civiclx

I've used importcds.com as a third-party seller through amazon about five times now and they've come through every time. I've saved a good deal of money through them especially when purchasing imports, but I've also saved some money when buying US releases. The only thing I don't like is that they ship each cd individually so I had to pick up 14 different packages from the post office the last two days.

For eil.com, they are a site from the UK that caters to collectors. I ordered a Brazilian remix version of Dido's No Angel this past weekend. It was sent out from the UK on Monday and I got it here in California today, Thursday. Maybe it's just me, but that seems incredibly fast.

BigSue

Thanks for this post, civiclx. Just last night, I purchased from importcds for the first time so my fingers are crossed. I used to purchase Swedish CDs from skivhugget but now megastore.se handles the international stuff and the prices have gone up. The shipping is now exorbitant so I thought I was out of luck. On a whim, I checked Amazon and imagine my surprise to see lots of Swedish stuff on Amazon!

Question: Are you paying the $2.98 for each CD you're ordering or will they combine shipping so that you pay less (say if I ordered 3 CDs from them)? Do you happen to know?

Also, thanks for the eil tip!

sue

civiclx

No, unfortunately I am paying the 2.98 per cd but with the money I'm saving by buying through them, it's not a big deal. I think that's why they ship them individually but I'm not positive. If you check their feedback on amazon, you'll see that they do a lot of business. I left some feedback from them one time, and when I went back to doublecheck it about 12 hours later, they already had about 10 pages of new feedback.
A couple of things I've heard about them
1. They're affiliated with an actual wholesale distributor. I guess this company sdcd would sell cds to the retail sites, but then through importcds.com, they undercut and sell to us individuals for much lower prices. This is just one guy's rant I found when doing a google search for customer reviews.
2. I've heard they're not as reliable when ordering through their website. I found a post on a message board and people were saying they're great when using them via amazon, but when you order directly from their site, they are not very good. I haven't ordered directly from their site but I think I would be brave enough to give it a try based on the great service I've received from them so far.
Sue, have you heard of Lene Marlin by chance?

As for eil.com, they have a crazy selection of imports. I'm definitely not a collector, but I'm going through this phase where I'm trying to find imported versions of cds as opposed to US releases.

Just curious Sue, but where are you from? I'm actually just wondering if you're from the states.

sorry for the long post,

mike

BigSue

True, thanks for the info, mike.

Of course, I ran off to find this info also Looks like most of the posts are from retailers. As a consumer, I want to say, Waaaaaaaaaaaaa because I like paying the lowest price, but I also completely understand what they are complaining about. They feel importcds is removing the competition and then, frankly, sdcd can charge whatever they damn well please. On the flip side, is importcds selling stuff that even these "mom 'n' pop" companies have decided won't sell? How many people are selling the amount of Carola (Swedish singer) stuff that I'm seeing at importcds? There's also that: Retailers see collectors and think "$$$$$" and tack on $20-$30-$40 to a release while the same thing is selling for $7 in the UK.

Huh. After reading that last paragraph, it seems like everyone is out to take advantage of each other

Ultimately, it is in everyone's best interest to utilize different sources and engender competition but it is difficult when one is watching their finances in this day and age. Also, what do you do when the artist you collect is relatively obscure in the US? I'm a bit torn but, at the moment, I'm following my wallet's directives

I got an email from importcd this morning saying that they've sent ABBA CD that I've ordered. It's the Deluxe Edition of ABBA Arrival. The 2nd disc has some tasty DVD goodies. If I have a good experience with importcds, I'm going to pick up ABBA the Album Deluxe Edition as well as a bunch of Carola stuff.

Even if I don't order directly from them, I like using sites like that and eil for reference purposes. If you do order directly from them in the future, post your experiences.

I'm checking out Lene right now on youtube and she's pretty good! I'm from the great state of ConnecTAXicut.

sue

civiclx

Hey Sue,

I was actually emailing them right now. They seem to be pretty quick in answering emails so that's another plus. That was one of the gripes I heard about on that message board. I'll post a link down below.

I'm about to order 3 more cds from them. I'm going to get a Coldplay Japanese version of their Speed of Sound Single, a Billy Joel import and a 2CD/DVD Greatest Hits package by the Scotish band Texas.

When I first ordered, I thought I'd order one cd at a time because I was still a bit skeptical but I order from them with confidence now. My last two orders were for a total of 13 cds. I then placed another order for 2 cds, Lene's Playing My Game, and a Japanese version of one of Dido's singles. I received Lene's cd yesterday and I'm hoping to receive the Dido one today.

As far as the rant we found, it does sound like it came from a retailer. It's nice that we're able to have a reliable seller that offers great prices. When I first started using amazon, I wanted to stay away from 3rd-party sellers whenever possible, but now that I found importcds, I hope to order from them as much as possible.

Like I said for eil.com, I was just really impressed with how fast the cd came from the UK. I've been using their site for research quite a bit because sometimes amazon doesn't seem to have all the right facts. I just wish eil.com had a lot more stuff that was brand new, but I guess when they're selling a lot of collectors items, they'll be in all different conditions. They say that they get as close to mint as possible. I'm thinking about getting a French import of Coldplay's new Violet Hill single.

Wow I typed a lot again. Well I think your first transaction will go smoothly. I'm right up north from importcds so the shipping time for me is only a couple of days or two but I bet you'll get your cds sometime next week.

Oh and as for Lene Marlin, I sampled one of her albums after seeing her mentioned on a Dido message forums. The post was about sad songs I think and someone mentioned her so I decided to check her out. Here are a couple of the cds that I've bought from importcds. Some are US releases and some are imports.



and here's the thread I found about importcds on another message board
Importcds Gripes

Sorry for the long post!!!!

Mike

BigSue

What other US/foreign CD online retailers do you use? I like CDUniverse/AmazonUK etc but I was wondering if you or anyone has ever used CDConnection or know of any other reliable CD retailers.

civiclx

I have used CDuniverse once and it went pretty well. I just placed another order with amazon.uk yesterday and a first-time order with amazon's canadian site. I would order from any amazon site with confidence. Amazon's US site is the site that I use the most. I've probably ordered 50 cds through them over the last couple of months. (this being after I thought I was DONE with buying cds, thanks to itunes!)


so you've ordered the ABBA cd from importcds...did you order any of the Carola cds yet?

BigSue

I used to order from them often when I lived in MI but now I live in CT and they are based in Wethersfield. I like using this site for reference as well as the fact that they will often have a rarity or something that I just can't find somewhere else.

Sounds like someone is on a music kick! I love Amazon UK. Aside from picking up some tasty Amy Winehouse Deluxe CDs (I know, I know, quiet down), I'm a fan of rally racing and I grabbed a bunch of rally DVDs for a paltry $9 a piece (World Rally Champs 2002-2005) on Amazon UK.

I want more rally DVDs but, at the moment, they aren't within my price parameters I'm patient and I'll wait for the DVDs and CDs to come down in price before I buy. It's paid off more than it's kicked me in the pants. I just received a CD from Amazon this week. It's a Japanese artist named Cornelius and he's great! I have two of his discs, 1. Fantasma and 2. Point. I recommend giving him a listen if you haven't heard of him. His videos are pretty cool, also.

It hasn't arrived yet but, when it does, I'm ordering ABBA the Album Deluxe Edition first. I'm currently writing up a list of the Carola CDs so that I know what I want. If they don't combine shipping then I can just order piecemeal. She has a fantastic voice. She does sing in English but my favorite CD is a Swedish language one called Personligt. It sounds more mature and less synth-y than her other works.

I also order a lot of music from yesasia.com. Check out Mika Nakashima, she's my favorite Japanese singer. CDs and DVDs from Japan can be prohibitively expensive but you can pick up the identical release from Hong Kong or Taiwan at a far, far cheaper price.

civiclx

Yes I have been on a music buying binge and I keep telling myself, "this is going to be the last order!" When you mentioned the rally cds, it reminded me of these option videos that I've seen. I'm not sure if you've heard of them, but they feature street racing and drifting from Japan. I was actually stationed in Japan for a little over a year back in '00-'01. I wish I had bought some music while I was there!!

I'll have to check Cornelius out. From the name, I would have never guessed he's a Japanese artist. I'll also check out Mika Nakashima. Now her name definitely sounds Japanese. I have heard a couple people mention yesasia but I haven't ordered from them before. Have you ever ordered from amazon.jp or this other site called cdjapan.jp? I'm not sure if that's the actual name for cdjapan, but it's something like that.

I can't believe how many imported versions there are of some cds. I'm looking at ones for Dido's No Angel album and they have like 3 Japanese versions alone!

Do you like Sarah McLachlan by chance?

BigSue

I bought some of the Japanese street/drifting vids for my brother in law but I've never watched them. You were living in Japan and you didn't check out the music? mike = nut

His real name is Keigo Oyamada and that's fairly Japanese. His videos are great. Apparently, he loves the Planet of the Apes and therefore "Cornelius." His music is really, um, well, I was going to try and describe it but I found this on Wiki and it does a better job:

"The music of Cornelius could be described as experimental and exploratory, and often incorporates dissonant elements alongside more familiar harmonically "pleasing" sounds. This tension, plus his practice of bringing in sounds and samples from mass culture, pure electronic tones, and sounds from nature (such as on his Point album), lead him to being sometimes categorized as an "acquired taste."

It's cdjapan.co.jp I think. At this point, I wouldn't hesitate to order from them. I've had several acquaintances vouch for them. So far, yesasia has carried everything that I've been looking for so I'll stick with them.

Man, you're preaching to the choir. I've been collecting ABBA since the late 70s and I've spent some serious dough. Japanese stuff has always been incredibly expensive but they produce some of the most awesome collectibles.

Sarah McLachlan story: In 1999, I purchased a new DVD recorder (my first). I had a couple of movies that I had bought pre-player so I was looking forward to seeing what this newfangled machine could do. I watched both of them and I was totally underwhelmed. I bought Sarah's Mirrorball DVD and gave that a whirl one evening and was completely blown away. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it looked and sounded.

OH WAIT A MINUTE! I just Amazoned Mirrorball and discovered that they finally released the whole concert on CD!! Arrrrrrrrrgh!! Why didn't they just release the whole thing before?? For cryin' out loud! This is all your fault, Mike! Well, let's add that to the list now. It had always bothered me because I liked the concert version of Plenty.

I have a habit of listening to a group or singer obsessively for quite some time and then I put them away, move on for awhile and then I come back and listen again. I think I'm going to be getting into Sarah again because I just noticed that the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy: Legacy Edition is going to be released in early August. I so need to win the lottery. :::sigh:::

It's up for pre-sale at Amazon for $19.97.

civiclx

I would do the fancy quoting for each paragraph like you but I would probably get confused and end up butchering your last message lol I wasn't into music collecting when I was in Japan. I did buy quite a few cds but I bought them at the PX (exchange) on base and they were the American releases. I was really into the whole Japanese car scene when I was there so that was pretty much all I paid attention to. Have you seen the video on the net where some rally guy almost takes out a person? I think he goes off course and comes REALLY close to hitting someone. He then backs up and says sorry before racing back off. I actually think I could get into rally racing if I spent some time watching some races.

The music of Cornelius sounds quite interesting. Is he on Itunes? I'll search for him there since for me, sampling music is the easiest to do on Itunes. I would definitely like to listen to some of his "experimental and exploratory" music.

I have read only good things about cdjapan.co.jp so I might place an order with them in the future. Does yesasia carry stuff from other artists outside of Japan? I think I did do a brief search but I got the impression that they feature a lot of Asian artists.

I wouldn't give myself the credit of being a Sarah McLachlan fan but I do love a few of her songs. I bought "I Will Remember You", "Fallen", "Angel", and "Building A Mystery" on Itunes and then decided that I had to buy the albums. I'm still trying to decide which imported albums to get. I got this version of her Fumbling Towards Ecstasy from importcds


I have the complete Mirrorball concert on 2CD (US release) but I haven't opened it yet. I'm savioring all of my cds

Well did you get your ABBA cd from them yet? I placed an order for 6 cds on the 19th and I never received the shipment confirmations. I have been emailing back and forth with their customer service rep that deals with amazon orders/inquires and she said they were having problems with their email and that they got sent out on Monday. It's Thursday and I would have expected them to arrive by now but they haven't yet. I did get my Dido cd (I believe this one is the first Japanese issue No Angel) from amazon canada and my Japanese first press edition of Coldplay's Viva La Vida from amazon.co.uk. All three of these orders were placed on the same day and I get the two packages that were shipped from foreign countries!
Oh well, I would assume they'll be here tomorrow or by Saturday.

I hope you've gotten yours by now

Mike

Update: I went to the post off this morning (Friday) and all six of the cds were there!!! yipppppeeeee!!

BigSue

Hopefully, WRC (World Rally Championship) will be broadcast on SpeedTV at some point in the future. The WRC people jacked up their prices so high, they got dumped by Speed and, I've heard, there are rumblings by distributors in Europe. Fingers crossed for lower prices. I've seen lots of rally crashes, close calls and running over people. I love youtube

I don't have an mp3 player. I have no need at present. I use the stereo in the house or car and, unlike when I was in my teens and twenties, I don't need to be permanently attached to a walkman (yea, a walkman!) In fact, why don't you check out Cornelius on youtube? I always use it to check out new music. Despite rumblings and threats from studios (music or otherwise) youtube is responsible for me buying LOTS of new music legitimately. I love it.

Yes, when you go to their cover page, click on world or just do a general search. The site is mainly Korean, Japanese and Chinese artists/movies. I keep waiting for the DVD, The Sinking of Japan, to be released here but I think I'm just going to give up and order from yesasia. I love catastrophe flicks. Some of the items yesasia carries are in stock and are posted immediately, if you see that there's a 7 day wait (or more), then it's probably going to be mailed from Hong Kong. At least that's how it was previously, I'm not sure now. I am going to place an order with them soon though.

Yes! I just placed another order with them for James Brown's Love Power Peace (Live at the Olympia '71). Good Gawd!

sue

fitlissa76

I love importcds.com

I buy alot of bellydance/middle eastern music from them. They often have hard to find titles plus are atleast $5 to $10 cheaper than other dance or arabic sites I visit.

civiclx

that's cool. I've been using them just about every week lately. I love looking for a 3rd-party seller and when I click on new, there they are with the lowest price

BigSue

Well, I just received the James Brown CD I ordered from ImportCDs, everything went fine so I think I'll start ordering all the Swedish stuff I've been yapping about. Mike, have you tried youtube yet?

sue

civiclx

do you mean have i tried youtube for the rally stuff?

I just placed my first order with amazon's chinese site. i had a hell of a time trying to figure out how to use my credit card but I think i finally figured it out. I got Dido's No Angel for $5.47. that's how much BofA online shows was taken from my account. I'll keep checking just to be sure that includes shipping to the US of course. I also placed an order with amazon's french site this week too.

glad you've having success with importcds Sue. I've been exchanging emails with one of their customer service reps quite a bit. i think you'll have a lot of fun ordering from them. I actually just placed an order with them for 7 more cds on maybe wednesday. I'm trying to get it all out of my system by going on one big splurge. I have $343 worth of cds in my amazon cart right now. they're the things that importcds isn't listed on.

one thing the girl told me about them...i look for them all of the time now. I used to prefer amazon over any 3rd-party seller but not anymore. she said that if they're not listed in the top 3, they won't be listed as all. I guess customers are used to seeing them as the cheapest so if they can't be one of the cheapest, they won't list it at all.

anyway, have you gotten any new Sarah McLachlan stuff? I think the FTE Legacy Edition is coming out soon you said...

BigSue

No, I'm referencing Cornelius. Did you miss post #12 above?

Keep us informed as to how the Chinese Amazon experience goes. Was the shipping from the French Amazon site a lot? I usually find the French and German sites prohibitively expensive.

I really have to start using a wish list or something because I'm constantly forgetting things or, and most likely, I have lists all over the place.

They should just list them even if they're not the cheapest. Some of us look for reliable just as much as price. As for Sarah, I forgot It came out on the 5th, I think. The price isn't too bad though.

civiclx

aww yes of course I saw post #12. I checked him out on itunes and I think i would have to let his music grow on me. my listening session was rather brief so I'll have to check him out again.

so yes, I've placed two orders with amazon.cn and against my better judgment, I'm going to place another one tonight. I also placed an order for 2 cds from cdjapan for the first time today.

ok the price for shipping from amazon france was 12,80 euros. that was for 2 cds. I also ordered a few other items from amazon.uk and I think the shipping is cheaper from them but I forget.

well all I need to do now is make an order from amazon's german site and I'll be a world-wide shopper lol

as for the shopping cart, I'm going to spread the orders out over a few paychecks of course. like I said, I'm just trying to get it out of my system. anymore of this and I'll need therapy.

that FTE album sounds pretty impressive and it's not too too expensive. hey is there anything you might want from amazon.cn? there isn't a huge selection but if you want me to check on anything, let me know.

i'll definitely keep you posted on how it goes. I placed the two orders so far...probably a few hours apart and I just got an email about 1:45 am that the first order has been sent out. I think the delivery estimate is august 30th so I've got a little bit of a wait. I think the order from amazon.fr is due around the 18th.

did you see mama mia?