Your Music Retail Alternative To Amazon

I am really getting fed up with the outrageous prices for cd's on Amazon. Are there any online retailers who sell music from the past five to ten years at their original (meaning retail) prices?

An example of Amazon's bs, the Beach Boy's boxed set "Made in California" selling for $200, when someone in the comments writes "a deal at $80"

 

E-bay can have some good deals as well as Discogs.

 

You realize that person's comment was from 5 years ago, right?

 

Bull Moose. They even have books, games and some other stuff that you’d ordinarily get from Amazon. Plus their point system allows you to build up to more discounts. And they’re nice.

 

Re your example, that set must be out of print. You're seeing prices from second-hand sellers, who can ask whatever price they'd like to ask. Amazon is generally one of the cheaper sources for things still in print.

 

Not sure why anyone would buy a 200 CD these days, but to each their own. I believe a lot of independant music stores worldwide would appreciate your business... Also discogs, which supports local stores.

 

Yeah, it’s crazy that an 8 year old, out of print box set from a third-part seller is going for more than what it retailed for.

 

Its a highly desirable set that is out of print. The price will only go up from here. Glad I bought two and left one sealed. Same w Smile Sessions box and GV box.

 

Not sure why anyone would make this comment, but to each their own.

 

For audiophile pressings, I buy from the manufacturer (Acoustic Sounds for AP, and Music Direct for MoFi). For other audiophile labels, I'll use a combination of those two and Elusive Disc.

For widely available records, I tend to prefer to buy from Amazon. As much as I'd love to purchase elsewhere, the quality control for cheaper releases tends to be so poor that I will very frequently need to request at least one return. I feel guilty having to do that to a mom and pop, but with Amazon I have zero hesitation, and exchanges are hassle free.

You seem to be mainly interested in CDs, though, so I'd echo Bullmoose and also add Elusive Disc.

 

Amazon has been a reliable source of new product for me as I do my best to buy new rather than used of a first title purchase. As crazy as it seems, I try and do my part in making certain the artists and writers are getting royalties. Ebay is a treasure trove. I have learned to be patient, and wait for the cds or vinyl I want at prices very reasonably to ridiculously low. I would love an alternative to Amazon and don't mind ordering from other retailers, but with shipping I am wondering how can they beat Amazon.

 

I too have been using BullMoose.com more and more...DeepDiscount.com can have really amazing sales but you will WAIT for your discs.

 

Shop local or go Discogs.... save money while supporting mom and pop... win win.

 

For new albums I tend to use either Banquet Records or Music Magpie. (these are both UK based stores)

 

In the UK Burning Shed are great for my tastes anyway (Prog etc).
Amazon seem to have deliberately de-prioritised CD's recently, and anything you look up goes automatically
to the Digital Music (ie Download) tab rather than CD as it used to.
Oh well, if they don't want my business they won't suffer....their service is great but we all know the compnay itself stinks.

 

Yeah, he had fun last month with it-
Examples of ridiculous CD prices

 

Out of interest I just checked what I paid for this. £13.02 in 2015? That's less than $20!

 

Oh, that guy again.

He's just doesn't get it.

 

I found amazon quite reasonable and ebay. It's UK amazon i purchase from.

I've brought CDs, vids and DVDs from american and canadian amazon, sometimes i've had to pay some sort of customs tax at my local post office.

 

For out of print or used CDs, eBay is hard to beat. Unfortunately you may have to deal with sellers who do not properly list the actual item they have for sale. If there are no pictures of the actual item and various versions exist, be sure to ask for photos before buying or bidding.

 

I just got amazing quality vinyl reissues of the first four Pretty Things LPs for £14.99 each from Burning Shed. Even the postage wasn't too expensive. I'll certainly be using them again.

 

In general, Amazon consistently offers the lowest available price I have found for both CDs and vinyl, for titles that are in print and actually sold by Amazon.

For things Amazon may not have in stock, I’ll check eBay, Barnes & Noble, Bull Moose, and Music Direct (I actually prefer Music Direct among all of these, but their selection outside of MFSL releases can sometimes seem limited).

But you’re looking for something that is probably not available from an original retailer anymore, as others have pointed out, so eBay is probably your best bet. Don’t expect to find it for the $80 sale price that reviewer mentioned, though. And that same review mentions a $120 retail price... You might find $200 is the going rate.

 

In my case, Amazon is good on delivering, what they actually have in stock that I am interested in (which is a lot less than 5 or more years ago).

But for most of the third party sellers, delivery is a different thing, I'm used to now waiting for 4 weeks or so for something to arrive...

 

I usually buy CDs directly from artists' websites (recent examples: Guided by Voices, Paul Weller) or their labels' web stores (recent examples: Merge, Sub Pop).

 

You realize this isn’t Amazon selling the set, right?

It’s a 3rd party listing. And the price is high because it is out of print. I expect you’ll run into the same issues with eBay, Discogs, or anyplace else.

Supply and demand.