RoQuEr

I'm tired of having to pay $30-$40 for all my british club CD's. Amazon is a joke. (they try to convince you to buy 2 CD at the same time for a savings of -12%!) These don't seem to sell in sealed packages overseas, so I am wary to buy them over Ebay. Any ideas on how to get them at minimum cost to myself?

Wormwood

Well if you buy mostly UK import cd's then amazon.co.uk would be a good place.

benedict

As a Brit, I cannot speak for their overseas service, but aside from the odd Amazon.co.uk purchase, when I am buying domestically I use 101cd.com* and musica.co.uk because of the great selection each has: they can source CDs from continental Europe as well as UK releases. BTW, CD-WOW.com are cheap but have a less extensive catalogue.

* I don't know about 101cd.com's VAT policy but they say that their overseas shipping charges are based on what it costs them i.e. no profit element. You can use Paypal there which may be useful for some people....

Giles

what's a good place to buy import CD from Australia?

Burnt Alive

Sanity.com and Whammo.com.au are great. I've used them both 3-4 times. Good prices too.

Aghama

How about Japan? The whole Japanese bonus track issue annoys me.

BDB

I love amazon.co.uk for uk cd's buying 2 is always better, saves on the shipping, but most new releases you will get for 15 dollars shipped to your door in under a week.

I was in ireland last week and all my friends were talking about cd wow, which apparently is in Japan. ?

benedict

<small></small>I think they operate from the UK: see the link in my above post of a short time ago.

MatthewCho

Australian:

http://www.rockinghorse.net

**fantastic prices!** All prices are in Australian Dollars, which converts about 2:1 to US Dollars. I just purchased Alanis' "Hands Clean" CD1 and CD2 for under $10 shipped.


UK:

http://www.disc-n-tape.co.uk

decent prices and great service


- Matt C.

SubZero

The reason for the lack of packaging on imports has something to do with tariff laws. Discs that are sealed are considered to be new and are taxed at a higher rate than those which are open. It's kinda like open discs can be declared as part of a "personal collection." I don't know the exact specifics, but it's pretty close to this.
Jon

Aghama

I always wondered about that. All the discs I get from Europe are opened.

Gunshy

Aghama, I so feel your pain!

I swear, trying to just find some of those juicy Japanese releases with bonus trax is like trying to put a band-aid on an injured shark! I have been goin' nucking futs lately scrounging for the Japanese edition of Orange Goblin's "Frequencies" CD or Amon Tobin's "Permutation", etc. I did run across a site called importcds.com that shipped 1 CD from my 5 CD order in about 3 days (don't know where the rest of the items are, they didn't say). You can also check out this site: Mundo (don't be put off by the simple quality of their site, they ship fast, pack well, and have never let me down).

I dream some day I finding (or making, since noone's gonna do it) a comprehensive database of all the Japanese ONLY or bonus-track CD releases - that would be one huge list.

Anyone know why so many CDs get special (bonus-track) treatment over there?

-Gunshy

jjamesc

This could be wrong, but I think I've read that CD's are more expensive there, so they add extra songs to make it a better value to the consumer.

J

MatthewCho

This seems logical, but when I was in Germany nearly all singles were likewise unwrapped.

- Matt C.

Aghama

I think it's less philanthropic than that. From what I understand, in some cases it's cheaper for the consumer to import a title than to buy it domestically, so the Japanese distributers (presumably through monetary means) get the artists to release bonus tracks for the Japanese releases.

Gunshy: Thanks a lot for your suggestions, I'll have to check 'em out.

Gunshy

Your very welcome!

I did think of one more site that really fits this bill, has all things CD, LP, etc. Japanese though they cater more to collectors than just those of us searching for "normal" Japanese releases. I've never ordered from them but they have a 1101 eb@y feedback rating...

ObiLand

-Gunshy

ellone

For Japanese CDs I shop at amazon.co.jp
I don't know any Japanese, so I used an online translator when I placed my first purchase so I could set up my account correctly. The website is set up similarly to the US site so you shouldn't have any trouble navigating the site.

Giles

Even when I have visited the UK and have gone music shopping, many CD Singles and CD Album are not shrink wrapped. I really dont have any problems with this, but have always wondered how one deals with returns (say if a relative gives another copy of a single or album that you alreadly own).

Amazon though is great in that all your info can be found on all their websites with the single denoting of your email address and password. I should do this with my future order of "Porco Rosso" through Amazon.co.jp.

Gunshy

I thought of that as I used their UK site recently but when I tried an online translater for the Japan site it didn't work Which translater did you use? Thanks

-Gunshy

ellone

I can't find the site right now. But keep in mind that I didn't translate the whole page, just a couple passages I needed.

Here's a FAQ page for going through the checkout of amazon japan:

http://www.bedford.net/teep/acojp1.htm

Cornholio

know any good ones?

evenflow

www.deepdiscountcd.com has great prices but I suggest you choose the Priority shipping option ($2.99) because the free shipping option is really slow. There's a 10% coupon in the Hot deals forum too.

benedict

Henceforth I think we need to see all store recommendations, bargains in one place if they are to continue being posted here.

Store-related queries can be allowed here in moderation but the forum is now regarded primarily a place for discussing music and bands rather than for discussing purchasing strategies: we have a bargains and a store forum and I believe that there is no longer the rationale that there was when Music Talk started for usurping the function of those established forums.

NB) There is the option of posting in Hot Deals or the Store Forum and putting a link in this thread to assist those that don't hang out in those forums.


Benedict
Moderator, Music Talk

benedict

<small></small>Particularly for thosed UK-based I like:

www.101cd.com

www.musica.co.uk

www.cd-wow.co.uk

www.play.com

One caveat: you need to check the tracklisting to see if you are getting all the tracks you were expecting; bargains are often sourced from different markets. That said, I have never really been disappointed. And sometimes, if you are in North America, effectively you will be buying the "import" version which may even have extra tracks to the "domestic" one!

For breadth of choice, largely competitive pricing and customer service it is hard to fault 101cd.com.

The latter two are great for back-catalogue and the prices can be also be very keen. If you bank with First Direct there is a link to CD-Wow that gives you a further 60p/$1 off the already low prices. I ordered late last Friday and the discs reached me by post on Tuesday which I have found is their normal timescale i.e 2-3 working days. Play.com is mainly for DVDs but was equally quick on my first and only CD order. Musica.co.uk is not usually so fast but has a good choice and pricing and a nice, original website.

All bar the last ship outside Europe but you will need to hunt for the shipping details: I posted links to the relevant pages once before in an earlier thread, so maybe a search would bear fruit in that regard.

Hope this helps someone.

Josh-da-man

http://www.theendrecords.com

Is a really great place to get small label/import metal CDs.

Free shipping, low prices, and excellent customer service.