Bargains

[vinteuil]

... some of us got the Real Chopin box very cheaply indeed.

I see it is still available - and still at a very reasonable price!

http://amzn.eu/8xOhTbw

[MickyD]

If I remember rightly, we got that wonderful Chopin box for about a tenner. Best bargain I ever grabbed!

[HighlandDougie]

... some of us got the Real Chopin box very cheaply indeed.

I see it is still available - and still at a very reasonable price!

http://amzn.eu/8xOhTbw

Ah, there is a slight catch in that, if you click on the image of the back of the CD, you will see that it is a single CD of Chopin songs. When, post-the original bargain-of-bargains, we were alerted in 2014 to it again being really cheap on Amazon Spain. I duly ordered what I thought was the box and was a bit put out when the single CD of songs arrived. I wrote to Amazon Spain (in Spanish, using Google Translate), protesting about the misleading listing and, to their credit, I eventually received the box, plus, I think, a refund of the amount I had paid on the Songs CD. I hadn't really thought about this but it probably ended up costing me the postage of the Songs CD back to Spain (about €3.50).

[Conchis]

Ah, there is a slight catch in that, if you click on the image of the back of the CD, you will see that it is a single CD of Chopin songs. When, post-the original bargain-of-bargains, we were alerted in 2014 to it again being really cheap on Amazon Spain. I duly ordered what I thought was the box and was a bit put out when the single CD of songs arrived. I wrote to Amazon Spain (in Spanish, using Google Translate), protesting about the misleading listing and, to their credit, I eventually received the box, plus, I think, a refund of the amount I had paid on the Songs CD. I hadn't really thought about this but it probably ended up costing me the postage of the Songs CD back to Spain (about €3.50).

Ah, it's all coming back to me now. I had it on order, but cancelled mine when you reported the single disc issue. I think I was in a fit of post-Christmas guilt at the time, too. Anyway, I missed out on a bargain and other forumites have been rubbing it in ever since....

[vinteuil]

.

... many thanks to HighlandDougie for alerting us to the hitch.

Sorry to have raised expectations

[Pianorak]

.

Sorry to have raised expectations

Eh? Couldn't really believe they would charge £29 for a single disc. My hunch was right – ordered Thursday and box arrived today. Thanks Vinteuil.

[HighlandDougie]

Eh? Couldn't really believe they would charge £29 for a single disc. My hunch was right – ordered Thursday and box arrived today. Thanks Vinteuil.

That is good news - and I'm very delighted to have been proved completely wrong!!

[teamsaint]

So, going back to the Strauss box, it appears that a set that is currently out of stock (on a Saturday night, )is scheduled to be despatched in bulk tomorrow, for delivery on a bank holiday.

I don't think I'll stay in specially..........

[Parry1912]

Eh? Couldn't really believe they would charge £29 for a single disc. My hunch was right – ordered Thursday and box arrived today. Thanks Vinteuil.

I've taken a punt on this now so we'll see what Monday brings!

[Conchis]

I see it is "Temporarily out of stock" for new orders at their normal price. I wonder how many £11 orders they had.

A helluva lot, given that it rapidly became a best-seller. Most people who follow this thread seem to have jumped and if we are the microcosm, just imagine the macrocosm!

[Parry1912]

Eh? Couldn't really believe they would charge £29 for a single disc. My hunch was right – ordered Thursday and box arrived today. Thanks Vinteuil.

I just got the single CD of the songs again!

[gurnemanz]

How much human involvement is there in Amazon's decisions on these pricing and delivery parameters? Is it mainly done automatically by algorithms built into their software?

[teamsaint]

How much human involvement is there in Amazon's decisions on these pricing and delivery parameters? Is it mainly done automatically by algorithms built into their software?

I think what happens is , ( roughly) that they have modest number of automatic pricing mechanisms that change over time, with sales ranking, with the source of their supply, and some other variables.

We supply them with our own books. We can and usually do supply at a fixed base discount from our own distributor. We don't currently vary the discount at all, although this is possible.
However, they also source our books from major wholesalers, at somewhat different prices, although they won't be more than a few percentage points different.
What the Amazon price is though,is anybody's guess, at any point. Usually, they offer ours at RRP until publication, and after that it drops to perhaps 85/90 % of RRP. We don't tend to worry too much, as Amazon are usually undercut by other online retailers such as Book Depository ( which they own) , Books etc, Wordery, Rarewaves, and whatever Amazon charge we still get our money at RRP less the standard discount.

It's all pretty impenetrable ,even if you work with them, and there are other complexities that I won't bore you with.
Of course what happens at their end is a mystery too, but you are probably right that it is mainly down to algorithms.

[Beef Oven!]

Richard Barrett - life-from / nacht und träume / Blattwerk

16 bit CD quality download available from Qobuz for just £7.99 - - - http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=...ett&i=boutique

This is a serious bargain (and the Hi-Res version is just £11.99)

2-CD set containing three substantial works for 'cello and electronics (and piano in the case of nacht und träume).

A number of us bought the CDs on pre-order last year and were knocked sideways when they arrived and we heard the astonishing music contained on the discs. Those CDs were about £18 and currently the Hi-Res download is about $30 on one site - shows what a bargain this Qobuz download is.

Virtuoso 'cello playing of the very highest order from Arne Deforce, especially on life-form, IMHO and profoundly skilled and sensitive piano from Yutaka Oya. Additionally, with Richard Barrett on electronics, the separation of composer and performer that has occurred since the ability to write down music was developed, is suspended on this recording.

[aeolium]

Perhaps we could have a thread purely comparing the progress of order tracking of a particular bargain box set from a certain company - it would certainly be far longer than many BaL threads.

Or, better still, perhaps someone could incorporate the discussion into the dialogue of an opera (neo-Straussian?) - perhaps it already forms part of the dialogue in The Exterminating Angel?