Our own Happy Goth previously posted on the greatness that is lala, inciting me to join up, but I’d like to add to that original post here stressing what a great site it really is.
If you don’t know, lala is a web site where music fans trade their unwanted CDs with each other. The kicker is that the brilliant guys who created the site are setting aside 20% from all trades to go back directly to the artists. There have been some changes since the site was first mentioned here, though. Originally, you got to trade CDs for one dollar, plus 49 cents shipping and handling. However, it was decided that since a number of users wanted the artwork included with their trades (it’s always been optional), the 63 cent pre-paid postage envelopes that you got to send your trades in wasn’t covering the extra costs of sending all the artwork. So the community on the site voted, and now shipping has gone to a flat 75 cents, which easily covers everything now. Since I basically just automatically rip any new CDs that come my way onto my external drive and then pick faves to put on my ipod, I couldn’t care less about the artwork. So far it’s been about 50/50 receiving discs with and without artwork. And if you’re really a stickler and must have it, you can now set that up in your user preferences so traders will know to send you the artwork with the discs.
Since I joined last month, I’ve traded CDs I no longer wanted, or duplicates of discs I liked but didn’t need extras of, or crappy CDs I’ve reviewed at Bullz-Eye, and have received lots of great stuff in return. I’m talking about CDs you’d easily pay over 5 bucks for at any used store or even online at Amazon or Spun.com, or where ever. It’s the best deal going in town, folks. And those harder to get CDs you might not even find at Amazon used? Sometimes you might even get one of those. I can say I’ve been nothing but thrilled with the service. It’s a highly addictive thing once you start going on it, and I have to say the community of users there is actually fun to join in with on the message boards. It’s not a bunch of bratty kids or assholes. Mostly, it’s just a bunch of music loving people like you and me who are amazed that such a site finally came along. So if you haven’t joined yet, give lala a look see and sign up. There’s gold in them thar hills.
