Amazonfail: don't buy from Amazon this Christmas

[Mirror Image]

Originally Posted by Philidor

Amazon's so ubiquitous they're difficult to avoid. I'm a mod on another forum which funds its servers via an Amazon partnership. I doubt they could keep online without it.

But it's good for people to know what Amazon's up to, no? They can then choose to use Amazon, another retailer, or a real shop. Ideally, a competitor will start up who make a big noise about not treating its workforce like trash.

Perhaps someone like yourself has the good fortune of buying from a local CD store that specializes in classical and harder to find CDs, but I live in a rural area of the United States (about 50 minutes from Atlanta) and there are virtually no CD stores in a 50 mile radius. There is a Barnes And Noble about 20-25 minutes away from me, but they do not have a decent music department. Not only that, but I'm not paying $16 for a CD that I can buy for $5 plus shipping on Amazon through a third-party seller.

Given the circumstances of the economy and the vanishing music stores that cater to collectors, like myself, Amazon is my only alternative.

That said, I'm thankful for Amazon because, otherwise, I wouldn't have a way to hear all of this great music and I don't do the mp3 thing. I'm a collector. I like actually owning something, which is something this younger generation doesn't understand (or probably even cares about).

[Mirror Image]

Originally Posted by quartertone

That could be self-defeating. If Amazon get away with treating their workers badly, other employers (possibly your employer) will follow suit. They may have to to remain competitive. So a vicious cycle of corrupt behaviour towards employees becomes the norm. It's an odd way to run an advanced 21st century economy.

I'm not saying that it isn't right in regards to the way they treat their employees, I'm simply saying that I don't see how any of this has any bearing on my own situation especially when it comes to buying CDs.

I'm thankful for Amazon. More importantly the third party sellers that sell CDs a lot cheaper than Amazon. If it wasn't for Amazon, then I couldn't buy from these sellers.

[periodinstrumentfan]

@Mirror Image

Of course, yours is a special case. Amazon is essential and practical.

[le_sacre]

Originally Posted by Mirror Image

...I don't do the mp3 thing. I'm a collector. I like actually owning something, which is something this younger generation doesn't understand (or probably even cares about).

On behalf of the younger generation, I agree with you that this is something we don't particularly understand.

[periodinstrumentfan]

i collect too. I won't collect something i cannot hold in my hand.

Besides... mp3s are not surround sound like any sacd/dvd audio. But i believe one day they will. Still, i'll stick with CDs as long as they're available.

[Stlukesguild]

i collect too. I won't collect something i cannot hold in my hand.

Besides... mp3s are not surround sound like any sacd/dvd audio. But
i believe one day they will. Still, i'll stick with CDs as long as they're available

I have purchased mp3 downloads but was not thrilled with the
lower sound quality of some pieces. I also miss having the
booklet/text, etc... The real clincher was the gap or space
between tracks when one track ran directly into the next as in
opera or even The Rite of Spring. This can be "fixed"... but
I'm not up to spending time "fixing" that the industry should
have repaired long ago. I also don't find that the cost of digital
files is at all as low as it should be in comparison to purchase of
an actual disc which includes the booklet/text and which can still
be ripped to my computer or MP3 player.

I must say that I need to support MI with regard to Amazon... in
spite of the fact that I do live in a large city. There are still few
venues that sell classical music beyond the basic introductory
level (Beethoven's 5th, the Four Seasons, etc...) and even
in those instances there is often but one or two versions available
and not always the best... in spite of the greatly inflated price
over online purchases. I highly doubt I would have access to a great
portion of the discs available from Harmonium Mundi, Hyperion,
Chandos, Naxos, DG, EMI, Zig Zag, ECM, CORO, or any number
of other labels at any local music store... and not for less than 2 or
3 times the cost that I can get the same through Amazon or
Amazon secondary dealers or other online dealers.

[Mirror Image]

Originally Posted by Stlukesguild

I have purchased mp3 downloads but was not thrilled with the
lower sound quality of some pieces. I also miss having the
booklet/text, etc... The real clincher was the gap or space
between tracks when one track ran directly into the next as in
opera or even The Rite of Spring. This can be "fixed"... but
I'm not up to spending time "fixing" that the industry should
have repaired long ago. I also don't find that the cost of digital
files is at all as low as it should be in comparison to purchase of
an actual disc which includes the booklet/text and which can still
be ripped to my computer or MP3 player.

I must say that I need to support MI with regard to Amazon... in
spite of the fact that I do live in a large city. There are still few
venues that sell classical music beyond the basic introductory
level (Beethoven's 5th, the Four Seasons, etc...) and even
in those instances there is often but one or two versions available
and not always the best... in spite of the greatly inflated price
over online purchases. I highly doubt I would have access to a great
portion of the discs available from Harmonium Mundi, Hyperion,
Chandos, Naxos, DG, EMI, Zig Zag, ECM, CORO, or any number
of other labels at any local music store... and not for less than 2 or
3 times the cost that I can get the same through Amazon or
Amazon secondary dealers or other online dealers.

Yes, I think anyone would be a fool to pay for a $16 CD that they could have got a lot cheaper online. I would say that 99.9% of my CD collection has been bought online. I have a lot of rare recordings too that are out-of-print and extremely difficult to find. I looked online the other day and I have a box set that cost me about $30 and now it's online for $300! Not only that, but classical recordings go out-of-print so fast unless the CD is a best-seller or has just been released. I'm lucky and grateful for my collection and for Amazon.

The only way I would buy an mp3 disc is there was absolutely no other way for me to purchase the recording, because of two reasons: 1. the CD is out-of-print and 2. the price for the CD is too expensive. I actually downloaded an album on Amazon last week for $7 of a Leonard Bernstein/NY Philharmonic recording called "Latin American Fiesta." The audio quality is CD quality through Amazon, so it sounded great. This is out-of-print and the price of $50 is too rich for my blood, so this is a great example of the only way I would buy an mp3 album.

[Scott Good]

Originally Posted by Mirror Image

Yes, I think anyone would be a fool to pay for a $16 CD that they could have got a lot cheaper online.

yes, as Noam Chomsky put it, slave labour is very good for prices and the economy.

[DJ Fatuus]

I don't think it is slave labour. I don't think it's anything like 19th century sweatshops - or anything like current sweatshops for that matter. There are plenty of people in the world who produce our daily goods who suffer far worse conditions than the Amazon workers.

If you stop buying from Amazon, you may as well stop eating chocolate, oranges, bananas, tuna (even the dolphin-freindly variety), drinking coffee, tea wearing clothes (either at the cheap end or the expensive end) etc. unless you buy very cautiously.

[Philidor]

Originally Posted by DJ Fatuus

I don't think it is slave labour.

You're right, of course, they're not slaves. They're low paid workers on a vicious employment contract. What gets me is the documented union busting activity by Amazon. As someone mentioned earlier, it's simple bulllying. Low paid workers must be allowed to organise in a union.

The current situation means that Amazon acts collectively - all major decisions on the employment contract (wages, hours, paid holiday, disciplinary procedures, maternity leave etc etc) will be made collectively at senior management level - yet the workers are forced to act alone. So they haven't a hope of negotiating decent terms. Which is precisely why unions are kept out.

On top of that Amazon employees must put up with a load of self-serving bullsh*t from the employer about how unions are 'outdated' and 'cause problems' and how Amazon treats its employees as 'individuals.'

You bet a union would cause problems for Amazon. They'd organise a damn great strike and give Amazon a bloody nose, forcing senior management to the negotiating table.