quoted 5 lines I ordered 'Socially Inept' and Proswell's 'Carrot Dossier'. I *wa> I ordered 'Socially Inept' and Proswell's 'Carrot Dossier'. I *wanted*
> to order them direct from the label, but the prices aren't any better
> than Forced Exposure. Merck charges $4 to ship one or two CDs, while
> FE
> charges a flat fee of $4.50 per order (any size).
EAR/Rational sells Merck CDs for $13.25, and shipping for 1 CD is
$1.50, for a total of $14.75 for 1 CD. Shipping for 2 CDs is $2.50.
quoted 5 lines Merck offers discounts on orders of three or more CDs, but isn't $17.50> Merck offers discounts on orders of three or more CDs, but isn't $17.50
> a bit ridiculous for one CD, direct from the label? Look at Kranky
> Records; they charge $11 per CD, and that includes shipping within the
> USA. Their artwork/packaging is just as elegant, and they include
> stickers, etc. just like Merck.
Yes, but retailers can't compete when labels do that. Merck's response
was correct--they have to charge a price which is commensurate with
what a retailer would charge after buying wholesale, otherwise they're
undercutting the retailers who are carrying their product.
$11 is roughly the wholesale price we pay for kranky CDs, PLUS the
shipping costs to get that CD to us, PLUS the cost for us to ship it to
you. So if we matched kranky's out the door price, we'd be breaking
even or losing a little.
You can't have it both ways (and I don't mean Greg, specifically). If
you want to get CDs cheap from the label, that's great. But you can't
expect your favorite retailer to be able to compete with those prices.
And when people ask why we're charging "so much" for this label or that
label when they can buy it cheaper directly, we end up sounding like
whiners.
Dave from EAR/Rational (I get IDM mail on my personal account)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org