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Parnassus Classical Compact Discs and Records

Parnassus Classical Compact Discs and Records - FAQ

Table of Contents

  1. How long has Parnassus been selling records?
  2. Why is your catalog arranged by label and number rather than by composer, artist, or some musical category?
  3. How do I know I have a fair chance at getting things from your catalogs before they are sold?
  4. What happens when I order a record from you and you don't have it anymore?
  5. But why can't you accept blanket requests and let me know whenever you get something by my favorite artist?
  6. How can I let you know which records to search for if I don't have an artist's or composer's discography?
  7. Why are your policies different for LP and CD searches?
  8. How do you grade your records?
  9. Why are out of print CDs sometimes so expensive?
  10. What shipping method do you recommend?
  11. What is the quality of your custom order items?
Please suggest other questions to us via email

Answers

  1. How long has Parnassus been selling records?
    We began business in 1969 as a publisher of historical reissues on LP. In 1971 we issued our first catalog of used and rare LPs. We began to sell CDs in 1985. [Back to the top]
     
  2. Why is your catalog arranged by label and number rather than by composer, artist, or some musical category?
    We used this practice for our first catalog simply because it eliminated the need for making decisions. (Does a recording of Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite conducted by Toscanini go under Grofé or Toscanini?) When we became computerized and had to make a decision for formats, we asked our customers what they preferred. A very large majority (about 2/3) went with the label and number arrangement, which would now be almost impossible to change. [Back to the top]
     
  3. How do I know I have a fair chance at getting things from your catalogs before they are sold?
    Years of experience has enabled us to send our print catalogs and our e-mail notifications on a schedule which usually gives all customers an equal chance at getting an item. This may not be true for any single catalog but it does average out. We do our best to give print and e-mail customers equal chances. If there is a recording you are looking for and you don't want to take a chance on having it sold from a catalog before you see it, see the next item for information on our search service. [Back to the top]
     
  4. What happens when I order a record from you and you don't have it anymore?
    Unlike all other dealers we know, we file a request for this item automatically and notify you when we locate another copy. We do this for all orders unless the customer has let us know that he or she doesn't want it done. We also, again uniquely in our experience, accept advance requests for items customers are seeking. We do have some rules for these requests but they are simple and, we hope, easy to comply with. We can accept requests only for individual items. [Back to the top]
     
  5. But why can't you accept blanket requests and let me know whenever you get something by my favorite artist?
    The way our computerized system works, new arrivals can be matched up with existing requests only when the labels and numbers match. Otherwise it would be necessary to trust the boss's memory, which nobody would want to do. [Back to the top]
     
  6. How can I let you know which records to search for if I don't have an artist's or composer's discography?
    Ask us for help in compiling a want list. We can sometimes offer compilations from our database or photocopies from our catalog files. This doesn't always work (a request for George London recordings will also turn up everything by an orchestra with London in its name) but it can often be helpful. [Back to the top]
     
  7. Why are your policies different for LP and CD searches?
    Practical experience. If we don't have an LP a customer wants, we may see it again or not, but there's a fair chance the customer will still want it. If it's a recent CD (and we do offer many of those), it's still easy to find somewhere else, if not at our wonderful bargain prices. And if it's out of print but we didn't ask a premium price for it, we're unlikely to find it again at a price low enough. We do accept requests for out of print CDs, but only with the understanding that if we find them the price is likely to be at list or somewhat above. [Back to the top]
     
  8. How do you grade your records?
    We grade visually, checking by playing a record only in cases of uncertainty. It is the only practical method. (We remember one dealer who play-graded every record. She soon went out of business because she couldn't list enough records.) Our gradings are backed both by our decades of experience and by money back guarantees on every item we sell. [Back to the top]
     
  9. Why are out of print CDs sometimes so expensive?
    The nature of the music business changed drastically between the LP and CD eras. In the age of LP relatively fewer recordings were published and they tended to have much longer catalog lives. CDs come and go with great speed, often being withdrawn after a year or two. Out of print CDs are generally scarcer than LPs, even today, and they often command higher prices than their LP equivalents. [Back to the top]
     
  10. What shipping method do you recommend?
    We use both UPS and U.S. Postal Service for domestic orders, at the customer's preference. UPS tends to be slighly quicker and is slightly more expensive. Both services have extremely low rates of breakage and loss. For a business of our small size, only U.S. Postal Service is practical for shipments outside the U.S. UPS and DHL rates are prohibitively expensive unless customers have much larger volumes of shipping than ours. [Back to the top]
     
  11. What is the quality of your custom order items?
    Since we offer over 2,000 privately issued CDRs, we cannot comment on every one of them. We have heard many of them and their overall quality has been excellent. The CDs we produce from earlier issues should be identical in quality to the originals. The DVDs we produce are generally of excellent quality, subject to the limitations of the source material. [Back to the top]
     

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