Amazon's "used and new from"

[medjuck]

I usually buy cds on-line from CdUniverse but they didn't have the Duke Ellington Treasury shows vol11 (At least I couldn't find it.) So I went to Amazon. They had it at $28.99 For the Helluvit I clicked on "used and new from" and saw it was available new from someone called Caiman.com for $20.99! So I ordered it along with another cd that was cheaper from them, paid with Amazon one click and got the cd in the mail a week later. (After receiving e-mail notices from Caiman telling me when it was shipped and giving tracking information.)

I don't get it: Is Amazon trying to put itself out of business?

[gslade]

They get paid every time you use the site

the vendors pay for overhead

[gslade]

And if that is not specifically correct it is something like that

[Eric]

I buy 75% of my CDs used on amazon. Rarely do I have problems. I only buy from sellers with a satisfaction rating of 4.7 or above. Plus, sellers do have OOP material from time to time. It is really a pretty good little market and a nice alternative to ebay and GEMM.

I have sold a few things there - they do collect a service fee - hell it may be equal to or above the profit they would make on a CD, so they are coming out no worse than whole.

Edited May 18, 2005 by Eric

[Soul Stream]

People talk about the drag of downloading and musicians/labels not getting paid. What about friggin' Amazon, the world's largest online marketplace?! You look for a CD new and can always find it used at a fraction of the cost. That ain't helpin' anybody but the consumer and Amazon.

I say this...and yet, I myself buy only used on Amazon. It's just cheaper by far.

No wonder musicians can't make it.

[Chuck Nessa]

I say this...and yet, I myself buy only used on Amazon. It's just cheaper by far.

No wonder musicians can't make it.

You are your own worst enema! B-)

[Д.Д.]

People talk about the drag of downloading and musicians/labels not getting paid. What about friggin' Amazon, the world's largest online marketplace?! You look for a CD new and can always find it used at a fraction of the cost. That ain't helpin' anybody but the consumer and Amazon.

I say this...and yet, I myself buy only used on Amazon. It's just cheaper by far.

No wonder musicians can't make it.

If anything, second-hand CD industry is worse for musicians than downloading, since it captures consumers' disposable funds (downloading does not).

[Eric]

People talk about the drag of downloading and musicians/labels not getting paid.  What about friggin' Amazon, the world's largest online marketplace?!  You look for a CD new and can always find it used at a fraction of the cost.  That ain't helpin' anybody but the consumer and Amazon.

I say this...and yet, I myself buy only used on Amazon.  It's just cheaper by far.

No wonder musicians can't make it.

If anything, second-hand CD industry is worse for musicians than downloading, since it captures consumers' disposable funds (downloading does not).

Yeah, that does suck about musicians losing out. I try to buy jazz new, rock used as a general rule. I get pinched by amazon on new stuff with sales taxes since they have a huge distribution facility in my home state (Kansas - go figure).

[chris olivarez]

In the past I've gotten some used things from Amazon and it worked out pretty good.

[Dennis_M]

I usually buy cds on-line from CdUniverse but they didn't have the Duke Ellington Treasury shows vol11 (At least I couldn't find it.) So I went to Amazon. They had it at $28.99  For the Helluvit I clicked on "used and new from"  and saw it was available new from someone called Caiman.com for $20.99!

I've found Caiman to be a fine source of used/new jazz CD's. The only issue is shipping costs. As soon as you get off the Amazon site, you no longer have the free shipping option. And as somebody mentioned, you do have to be careful who you buy from.

[dave9199]

Another positive vote for Caiman. I've used him/them several time & never had a problem. Buying used does help the fanatic with all the re-re-re-re-re-releases if they are so desired or to sample someone they are curious about.

[JohnS]

Never had any problems with the "getting it for less" from Amazon sellers. In fact I'm using it more and more.

[Ron S]

Never had any problems with the "getting it for less" from Amazon sellers.  In fact I'm using it more and more.

←

Same here, and I only order brand-new discs from Amazon Marketplace sellers (including Caiman). Occasionally, an item won't be shipped within 2 or 3 business days (this happens a bit too often with Caiman, albeit not most of the time) and, if they can't tell me when it will ship, I just cancel the order and get a refund within 24 hours through Amazon, and order from someone else. On the whole, though, my experience with many, many CD's purchased from Marketplace sellers has been great.

[Guest akanalog]

thumbs down for caiman. twice i have ordered discs from them, paid for them and then waited weeks. then when i finally decide to contact them they tell me "we regret to inform you the disc you purchased is on back order and we will ship it as soon as we get it again." so why make me pay for it? i guess amazon does this too but i wish caiman would tell you this right away rather than making you find out for yourself when your CD is a month late from their given ETA to you.

in general i do like the buy used feature on amazon though. it is a good deal. one time i bought from someone with a rating lower than like 4.5 and i got the wrong CD and they then did not respond to my emails about it. it was weird since-well i don't understand what they were doing. i still have the incorrect CD if i haven't thrown it away and amazon refunded my money when i complained.

[Ron S]

thumbs down for caiman.  twice i have ordered discs from them, paid for them and then waited weeks.  then when i finally decide to contact them they tell me "we regret to inform you the disc you purchased is on back order and we will ship it as soon as we get it again."  so why make me pay for it?  i guess amazon does this too but i wish caiman would tell you this right away rather than making you find out for yourself when your CD is a month late from their given ETA to you.

That's why I don't give them more than the 2-business-day limit set by Amazon for shipment by Marketplace merchants. What I've found with Caiman, and some of the other Amazon Marketplace merchants, is that if they really have something in stock, they'll ship it within the 2 days (sometimes 3 days), whereas if they don't have it in stock (and they shouldn't list it if it's not in stock, but they obviously sometimes do anyway), it can take weeks or months. So when I order something from them, I email them if I haven't received a shipping notice within a couple of days, and if they can't say when it will ship, I cancel immediately. They usually process a refund through Amazon within 24 hours. You just have to realize up front that you may have to do that, and then you'll never wait more than a few days for shipment by these Marketplace merchants. As I indicated before, the vast majority of my many CD purchases from Caiman and other Amazon Marketplace merchants have been shipped within a couple of days.

[alankin]

I'm just annoyed that there's no break on shipping charges if you order more than one item from the same dealer...

[Ron S]

The Amazon payment system doesn't allow for that, so it's not the individual dealer's doing.