CDs from Amazon Marketplace

[audiophile65]

Hi...

any CA's out there who have partly developed their "music on computer" collections through purchasing CDs, including audiophile CDs, in "very good" or "like new" condition from Amazon Marketplace dealers and then ripping them? Then, of course, you would keep such CDs as your "master sources" and NOT re-sell them.

I was just curious about this, as some of my "music on computer" playlist (I have iTunes, and I have Audirvana+ coming soon) comes from "very good" or "like new" MoFi UltraDiscs. I do make sure that each Amazon Marketplace dealer is very very reputable -- I'm a stickler for good dealers based on 98% - 100% approval rate, and a nice number of positive responses (at least a good 10,000) doesn't hurt, either.

 

Please share your comments.

[wgscott]

I've almost always bought new from Amazon. It is worth the extra dollar or two. If there was a huge price difference, I would risk it.

[jtm]

100% agree - go for the new ones.

 

Had some experience with marketplace that release version was different.

 

There have been warnings that MoFi clones from China/Russia with questionable sound quality have been offered here and there.

 

Myself I buy the MoFi, XRCD and SHM stuff only from official, known suppliers.

[AudioDoctor]

I have when I needed to when the CD I wanted was hard to get. I usually try to buy my CDs at my local record stores if I can.

[Brian A]

I use Amazon Marketplace as my primary source for CDs. I've bought quite a few and have had no bad experiences.

 

The worst experience was a seller who plain sent me the wrong CD. They refunded my money and did not require me to return the wrong CD (Moody Blues' something or other). I reordered elsewhere.

 

I use pretty much the same criteria and process you use in terms of seller reputation and transactions and buying only "New", "Like New" or "Very Good" condition.

 

This month (so far) Johnny Cash Amercian II ("Very Good" condition $1.34 plus $2.98 shipping), Johnny Cash American IV ("Very Good condition $0.43 plus $2.98 shipping), Super Bass 2 ("Very Good" condition $4.38 plus $2.98 shipping) and, still not yet arrived from a store in London, England (Zoverstocks), Kenny Ball Greatest Hits ("Very Good" condition $0.01 plus $2.98 shipping).

 

The CDs are generally in the condition as advertized. The booklets have always been fine. Jewel cases are another matter in that several CDs have arrived in scratched or cracked cases. No biggie for me since I rip them to Apple Lossless files. I suspect that some of the CDs have been refurbished, meaning that they have been re-poslished. Again this is fine since the CDs rip perfectly according to dBPoweramp. I've received a couple of CDs where the case has been notched and I've received one where the word "Promotional" was on the label.

[Old Listener]

Amazon Marketplace has been my main source for music for several years - mostly used CDs.

 

If they can be ripped securely with success, I'm getting the same audio data as a new CD. I've done enough data comparisons to be confident in the process.

 

I'm buying more Flac downloads in the last couple of years.

 

Bill

[wkhanna]

Hundreds of SeeDee's.....

 

Most used, no MoFi or other fancy stuff.....

 

More than a few broken cases.......

 

All have played & ripped fine.

[Old Listener]

Brian A,

 

Back in the days when men were men and record stores were B&M, where did you do shop for and buy LPs and/or CDs in the Bay Area?

 

Bill

[DaQi]

Almost always bought new on Amazon except when I wanted something that was only available from some other source including Amazon Marketplace. I have never had any problems although do get the odd broken or cracked case. About 75% of my CDs were bought new from Amazon. Most of my CDs from whatever source get played once to rip them and then go back in their case as back-up media. I don't buy much digital music only but am finding increasingly that music I want is not available any other way so have recently improved the back-up of my music to be more solid as there is more and more that isn't replaceable by re-ripping the CD.

 

I didn't think about it at the time, obviously, but recently Amazon went and made all the CDs I had ever ordered from them available as an MP3 in the cloud which is a nice little bonus. All automatically without me having to do anything. This makes much of my music collection available to stream to my phone or iPad or other portable device when I travel. Okay so they are MP3 quality but nice that it happened without me having to do anything.

 

It has been years since I have stepped into a music store. Last one was in Tokyo. In high school I worked in a restaurant next to a record store. In exchange for staff discount on food I got staff discount on music. Needless to say my record collection grew exponentially during that time.

[Brian A]

...where did you do shop for and buy LPs and/or CDs in the Bay Area?...

Berkeley: Rasputin, Amoeba, etc. All the usual places.

 

I bought a bunch of vinyl at Rasputin for $0.50/record the first time they got out of vinyl (and two store locations ago), including gems like this:

 

 

Ahh, the joy of chance encounter and impulse buying. I don’t shop like that anymore. In fact, last time I was in Amoeba, browsing for some of Barry Diament’s stuff, I felt overwhelmed.

[Bob Stern]

If there is a significant price difference, I buy used on Amazon, but only from vendors w high satisfaction rating.

 

Naxos has a storefront on Amazon called Classical Superstore that sells new Naxos at discount.

[Old Listener]

Berkeley: Rasputin, Amoeba, etc. All the usual places.

 

Tower Records stores in Concord and in Berkeley were our mainstays. We came to the big sales in January with long lists. I did most of the buying for classical CDs and my wife chose most of the Jazz, swing and Broadway shows/songbook albums. We usually left the Concord store with several shopping bags music. A day or two later, we'd hit the Berkeley store(s) and buy almost as much.

 

Prices usually seemed too high in Rasputin and sometimes too high at Amoeba. In addition, used CD stores rarely had just what I was looking for.

 

Quite a fine album cover in your post.

 

I still buy some new CDs from Berkshire Recordf Outlet but they are not fully competitive with Amazon Marketplace most of the time.

 

Now, I buy some Flac downloads from eClassical.com and Presto (a UK store.) A few from Linn and one or two from Hyperion (a classical label.)

 

Bill

[audiophile65]

If there is a significant price difference, I buy used on Amazon, but only from vendors w high satisfaction rating.

 

Naxos has a storefront on Amazon called Classical Superstore that sells new Naxos at discount.

 

Really great point that you and a couple of others on this thread made. I just ordered yesterday a "very good" used copy of Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" on MoFi aluminum CD (the MoFi alum CDs came out just before the very first 24K gold UltraDiscs). Paying $52.98 for such a copy sure beats the alternative: one brand new copy of MoFi "Year of the Cat" for $595.00!!!

[wkhanna]

One of my other favorite sources:

 

Classical Music - ArkivMusic

[Old Listener]

One of my other favorite sources:

 

Classical Music - ArkivMusic

 

I agree. Great browsing facilities and a deep catalog. The made-on-demand ArchivCDs of out-of-print CDs are a useful service too.

 

I've bought many CDs there over the years but used CDs from Amazon marketplace are often much cheaper now. I don't blame the music companies rather than ArchivMusic.

 

Bill

[jtk]

I get a lot of older stuff from Amazon Marketplace. I'll go up to about $5 with shipping, after which I buy the new one. However, I've gotten probably 150 $.01 to $.50 CDs that were perfectly fine. They were a godsend when I was replacing my stolen CD collection a few years ago.

[chumlie]

I buy used all the time if the price is right. Never a problem.