It seems to be more puzzling than that. I was online at 02:00 EST (08:00 CEST) and it was still going on. In any case, the moral of the story is not to wait until the last day!
Picked up 3 "mini" Decca boxes before the sale ended -- HAITINK Philips Years MEHTA Symphonies/Symphonic Poems KOVACEVICH Philips Recordings With the VAT removed and shipping applied, worked out to about $67 total (a hair over $22 each).
I don't know what Amazon US is like, but I haven't had any packaging problems with Amazon.de so far (Glenn Gould Remastered, DGG 111, Horowitz Unreleased, etc etc). There won't be a problem with smaller boxes, I think. I must admit that I didn't dare to buy the Bach 333-box at DE, after I had seen some horror pictures of severely damaged Bach-boxes. But that one weighs over 25 pounds, and some Amazon-employees removed the protection from DGG. I paid a 100 bucks more, but I'm happy with that. Another member signalled that his 3-for-2 boxes were well packed.
In my experience...no. Last fall I ordered the Lenoard Bernstein: Symphony Edition set from Amazon.de. They shipped it over to Texas in a flimsy cardboard box with little to no packing material. A few corners had minor crunches, but the top right corner had a more significant crunch that transmitted to the interior of the box so that the plastic tray inside was crunched as well. I've received mega boxes in perfect condition from Amazon US, but that's because Amazon shipped them in what I guess was the packaging from the manufacturer. No doubt they'd be damaged as well if not for that...
In my experience, Amazon.de (as well as UK, Italy, and France - all of which I've ordered boxes from) typically use a thin/flimsier quality cardboard than Amazon US. In addition, any free space within the shipping box is typically filled with some wadded up paper (if you're lucky), which leaves boxes free to slide & bounce around inside the carton. The shipping boxes for my orders from the European Amazons typically arrive in the Chicago area looking pretty beat up, with ends smashed, corners ripped open, and leaving the contents of the boxes fully visible. All that said, whether the CONTENTS of the shipping box are damaged at all seems to be pure luck. I know several on the forums have reported consistently bad luck with this, while I've lived a rather charmed life. I've ordered 38 boxes of various sizes from the European Amazons over the past few years, and nearly every one arrived in nearly perfect condition (despite the condition of the shipping box). I only had one incident where one corner on the lid of a box was ripped. I reported the issue and they promptly sent me a replacement (and told me to keep the damaged item). I'm sure my luck is due to run out soon...
Ditto for me. I've had several boxes with the corners ripped and simply fixed them with tape. The odds seemed to favor any replacements also arriving with damage. The damage is the result of both flimsier cardboard than we're used to in the U.S. and the CD boxes not being secured within the larger space of the shipping carton. Many of my cartons from Europe come with transparent tape wrapped around them. I don't think the tape was from Amazon, but from an intervening shipper or post office trying to keep the boxes from falling apart. Several of my shipments were sent from the UK, despite having been ordered from France or Germany. That didn't seem to make a difference. Some packages arrived looking as if they'd been run over by a fork lift but with no damage to the contents.
Aside from one abysmal experience (For the Szell box, for which I received a full refund quickly) I've had great luck with Amazon US. To my mind it's completely worthwhile staying with the domestic one unless it's a substantial cost savings - their ability to offer support is just different. That said, I have a few boxes coming from Amazon.de, and will see how it plays out.
A good surprise today. My out-of-print copy of "Furtwangler Great EMI Recordings 21CD set", for which I paid an incredible US$ 18.99, arrived today from Arkivmusic. Not a "home-made" CD-R Arkivmusic own release as I suspected, but rather the official EMI release, new, undamaged, and factory sealed box. No idea about how they were able to have this item since it has long been unavailable everywhere else, but I´m very happy with that Wilhelm Furtwangler - The Great EMI Recordings - Emi Classics: 5099990787829 | Buy from ArkivMusic I´m not expecting the ideal remastering, but at this price... Kindest regards, DB
On Amazon.de I posted pictures of the worst outer box I received here: Bach 333 "The New Complete Edition": giant set is coming from DG & Decca I am currently on my third box (will be fourth) set of a very expensive box that they refuse to send properly packed. It's one of the Russian Anthology boxes and for how much it cost I refuse to have one that has a completely torn corner. Since this was 3 for 2 there is no easy way for them to just refund me for this one box. So Amazon are still swapping each and every one out. I am not picky with corner dings/dents (I'd say at least half my boxes have them and it never bothers me one bit), but a completely torn side on a 300+ Euro collectable limited edition box is where I draw the line. I haven't had an issue with Amazon US in years.
You're quite lucky then. I live in southern California and even my domestic Amazon orders are damaged about 95% of the time. This game of Russian roulette really makes me question whether the 3 for 2 deal is worth it. Personally, I feel like if I'm paying for physical CDs, I'm mostly paying for the condition of the presentation since most of the content is freely streamable online.
Starting a new topic here. What are some of the box sets you missed the opportunity to purchase and still get upset at yourself thinking about them, i.e., the ones that "got away"? For me, it includes the following: Perahia - the first 40 years Rubinstein - complete album collection Cliburn - complete album collection Horowitz - live at Carnegie Hall Bolet - complete RCA and Columbia album collection Rosen - complete Columbia and Epic album collection Vivarte Collection, vol 1 Wagner at the MET Bernstein Edition - concertos and orchestral works Price - complete recital albums Currently with a long, backlogged wishlist of box sets still to order, it's a lot of pressure to simply keep up and not miss the boat. Sometimes I wonder whether this hobby is causing me more stress than pleasure.
I do enjoy my Perahia set - it was my first big box set. I'm sorry that you missed out. To answer your question, allow me to twist Ol' Blue Eyes' words: "Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too many to mention."
I got lucky on the Perahia box in March 2017. Amazon DE had it on offer, but only for Prime members (which I am, but in the US, of course). Then one day it was available for anyone. I see that it cost 84 Euro.
I got most of the above. The one that I regret not getting is this, although I have managed to collect most (but not all) the individual cds for a very low price.
For those among us fending off self-criticism for our inaction and/or lack of money for the recent 3/2 Amazon.de deals, that same website currently has Abbado's RCA collection for 27 euros.
This set now has a trailer and a listing on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Philharmonic-Centenary-Ltd-Edt-G-Dudamel/dp/B07L5DTDP9)
I don’t know why my image does not show but the box set I am talking about is Paul Van Nevel and the Huelgas Ensemble A Secret Labyrinth.
I missed out on Wilhelm Backhaus Edition, I'm not sure if I'd buy it today as I think I have nearly everything on it already. That's it for me.
Question for the Bernstein fans - I have the "Edition" Symphony and Vocal Works sets. The Concertos box is obviously long out of print. Is there another Bernstein collection that offers some/any of what I'm missing not having this set?
