The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[Que]

An interesting read... Perhaps it is any comfort to know this happens all the time....

Anyway, I mailed them as well.Telling them the order was cancelled while the item was for sale.
Apologies, of course. " Must be a technical error...." 
Naturally it is unfortunately not possible to fulfill the original order...no reason given...

But... lo and behold.... they gave me £5 promotional credit....  

I guess in case of pricing errors, your best hope is that your order goes through unnoticed...
Once they string you along, all bets are off....

Q

[Harry]

https://www.jpc.de/ff/G%C3%BCnstiges+von+Oehms+Classics?page=5&searchtype=campaigntext

Oehms CD'S. a lot of them for just 2,99. Many good bargains to be had.

[Parsifal]

An interesting read... Perhaps it is any comfort to know this happens all the time....

Anyway, I mailed them as well.Telling them the order was cancelled while the item was for sale.
Apologies, of course. " Must be a technical error...." 
Naturally it is unfortunately not possible to fulfill the original order...no reason given...

But... lo and behold.... they gave me £5 promotional credit....  

I guess in case of pricing errors, your best hope is that your order goes through unnoticed...
Once they string you along, all bets are off....

Q

It seems odd to me that Amazon is being discussed as a sentient entity. I think it is quite likely that the customer experience was largely determined by some sort of inventory management algorithm, which was triggered by copies of that turd sitting unsold in the warehouse for years on end, which automatically set a new price point, and which didn't react well when GMG lit them up and too many orders came in at once. Probably no human hand was involved until the complaints were received and some poor sap sitting in a data center at 3:30am looked at the transaction log and had 30 seconds to figure out what the hell was going on and type a reply.

[Que]

It seems odd to me that Amazon is being discussed as a sentient entity. I think it is quite likely that the customer experience was largely determined by some sort of inventory management algorithm, which was triggered by copies of that turd sitting unsold in the warehouse for years on end, which automatically set a new price point, and which didn't react well when GMG lit them up and too many orders came in at once. Probably no human hand was involved until the complaints were received and some poor sap sitting in a data center at 3:30am looked at the transaction log and had 30 seconds to figure out what the hell was going on and type a reply.

So it seems...   Perhaps as odd as the urge to come up with excuses for Amazon and every possible alternative scenario? 
I think that anything automated is preprogrammed, and therefore the result of a policy.
And that includes cancelling an order in case of a pricing error when it becomes available again.
It seems perfectly plausible that everything up to the response to the email was automated.
But that doesn't disculpate Amazon from being disingenuous.

Q

[André]

https://www.jpc.de/ff/G%C3%BCnstiges+von+Oehms+Classics?page=5&searchtype=campaigntext

Oehms CD'S. a lot of them for just 2,99. Many good bargains to be had.

I heartily recommend the Tchaikovsky 2-4 from Poppen and his terrific Saarbrückeners. Right now listening to the 1st symphony (not on sale this time, I'm afraid).

Edit: yes, the 1st is part of the sale ! As good as, or better than most I know.

[Parsifal]

So it seems...   Perhaps as odd as the urge to come up with excuses for Amazon and every possible alternative scenario? 
I think that anything automated is preprogrammed, and therefore the result of a policy.
And that includes cancelling an order in case of a pricing error when it becomes available again.
It seems perfectly plausible that everything up to the response to the email was automated.
But that doesn't disculpate Amazon for being disingenuous.

Q

I think it is very unlikely it was an error. It was a (human or algorithmic) decision to dump unsellable stock. Probably the customer service rep didn't know what was going on, but the correct message would have been, "Sorry, the price offered was for an overstock item which has now sold out. We therefore cannot fill your order. If you wish you can re-order the item if it becomes available again." I would consider that a legitimate marketing strategy.

A few years ago the Steinberg EMI Icon set was listed for 5 pounds on Amazon.co.uk. I hesitated, when I came back it was out of stock and listed for 80 pounds. My tough luck. Same thing happened with the Richter Icon set. In that case the opposite problem, it is uselessly cluttering my shelves instead of Amazon's.

In any case, I don't think it is a matter of making excuses for Amazon. Their goal is to make the most efficient retail platform imaginable which allows them to offer the lowest price. You can get baby diapers delivered overnight to your door for cheaper than you can get them at Walmart. My problem with them is not that they sometimes fail to fulfill an order or send a disingenuous email. My problem is that they are so good at what they do they will put every other retailer on earth out of business.

[Harry]

At JPC de the label Cornetto, 21 titles, with some very interesting titles especially old music for 9,99. Maybe not a real bargain, but worth your while.
It's the first time I see this label.

https://www.jpc.de/s/Cornetto+zum+Sonderpreis?searchtype=campaigntext

[king ubu]

Thank you for this tip.
Unfortunately I have most of the stuff that is on offer.
But very good deals.

Tempting - and I have only a few so far ... just put in a chamber music order:

Schumann: Piano Trios
Dohnányi, Schoenberg & Martinů: String Trios
Smetana, Martinů & Eben: Piano Trios
Arensky & Taneyev: Piano Quintets
Grechaninov: Piano Trios
Arensky: String Quartet; Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence
Chausson & Indy: String Quartets
Korngold: String Sextet; Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht

EDIT: added the complete Poulenc songs for 10£, which added a 10% discount that was only eaten up to around 45% by the addt'l shipping costs ... not that any of this matters at these rates - less than 40£ for it all!

[PerfectWagnerite]

I don't know why some of you are bitching about the Richard Strauss set. Clearly it was a misprice that Amazon didn't particularly feel like honoring and I really don't blame them. If you walk into a car dealership and see a brand new car mispriced, missing a zero in the price for example, would the dealership honor that? Next time there is a misprice all of you would order again in the hope that you get the item because you lost nothing and will lose nothing.

Anyway I am sure it has been mentioned but this set is really cheap now from more than a few sources:

[asin]B008VT20TQ[/asin]

[Pat B]

I don't know why some of you are bitching about the Richard Strauss set. Clearly it was a misprice that Amazon didn't particularly feel like honoring and I really don't blame them. If you walk into a car dealership and see a brand new car mispriced, missing a zero in the price for example, would the dealership honor that?

I don't think anybody is surprised that amazon cancelled them. IMO it was really tacky of them to imply that the cancellation was due to unavailability.

[Ken B]

I don't think anybody is surprised that amazon cancelled them. IMO it was really tacky of them to imply that the cancellation was due to unavailability.

Bitching = surprised?

It is out of stock. Amazon U.K. No longer sells it, only marketplace vendors.

[Parsifal]

It is out of stock. Amazon U.K. No longer sells it, only marketplace vendors.

I also checked Deutsche Grammophone's web site. It is no longer in the catalog. I think it is legitimately no longer available, although some vendors may have unsold stock on hand.

[Harry]

120 titles from Hyperion. The Helios series. 7,99 and 8,99 for a single disc. Not really a super bargain, but maybe you are tempted to buy a few titles. JPC de

https://www.jpc.de/s/Hyperion-Sommeraktion?searchtype=campaigntext

[PerfectWagnerite]

Bitching = surprised?

It is out of stock. Amazon U.K. No longer sells it, only marketplace vendors.

My point was if today Amazon lowers the price to $11 again everyone would order it again even if there is a good probability that it will never get shipped. So what is the point of email them expression your displeasure? Again I don't see how Amazon owes anyone any explanation at all. No one was hurt financially by Amazon not shipping. Would everyone be happier if Amazon just said: sorry item not available. That's it.

[Ken B]

My point was if today Amazon lowers the price to $11 again everyone would order it again even if there is a good probability that it will never get shipped. So what is the point of email them expression your displeasure? Again I don't see how Amazon owes anyone any explanation at all. No one was hurt financially by Amazon not shipping. Would everyone be happier if Amazon just said: sorry item not available. That's it.

Just to be clear. I am agreeing with you.

[Parsifal]

I had one fortuitous amazon price anomaly experience that I remember. Right after it came out I saw the Levine Das Ring des Nibelungen DVDs (the first set, not the weird one with the "machine").  Das Rheingold, $29.99, Die Walkure, $29.99, Seigfried, $29.99, Gotterdamerung, $29.99, Complete Ring, $29.99. I pounced. The next day the price went up. I kept my fingers crossed, and it came. I was expecting an email saying that unfortunately a mistake, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[Pat B]

Bitching = surprised?

It is out of stock. Amazon U.K. No longer sells it, only marketplace vendors.

Today, yes. I haven't kept up, on a day-to-day basis, with whether Amazon UK stocks this particular item. I thought somebody had posted that it was available at some point after the low price. If that was incorrect then I agree with you.

[Harry]

May I again point out that the Locatelli box (Brilliant) with 21 CD'S at JPC de is for a very good price.
I consider these reference performances, plus you get almost state of the art recordings.
For 27,00€ that is a steal.

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/complete-edition/hnum/7883053

[aligreto]

May I again point out that the Locatelli box (Brilliant) with 21 CD'S at JPC de is for a very good price.
I consider these reference performances, plus you get almost state of the art recordings.
For 27,00€ that is a steal.



https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/complete-edition/hnum/7883053

For those who do not know him Locatelli is worth investigating IMHO.

[Todd]

Amazon currently has around 1,400 "Add-on" titles in classical, ranging from under $2 to over $5.  There are hundreds of titles at precisely $4.93.  ($5 seems to be the price where titles start switching to straight Amazon Prime pricing.)  There are titles from almost every label, with hundreds of composers and artists big and small represented.  The titles available constantly change as this appears to be an Amazon version of BRO, but shipping is free for Prime members once the Amazon total hits $25.  One needs to change the page number in the URL to jump around quickly, but that's simple enough.