[Philistine]

A few years ago I picked up a few CD's on line from a guy in Russia, skeptical at first I didn't expect to see anything after sending my money - but discovered he's very reliable and have been buying from him now for about 5 years.  Ira (fortreasures) is a great source to pick up classic albums that might be 2 on a CD, or Western CD's that are no longer available (for example I bought the Travelling Wilburys from him last year).

Below is the latest email that I received from him, which I've cut and pasted in its entirety - his email address and the links are included:

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _____________________________________ 

Please take a look at the latest new releases at LINKS AND SOME RERITIES:
69,99 us$+19.00US$ SHIPPING             RAO COLLECTOR'S BOX     BEATLES  - 
Across the universe, 2007 ([15 EP]-box)     
69,99 us$+19.00US$ SHIPPING             RAO COLLECTOR'S BOX     BEATLES  - 
Across the universe… again, 2007 ([15 EP]-box)     
79,99 US$+12.00US$ SHIPPING             RAO COLLECTOR'S BOX     BEATLES  - 
Rockin' movie stars, 2007  ([8 CD]-box)     
39,99 us$+12.00US$ SHIPPING             RAO COLLECTOR'S BOX     TRAVELING
WILBURYS  -  The singles, 2007  ([7 EP]-box) 

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO CLICK "REFRESH" BUTTON ON YOUR WEB BROWSER AFTER THE
LIST IS LOADED.


Please note that THE CURRENT MINIMAL ORDER SIZE IS 10 CDs OR MORE.

http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectiona.html
http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectionb.html
http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectionc.html
http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectiond.html

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO CLICK "REFRESH" BUTTON ON YOUR WEB BROWSER AFTER THE
LIST IS LOADED.

PRICING AND SHIPPING PER CD (IN U$ DOLLARS, a double CD counts as 2 single
ones):

SECTION A:
http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectiona.html

PER CD 4.49 $ + 1.25 $ shipping
50 or more CDs: 4.39 $  + 1.25 $ shipping
100 or more CDs: 3.89 $ + 1.25 $ shipping
 
SECTION B:
http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectionb.html

6.89 $ + 1.25 $ shipping


SECTION C:
http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectionc.html

1)2CD+1DVD region free, triple SET DIGI PACK:
12.99 $ + 3.75 $ SHIPPING PER SET

2)1CD+1DVD region free, double SET DIGI PACK:
10.99 $ + 2.50 $ SHIPPING PER SET

3)2CD MINI VINYL DIGI PACK:
10.99 $  + 2.50 $ SHIPPING PER SET

4)MINI VINYL CD:
6.89 $ + 1.25 $ SHIPPING

5) SECOND LIFE DIGI PACK:
6.89 $ + 1.25 $ SHIPPING


SECTION D:
http://members.shaw.ca/nelkor/sectiond.html

(region free, not DVD-R, MINIMAL ORDER: 5 DVDs).
5.99 $ + 1.25 $ shipping
25 or more DVDs: 4.99 $ + 1.25 $ shipping.

Please indicate album title IN EVERY SECTION and
for EACH TITLE you are ordering.
 
for example:

ARS NOVA        RAW MATERIAL            Time Is?        1971   2 copies

Payment is accepted via PAYPAL.

Shipping is via registered air mail from Russia, well-protected without jewel
cases.
All inserts and booklets will be indeed included.

I will be using multiple 0.250/0.500/1.00 KG parcels (from 6 to 35 CDs per box),
depending on booklets' weight and order size.
 
Any damaged or missing CDs will be refunded.

Thank you again for your orders!

Ira

--
With kind regards and  have a nice day,
 fortreasures                          mailto:fortreasures2003@yahoo.com

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _____________________________________

[alwayslearning]

Jeez, Ira sure offers a lot of Cd's!  Thanks for the lead Philistine.

I'm a tad confused though: are these Russian pressings?     Copies/bootlegs??    Are inserts in English?     Do you know how the sound quality compares to original or remaster pressings?

(Don't mean to hog your time, just seeking some clarification.)  Thanks.

[Philistine]

I probably should have added that I have no direct or indirect involvement with Ira, and originally found him on ebay.  My objectives are purely to share the source of low cost/hard to find CD's.

The pressings are original record company releases destined for the Russian market, all the inserts I've received have been in English - as far as sound quality is concerned they are equal to what's released in the US and Western Europe.  I introduced Ira to a guy who hangs out on the AV123 forum last year, and he's picked up some jazz CD's that are difficult to find or unique.

 

[alwayslearning]

Terrific & thanks.  I'll give him a try.

[BradJudy]

I'm very skeptical of the validity of discount CDs from Russia.  It seems likely these are counterfeit pressings. 

[Philistine]

I used to buy CD's from the Silk Market in Beijing before they closed it down, it was very apparent that they were counterfeit - nevertheless the few I bought were very good.
The Western equivalents I've bought from Ira have inserts and booklets printed on high quality card stock and are identical, the CD's are an equivalent quality in terms of sound and physical appearance (nothing like the Chinese counterfeits).   Some of the compilation CD's that are not available in Europe or the US have thinner paper and poorer quality printing/paper, and lighter weight discs - these may be local products for the local market, or maybe have different origins?

The risk takers are free to try it (I would buy the minimum to test it out), the risk averse can avoid.
 
     

[JoshK]

It is more likely that the pricing for the Russian market is much lower.  I have read numerous times that the price CD's are sold to the wholesalers (and thus down the line to the shelf price) is much higher than the cost to produce because that is what they have always sold for and the market bears this.  So there is some wiggle room lets say for a different market with less willingness to digest the sticker price. 

Its likely that the russian CD's are cheaper because they are bought cheaper. 

[gychang]

seems like the price is similar to yourmusic.com, although the obviously different variety of the CDs.

Does anyone know any sites that allow .flac files to download?  I am in the market for jazz guitar .flac files.

gychang