I'd advise you to avoid the BMG Music Service

[ol'skinflint]

First of all, they carry mostly very mainstream titles that I can always find for less in my local stores (power pop, rab, etc). Popular titles by artists like Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Stones, etc are few and far between if you can find them at all. Shipping and handling charges are quite high, and selections I ordered frequently arrived with cracked cases. Hard to find disco, independent labels, imports, etc: good luck. And worst of all, they send titles you did not order (you can't return those cards if you never receive them!), bill you for titles you do NOT have, and they don't have the WONDERFUL 99 cent sales the Columbia House Club used to have. Beware!

[eddie]

Always hated the record clubs!! You should try buying from Amazon's zsellers. Yes, they have CDs for $75 but they also have ones for 1 cent plus $2.69 shipping and handling. You really should try it. 99% of sellers are truly honest. The ones you should stay away from are sellers with excessive negatives (ratings below 95%) or sellers who have sold over 500,000 titles (which usually means they are drop-shippers who typically have much lower ratings as well). I was hesitant but I've obtained about 500 mega rare Cds over 3 years with very very few problems.

PS: The Lilo Thomas is most likely worth that as that price was the asking price by a private zseller. If you don't pay that, someone else will because Lilo on CD is mega rare and collectors value it. The seller that has it for sale is also selling 600 items but is new and only has 11 ratings. I'd wait 90 days and not buy from him at the present moment.

You can PM me with any questions even if it regards certain sellers or sites. It's better to pay a little extra for something of value than to spend a little less on something questionable .

[Mixmachine]

Originally Posted by ol'skinflint

First of all, they carry mostly very mainstream titles that I can always find for less in my local stores (power pop, rab, etc). Popular titles by artists like Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Stones, etc are few and far between if you can find them at all. Shipping and handling charges are quite high, and selections I ordered frequently arrived with cracked cases. Hard to find disco, independent labels, imports, etc: good luck. And worst of all, they send titles you did not order (you can't return those cards if you never receive them!), bill you for titles you do NOT have, and they don't have the WONDERFUL 99 cent sales the Columbia House Club used to have. Beware!

I've been a member since the 80s, never had to many complaints, back in the day when they only mailed the 'cards' if they sent me something I didn't order , I just don't open the box and send it back without paying shipping, if you open the box carefully on the side (to take a peek) you can even glue it back together and take it to the post office and write "return to sender".

For the last few years they send me the 'notices' by email, just reply "NO" like I do and they email you back a confirmation, If you fulfilled your pledge you can demand a stop to the "feature notices" deadline while staying in the club, (I haven't done this but read about it long ago) I never buy any feature CDs, to expensive, (average price breakdown) and they include S&H, I wait for the deals with no shipping charges and place orders all at once, ( they give you points for later free cds) right now there is one 60% off sale with no shipping in my mail box, I never pay more than $7 USD or so average per regular CD, many time less..

BMG is really great for catalog music, or if you can wait a few months for the tittles, current stuff takes a few months to arrive at the club, not much Disco music (except better known artists) but they have lots of soul ,R&B, and Funk, some of those 'oldies' best of are many times on sale, check to see if they still have the CasaBlanca boxset, I got it there for dirt cheap, and no shipping charges who knew!!!

[needlefingers]

I'm just like Mixmachine on this one.

I do it all by e-mail also. I completed my obligation long ago and now I just wait till the prices are low and free shipping.

I have found some good choices, but you have to dig through the website. Their search engine isn't always up to date. Artists/acts you search for don't come up, even though they are there.

This Christmas, I was able to get both Duran Duran boxes of singles for less than $40(cost of both together) and no shipping charges.

And I have started to collect the Definitive Collection series. I got the double CD of Chic, with all extended mixes, for $6.98, no shipping charges.

I'm also collecting the Gold series. The Disco Gold has the long version of Got To Have Loving.

I would suggest doing your membership through e-mail. You will get better offers in pricing. And more choices to peruse through.

[eddie]

Needlefinger:

Take it off and Believer by Chic have just been mastered on CD by Wounded Bird records. That's the kind of titles the record clubs never have.

[ol'skinflint]

Originally Posted by eddie

Needlefinger:

Take it off and Believer by Chic have just been mastered on CD by Wounded Bird records. That's the kind of titles the record clubs never have.

I did finally find a way to "use" the club to my advantage. I collected a couple dozen CDs and cassettes I'd received from their "12 CDs for free" introductory offers over the years and took them to a store with a really good disco and import section and traded them for titles I wanted by Lime, Voyage, Boris Midney, Modern Rocketry and Saint Tropez. I sure wouldn't hold my breath waiting for BMG to offer titles like those. And 2 weeks after I resigned from BMG, they send me a letter saying I owe $23 for a Jessica Simpson record. I just laughed.