Good site for Books, Music, Movies
Written: Dec 13 '01 (Updated Dec 17 '01)
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The Bottom Line
Very good prices if you know what you are looking for. If you are browsing to find something and not sure what, use Amazon.com.
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| Full Review |
First a plug for Epinions. I am taking the time to write this because I have come to use Epinions to check out products and internet stores before buying. It is incredibly helpful to read what others have experienced when deciding to buy a product. So, if the information that you find at Epinions helped you in making your decision, please take the time to return the favor, and write a review. If more people would do so, this would be the number one place on the web to research a purchase before buying!
On to the review.
I don't really remember how I ran into AllDirect, but I have been buying from them for well over a year now. I buy quite a lot of books thru the internet, a number of movies, and a few music CD's. I have purchased from Amazon, Alpha Craze, 800.com, and AllDirect. I will generally make a list of titles that I want and then when I have ten or more on my list I will place an order. I used to order mostly from Amazon and place my order when they had a free shipping deal. Now, I place most of my order with AllDirect, pay shipping and still save from the prices at the other sites.
Amazon is still my favorite site, not for the prices, but for their site and their in stock items. In fact, I use Amazon to read reviews of books and look up titles and find titles that I might be interested in. The site is informative, helpful, and easy to navigate. No, this isn't a review of Amazon, but I need something to compare to. As I said, I still use other places like 800.com when they have specials or have a title that I can't find elsewhere, but for this review, I will use Amazon for a comparison.
The site: I think that the ultimate site for easy, information, etc., is Amazon. AllDirect's site is bare-bones at best. The search engine is unforgiving. An example, I looked up "The Green Mile" at both sites. I found it right away at Amazon. AllDirect came back with, no matches. When I changed the search to Green Mile, dropping the "The", it found the titles that I was looking for. There are no reviews, links to other titles or authors or other titles by the same actor as you find at Amazon. Like I said, bare-bones. If you know the title, you can find it and order it. My solution is to use Amazon to research, then order at AllDirect if they beat Amazon's price.
In Stock: Here again, AllDirect falls behind the others. As a rule of thumb, if it ships in 24 hours at Amazon, it is 2-3 days at AllDirect. There have been titles that I have not found at all at AllDirect, but have ordered from Amazon. Personally, I don't mind the delay, so I use AllDirect if they can fill an order in 2-3 days. I order from them for the better price, otherwise, I pay a little more and get it sooner from Amazon.
Comparing Prices:
AllDirect seems to be cheaper across the board on paperback books. An example that I looked up is "Sacrament" by Clive Barker. At Amazon it is selling for $6.99 and at AllDirect it is selling for $4.33. All the paperbacks that I have compared so far have been cheaper at AllDirect.
Hardcover books seem to vary. I compared the price of, "Black House", the Stephen King, Peter Straub new book and it sells for $17.37 at both places. The same was true for "Skipping Christmas", the New book by John Grisham. It sells for $11.97 at both places. This seems to hold true on the latest releases, at least the ones that I have looked up. When it comes to hardcover books that have been out longer, AllDirect again has the better price. "A Painted House" by John Grisham, sells for $19.56 at Amazon and $16.77 at AllDirect.
Movies on both DVD and VHS. I'll list one example here. The Green Mile on DVD format sells for $19.99 at Amazon and $16.79 at AllDirect. In VHS format it sells for $17.98 at Amazon and for $12.68 at AllDirect.
Music CD's. I have only bought a few music CD's, but once again, AllDirect had the better price on those.
Shipping Rates:
Amazon shipping rates for Books and VHS are $3.00 per order and then $0.99 per item.
For CD's and DVD's, $1.99 per order and $0.99 per item.
AllDirect shipping rates are $2.60 per order and then $0.85 per item without a difference between books and Cd's.
Customer service: I have never had a problem with either site, or for that matter, any site that I purchase from. All of them send an email conformation of my orders and an email when items ship. I did just get an email from Amazon informing me that they were having a problem finding one item that I had ordered and would I like to cancel the item from the order or place it on backorder and have them try to locate a copy. I thought that was a good policy.
I gave AllDirect four out of five stars because,
1. I had to take a star away because there site is really, what? I guess the best description would be NO FRILLS! Also, they do not carry the stock nor ship as quickly as most other places that I have purchased from.
2. I had to give it the four stars for the money that they save me.
I read reviews of Amazon.com, but didn't write a review because there are already so many that cover it all. If I had, I would have given them four stars also, for the site and the availability and held back one star because their prices are most often more than I can find at AllDirect. So, if both sites get four stars from me, are they equal? Depends on what you are looking for. If I could only use one site or the other, I would pay more and use Amazon for the reviews, and information, etc. But since I can use them both, I do. I order probably 70% of my purchases from AllDirect for the price and 30% of my purchases from Amazon for convenience.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Robert Singleton
Location: Reno, NV
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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