Ok so maybe it isn't sooo bad

[Bryant]

Use whatever online service you like best.

Best post on the whole thread. I prefer the labels who deal with exclusively with stuff I like ala Lasers Edge, CDinzane, and The End, but I do buy an occasional non-metal release and Amazon has a lot of stuff. There ave been times when I wanted some classic metal stuff and the only place I could find it was Amazon.
On a side note though.... I pre-ordered The Vanden Plas "Christ 0" from Lasers Edge, and it is sitting right here in front of me already.


Bryant

 

[Meanmistreator]

Best post on the whole thread. I prefer the labels who deal with exclusively with stuff I like ala Lasers Edge, CDinzane, and The End, but I do buy an occasional non-metal release and Amazon has a lot of stuff. There ave been times when I wanted some classic metal stuff and the only place I could find it was Amazon.
On a side note though.... I pre-ordered The Vanden Plas "Christ 0" from Lasers Edge, and it is sitting right here in front of me already.


Bryant

Although I agree that it's exciting to buy at prog/metal shops, there are reasons why I prefer Amazon to all of them. First of all, I'm a recovering CD shop-aholic. If there was a job buying CDs, I would be the "President of the company. Amazon is totally convenient, and quick. Plus, I buy CDs from their "used" vendors at a discounted price. Most of the time they've never been open. Plus, many of these vendors "are" metal shops (ala Nightmare Records). Although Laser's Edge ships pretty quick, CDinzane does not! I love to "browse" their selection and buy from Amazon. I've read posts on this forum that have said the same. The only time I buy elsewhere is if Amazon doesn't have it.

 

[Sumeet]

I’ll admit that I love Amazon – I was buying stuff from them back when naysayers said there was no way the concept could ever turn a profit.

I’m still new to most of the artists who will be performing at PPVII Friday/Saturday, since it was the Pre-Party lineup that really got me interested. In an attempt to get up to speed, I visited Amazon this week and picked up releases from Jorn, Mercenary, Epica, and Freak Kitchen – AND purchased a baby gift for a friend.

Talk about “one-stop shopping.” Just hope that I got the addresses right. My friend does NOT share my taste in music, so I’m not sure which of us would be more upset if she got my CDs -- and I ended up with a baby bouncer…

Overall, the business model was probably not a very good one. The vast majority of companies who started up using this model are long gone. Amazon (and a few others) survived, largely because they had enough seed capital to be able to continue operating at a loss for a long time.

But whether it's a good or bad model, Amazon made it work for them, I'll give them credit for that. Though I still don't understand why the notion of "one-stop-shopping" has any resonance for online shopping. I can understand that it might be easier to get 10 things from Wal-Mart than to go drive to 10 different stores to get them... even if that means paying a little more for some of those items. But online, all one has to do is type in another URL, to find something for a better price. For example, while I don't know much about the pricing of baby bouncers (heh), I know that every one of the CD's you purchased from Amazon is available from other good stores for lower prices... and since you were sending different things to different addresses, you didn't even get the the advantage of consolidating shipping prices by ordering many things at once.

When you come down to it, Amazon is the leading online retailer for a reason... they have spent a lot on advertising and marketing... and those costs do get passed on to the customer. I'm not criticizing Amazon's service, selection, or ease of use... I'm just saying that other places offer all those things, at significantly lower prices.

 

[Sumeet]

The thing is, places like amazon will never have everything we need, these smaller shops are run by guys who love this music and will give you personal service. Plus they are cool people. What the hell is the big deal about paying 3 or 4 bucks more for shipping? Go to MacDonald's one less time this week to make up for the 4 bucks you spend on shipping--you end up spending the same amount of money for the week and your heart will thank you for it.

In my experience, there is no single shop that will have "everything we need"... so you need to shop from multiple places anyway. That said, I will say that paying an extra 3 - 4 dollars for shipping is a big deal, and I would absolutely not pay that much extra in the hope that my heart would thank me for it. The reason I would advocate buying from somewhere like The Laser's Edge or The End is because they offer good products for a good price, with good service (equal to or better than Amazon)... not for any moral or "feelgood" reasons. I would advocate other larger non-metal-specific online retailers over Amazon for the same primary reason... better value.