I know this might sound stupid, but today I plan to buy some cd's off of amazon for the first time, I never used amazon before and wonder how is their service is and I there anything I should be careful about them and want to know the pros and cons about them. Thanks for the help.

I've used Amazon for several years for books, CD's, games, software, etc. You're in good hands.

Yep, I've never had problems with Amazon. They are extremely reliable.

Ow, one thing. You should check how expensive the things are on other sites, Amazon sometimes likes to amp up the price just a little bit to much for my taste.

Definitely always check other sites. Amazon is definitely great though. Always have things in stock and things ship fairly quickly.

Yep, I buy from Amazon often. Books and CDs come packed in sturdy thick cardboard.

You're gonna be taken care of nicely. I've NEVER had an issue with Amazon. They often times will have the digital version on their cloud player after you purchase the disk. Their shipping is top notch, they pack everything very nicely in sturdy boxes and have only once had an issue with a broken item, and they replaced it free of charge. Also if you plan on making a habit of ordering from Amazon, its worth signing up for Prime, which can save a decent amount of money in shipping over time, which has come in handy living in Hawaii.

Avid amazon user myself, often use the 'used and new' section to buy the CDs as there's some good bargains to be found when you look around, I only ever use the CDs to copy onto the PC for listening so it all adds up to the collection without wanting to spend a fortune otherwise paying for overpriced stocks in retail stores.

Fuck what the music industry says about buying 'used and new' CDs, if it's already been paid for beforehand then there is no net-loss and its a damn lot better than otherwise downloading music for next-to-nothing.

Well, theyre one of the biggest, if not biggest online sites in the world. If you buy straight through them and spend at least $25, you get free shipping. Ive actually recommended them for SELLING music etc. A lot easier than ebay.

Yea that's what I just used, very cheap too. Because full price plus S&H is alittle too pricey for me. So I go with buying used.

They've always been reliable any time I've used them. And if for some reason you need to return something (I've had to do this only once), most sellers are eager to right any potential wrongs.

^ Indeed. Often times you'll get a small paper note with your order asking to contact the seller directly if there's something defective or damaged with your order prior to making a comment or a rating on their page. Understandably so, too. Customer service is every bit as important to these retailers' reputations as they'd have a much smaller customer base, if one at all, without Amazon or other such sites to provide such feedback to potential buyers.

That being said, don't hesitate to shop around and see what you can find ordering from the band itself, their label, independent labels that act as distributors or cross-carry for other distributors. In lieu of a better individual unit price you might find a better package deal.

Something that needs to be said here that apparently hasn't been mentioned yet - Amazon (sometimes, but not always) has a habit of making their own "printed-on-demand" pressings of albums. I got one once, I believe, for Nortt's Ligfærd, and it was so utterly cheap-looking (CDr with printed-on art and super-lo-res and blurry artwork in the booklet, to the point where the text inside it was nigh-unreadable) that I was frankly kind of pissed off. Read the product descriptions before you buy stuff directly from there, and if it mentions something which more-or-less sounds like what I'm describing - I don't know the exact wording Amazon uses to describe it - then don't buy the album directly from them, buy from an independent seller on their site.

EDIT: Of course, that being said, all-in-all they are nothing short of an indispensable resource as far as selection, variety, easy access, etc.

MalignantThrone makes a good point. They'll usually mention "CD-R" or "reprint" or "repress" somewhere in the product description itself but I've also seen a light blue stripe superimposed on the top edge of the album artwork as an indicator of this, too. The only one that immediately comes to mind is State of Insurgency by Hexen but I know I've seen it on others, too.

I recommend them. Quality site to sometimes to get around paying some stupidily high price someone on ebay is selling something for.

Always buy from amazon! (When its not on h hb ) never had a problem!!

It's kind of strange because sometimes the "printed on demand" CD-Rs are original masters and not remasters, but sometimes they're not. I was happy with my purchase of the "on demand" version of Winters Bane's debut just because some label asshole didn't brickwall it to hell. But then I bought Laaz Rockit's Know Your Enemy the same way and got a shitty remaster.

Well i had ordered my cds they said they will arrive sometime from april 8th to april 23. Will it really take that long?

Assuming that you used standard shipping, it should take 3-5 days.

Ok thats good. I am excited for my cds to come. Lol.

I actually reread your post and wouldnt be surprised if they arrived before april 8. Almost everything Ive ordered there has shipped within 24 hours. One of the advantages of amazon is if you buy some kind of media, they tend to give you some kind of bonus with it. My personal favorite is credit.

Here in the UK it normally takes anything from a day or two, right the way up to a week for standard delivery Cds to arrive in the post. Oversea's it can be anything up to a month, but the dispatch date I normally look for as an indication of when the CD was actually packaged, sent, and shipped.

Unless money is more of an incentive I usually buy from sellers here in the UK purely out of convenience in having the music arrive within a week, aswell as practicality for anyone oversea's having the extra burden of paying for shipping to the UK.

Amazon is where your mom got her kindle fire. It's safe.

Ive actually bought some blu rays and a few cd's from the UK and it didnt even take a week. And thats just from regular shipping.

2 of my cds say shipped and the other says shipping soon, haha i guess i will see how long it takes.

Amazon, themselves, are normally great. If you choose the free shipping (when you purchase $25 or more) it sometimes takes a while, mostly because they wait on those until they have XX amount of packages going out (according to an Amazon rep I talked to) so just because something is in stock doesn't mean it'll ship right away. Otherwise, aside from prices sometimes, there are no issues. Buying from the Amazon Marketplace is a little different because you are depending on 3rd party sellers to be accurate in their listings.

One of my cd's says last even it did was a Departure Scan in the city right next to mine, so i guess one is close to coming.

Amazon are offer good service but they seem a bit pricey. I bought a game once off there that didn't work and they gave me a refund without having to return the stock, it arrived quickly as well.

I guess this thread is as good as any to remind you all to use the affiliate links on this site for any Amazon shopping you might want to do... regardless of what you end up buying.

Here's how to help M-A:

- Copy this URL (important: not the resulting URL you are redirected to, just right-click the link and go to Copy Link Location): http://www.metal-archives.com/affiliate/?aid=2
- Add this URL to your bookmarks/favourites
- Whenever you want to shop on Amazon (whether it's for new CDs, books, headphones, chocolate chip cookies or garden tables), click that bookmark
- Add stuff to your cart within 24 hours of clicking.
- A percentage of the sale amount will go to metal-archives. This does not cost you anything, it's all paid by Amazon.

This works for 3rd party sellers too. Canadian buyers should use this link: http://www.amazon.ca/?ie=UTF8&tag=encyc ... ativeASIN=

More details here: http://www.metal-archives.com/content/support

Thanks

I'm honestly afraid to total up my purchase history over the years, probably thousand(s)?

If it's not food, I probably got it from amazon. Started up Prime this year too for free two day shipping and their netflix like service comes with it, awesome stuff.

Maybe it's just me, but I think if you are an avid online buyer you kind of stop worrying about shipping speeds. The only cases where I've wondered "where is my stuff?" is when I've ordered something internationally. Other than that I just go about my days until it shows up in the mail as a surprise. I've done amazon's release date delivery for games too, it worked out pretty well.

Been active since 2006, haven't had a single issue. ebay and other sources are second, after I check amazon for me.

It's stripped away some of the glory of finding rare games in person for me, but oh well. Convenient and sometimes you get awesome prices.

One of my Cd's came in today! Now time to blast some Blind Guardian!!!

Amazon is great.

I also use blackmetal.com and before they got stupid, Rockabilia.