Big Wheel Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 If only amazon marketplace wouldn't ask such insane amounts of $$ for shipping! Why can't they make the costs for the second, third etc. discs that are part of the SAME order just 1.5$ more, instead of the full effing amount again? It's ridiculous to order five discs for less than 10$ but the total order sum is somewhere around 50$! My hunch is that Amazon's systems are significantly, uh, "jankier" than they often seem. While most of the site's features work well enough, there are occasionally things that make me wonder if its overall design on the backend impedes building "commonsense" features, like combining Marketplace items from the same seller into a single order.* As an example of a product hole I noticed...the Amazon mp3 store seems to have been oddly "bolted on" to the rest of the site. As a consumer, it seems rather silly that you'd need separate sections of "Your Account" to view regular orders and "digital orders," yet that's how Amazon built it, which suggests to me that the two types of orders use a common frontend but likely totally separate billing processes, databases, and so forth. I downloaded $4 in mp3s last month from the mp3 store but forgot that I hadn't updated the credit card used to pay. With regular orders, they just make you re-order the item again, and start processing the new order once your card goes through. But with mp3s, the music hits your hard drive well before your charges can be processed on your card. The regular billing workflow breaks down when you apply it to buying mp3s and Kindle books and stuff, but Amazon hasn't gotten around to fully patching this flaw by creating a new flow in the part of their mp3 system that handles billing. So my card declined and I got this meaningless message from Amazon to "re-enter your card to complete your order," but I already had the music of course. Don't even get me started on my attempt to get Amazon's support team to re-charge my card for the declined amount. *Or it also could simply be that it's not in Marketplace sellers' interests to allow customers to combine orders (less markup on the inflated shipping charges), so Amazon just doesn't do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 If only amazon marketplace wouldn't ask such insane amounts of $$ for shipping! Why can't they make the costs for the second, third etc. discs that are part of the SAME order just 1.5$ more, instead of the full effing amount again? It's ridiculous to order five discs for less than 10$ but the total order sum is somewhere around 50$! My hunch is that Amazon's systems are significantly, uh, "jankier" than they often seem. While most of the site's features work well enough, there are occasionally things that make me wonder if its overall design on the backend impedes building "commonsense" features, like combining Marketplace items from the same seller into a single order.* As an example of a product hole I noticed...the Amazon mp3 store seems to have been oddly "bolted on" to the rest of the site. As a consumer, it seems rather silly that you'd need separate sections of "Your Account" to view regular orders and "digital orders," yet that's how Amazon built it, which suggests to me that the two types of orders use a common frontend but likely totally separate billing processes, databases, and so forth. I downloaded $4 in mp3s last month from the mp3 store but forgot that I hadn't updated the credit card used to pay. With regular orders, they just make you re-order the item again, and start processing the new order once your card goes through. But with mp3s, the music hits your hard drive well before your charges can be processed on your card. The regular billing workflow breaks down when you apply it to buying mp3s and Kindle books and stuff, but Amazon hasn't gotten around to fully patching this flaw by creating a new flow in the part of their mp3 system that handles billing. So my card declined and I got this meaningless message from Amazon to "re-enter your card to complete your order," but I already had the music of course. Don't even get me started on my attempt to get Amazon's support team to re-charge my card for the declined amount. *Or it also could simply be that it's not in Marketplace sellers' interests to allow customers to combine orders (less markup on the inflated shipping charges), so Amazon just doesn't do it. Interesting... I never bought digital and don't plan on starting to do. I thought it was what you state at the end... likely the marketplace vendors would just up their prices accordingly, if you could indeed combine orders. Lucky for us yurpeens, many of the big vendors are also selling via www.priceminister.com, and there, if you order more than one item, the additional shipping costs are reduced (I think 3.40€ for the first item and 1.50€ for each additional one - that's kind of sensible...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man with the Golden Arm Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 If only amazon marketplace wouldn't ask such insane amounts of $$ for shipping! Why can't they make the costs for the second, third etc. discs that are part of the SAME order just 1.5$ more, instead of the full effing amount again? It's ridiculous to order five discs for less than 10$ but the total order sum is somewhere around 50$! That would be great for the buyer BUT Amazon takes a huge chunk out of their own from a sale and they credit the buyer's "actual shipping" price. I think for some of the stuff you see Newbury etc offering the only way they make any money at all is with the fees being offset by discounted arrangements in their own shipping methods - so the more shipments the better. Sending a disc first class w/ confirmation in the states is pretty much the total shipping credit allowed by Amazon. It's a bit like sellers on eBay who used to spot you a disc and charge eight bucks to ship it ... thus going around the eBay fee with a cheap sale and making it on the shipping. Now eBay only allows $3 max for media shipments - whether it be a huge box set or EP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 Effing corporate American capitalism, ain't it so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 As an example of a product hole I noticed...the Amazon mp3 store seems to have been oddly "bolted on" to the rest of the site. As a consumer, it seems rather silly that you'd need separate sections of "Your Account" to view regular orders and "digital orders," yet that's how Amazon built it, which suggests to me that the two types of orders use a common frontend but likely totally separate billing processes, databases, and so forth. I suspect that the Amazon mp3 store is actually a separate corporate ownership, perhaps part-owned by Amazon. Would love to know the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 If only amazon marketplace wouldn't ask such insane amounts of $$ for shipping! Why can't they make the costs for the second, third etc. discs that are part of the SAME order just 1.5$ more, instead of the full effing amount again? It's ridiculous to order five discs for less than 10$ but the total order sum is somewhere around 50$! I agree, and now the shipping has gotten high enough that I actually consider it -- didn't really do so 3 or 4 years ago. This is one reason I look first at half.com, particularly for older books, since you do get that discount for multiple items from the same seller. Unfortunately, for jazz CDs it is less likely one seller will have more than one item of interest to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wheel Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 As an example of a product hole I noticed...the Amazon mp3 store seems to have been oddly "bolted on" to the rest of the site. As a consumer, it seems rather silly that you'd need separate sections of "Your Account" to view regular orders and "digital orders," yet that's how Amazon built it, which suggests to me that the two types of orders use a common frontend but likely totally separate billing processes, databases, and so forth. I suspect that the Amazon mp3 store is actually a separate corporate ownership, perhaps part-owned by Amazon. Would love to know the details. I don't think this is the case (when you buy mp3s from Amazon, does your credit card statement list anything different than a typical Amazon purchase, especially something like a different merchant ID number?) BUT it's certainly possible that Amazon bought the technology to help them distribute and sell mp3s from another company, or acquired that company outright and integrated their technology into Amazon. When you buy rather than build in-house, integrating your old products with the new system is rarely a seamless affair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trumpet Guy Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Was at a store yesterday and noticed they have 10 CD boxed sets of Miles Davis(2 different 10 CD boxes) and Monk for $14.99! :0 They're from Germany... Edited April 18, 2010 by Trumpet Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgraham333 Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 I've placed dozens of orders with Newbury through their Amazon storefront. Finally go to visit a store in Boston while travelling for work. Pretty good selection and even better prices. Wish there were more places like this around close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 No Jim, it's still there at 1.99. I'm sorry I've never linked but if you go to amazon, select the music category, search "sal nistico" and the Heavyweights/comin on up cd is first on the list. I got that one too, and glad I did. Two very good albums on that disc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Just ordered the Sal Nistico cd Heavyweights/Comin On Up for $1.99 plus shipping through amazon.com. Someone made me a vinyl burn of this 4 or 5 years ago and it hasn't received much play. Just happened to grab it on Sunday to play in the car and have been listening non-stop to it since. Before, it was always just sorta okay......but now, after 2 dozen consecutive spins, it's morphed into total ....... so just placed an order for this Newbury copy to hear that other session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellowT Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 *Or it also could simply be that it's not in Marketplace sellers' interests to allow customers to combine orders (less markup on the inflated shipping charges), so Amazon just doesn't do it. I asked this question about a year ago when I was trying to combine Newbury orders. Amazon claims it's up to the Marketplace seller to institute a combined shipping discount policy, so it's okay with them if the seller refunds a few $ on a combined order. I then forwarded the message to Newbury, but they politely declined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelz777 Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 It's up to the seller to establish a shipping discount policy? I've purchased hundreds of CDs from Marketplace sellers over the years and not once have I ever encountered one who offered a combined shipping discount. You'd think I'd see one or two over the years who were trying to get come kind of competitive edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 It's up to the seller to establish a shipping discount policy? I've purchased hundreds of CDs from Marketplace sellers over the years and not once have I ever encountered one who offered a combined shipping discount. You'd think I'd see one or two over the years who were trying to get come kind of competitive edge. I think the shipping charges are built into the Amazon "front-end"/store. half.com is different in that the multi-item, discounted shipping is built-in. I s'pose that keeps some sellers away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelz777 Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 (edited) It's up to the seller to establish a shipping discount policy? I've purchased hundreds of CDs from Marketplace sellers over the years and not once have I ever encountered one who offered a combined shipping discount. You'd think I'd see one or two over the years who were trying to get come kind of competitive edge. I think the shipping charges are built into the Amazon "front-end"/store. half.com is different in that the multi-item, discounted shipping is built-in. I s'pose that keeps some sellers away. I agree with you. I think that Amazon was being less than truthful or at least being a bit evasive when they replied to the earlier poster's query regarding shipping discounts. It's not built in as an option with their selling format. Edited April 29, 2010 by mikelz777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellowT Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 It's up to the seller to establish a shipping discount policy? I've purchased hundreds of CDs from Marketplace sellers over the years and not once have I ever encountered one who offered a combined shipping discount. You'd think I'd see one or two over the years who were trying to get come kind of competitive edge. I think the shipping charges are built into the Amazon "front-end"/store. half.com is different in that the multi-item, discounted shipping is built-in. I s'pose that keeps some sellers away. I agree with you. I think that Amazon was being less than truthful or at least being a bit evasive when they replied to the earlier poster's query regarding shipping discounts. It's not built in as an option with their selling format. Right, it's not built-in to the payment system, which is why the seller must refund money after the fact, if they are so willing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted May 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 Ronnie Mathews/Roland Alexander/Freddie Hubbard is also available for $1.99. Nice. Many thanks for hipping me to this one, Weizen--got it the other day and gave it a spin late last night. Especially liked the first Ronnie/Freddie date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Loving The Debut box... thanks for this thread guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverrat Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 Just ordered the Sal Nistico cd Heavyweights/Comin On Up for $1.99 plus shipping through amazon.com. Thanks for this one, just got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverrat Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 I didn't search every post, but I didn't see this one mentioned yet: Keystone Bop: Sunday Night [Live] Freddie Hubbard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 Just had something in my amazon.com basket - but newbury won't ship international any longer!?Weird... trying some other items, it would work... but not for the one I wanted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted June 30, 2010 Report Share Posted June 30, 2010 Just had something in my amazon.com basket - but newbury won't ship international any longer!? Weird... trying some other items, it would work... but not for the one I wanted! oh dear - is it a bargain? ... if you tell me what it is I'll try too and let you know..... just being helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tranemonk Posted June 30, 2010 Report Share Posted June 30, 2010 Not a Newbury steal but Bestbuy.com has the 6cd Jackie McLean FreshSound/jazz Connections set on sale for a ridiculous $18.. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Complete+1955-1957+Quartet+Quintet+%26+Sextet+%28Box%29+-+CD/15586787.p?id=1636539&skuId=15586787&st=Keyword%20or%20Item%20#%20%20%20%20Complete%201955-1957%20Quartet,%20Quintet%20&%20Sextet%20Sessions%20%286%20Cds%20Box%20Set Sorry I know it's a rip-off the OJC series but at that price.. I couldn't pass it up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzkrow Posted June 30, 2010 Report Share Posted June 30, 2010 Don't be surprised if Best Buy cannot fill your order-I once had a pending order with them for 3+ mos before giving up I eventually got this set from Borders at a similar price. Being an optimist I just put in an order myself since at this price it makes a good gift. I'm just not counting on Best Buy to fulfill this order. This box set goes for well more than they are asking-and it is a great set Let's all cross our fingers-and toes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 They, too, stopped shipping internationally! This is a very, very uncool development! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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