SameDayMusic

Full review
I've been shopping at Same Day Music for about a year now. I buy a lot of musical equipment, and the music business has changed in the last five years. (I know: I sell musical products myself.) In order to survive, many stores have banded together and use a central warehouse. Looking for something that Musician's Friend has on backorder? Don't bother with GuitarCenter.com or Giardinell.com -- they all share the same stock. It's the same with Music123 and Woodwind & Brasswind. And it's the same with SameDay and their partners zZounds.com and American Musical Supply (AMS).

So, if everyone is sharing the same stock, why pick one over the other? The answer is service and price. SameDay has great service, and their prices are nearly always competitive. They have 60-day price-protection and return policies, and a policy that says any order placed by 2:00PM will ship -- you guessed it, the same day. They have a good website, and send confirmation emails for the sale and when they ship. Plus, their shipping costs are reasonable, which can be a big factor when buying heavy music gear online.

My latest sale is a perfect example: I needed a set of tuning machines (machine heads for all you old-school players) for a guitar. SameDay had them at a good price, and shipping was only $4. It doesn't hurt that they ship from northern NJ, and MA is 1-day delivery by ground as the "UPS crow" flies. ;-) (They also use a warehouse in NV, so the 1-day delivery isn't guaranteed if one selects UPS ground. Most of the time, though, East Coast orders ship from NJ.)

I ordered in mid-afternoon yesterday (a Tuesday), and the website said, "This item will ship on Wednesday," because I missed the 2PM deadline. Oh well, I should have ordered in the morning. Well, guess what? They made the cutoff, anyway, living up to their name! I received a second email telling me the order shipped, and their website had the tracking number available at 8:30AM. This is how online sales should *always* work.

I haven't had a reason to return anything yet, so I can't comment on their return system. However, phone calls to Customer Service are answered promptly, they have a good tracking system, and they have ridiculously good business hours: 8:00AM - 10:00PM (East Coast) Monday-Friday, 9:00AM - 6:00PM on Saturday, and 1:00PM - 7:00PM on Sunday.