Ordering & Shipping:
Index of Contents:
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Ordering
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Packing & Shipping Materials
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Shipping
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Domestic
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International
Ordering:
The Dark Music Domain catalog is currently outfitted with a PayPal shopping cart system. Credit card users can now easily pay with their credit card through PayPal, even if they are not PayPal members! (This was not always possible, but it is now!) PayPal and credit card users need only add items to their shopping cart and then proceed with checkout for their respective payment methods (both processed by PayPal). We do accept other payment methods:
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PayPal
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credit cards (through PayPal)
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money orders (in US Dollars only)
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cash (US Dollars only)
We have toyed with the notion of accepting cash in Euro, but there are few places where foreign currency can be sold. We may accept this form of payment in the future. If you absolutely cannot pay with any other method that we accept, we may be more inclined to accept cash in Euro from you, but please make it worth our while (with an order of more than just a couple of CDs). Due to fees, we can only accept Euro on a 1:1 basis with the US Dollar!
Packing & Shipping Materials:
Customer service has become a lost art. In the world of mailorder consumerism and internet retail, even the largest record labels have cut costs by skimping on shipping materials and the lengths they go to in ensuring that your purchase arrives in the condition you expect it to! We know this as well as you do. Just like you, we are tired of, even bothered and angered by, record labels that ship CDs by tossing them loose into a cheap mailer, with nothing more than a thin layer of plastic bubbles - or used newspaper! - between your CDs and a mail carrier who will almost certainly be less careful in the handling of your package than you would like them to be. Is one more layer of bubblewrap really that expensive? No! Would it bankrupt these record labels to take special care - or any kind of precautions at all - in packaging such items as those presented digipaks, box sets, and A5-size digifiles? No! ... So why don't they take greater care in serving you?!
Variety in album packaging is exceeded only by the variety of music available in this scene. Not every album comes in a sturdy, replaceable jewel case, so we don't package everything for shipment as though it was! Even though a customer could easily purchase an empty standard 1-CD jewel case to replace one that arrived cracked or smashed in the mail, we do not want you to have to! We package your order under the assumption that no matter how careful mail and parcel carriers claim to be, your package will probably be mishandled or dropped at some point during the shipping process. With the way that we package your purchased items, with the greater care that we take in doing so, those items are less likely to be damaged if they are mishandled.
So how do we do it? Well, it's so simple that you won't believe it! ... We employ an arsenal of materials in custom-packing your purchased items for shipment: vinyl and poly mailers in 2 sizes, bubble mailers in 2 sizes, new (not used) cardboard boxes in more than a dozen sizes, various types of void fill and support, and roll upon roll of green and purple bubblewrap! Again, we custom-pack your purchased items depending on how they need to be packed in order to arrive at your doorstep in the condition that you expect!
Most record labels and retail distros receive their merchandise in thin-walled, elongated rectangular boxes that house 20-25 CDs each. What these retailers do is use those boxes again when packing your order for shipment. If the box is too small? Oh well. If the box is too big? Stuff the sides with wadded up newspaper and hope that the box is crushed, if at all, on the ends. ... Why do you continue to put up with that? Is that really OK with you? With as expensive as CDs are, don't you think that retailers make enough money to be able to afford at least a little bit of bubblewrap at $0.08-$0.10 per square foot?? ... Don't put up with it any longer. It's not OK. You should not have to make a special request of any retailer to take care - just a little extra care than usual - in packing your order. That should come standard with each order you place.
Dark Music Domain has no record label division, and we are not known for having a massive catalog of thousands upon thousands of releases, but among those who have been and continue to be our customers, we are known - very well known, in fact - for customer service ... the service you deserve but which has been missing from your experiences with other retailers! Give us a chance to prove that we can serve you well and meet your expectations, if not exceed them! Order today!
Shipping:
United States: FREE! * ... We currently ship via USPS First Class or Priority Mail. ... Choose the "US" price for each item you wish to purchase, then check out. No extra charges are added to your order during checkout! We can add to your order any services you may need (such as insurance or delivery confrmation), but we do so at the buyer's expense. In this case, do not use the catalog's shopping cart system; please send us an email, listing the items you wish to purchase, your PayPal account email address (if you are a PayPal user; otherwise, tell us your method of payment), and the services you want to add to shipping. We will send you an email or an invoice (through PayPal) for the total amount due.
Canada / Mexico: FREE! * ... We currently ship via USPS First Class International Mail. ... Choose the "US" price for each item you wish to purchase, then check out. No extra charges are added to your order during checkout! We can add to your order any services you may need (such as registered mail), but we do so at the buyer's expense. In this case, do not use the catalog's shopping cart system; please send us an email, listing the items you wish to purchase, your PayPal account email address (if you are a PayPal user; otherwise, tell us your method of payment), the destination country, and the services you want to add to shipping. We will send you an email or an invoice (through PayPal) for the total amount due.
Rest of the world: We currently ship via USPS First Class International Mail. ... Please scroll down to the International Shipping section of this page.
* Due to the relatively greater cost of shipping box sets and other large items, some catalog items have had a shipping charge added to their retail price. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, but it is not possible for us to ship these items for free. We hope that you will take advantage of free shipping on the vast majority of our other catalog items!
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We understand that the differences among retail website catalogs and checkout processes can sometimes make the process of purchasing online confusing. For this reason, we encourage you to contact us at info@DarkMusicDomain.com if you have any questions, concerns, or just comments you wish to share with us. We have always held customer service as our top priority, and we promise never to treat your communication with us as a nuisance. There is no such thing as a "stupid question." We strive to be as considerate and helpful as we can possibly be!
We do have plans to streamline the shipping cost issue in 2009. For the time being, just drop us a line and see how friendly and helpful we can be!
Domestic Shipping:
FREE until 2009!
Optional Services:
* US Postal Service fees for Registered Mail start at $10.80 and vary with declared value. Due to the rather unusual restrictions on how Registered Mail parcels must be packaged, your payment for this service includes our only handling fee: $5.00. Registered Mail includes insurance up to $25,000.00 at no extra cost.
International Shipping:
Shipping to Canada & Mexico:
FREE until 2009!
Shipping overseas (all other countries): *
* Box sets, t-shirt/CD sets, and single items containing 3+ CDs cost more to ship. If your order includes one or more of these items, please email info@DarkMusicDomain.com for an accurate shipping quote before completing payment.
Optional Services:
* US Postal Service fees for Registered Mail start at $10.80 and vary with declared value. Due to the rather unusual restrictions on how Registered Mail parcels must be packaged, your payment for this service includes our only handling fee: $5.00. Registered Mail includes insurance up to $25,000.00 at no extra cost.