Amazon Prices

[Petrushka]

The prices of some boxed sets on Amazon are just plain ridiculous at best and disgraceful profiteering at worst. For example the just issued 20 disc Pierre Monteux Decca Recordings box is going for a whopping £103.24 while Marketplace sellers have it for £43.79 brand new. Presto have it at £49.50

A similar situation prevailed with the 8 disc Erich Kleiber box which started out at a massive £104 is now down to £93 but Marketplace sellers have been offering it at around the £33 from the outset. Presto have this at £32.75. A glance through other boxed sets shows the same thing happening again and again.

What is going in?

[teamsaint]

The prices of some boxed sets on Amazon are just plain ridiculous at best and disgraceful profiteering at worst. For example the just issued 20 disc Pierre Monteux Decca Recordings box is going for a whopping £103.24 while Marketplace sellers have it for £43.79 brand new. Presto have it at £49.50

A similar situation prevailed with the 8 disc Erich Kleiber box which started out at a massive £104 is now down to £93 but Marketplace sellers have been offering it at around the £33 from the outset. Presto have this at £32.75. A glance through other boxed sets shows the same thing happening again and again.

What is going in?

From what I know, business wise, Amazon seem to have somewhat lost the plot on books, and the same may go for CDs.
However, their business models seem to be rather complex, and in part rely on Marketplace traders to do the hard work , while they take an easy cut.

I'm not sure how much of the price differentials are deliberate or accidental, but certainly on the books side Amazon do privately admit that they have issues.

Another thing to factor in is that many market place sellers are very smart at using the system, and some big players have ex -amazon experience in their ranks, so they can, to an extent, beat Amazon at their own game. One way they do this is to cater to certain markets, EG certain geographical markets, niche genres or whatever.

Edit.
It is entirely possible that some market place buyers can offer better prices than amazon because they are buying better.
I don't know how the mechanisms work on CDs, but on books it would be possible that a market place buyer places a bulk order, and then sells on market at a set markup, and still manages to be cheaper than amazon. Amazon tend to often buy at standard discounts, which may actually be less than market place sellers can get for bulk orders.

[mathias broucek]

Lots of the cheaper offers are from the US which has risks for orders over £15

[Dave2002]

Sometimes the amazon prices are considerably less than those of some of the other sellers mentioned in the OP.

[Richard Tarleton]

Amazon seem to have somewhat lost the plot on books

I've recently bought several brand new books from Wordery, via the Amazon site, at significantly cheaper prices than the actual Amazon price, which seems odd.

[Petrushka]

Sometimes the amazon prices are considerably less than those of some of the other sellers mentioned in the OP.

There does seem to be a problem, though, with boxed sets. A comparison between Amazon, their Marketplace sellers and other outlets such as Presto and MDT is very revealing.

I'm nothing like as familiar with their business practise as ts is, but 'lost the plot' seems about right. In the meantime, the only sensible thing that buyers will do, apart from going elsewhere, is to use Marketplace sellers thus, as ts points out, letting them do the donkey work in a niche market. The era of the cheap boxed set might be over.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Ever since Amazon almost doubled Amazon Prime, I've tried to avoid them. Sometimes, I use them to find marketplace sellers, and then buy from these companies direct, not using Amazon.

[cloughie]

Ever since Amazon almost doubled Amazon Prime, I've tried to avoid them. Sometimes, I use them to find marketplace sellers, and then buy from these companies direct, not using Amazon.

Do you mean not using Amazon at all for the purchase?

[cloughie]

I've recently bought several brand new books from Wordery, via the Amazon site, at significantly cheaper prices than the actual Amazon price, which seems odd.

Not really as Amazon are not stocking direct and leaving any potential loss to the Marketpace sellers whilst still getting the percentage or Pro merchant fee from the seller.

[cloughie]

There does seem to be a problem, though, with boxed sets. A comparison between Amazon, their Marketplace sellers and other outlets such as Presto and MDT is very revealing.
The era of the cheap boxed set might be over.

I doubt it unless the record companies decide to go over totally to downloads and streaming. As long as they can churn out cheaply and there's a market.

[teamsaint]

Not really as Amazon are not stocking direct and leaving any potential loss to the Marketpace sellers whilst still getting the percentage or Pro merchant fee from the seller.

Does anybody know what sort of terms Amazon get from the big music companies?

On books, they frequently ( usually? always?) stock on consignment, which means they only pay for stock as they sell it. However, on these terms they do tend to get lower discounts than they might if they bought on invoiced trade terms, as Waterstones do( IE they pay for the books/CDs, and get a credit for unsold stock).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Do you mean not using Amazon at all for the purchase?

Yes. And the independent sellers appreciate it.

[Dave2002]

There does seem to be a problem, though, with boxed sets. A comparison between Amazon, their Marketplace sellers and other outlets such as Presto and MDT is very revealing.

One quite large boxed set I recently pointed out is about half the price at Amazon, thus saving around £60. I refrained from giving the listing at the other site - which was detailed, but in the end Amazon wins on price. You might say this is atypical, but I don't think so.

I agree with giving independents and UK based sellers a chance, but not when there's really a really serious price difference. I do buy from them if their prices are within striking distance of amazon, and sometimes it's more convenient, or they clearly can supply within reasonable time limits.

[Pulcinella]

Can I put in a recommendation for hive, especially for books, but they do supply CDs too:

http://www.hive.co.uk

If you choose delivery to a local bookseller who is part of their scheme (instead of home delivery) that bookseller gets a small reward, so you are helping them too.

[Conchis]

Can I put in a recommendation for hive, especially for books, but they do supply CDs too:

http://www.hive.co.uk

If you choose delivery to a local bookseller who is part of their scheme (instead of home delivery) that bookseller gets a small reward, so you are helping them too.

Yes - I used Hive a couple of years ago. It assuaged my guilt over a small, independent bookseller, whom I never buy anything from.

The days of the hugely discounted amazon boxes seem to be over. I remember autumn 2011 being a particularly fecund period for bargains.