SwingDJs

Does anybody know what the deal is with Caiman.com? They've got a copy (though not always the lowest-priced) of 90% of the big band CDs I look up on Amazon.com (under the Marketplace retailers).

I went ahead and ordered $400 of stuff from them because it's not my money (I had to buy music for the swing club at school), but I'm a little afraid we're going to get ripped off. Does this place really have anything in stock? Are they allowed to put things on Marketplace that they don't have in stock? (And if they are, why are they only on many of the big band CD listings and not all of them?)

Who are they, anyway? If they're that interested in swing, surely someone here knows a person or two on the staff.

Other than being a little slow in processing orders I have never had a problem with them, they also have some of the best prices for the imports I get. To my knowledge you can not actually post something on the market place that you do not physically have in stock.

caiman is where I got my Duke Ellington box set.

It's the only order i've done through them, but it turned out just fine.

It looks like they're OK, and I think their rating recently has gone from 4.6 to 4.7. After having a nasty encounter with a different seller (I don't remember their rating, but it was probably 4.3-4.6), I resolved to buy only from sellers with at least a 4.8 rating. I haven't had any problems since, and I do that even though caiman.com ships from my state and would be faster than most others. It may cost more, but to me, it's worth the peace of mind. If caiman.com gets to 4.8, I'll probably start ordering from them.

I have bought a few things from them and never had any problems. Like you, I was suspicious at first about whether they actually had the items in stock, but yes, they did!

i've ordered tons of stuff from them, too, and everything has arrived as advertised. i actually doubt they always have things they list in stock -- i think sometimes they have stuff on order from europe when they list it, because things do take absurdly long to ship. (is your warehouse so large that it takes a month to find a proper box?)

incidentally, they have lots of books and classical recordings, too.

matthew, i highly recommend them if you're in no rush on your orders. i believe most of their negative ratings are from people who complain that their orders took a long time to ship.

Like everyone else said... The stuff I ordered from them arrived in great condition, but sometimes took several weeks to show up.

i've bought plenty of stuff from them, and had to cancel an order one time... no problms whatsoever. i recommend them

I've ordered countless items from Caiman and they always always always take 3-4 times longer than any other seller I've purchased from on Amazon. I honestly think they have nothing in stock.

Here's why. I ordered Bing Crosby's 'Bing With A Beat' well over a month and a half ago. There are no copies available now on Amazon, not even used. I asked Caiman what was up with my order and they said they were 'experiencing a delay'. Yeah...the delay is that they can't get it now! I have a sinking feeling they are going to cancel my order and refund my money.

I only order from Caiman when I absolutely have to. I would advise the same rule for anyone ordering on Amazon. Get it somewhere else if you can.

tim wrote:I've ordered countless items from Caiman and they always always always take 3-4 times longer than any other seller I've purchased from on Amazon. I honestly think they have nothing in stock.

Here's why. I ordered Bing Crosby's 'Bing With A Beat' well over a month and a half ago. There are no copies available now on Amazon, not even used. I asked Caiman what was up with my order and they said they were 'experiencing a delay'. Yeah...the delay is that they can't get it now! I have a sinking feeling they are going to cancel my order and refund my money.

That might be true, because one of the innovations of the Internet is a "warehouseless" stocking, where the service the Internet retailer offers is FINDING the item you want from a third-party warehouse (or some other source), processing the order, and getting it shipped to you directly from that third-party warehouse (or CD store). I think one such business set up a network of used CD Stores whose individual stocks were all miniscule, but when combined with hundreds of used CD stores across the country makes a HUGE variety of music available. I don't know if Caiman is one of these businesses, but they exist; one of the Internet big-guns (Amazon or CD Now (the original that Amazon purchased)) got big by doing just that. Little to no start-up costs, with HUGE benefits to consumers nationwide.

Usually, when that happens, they only list an item as "in stock" if one of their source-warehouses/distributors tell THEM that it is in stock. If they are given bad or outdated info, they don't find out about it until an order can't be filled. The delays also result from the fact that the Internet retailer does not fill the order; they just send it on to the CD Store affiliate, who compiles all such purchase orders in a basket and fills them all at the same time, say, once a week. (Otherwise, filling the orders piecemeal would be inefficient and more costly).

That said, I've only heard of Caiman on Ebay/Half.com, but it is one of the most prolific CD sellers on Ebay because I remember the name. I've always considered Caiman to be reliable and actually would purchase from them if a choice arises for the same CD on Half.com between them and some nobody with a low-transaction number.

I have ordered several items from Caiman...

Most of the time they are in my mailbox within 2 days...

Maybe that's just because they are in Florida...and I'm in Atlanta...but hey, whatever works..

I had a really bad experience and swore off on them. They shipped me the wrong CD- I double checked my order, ISBN number, etc, and sent them an email letting them know. I head..... nothing. I emailed again after a few days. Still nothing. And again. And nothing.

Finally had to get my refund from half.com directly. I don't mind mistakes, that happens. But really, returning ANY of my emails would have been nice.

I've had two good experiences with them, and no bad.

It's like anything else, you're going to find people who have had a bad experience, it's bound to happen.

They've treated me well.
I once thought they hadn't sent me a CD and they sent another one with no questions. Then I found the original CD about 2 weeks later in a "must listen to" pile by my desk.

I've had almost no problems with them. Sometimes their stuff takes a few weeks, but that's about it.