If that was the deal, I’m not sure how the economics of that worked. And wasn’t there something if you draw a string on the balloon, you get one extra?
Was this a grift before we use that word everywhere?
I just used a fake name, got my 10/12 for free and laughed. We moved alot, so I got a ton. I had 200 CD's even before I owned a CD player.
The deal was that after you got those, they would then ship you a full price one every month. You had some control over that, but you did have to buy some eventually. If you weren't paying attention, you could end up paying for a bunch of stuff you didn't want.
I did the LPs when I was a kid, and the CDs well into adulthood. I never really got into cassettes.
Collectors won't pay as much for Columbia House pressings.
And used record stores wouldn’t buy them, not just because you were uncool and had bad taste but because they knew you paid a penny for it
What happened if you used to fake name and just never paid
They sent threatening letters which you took seriously because you were 12 and your parents would kill you for racking up the charges
That was what I was afraid of.
It would go on your “Permanent Record” and destroy your life.
There’s a joke in reality bites about how the student loan people can join the Columbia house people in trying to collect, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen it, I don’t remember the exact joke.
I did the CD deal maybe 4 or 5 times. It was like 8 CD's for a penny if you agreed to buy 4 at regular price, and regular price was the same as the local record store. I never felt ripped off. For a while my record store would even exchange CD's, so I made out like a bandit.
I did it like 10 times and never paid them. They sent me monthly tapes and I never paid for those either. I live in dread they are coming for me.
Same here. Hopefully there isn't some sort of watch list that I am on! :)
I used those every year for cassettes, then once I got into HS, I learned how to order CDs on my own from Columbia House to BMG under fake names. Fake name, same address, you'd get at least four or five shipments before they would stop sending them to you.
Edit: I got my first CD player Xmas of '89, but I had a The Replacements CD that I won off the radio from a call in contest three months earlier.
The free/promo albums basically cost them nothing to make, then the subsequent albums were at a substantial markup. On top of that, by direct-selling they were cutting out the middlemen (wholesalers and retailers). It was virtually all profit for the record companies.
I worked a temp job at BMG in the 90s reviewing scanned order cards and confirming orders or something. I’d see hundreds of orders a night and the taste in music was just appalling. So much Amy Grant.
I got the cassettes for a penny then did return to sender on the ones they mailed me…never got another one.
I wonder how many still have the cassettes they bought for that penny lol
I used that service for quite a while . I got the free bundle then would choose one every month rather than to get a random one . I also would get other offers for multiple units cheaper than the store . I believe I canceled when the cable company offered a service with a cable box and remote that would display the artist name and song on about sixty channels, sort of like a Sirius Xm.
I would never do that. I would never send away for such a deal to the address of
1400 Fruitrige Ave
Terre Haute, IN.
Sorry, I forgot the zip.
I got a ton of CD’s and tapes from Columbia House and BMG. I would sign up, get my 8 or ten free ones, buy the one or two that I needed, then cancel. Then 6 months later did it again.
If you didn’t cancel, they would send you some random CD every month and charge you a bunch for it. You could opt out but had to snail mail to opt out. Or something like that.