Last time bought the item the "difficult way"

[Goat93]

Most Labels are more into "Seconds-to-sold-out" Bigcartel Shops than real Mailorders. But with registered Letters, Credit Card, Paypal, Bank Transfer and all these different Money Cards (for example Amazon) should be no problem to pay, if you get what you want.

[accidental]

for example:
https://www.nme.com/news/music/study-finds-50-per-cent-of-vinyl-buyers-in-us-dont-have-a-record-player-3437301

Interesting read. Most people don't listen to their shit. Difference between playing and listening.

Browse this forum and you'll find music being used as muzak when pumping iron, backdrop or a cinematic feel on a lil car trip, or a variant of PE brunch when cooking/cleaning. Nothing wrong with that. To each and their own.

[accidental]

there was an ad for a special offer to get the Treriksröset "Untitled" CDR but it was cash only.

What was this? Was this a stand alone CDR release? Or do you mean this: https://www.discogs.com/release/14480209-Treriksr%C3%B6set-Untitled

Glass mastered CD i believe? But maybe he did a CDR issue of it as well?

[Black Psychosis]

Yeah that's the right one, I bought that from him. Great album. Not CDr.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

This is the material that was formerly issued as tape. Two versions. The ltd ed box version was filled with gay erotica, cock ring, leather polish, etc etc. Very stylish release. CD and regular tape just all black.

[accidental]

Yes, i've seen one picture of that box set. I think it had a leather cap. I believe that box was only sent to a selected few. It came with a Mister SM tribute booklet. Personally called it the Mister SM tape, and i saw a couple of others referring to it as such when released. But it's apparently Untitled on discogs with TCs consent. Later when CD came any trace of Mister SM had vanished.

To add to the confusion, tape is currently listed as two different releases on discogs (C62 & C66).

[Phenol]

Last time I bought an item the "difficult way" was probably in the late '90s or early '00s when stamps were often used as currency. I bought a lot of demo tapes from private individuals back then as well as "real" releases directly from labels or distros (I still do that). As much as I miss the old days of underground distros, especially the printed mailorder catalogues and personalised letters, I don't really miss the part of sending money/stamps to someone from across the globe you'd never met or shared a single word with. The waiting and hoping you hadn't wasted your hard earned cash on a rip off was a bit of a pain. Such people are still around, sure, but Paypal makes it easier to deal with and the internet communities (like here) makes it easier to call them out on their shit.

[skyloop]

Years ago, I bought some stuff from guy behind Sick Llama on his blog listed merch with sent cash, some random stuff I haven't heard before. I don't really find any more value in doing that then buying any other way. It's even more personal but to me it doesn't make me want to that more often when I can just use paypal and make things more simple even if it was still merch I found on someone's blog page. What I do find more value in is buying items that I think I might like based on appearance I never heard before. I like to do that with CD's and find some real obscure gems that way in noise. I also have no record or cassette player. I have some 7" records and a small amount of cassettes but I just wanted them for the sake of collecting, I was able to find a rip on soulseek more often than not for them. Though I do have a couple cassettes that are mysteries to me, I don't know what is on them and don't have a tape player (that I trust to not eat the things that is). Maybe one day I'll find out. I otherwise mostly get a lot of my noise from Skeleton Dust or Dead Gods. Skeleton Dust probably thought I just ceased to exist since I haven't put in an order there in quite a long time but I been dumping that into my own project. Could really use a money tree so I can hoard more delicious harsh goodness. 

[MHK]

Wasn't there years ago a Projekt Hat LP (or tape?) for which you had to fill out some kind of questionnaire if you wanted to order it? I thought it was mentioned in some other topic but didn't find it with a quick search.

I've sent money in an envelope, paypal'd and made foreign bank transfers, but nowadays it's strictly CDs now and then from a couple of domestic quality distros for me.

[cr]

Maybe a bit off topic, but buying the "difficult way" at the moment is buying some records or anything else from outside EU. I have ordered years and years from UK, Australia, US, Japan and what else. Never any problems, always easy, all at normal costs. But now...customs alone are often much more than price of the goods itself. I really like to support the artists and labels in their respective countries, but this is not funny anymore.
Is this a concern anywhere else or is this just happening in my little world?

[burdizzo1]

Maybe a bit off topic, but buying the "difficult way" at the moment is buying some records or anything else from outside EU. I have ordered years and years from UK, Australia, US, Japan and what else. Never any problems, always easy, all at normal costs. But now...customs alone are often much more than price of the goods itself. I really like to support the artists and labels in their respective countries, but this is not funny anymore.
Is this a concern anywhere else or is this just happening in my little world?

Yeah. A couple of months ago I got slammed with a customs charge for a few of CDs from America. Never happened before, and I wondered - why now? It's made me hesitant to order from outside EU again...

Finding some of the stuff restricted on discogs can be a little 'difficult', and take a bit of searching out, but it's nothing compared to the old days when every purchase was basically a 'lucky dip'. But in many ways that was part of the fun...!

[impulse manslaughter]

In the Netherlands these new import tax rules have been a pain in the ass for a few years now. Used to buy a lot from overseas but now just when I see something that's impossible to find within the EU or when I see a really good deal. When buying from Discogs or eBay it's really out of control sometimes and you'll get charged vat + import taxes + shipping costs. Small 7" or single cd packages sometimes slip through but for most I end up paying these import taxes. It's not a big deal for me, but on top of the already inflated prices it really sucks for young people that want to start a record collection.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

These should be the "new" EU laws, that apply to all countries in European Union. Meaning that in past some parcels may have slipped through customs when you marked low value. Now all shipments are held in customs, whatever value it is. All commercial goods need to be paid VAT. This was mainly to prevent the cheap shit coming from China and the large scale import scam where shipments would be valued lesser than they actually are worth of. Now they'll tend to charge not only tax, but depending on company and country, some sort of handling fee.

In Finland, you can still get cheap gift for free, but have to fill some forms online. Sometimes people like myself, do not know what someone is sending. It may be promo. It may be trade agreed months ago and forgotten. It may be gift I didn't expect. Just getting txt message from customs with code saying I need to fill the customs clarification. With no idea what stuff, by who? Just today I filled forms for something, I can only guess what it is.

[moozz]

I once received a CDR from an unknown individual in the US (later turned out to be someone who ordered from me through Discogs) as a gift. He had marked the value as $5 and shipping was something atrocious like $25. In Belgium for all shipments from outside of EU one needs to pay a "handling fee" of 14 EUR or so plus VAT for both the item and shipping (plus a small percentage customs fee for the item itself I think). In the end I paid over 20 EUR for something I had no idea what it was and turned out to be a CDR of someone's own project. Psychologically this is a difficult way.