Save Even More With CDWOW

Mr. Fancypants · 05-06-2003 6:37pm #1

Just a tip on buying CDS, DVDs with CDwow. They have multiple sites for the different regions they operate in. No matter where you order from, it will be free shipping to you. The prices on each website are in the local currency so if you shop around the CDWOW sites you have a chance of making a saving (on some already very cheap) prices. Heres an example :

The White Stripes Elephant

www.cdwow.ie : €13.95

www.cdwow.com : £8.99 = €12.60

www.cd-wow.com.hk : $94.99 (hong Kong Dollers) = €10.30!

So, i just saved an extra €3.65 and still have free shipping to me house. On top of that all you have to do when you are checking out is select Euro as the currency of your choice and you will be billed in Euro so there will be no extra Credit card Fees.

Hope this helps a few people out.

Creamy Goodness · 05-06-2003 6:45pm

just beware that these sites DO NOT sell UK versions of the cd's so u might miss out on a bonus track or two

Mr. Fancypants · 06-06-2003 8:27am

Its fairly rare that happens tho'. The Radiohead album for example is the limited edition one on the CDWow site.

They have a full selection of R2 Dvds also and PAL Console games.
Between Cdwow and Play.com you should have very little reason to buy from HMV again to be honest.

hussey · 06-06-2003 8:49am

when you are checking out is select Euro
where do you do this I got as far as the enter credit card details page and couldn't find it??

which page and where

oh and thanks for teh site

Mr. Fancypants · 06-06-2003 10:03am

Oops, sorry. You can only change the currency on the UK site. Didnt spot that earlier. Still, buying from the Hong Kong site should give considerable savings.

hussey · 06-06-2003 10:07am

have anyone actually bought from this site (hong kong)

was just wondering incase they realise what tehy did and jack up vat or something??

Vexorg · 06-06-2003 10:16am

Any DVDs that I ordered from CD WOW were shipped from Hong Kong, and they were ordered from the cdwow.ie site...

As far as VAt is concerned, im sure that imported DVDs from non EU countries are liable to VAT, however as they generally come via an post, VAT is rarely if ever charged, however DVDs that are couriers by the likes of DHL. Fedex, UPS etc are charged for Duty and VAT if applicable as courier companies are obliged to have a VAT clearing office in order to set up in Ireland. (or something along those lines)

Thanks for the tip Mbroarders, Ive seen ti before but never bothered to follow up... keep em coming...

Mr. Fancypants · 06-06-2003 10:17am

Have bought a few things from them and have noticed no difference at all from buying from the .ie or the .com sites. They are customs friendly is so far they ship every item seperatly and they put a low value on them. Personally i have found their support much better than Play.coms. All my emails have been answered with 2-3 hours and if anything goes wrong with the shipment they usually ship a replacement straight away no questions asked.

I think i heard somewhere that if for some reason you are caught by customs they will credit your account the amount. No too sure about that one tho'

Bannor · 06-06-2003 1:21pm

Originally posted by hussey
have anyone actually bought from this site (hong kong)

was just wondering incase they realise what tehy did and jack up vat or something??

I have ordered from the .hk site before and the price you see is the price you pay.

yellum · 07-06-2003 11:48am

Just ordered 8 dvds from the .hk website and made a good bit of savings compared to if I ordering the same dvds from the .ie website.

Vexorg · 07-06-2003 1:46pm

Cool...

saving people money already...

or did you end up spending more due to the lower cost..

V.

Bannor · 10-06-2003 1:25pm

Originally posted by Cr3m0
just beware that these sites DO NOT sell UK versions of the cd's so u might miss out on a bonus track or two

Or as in the case of the new Radiohead album it might be protected. Mine arrived this morning and it's got copy protection which means I can't play it in my pc here at work, a guy I know bought the album yesterday for 22.99E in HMV! The UK release doesn't have the protection that the Asian one does. Funny thing is they're both manufactured in the same place.

blastman · 10-06-2003 1:52pm

I dislike the copy-protection thing intensely, but I have found that most CDs will still play on a PC, even if protected. Some of them include a player which streams the audio from the disk and plays it that way. Problems can arise if you want to rip the audio to put it on your MP3 player. The most common thing that the protection does is insert "clicks" into the ripped file. You may also hear garbles in the track on playback. Unfortunately, this is the way the Big Five record companies are moving, so you will see more and more CDs like this. If you mail CD Wow, though, they will tell you if the disc is protected before you buy.

Instead of blaming Napster and so on of losing them money, why don't they learn from CD Wow's approach and charge less for the feckin' things. I've bought far more CDs since I discovered CD Wow, and if I get something on MP3 that I like, I have no problem buying the CD and will be even more likely to do if the price is more reasonable. A few less Popstars and so on would be nice, too.

yellum · 10-06-2003 10:48pm

Originally posted by yellum
Just ordered 8 dvds from the .hk website and made a good bit of savings compared to if I ordering the same dvds from the .ie website.

And they arrived today ! Woooo

Dotsie~tmp · 11-06-2003 1:25am

Not content with fixing prices they are out to stop any unfixers. Ther are trying to stop cd-wow importing to UK.

http://theregister.co.uk/content/archive/29787.html

Thx for link.

Static · 14-06-2003 4:37pm

Originally posted by Bannor
Or as in the case of the new Radiohead album it might be protected. Mine arrived this morning and it's got copy protection which means I can't play it in my pc here at work, a guy I know bought the album yesterday for 22.99E in HMV! The UK release doesn't have the protection that the Asian one does. Funny thing is they're both manufactured in the same place.

On a side note, if he'd bothered to walk that little bit extra to tower records, he'd have got the limited edition rh album for €19.99. *shrug*

thegills · 16-06-2003 4:52pm

Ordered the Radiohead album and Paul Mccartney DVD from .hk site. e23, delivered in 3 days and saved e3 over .ie site.

Cheers for the tip mbroaders.

On a side note, if he'd bothered to walk that little bit extra to tower records, he'd have got the limited edition rh album for €19.99. *shrug*

Funny you should say that. I bought an album in Golden Discs, Stephens Green for e18 over Xmas. As I was walking down Grafton Street I saw a huge Q in HMV so I went in and told one chap that HMV where e2 dearer that Golden Discs and there was no Q there. I bumped into him a few hours later and he told me he saved e3 and 15 minutes.

thegills

Static · 17-06-2003 11:10pm

It's so true. HMV is a great store for browsing, but unless you're a big impulse purchaser, check out GD, Tower, and Road Records before spending a wad of cash.

kc10 · 18-06-2003 4:33pm

if i buy from the hong kong site of cdwow will this give me the cheapest price ,or as one posted you must buy through uk site to pay in euros. i see some of ye bought through .hk site and were ye billed on your credit card in equivalent price in euros ,no extras?
cheers

bringitdown · 18-06-2003 4:42pm

Originally posted by Bannor
Or as in the case of the new Radiohead album it might be protected. Mine arrived this morning and it's got copy protection which means I can't play it in my pc here at work, a guy I know bought the album yesterday for 22.99E in HMV! The UK release doesn't have the protection that the Asian one does. Funny thing is they're both manufactured in the same place.

Most of the protection methods can be bypassed by placing a small sliver of sellotape on the data-track of the CD.

You should easily see a gap between the outer (data) track and inner (audio) track.

The outer is skipped by CD players but read by CDROM drives in computers to enable protection. Covering it means the CDROM drive cannot read the data track and reads the audio track as per normal.

Disclaimer: not my fault if you feck up your CD/CDROM etc...

thegills · 18-06-2003 5:01pm

kd10.
I bought directly through the .hk site a few days ago. My credit card company just converted the HK price to Euro. The rate used was the rate at the time (9.0166). There were no other charges.
thegills

BTW - Goods arrived after 3 days

kc10 · 18-06-2003 10:32pm

cheers thegills , will buy stuff off .hk site, ya save serious cash compared to music shops here.

JohnK · 19-06-2003 8:35am

Originally posted by bringitdown
Most of the protection methods can be bypassed by placing a small sliver of sellotape on the data-track of the CD.

You should easily see a gap between the outer (data) track and inner (audio) track.

The outer is skipped by CD players but read by CDROM drives in computers to enable protection. Covering it means the CDROM drive cannot read the data track and reads the audio track as per normal.

Disclaimer: not my fault if you feck up your CD/CDROM etc...

That was only on some of them and the company has fixed it now so that that no longer works

bringitdown · 25-06-2003 9:16am

Originally posted by JohnK
That was only on some of them and the company has fixed it now so that that no longer works

Arse! I just got a new CD with the new protection on it... feck, heres me being smug thinking ha ha: a little non-brand sticky tape will fix you my freind but nooooooo!

Anyone get around the new protection method? I wanna put the CD on my MP3 jukebox but noooo....

gazzer · 25-06-2003 9:24am

i didnt know about the hong kong site. i will have to check it out. I have been buying my DVD's and CD's from the american CD Wow. It costs $13.95 for a CD compared to 13.95 Euro on CD Wow.ie.

Keeks · 25-06-2003 8:59pm

Originally posted by bringitdown
[BAnyone get around the new protection method? I wanna put the CD on my MP3 jukebox but noooo.... [/B]

Talk about bypassing security feature isn't allowed....even if it is just to convert the music to mp3s to play on a computer.

This is the last warning on the subject. Next peon will get a banning

Creamy Goodness · 25-06-2003 9:14pm

the site is brill for mainstream music but as far it goes for quality music that i like it's a no go area like it's only got the new album by weezer maladroit which is a major dissappointment piss poor album and it hasn't got any of their other 3 albums? have they not heard of "ohh wee hoo we look just like buddy holly?"

thegills · 02-07-2003 4:35pm

gazzer,

Whats the address for the CDwow American site?

I typed in cdwow.com but it directs to the UK site!!

thegills

Mr. Fancypants · 02-07-2003 4:44pm

The american site is www.cd-wow.net although i think you will find the Hong Kong site to be considerably cheaper.

An album on the american site is $13.95 which works out at about €12.10. The Hong Kong Site will be almost €2 cheaper.

thegills · 02-07-2003 4:56pm

keeks,

I bought the Radiohead album legitimately a few weeks ago. I also bought an MP3 player last year. I can't put the Radiohead album onto my MP3 player which is annoying as I was away last week on holidays, and what if the Radiohead security feature catches on - will all MP3 / WMA players be rendered useless??

thegills

bringitdown · 03-07-2003 8:31am

Talk about bypassing security feature isn't allowed....even if it is just to convert the music to mp3s to play on a computer.

Okay, well it is not a security feature as such it is a copyright feature, designed to prevent the CD being copied ...

Anyhew not wishing to incur the wrath of the mods for discussing a legitimate (albeit off-topic in this case) subject I'll leave it with a couple of links that may be of interest.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/20947.html
http://dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Intellectual_Property/Music_Freedom/Corrupted_Audio_CDs/
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993020

fjon · 03-07-2003 9:43am

One problem with the HK site is that the selection is not always the same as other CD wow sites. For example, see if you can find The Simpsons Season 3 DVD. It wasn't there when I looked, but I found it on 4 other CD wow sites.
I also looked up the Donnie Darko R2 DVD on various CD Wow sites and the prices are as follows. Ireland is the most expensive - no surprise there!

Hong Kong (www4.cd-wow.com.hk): €18.71
US (www2.cd-wow.net): €20.05
UK (www6.cd-wow.com): €21.76
Germany (www3.cd-wow.de): €23.95
Ireland (www3.cdwow.ie): €24.95

Scruff · 03-07-2003 10:10am

I ordered Advance Wars for the GBA on friday (still hasnt arrived

) off the uk site. I didnt order off the hk site in case the game arrived and was in chinese or some other asian language.

Any of ye ever order games off the hk site? Any proplems with the language version on em?

Mr. Fancypants · 03-07-2003 10:20am

There is no difference in ordering something from the Hong Kong, American, Irish or whatever CDwow site. The actual products are the same its just a different front end. Although, the selection of stuff sometimes differs (I had to order the Futurama DVD from the english site).

thegills · 03-07-2003 10:54am

I've just ordered The Trills and The Manics new albums from the .hk site. Total costs @ e22. Not bad considering the price of a new CD in HMV. And I don't have to get up off my backside to buy it.

thegills

hussey · 03-07-2003 1:03pm

Oh just to let people know

that from 1st July all goods coming into ireland (outside europe) must have VAT paid .. or something similar

I wonder if this will affect the Hong Kong site (presuming you are paying Hong Kong vat .. thats why cheaper)

hussey · 03-07-2003 1:09pm

here and here

gives a link to the new VAT legilisation .. so you might find that you pay the same amount as the .ie site

Mr. Fancypants · 03-07-2003 1:26pm

As far as im aware that will only affect Online services and downloadable software. Wont affect hardware like cds, dvds, broomhandles etc....

Also, it doesnt matter what site you order from, your order is shipped from the same place.

GuanYin · 19-08-2003 9:18am

On thursday I ordered

O - Damien Rice
Night On My Side - Gemma Hayes
Radiohead - Kid A
Radiohead - I might be wrong
Family guy Season 3 DVD

from www.cd-wow.com.hk all for 61 Euro.

They arrived Monday morning.

Bloody fantastic site!!

rob1891 · 24-08-2003 11:56am

I'm surprised no one has jumped up and down over the attitude cdwow display to their Irish customers, i.e. charge them more cause they are stupid enough to pay.

We had this with komplett before, price differences between .de .no .uk & .ie. With a with a bit of leg work for some boards types they came on here, explained themselves, rectified the situation and later set up their consumer interaction board.

I guess the difference here is that for now, people smart enough to read boards and buy of the hk site aren't blocked from doing so.

It's up to you, but I'd kick up a fuss if I were a customer. Bought off the exact same people, shipped from the exact same place but we are expected to pay 3-6 euro more on a CD??? The risk is if you do complain they might just block you from the .hk site for showing such ingratitude.

rob

spongebob · 25-08-2003 10:56am

Once I made a cockup and ordered a DVD from them which was not PAL (my player is Multiregion but PAL only).

Their online interface has no way to cancel an order so I had to use the contact form at c. midnight Irish time.

By 00.45 the order had been cancelled by them (by a human

)
By 02:00 I had a second email from their payment processor telling me that my CC had been refunded.

I was well impressed with them. Soem of these slick e-biz interfaces have no humans in the loop behind them at all.

I order the DVD's from the Hong Kong site at all times and not the .ie site. The top 75 is the same on both from what I can see. The difference, in my experience, between the HK site and the IE site for a GIVEN product is that HK is 20% cheaper.

Your username and password work on ALL Cd Wow sites so if they had a special in Germany only, you could order off that site if you wished. The German site is about half way between HK and IE in price. Delivery is included anyway.

M

oneweb · 26-08-2003 8:07pm

Anyone hear Gareth O'Callaghan on 2FM raving about CD-WOW and similar sites over the last few days?

It's great that he's helping people across the country learn that it's worth checking out cheaper places and not just putting up with rip-off Ireland. Apparently he's getting a lot of response from it too.

Keep it up Gareth!

sunbeam · 26-08-2003 8:09pm

I just (by chance) heard the bit where he mentioned the .ie site and Pigsback. Did the cheaper .hk site also get a mention?

oneweb · 26-08-2003 8:16pm

No, but he did mention the .co.uk afair. Let's hope HMV, Virgin et al cop on and react the right way (as opposed to upping prices for lost sales).

Paddy20 · 26-08-2003 8:17pm

I have been buying from CD-WOW uk, for a few years. I have noticed that my orders always arrive incredibly fast and are posted in Hong Kong.

The other company that I find very handy is www.bclub.co.uk

P.

Fry · 29-08-2003 2:16am

CDWOW is excellent !

I bought Family Guy 1 & 2 for E37.95

I checked a couple of shops (hmv) E40 each !!!
what a rip!

Cabaal · 29-08-2003 5:53am

I gota say CD-WOW is bloody great, never had any on-going issues what so ever and there customer service is great.
Did get a broken CD once and they sent me out a new one straight away and covered the cost of me sending back the old one.

I have to say I was very impressed!
Another good site is play.com

kmart6 · 02-09-2003 12:19pm

On cd-wow.com.hk,how do u change the price into euro??

s8n · 02-09-2003 12:26pm

you can't.....use www.xe.com/ucc

Mercury_Tilt · 02-09-2003 12:27pm

This post has been deleted.

kmart6 · 02-09-2003 6:41pm

Thanks s8n and Mercury_Tilt you have just saved me alot of hassle

Save Even More With CDWOW

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