11 CD's for the Price of One --> What's the Catch? (1 Viewer)

[Scott L]

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I'm usually not one to go after these kinds of offers but my friend himself tried it out and says he had no problems or surprises, and only paid for 1 CD.
The thing was they tried to send him a new CD each month, one that he had to pay for. He said he could simply deny that he wanted "this months's selection" on their website. Sometimes they still DO send the CD but he refuses to accept it and the company doesn't charge him.
Maybe they make the bulk of their money selling your address, phone #, and email address to other companies rather than pure CD sales. If that's the case then I'll just give them one of my junk email accounts; I really don't mind junk snail mail as much.
Anyone else try this out or have any advice?

 

[MickeS]

I was a satisfied customer with them for a couple of years, and I cancelled my membership just because I wasn't buying a lot of CD's and didn't want to have to cancel every month.

The thing is, they get you on the shipping costs, which is something like $2.50/CD. So the 11 for 1 is actually about $4/CD in the end (the one you pay for has to be a full price CD). I was aware of that, and still thought it was a great deal (can't find CD's that cheap even in resale stores).

They also don't have the latest CD's, they normally seem to carry CD's a few months after they come out. Browse around their site and see if their selection is OK for you (for me it was).

Other than that, you can get CD's cheap from them, they often have sales and discounts.

So, the catch is: $2.50 shipping/CD and no brand new releases. Other than that, no catches. If you buy all 11 at once you don't have to cancel every month either, of course.

Oh, and they don't have any customer service over the phone AFAIK, but their e-mail CS was excellent, and their return policies are very generous.

/Mike

 

[ChrisMatson]

All of your information sounds correct. I joined BMG several times while I was in college. The average price I payed was about $3-$4 per CD. Keep in mind that they do not have the latest releases, and I believe they do not carry all of the major labels, much less all of the smaller labels. I don't know what they charge for shipping these days. Think about what kind of music you are looking for, compare that to their catalogue, and then decide if spending about $40 for 11 CDs is right for you.

-Chris

 

[Jeff_A]

I've been a member many times. It's a great deal if you are looking to fill your collection or purchase recently remastered material. The average cost per CD was as stated above, around $3.50-$4.00 with shipping. The selection isn't that great, but you will find something.

To maximize your value, get IN and then get OUT, the moment your fulfillments are completed. This is true for any club I have ever joined.

 

[SteveA]

I don't know for a fact that this is true, but if you look at the CDs you get from BMG or Columbia House, I think they usually say something like "Manufactured by BMG under license from Sony (or whoever)" I've heard that BMG and Columbia manufacture these CDs using cheaper quality materials and processes than the big companies.

Does anyone know if this is true? I know it was true back in the '80's with cassette tapes. The quality of music-club cassettes was awful!

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Steve, what's a cassette?! j/k

 

[John Berggren]

BMG and Columbia both manufacture the CDs they sell through the clubs. Early on you could expect lower quality from either organization - cheap CD and no liner notes. These days you'd be hard pressed to find any difference if it weren't for the labelling as manufactured by BMG.
I join and cancel fairly frequently, and I usually try this method:
1) Get my 7 for "free".
2) Wait for the buy 1 get 3 free sale and buy my obligation.
3) Get a friend to join - 5 for free.
4) Choose my 4 free selections.
5) Quit and join again on that friend's membership after some time has passed.
This ends up being about 20 CDs for the price of "1" or rather 20 CDs for the price of about 3 or 4 at most. I'm pretty happy with it.
Currently I'm between step 2 and 3. My partner is refusing to join .

 

[Thomas_Berg]

i think that BMG and CHouse buy the backstock CD's from stores after the buying craze for that particular title is over. evidence: 1) the shrinkwrap is usually in less-than-perfect condition, and 2) they dont have new releases until (sometimes) 6-8 months after they come out.
yeah they do get you on shipping and also on the "editor's pick" that they send you automatically unless you tell them no. i'm guessing that they break about even on someone who buys only the minimum number of CD's and that they rely on people forgetting and also people sticking with the club. i am not one of those type!
other thing about shipping is that it takes like 2 weeks sometimes for stuff to come in. i had to return something once and the difference in price for 4-day as opposed to the 'via Hong Kong' route was less than a quarter. that really pisses me off about the clubs. btw- i did the slow boat rate just to spite them.

 

[Ron Eastman]

I've been a member many times since the late 80's and now have a collection in the multi-hundreds of discs. My pattern has always been the same: Join, fulfill my obligation to purchase 1 CD when they have a good sale, get the rest of the freebies, then quit. A few months later they send me mail (or sometimes phone ) offering the same 11 free/buy 1 deal if I re-join, claiming that this time they are sooooo improved. Then the cycle begins again.
As others have said, the selection isn't the best but I'm sure you can find enough titles to complete your obligation many times over.
Back in the cassette days the quality wasn't always as good as the retail versions. I would guess that their duplication facility was not up to the labels standard. Nowadays in the digital era, these are bit-for-bit copies and always come in identical cases and with the same high quality artwork as the label's version.

 

[BrettB]

Everyone has pretty much covered everything but I will add that you can save a lot of money buying box sets.

 

[Carlo_M]

There really isn't a catch. You end up paying between $3-$4 per CD, it only costs them $1 to make it, and $1 to ship it. You make out, they make out, even if you only fulfill minimum requirements.

You'd be surprised at how many people stay a member though, after the initial period is over. I don't, but I know people who do, and they don't want to go through the hassle of unenrolling and re-enrolling when I explain it to them.