Online vinyl shopping - my experiences & reviews

[Nautica]

I thought this might help people who are new to buying vinyl online, or who would just like to know a little more about the various shops out there. Most of them are UK based, as that's where I am. I placed these orders around March / April 2002, so the vinyls listed are mostly new releases around that time. Here are my experiences:

Note, all prices listed include UK sales tax (VAT)

Juno Records www.juno.co.uk

Items ordered:

Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall 2002 (Pegasus, Holland) £6.50
Ferry Corsten - Punk (Remixes) (Zeitgeist, Germany) £6.50
Marco V - Godd (Superstar, Germany) £6.75
Push - Tranzy State Of Mind (Superstar, Germany) £6.50
Solid State - Club Attack (Vandit, Germany) £6.50
The Moon feat Nu NRG - The Moon Loves The Sun EP (Extra Wild!, Italy) £6.50

Postage and insurance was £6.00

I placed the order online at 10:00 on Monday morning. I received a confirmation mail just after 15:00 stating that The Moon Feat NuNRG was out of stock, but the rest of the items would be with me as soon as possible. The email confirmed the items I had ordered with the total cost. The order arrived the next morning at around 09:00. The items were in perfect condition and came in a card envelope. In past experience orders of six or more vinyls are shipped in 'pizza' boxes which stops them getting bent. The sleeves had Juno's stock stickers on, about 2x4cm and peeled of easily without leaving a sticky mark.

No complaints at all. Reasonable prices and a very speedy shipping.

Chemical Records www.chemical-records.co.uk

Items ordered:

Matanka - Lost In A Dream (ID&T Holland) £6.73
Dj Astrid vs Tommy Pulse - Twinkle (Captivating, Holland) £6.73
AEON - Masterpiece Of Emotion (DJs Present, Germany) £6.73
Darren Tate - Elephant/Pulse (White Label, UK) £6.73

Shipping £2.35

I placed the order online on Tuesday morning and a confirmation email to say the order had been received came through mid afternoon. About two hours later I got another email to say the order had been processed. It listed the items I had ordered along with a cost break down and total amounts. Late the next day another email was sent to say the order had been shipped. It listed a delivery reference number and an estimated delivery time (two days). The order arrived the next day in a card envelope. The sleeve condition was good, not as good as the vinyls from Juno, but these were older tracks that had maybe been in stock longer so this was perfectly acceptable. They had 6x4cm stickers on them which took a while to remove and left a few marks.

The shipping charge was very low which more than made up for the vinyls themselves being more than Juno. I checked items that both shops had listed and Chemicals were almost always a little more.

CDZone www.cdzone.co.uk

Items ordered:

2002

Dj Tiesto - Lethal Industry (Magik Muzik, Holland) £10.41
Roger Goode - In The Beginning (Tsunami, Holland) £4.61
Ultra - Free (Svenson & Geilen Remix) (United, Holland) £4.61

Shipping was £5.44

I placed the order online on 18th March. In past experience they take a while to deliver (sometimes a month or more if waiting for an item) so I specified to have each vinyl delivered as soon as it came in, rather than wait for the complete order. I received an email shortly after ordering confirming the items and costs along with a link to check progress of the order. This is where CDZone excels in my opinion. You can see exactly where your items are, from 'on order' with the supplier to 'ready to despatch' and then 'despatched'. I monitored the status every couple of days and saw each item's status change from 'on order' to 'in transit'. An email was sent when each item was shipped and I received Roger Goode and Ultra on the 5th April, with DJ Tiesto arriving on the 11th. All the items arrived in perfect condition in thick card boxes. None of the sleeves had stickers on.

Strange on this, prices are very cheap and the range of vinyls they can get is huge, bigger than any other store. I've managed to get stuff from them that is years old but still brand new. BUT, shipping takes forever! I've ordered items and they've taken 3 months to arrive. Don't order from here if you want your stuff quick! Even new releases take a couple of weeks. The service is excellent though and this, along with the sheer range available more than makes up for it.

Replay Records www.replayrecords.com

Items ordered:

Ayu - M EP (Avex, Japan 2001) £15.00
Diva Rhythms - Volume 1 (Tripoli Trax, UK 1995) £6.00
Tillman Uhrmacher - On The Run Remixes (Fog Trance Germany) £6.00

Shipping £6.50 (24hr priority)

I ordered online on Sunday 10th, no confirmation email just a summary with a reference number which I was carefull to note down. I could have got cheaper shipping but I was desperate to get my hands on the M EP so I went for the 24hr option. The order arrived on Tuesday morning at the same time as the normal mail. The items were shipped in the usual card envelope. The Diva Rhythm track was in good condition for an old vinyl and the other two were in perfect condition. Small stickers about 2cm square came off easily and a catalogue was also in the package.


Only DJ's www.only-djs.com

Way Out West - Mindcircus Remixes (Black Hole, Holland) £5.20
DJ Tiesto - In My Memory LP (Magik Muzik, Holland) £15.10
Ransom - My Dance (Tsunami, Holland) £4.97
Shane - Too Late To Turn (Reef, Germany) £6.13
Rising Star - Touch Me (Remixes) (Reef, Germany) £4.97
Novaskotia - Novaskotia (Transk, Holland) £4.97

Shipping £12.68

I ordered late on Monday 22nd, again no confirmation, just an email with a ref no. The package arrived on Thursday, pretty swift turnaround! Unfortunatley I was not so impressed on opening it. The Way Out West vinyl was missing the outer picture sleeve, having just the paper inner, and instead of Novaskotia I was supplied a totally different record which I didn't order. The packaging looked to be very flimsy and a couple of the record sleeves had slight corner scuffing. A more recent order of 6 vinyls arrived with all 6 bent in the corner. The vinyls themselves were in good condition, just a small stock number sticker about 1cm by 2cm which came off no problem. The Ransom vinyl had fingerprints on it, a couple of light scratches and scuffing from the turntable spindle, so I suspect this had been played in store.

I emailed them to enquire about the errors and I received a reply after a week stating that the Way Out West vinyl arrived with them like that and was supposed to just be a paper sleeve (yet the scan on the site showed a picture sleeve) and that they would supply the Novaskotia with my next order. This was good as I don't have to send the incorrect item back.

Overall a very good selection and fast shipping (to the UK at least) sadly let down by a muddled order and insufficiant protection, especially for a package which has to travel a long way. The prices are good, even when taking into account shipping costs. As mentioned above, my last order arrived with all 6 vinyls bent in the corner quite badly. This had put me off ordering from Only DJs, as I'm very particular about having mint condition records.


Tune Inn www.tuneinn.com

Dominion - 11 hours (Whoop!, UK) £4.99
Micro Tool - Triomphe de L'amour (Afterglow, Germany) £6.99
Virtualmismo - Mismoplastico (SouthEast, UK) £1.99

Shipping £3.50

Ordered online on the monday, website easy to use with mp3 clips and label scans of all the tracks. The only place in the UK I could find the Micro Tools track apart from CDZone, and I din't want to wait. Confirmation email and also a ref number given when the order was completed.

The vinyls arrived the next day around 10am (usual time for parcel post in our area). They came in the usual card envelope with an extra sheet to keep it stiff. No damage or dented corners. No stickers to remove, which is good, and a proper Visa receipt stapled to a printout of the order confirmation email.

Very quick shipping, good condition and a good site, which I understand is due to be relaunched in October.

If the range of tracks in stock was wider and the prices slightly less they'd be on to a winner. As it stands imports are £0.49 more than Juno, which soon adds up if you buy more than a few. Some more price comparisons revealed Juno to be at least £0.49 and sometimes over £1.00 cheaper.

Having said that I would, and have, ordered from Tune Inn again.


Overall summary

Best selection: Only DJs
Fastest shipping: Juno
Best condition of vinyls: CDZone
Best packaging: CDZone
Best prices: CDZone

I like my stuff quick, so I get most of it from Juno, and have been doing for many years now, with a select few from CDZone, such as the Magik Muzik 2x12" releases, which Juno don't carry. For rareties Replay beats HTFR and DMF hands down.

Well there we go. I hope this proves usefull!

[Stream]

Maybe you should place an order at store.ivibes.nu and make a review of that one too?

[Nautica]

Well, I've looked several times, including just a few minutes ago. My list for this week is:

Lotus - Time And Space
Art Of Trance - Love Washes Over
Mystery - Devotion (Xtravaganza)
Nu-NRG - Dreamland (Rank 1)
Tangled Universe - Sparling Message
Sensation - The Anthem

I can't find any of those in the i:Vibes store... They have them all at Juno.

I also noticed that both Eon and Oceanlab are more than Juno and considerably more than the £4.88 I paid for each at CDZone.

I'm afraid to say you're falling a little short in both pricing and range offered. There is also no indication of shipping costs without going through the buying procedure (or at least if there is, it's not obvious).

I also found it a little irritating that 4 out of your top 5 reccomended are not available to buy yet.

I appreciate it's hard when starting out, but I think you need something to 'hook' people in, such as offering free or very low cost shipping, or undercutting everyone else on prices. Currently there is nothing that would make me shop there rather than anywhere else. I think it's only the die hard i:Vibes supporters who are likely to be buying from you.

Hopefully you can everything together and it will take off!