Bargains

[barber olly]

Thanks to you, too, visualnickmos - I really should pop down to Montpellier, it is only an hour away from me on the autoroute. Very tempting!

You should be so lucky! How's the weather and the Vendage?

[visualnickmos]

Hello MickyD

Well - it may be worth building in some other things to do in Montpellier on the day - sometimes the bargains are very elusive, and like all speculative ventures, you have to be prepared to "miss"....but it's a lovely city on a hot day.

[vinteuil]

Well - it may be worth building in some other things to do in Montpellier on the day ...but it's a lovely city on a hot day.

Yes, I do like Montpellier, but on reflection I'm not sure why - in one sense there's not much there - a desperately disappointing cathedral, a small and rather sad, unloved, jardin des plantes, a pleasant small collection at the Musée Fabre, an interesting lunch at le Jardin des Sens - a half-way useful dusty second-hand bookshop on the bvd du Jeu de Paume, a good bookshop off the place de la Comédie (I think I picked up a copy of Guez de Balzac's le Prince which I had been looking for for ages... ) - and a jolly estudiantine atmosphere in the old town - ( the fascist grandiloquence of the quartier Antigone on the other hand I found most depressing)...

But Micky - this must be a town you know well - what do you like about it?

[MickyD]

Yes, I do like Montpellier, but on reflection I'm not sure why - in one sense there's not much there - a desperately disappointing cathedral, a small and rather sad, unloved, jardin des plantes, a pleasant small collection at the Musée Fabre, an interesting lunch at le Jardin des Sens - a half-way useful dusty second-hand bookshop on the bvd du Jeu de Paume, a good bookshop off the place de la Comédie (I think I picked up a copy of Guez de Balzac's le Prince which I had been looking for for ages... ) - and a jolly estudiantine atmosphere in the old town - ( the fascist grandiloquence of the quartier Antigone on the other hand I found most depressing)...

But Micky - this must be a town you know well - what do you like about it?

Barber Olly - the weather at present is lovely and sunny, but in the last day or so the thermometer has fallen by a drastic 15 degrees or so - we were sweltering on Saturday and now everyone has dug out their coats! Such are the extremes of temperatures in this part of the world.

Vinteuil - Funnily enough, I don't know Montpellier all that well. In fact I've not even been there since they installed their highly efficient tramway, which I gather is the talk of the town. Many folk who go to concerts at Le Corum or the opera house leave their cars on the outskirts and take the modern tram in to the centre....it is apparently all highly civilised and avoids all the parking problems.
There used to be a really good CD shop years ago up by the university in a pretty little square...sadly the shop has long gone. I was there way back in the late 80s when I picked up the newly issued recording of Rameau's "Platée" by Malgloire. I remember being thrilled to get my hands on it, but it was quickly surpassed by the Minkowski!

[hafod]

If you are an Artur Rubinstein fan you'll love the latest pricing gaffe from Amazon - namely the 144 cd box due out on 7 November for £29.34. Yes, this is not a typo it really is £29.34 Originally it was priced at £232.38 but for some reason it then fell off a cliff. Can't last though and will they honour such a descent? Worth a punt though I thought given that the Steinberg/Icon mispricing was delivered a few days ago with the (very) low priced honoured together with an email yesterday from said emporium telling me that the Rheinberger complete piano music similarly mispriced had just been despatched. The dilemma of course is whether raising the profile here and widening the opportunity for others to try and benefit increases the risk of the deal not being honoured. Anyway, here is the link:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arthur-Rubinstein-Complete-Album-Collection/dp/B005G0ETV0/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3OR2L6ZZ94BE6&colid=AZFAVK42ANC5

[Curalach]

hafod, you have the most amazing antennae for uncovering these Amazonian mis-pricings. Thanks again. We'll see what happens this time.
Cheers.

[Bryn]

Many thanks for the tip-off. My Steinberg set also arrived successfully, and I too have received an email confirmation of dispatch of the Rheinberger. Fingers crossed.

[makropulos]

If you are an Artur Rubinstein fan you'll love the latest pricing gaffe from Amazon - namely the 144 cd box due out on 7 November for £29.34. Yes, this is not a typo it really is £29.34 Originally it was priced at £232.38 but for some reason it then fell off a cliff. Can't last though and will they honour such a descent? Worth a punt though I thought given that the Steinberg/Icon mispricing was delivered a few days ago with the (very) low priced honoured together with an email yesterday from said emporium telling me that the Rheinberger complete piano music similarly mispriced had just been despatched. The dilemma of course is whether raising the profile here and widening the opportunity for others to try and benefit increases the risk of the deal not being honoured. Anyway, here is the link:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arthur-Rubin...d=AZFAVK42ANC5

Wow - lots and lots of Rubinstein duly ordered - thanks very much for the alert on this one. As you say it has to be worth a punt...

[Dave2002]

Wow - lots and lots of Rubinstein duly ordered - thanks very much for the alert on this one. As you say it has to be worth a punt...

Mmmmm. I've tried this, and now I feel bad. I suppose I'll just have to see what happens.

I'm wondering if being this agressive in search of a bargain isn't going one or two steps too far.

[hafod]

Mmmmm. I've tried this, and now I feel bad. I suppose I'll just have to see what happens.

I'm wondering if being this agressive in search of a bargain isn't going one or two steps too far.

I don't think this is being agressive at all but merely following the laws of the market place and playing big business at it's own game ('doing unto others before they do it unto you' as a collegue so memorably put it to me many years ago). Amazon's prices for classical music are often much higher and they treat it as if it were pop (the constant reference to 'songs'). Moreover, selling a low price cd in the Amazon marketplace attracts a huge commission (17.5% + £0.80) which makes pricing anything at less than about £2.00 hardly worth the effort involved. (Incidentally, can anyone tell me how selling a cd for £0.01 in the Amazon marketplace makes a profit for a non-trader?). Surely it works both ways?

[gurnemanz]

I was sorely tempted last night to capitalise on the Rubinstein mistake but hesitated since I already have the complete Chopin which is what I would have been most interested in and shelf space is becoming a serious issue. They've corrected the price now so the rest of us bargain-hunters have missed the boat, anyway.

[barber olly]

I don't think this is being agressive at all but merely following the laws of the market place and playing big business at it's own game ('doing unto others before they do it unto you' as a collegue so memorably put it to me many years ago). Amazon's prices for classical music are often much higher and they treat it as if it were pop (the constant reference to 'songs'). Moreover, selling a low price cd in the Amazon marketplace attracts a huge commission (17.5% + £0.80) which makes pricing anything at less than about £2.00 hardly worth the effort involved. (Incidentally, can anyone tell me how selling a cd for £0.01 in the Amazon marketplace makes a profit for a non-trader?). Surely it works both ways?

I suspect that we collectors have paid our dues over and again over the years and kept the record industry going - so shouldn't feel guilty. As far as the £0.01 CD is concerned, the only traders making profits are Pro-merchants who pay a monthly fee, with a high turnover will make a few pence per transaction via the postage and packing allowance. These commercial traders also quite aggressively undercut the small private seller. On the question of treating as pop - interesting that the drop-down menu for entering items for sale includes 'books' and 'popular music' but not 'classical' or even a generic 'music'. Track listing for CDs is generally very poor and often absent.

[Dave2002]

I suspect that we collectors have paid our dues over and again over the years and kept the record industry going - so shouldn't feel guilty. As far as the £0.01 CD is concerned, the only traders making profits are Pro-merchants who pay a monthly fee, with a high turnover will make a few pence per transaction via the postage and packing allowance. These commercial traders also quite aggressively undercut the small private seller. On the question of treating as pop - interesting that the drop-down menu for entering items for sale includes 'books' and 'popular music' but not 'classical' or even a generic 'music'. Track listing for CDs is generally very poor and often absent.

Maybe. Recently quite a large number of people participated in "popular" riots, though many (or at least the ones who got caught) now seem to be being portrayed as already quite hardened criminals. Some of these people have received jail sentences, though it seems that for some at least sanity is prevailing, and they are being released on appeal.

The assumption when someone plunders a shop which has had its window smashed in is that they know they are doing something wrong, even though they have not caused the window to be smashed. Even worse - those cases of people who had gifts of pilfered items, perhaps knowingly, perhaps not - some of whom received jail sentences.

If a merchant offers an item at a favourable price, then it's not unreasonable to say "that's business", and buy it if it suits you.

If a merchant offers an item at very low price, then maybe we are doing something wrong if we buy at that offered price, which many might argue would be a clear mistake. However, unlike the looters, this is not illegal.

I feel an episode of the Moral Maze coming on.

[hafod]

A merchant offering an item for sale at a ridiculously low price through incompetence (it happens too often with Amazon for it to be categorised as a mistake), and the market place responding by paying that price is (imv) a million miles from looting. Big business for much of the time operates in ways that seek to put the customer at a disadvantage but when the boot is on the other foot it generates a preamble about looting. Each to his own though. On the question of morality I am reminded of 'caveat emptor'. What is the Latin for 'seller beware'.

[vinteuil]

What is the Latin for 'seller beware'.

'caveat vendor'