicate I'm coming even close to reaching their return ceiling. So, I guess if the majority of your buys are vinyl, with the small margins I would bet they would put a stop to that pretty quickly, even if the returns are justified, as that person would not be profitable for them. I just figure if I even buy 50% from them, it's cutting my exposure by that much. And often I have no issues with the vinyl anyway. I guess each person has different needs, and if you just want the basic releases Amazon might be a good solution.

 

And ten days is very acceptable for special order purchases. It's funny how spotty they seem to be...sometimes good, sometimes not. I bought my VPI Prime from them and generally speaking, it all went just fine. When I needed some help their support guy was very helpful.

 

I don't buy much new vinyl, but they did a wonderful job on the deluxe Master Of Puppets box set that I preordered from them. I certainly ain't got no complaints.

 

Ah well, As mentioned earlier, I had pre-ordered Marillions Brave in hopes it would be a successful order. Just got notice from Soundstaged that it’s in repress? I asked them to cancel as it’s readily available and I’ve no idea when, or if, it will be obtained for me. It was worth a try.

 

Well I am at 2 weeks and have not heard from SSD so I have sent am email tonight. It would appear that Bowie/Lodger is holding up this order as it's listed "Awaiting Repress". The album is readily available and I even came across it at a Barnes & Noble store this weekend!

Just not worth the wait and lack of communication. They sure have gone downhill quickly.

 

I ordered three records from them on Feb. 16. I received two on March 13, the other one March 23rd--exactly 5 weeks later!!!

What was this amazingly obscure, rare, hard to ship title that took 5 weeks to receive?

...Heaven Tonight by Cheap Trick on Epic

 

I am still waiting on my orders. On Monday I finally got a response (after about a week) from Customer Service. Said one of the LPs I ordered was delayed in transit to SSD because of the weather in PA (not buying that) but didn't mention that the "awaiting repress" (as shown on their site) record was holding things up. Mind you, the album they claim is awaiting repress is readily available everywhere else. That was the order from Feb. 24 - so we are now at a month.

I placed another order on 3/12 with my store credit for one LP with a release date of 3/14 and am still waiting a week later.

I have no idea where they went wrong over there, or what's going on behind the scenes, but it's a real disaster. I've never dealt with an online store in such disarray before. Orders should not be taking 4-6 weeks to process. Hell, most places they days get you your order to your doorstep in 4-6 days.

They lured me back after a horrible experience with the 25% coupon and they couldn't come through. I thought they were offering those codes to get customers back to they can prove they've righted the ship.

 

I ordered 3 supposedly "in stock" lps on 3/8. It showed "processing" for 16 days, and I canceled because I found them elsewhere for a little less. As of right now I am still waiting for a paypal refund, and the lps I ordered from the other seller are ALREADY HERE........ what is wrong with this picture???
If, (and it's a big If), I order from them again, I will call ahead and verify the items are in stock, otherwise I'm pretty much done doing business with them.

 

Sent an email Monday. Been waiting 2 weeks since I ordered 4 lps. Don't know what the deal is honestly. Couldn't resist the deal either but man it's taking longer than expected and I still haven't gotten a response

 

I received a cancellation notice on the 24th stating a credit went to my paypal. As of today, (29th), still no refund. I'm wondering how many others are going through this.
I'll wait a little longer and file a dispute with paypal.

 

Ordered two LP's that were marked "In stock, ships today". That was 2 weeks ago.

I emailed them and they said they were having issues getting one of the albums from their distributor. Which obviously should not be an issue for something that was marked IN STOCK at the time of the order.

I have been buying from them long enough to know it takes a while to ship but now it is to the point where their stock and inventory levels are completely unreliable and it has become not worth it to wait. I can just buy local for a few bucks more.

 

I finally received shipment from 2/24 today. Packaged well. Records removed to avoid seem splits. I commend them for that. But it still took nearly 5 weeks and that was with pushing the issue. Otherwise who knows.

I hate to speculate, but these circumstances are so bizarre, there has to be more going on behind the scenes than we even know about. Are they having cash flow problems perhaps? It seems like everyone is getting their orders 4-6 weeks after placing them. Are they having problems paying distributors? I don't know, I am not a business person. But I do know it's not normal from their usual operating procedures and it's way off the mark in comparison to other online retailers.

 

One thing that's been missing from your story, @bmh5879, is what records did you buy? Were they waiting for a repress during this time or in general hard to acquire? It would explain a lot. I have waited a lot longer than 5 weeks for an order to come in, but availability was the issue.

Not everyone waits 4-6 weeks for their shipment. On Monday, after reading good reviews on this forum, I ordered the 4 LP version of Led Zep's How The West Was Won from Soundstage Direct. I got it for 20% off and free freight. It shipped on Wednesday. I'm just waiting on the post office now.

 

None of my records were awaiting repress. Been nearly 3 weeks, but I did get an email saying one of my records were holding up the order or something and that the it would be shipped to me the same day I got that email or the day after. It's been 3 days since.

I really used to like Soundstage but it's gonna be hard to come back after this

 

I sent them an email yesterday morning with no reply and it's been 7 days since they told me the refund was a done deal. There seems to be an awful lot of stuff on the site that lists "awaiting repress" that is readily available just about everywhere else.

 

2 were Bowie reissues (Low and Lodger). Even though they quickly changed Lodger to awaiting Repress after I ordered (even though it was available everywhere), apparently that wasn't the one holding up the order. The one holding up the order was Peter Perrett/How The West Was Won - which was and had been listed as usually ships in 3-5 weeks the entire duration of my wait time. The 4th item in that order is available everywhere else snd that's the one they initially canceled from my order because it was supposedly Awaiting Repress.

The one I ordered with my store credit in a separate order was released over 2 weeks ago and is available everywhere else and listed on SSD as 3-5 days.

I'm sticking to Import CDs where I order something and get it within a week. And their prices are good enough to compete with the 20% Coupon Codes.

 

I finally received my credit this afternoon, along with a apology from the guy that oversaw the sale and shipping of my Rega RP8. As much as I want to be angry with them, I just can't...... (my wife is right, I'm a soft touch )

 

I have ordered from Soundstage Direct once before, it ws a preorder on Metallica Master Of Puppets Deluxe Box, it shipped 1-2 days after release which went bad. I recently used a 25% code and ordered Pink Floyd Pulse vinyl on May 19th. Said usually it would ship within 4-7 days. I know yesterday was Memorial Day but I wonder how they can hang in there with the likes of Music Direct or Acoustic Sounds who ship a lot faster. Music Direct ships that same day if its in stock by 3pm CST. A lot of titles I check at Soundstage Direct are listed as 4-7 days. Seems like we all get spoiled by fast shipping times, thanks to Amazon Prime I guess. Do a lot of you guys use them along with the other music sellers (Elusive Disc, MD, AS)?

 

I am done with SSD. I will never be tempted by a 25% coupon again. Everything seems to take 4-6 weeks to ship. Get with it, the year is 2018. They must be having some serious cash flow issues that are holding them up from receiving inventory from distributors. I don't have any other explanation.

I've gotten a Prime membership and have been happily ordering from Amazon lately.

 

Yeah, I'm getting closer to this move as well with regards to SSD. I'm going to see how they handle my ZZ top Cinco 2 box, which I've had pre-ordered from the time it was announced. A well-run outfit would have ordered enough to fill the pre-orders for same day shipping. If I have to wait too long for this it will be my last order with them. The 25% off nearly every week at that point will just seem like a desperate reach from a struggling company instead of a good deal for people who buy a lot of records.

Kind of a (minor) shame as I really liked these guys and used them for several years, but making customers wait half a month (and more) for records that are readily available elsewhere seems like a bad business model.

My $0.02...

 

Like I said, I can’t see how they hang in there with the the other big 3 being Elusive Disc, Music Direct, Acoustic Sounds.

 

I have to think all of the 25% deals are just going to drive them further into the ground. Profit margins will be much more narrow, if even positive in some cases. I don't think they'll make up for it in quantity. And even if they do make up for it somewhat, they're just going to frustrate more and more customers that will not return. Just get the feeling they're struggling to survive. It's a shame because they were probably my #1 online retailer about 3 or 4 years ago.

 

Generally that's a last ditch cash flow effort. It brings in some temporary money which helps pay for product but then you're short next week. Then there isn't enough next week and on it goes until you're gone. It generally isn't done on purpose or to screw people, you just get desperate and do whatever you can to save a sinking ship. That may or may not be happening here, I am just talking in generalities....but numbers are numbers and I just feel bad if that's happening as he cares about his business and I know He works his butt off. But, you can't possibly run a profit at 25% off...the math doesn't work at all. The margins are pathetic in the music retail business. The other three need to be wise and sit it out. Just get people their product on time and provide great service if a customer has an issue. That is how you build a long term business, not by giving people 20-25% off routinely. I don't even want clients in my business that simply only want the best price...my competitors can have them! What a fast race to the bottom! There is really barely room in the music biz to offer 10% off after overhead and especially with carrying some inventory that ultimately doesn't turn. I would rather pay retail and get my order on time, not wait three weeks. I preordered the upcoming Simon & Garfunkel from them but as a backup I ordered at another place too. I don't expect to ever receive both copies but they came through for me on my turntable order and I just feel bad that they are clearly struggling. So, you support folks you want to support, just don't ever pay so much up front you can't afford to lose it. This pre-ordering and paying for records up front business model is a game I am not playing anymore after the S&G is issued. The more vinyl that comes out, the worse it's going to get for any dealers that are not funded properly. I've been there...that's how I know.