Miles Davis 71 Disc Box set (70 CDs, 1 DVD)*

$291.99

 

I'm weak! I pre-ordered for this at $291.99. Hey, it might even go down in price

I suppose I could always change my mind before Nov 24, and it's an easy way to fill some gaps I have and get some redbook versions of some of my SACD-only titles so I can play them via music server.

 

Well if you want them triple checked you'll need to give me 15 minutes then, sorry for the long wait but I like to do these things right.

 

Why don't you look into shipping from Amazon Canada? Price is currently CAN$250.99:

http://www.amazon.ca/Comp-Miles-Davis/dp/B002EOF7U8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1252734665&sr=1-1

Not sure what Customs would charge if they intercept it.

 

I don't believe I've ever ordered from a Canadian retailer before. Does anyone know how customs works going from Canada into the US?

 

I was told that a US citizen shouldn't be charged anything for importing goods. The rules may be different for products crossing the Canadian border since the two countries have various trade agreements in place, but I was able to import $150+ of books, DVDs and CDs from the UK at Christmas without any charges. I could never find any reference to tariffs/duty on CDs, books and DVDs on the IRS web site.

 

I can't speak for canada to usa, but for usa to canada they usually overlook small stuff (especially when sent by USPS/canada post). There is supposed to be no duty charged on items manufactured in either country (Don't know if this box set is?), as part of NAFTA. There's a bunch of random exceptions, but I don't think they'd apply here.

However, this is a box set, which I'm not sure whether it qualifies as small stuff or not. If it ships by USPS/CP and they do decide to charge duty, it's usually like five bucks. UPS or fedex, however, can really screw you over with completely random charges that sometimes mysteriously nearly equal the product price itself. But like I said, that's going the other direction. Any individual CDs have always been ignored for me, but larger things (speakers, guitars, amps) will get charged. Also, I spent the last year traveling and maybe things have changed while I was gone.

 

Doesn't Canada have sales tax (value added tax)?

Even if countries agree to abolish customs tax for good manufactured in their countries, sales tax may still be due.

For example, Europeans who import CDs from the US only have to pay about 1% customs tax, but 15-25% value added tax, depending on tax level in the country of destination. It's the customs who collect the tax, so people often call it customs tax (tax for importing stuff), although it isn't.

 

Using my example from the UK where VAT is 15% (it was 17.5% till last year), that figure is included in the price you pay. We don't add tax to the list price except with computers.

 

This is getting off topic now, but yes. To add confusion, every province has a different tax level. Alberta is the lowest, for what it's worth. Amazon.ca shows up charging me $12.55 pst plus $17.57 gst (which is consistent with my province, Manitoba) for a grand total of $281.11.

I say fill out the order and see what it says. If you don't like it, cancel it. But don't forget there may be duty/wierd clearance charges at the border.

 

I assume the sleeves will be similar to those from the "Original Album Classics" 5 disc sets that columbia has.

Does anyone have one of those sets and have any comments on the sleeve quality?

Would there be any inner plastic disc sleeves on the market that would be a match for these?

 

Looks like these will be in plain cardboard style sleeves like the one in The Beatles Capitol albums or the Sinatra Concept Albums boxes. I might bite but I doubt it. I have most of the Miles I want now.

 

Since this is being issued by Sony, I think it's a safe bet that the packaging will be similar to the Glenn Gould Complete Original Jacket Collection. The outer sleeves in the Gould set are smaller than the ones used for The Beatles Mono discs by about three-eighths of an inch (width and height). If that's the case, then the inner sleeves that I've been using for mini-LPs (like these) won't quite fit. That's not really a problem for me. I rip everything to my hard drive, so each disc only gets taken out of its sleeve once.

 

Amazon Canada sill has a good price (~$249US shipped) for this one. Anyone US folks going to take the plunge and order from amazon.ca?

I can't remember how much my CC company charges when I buy something in a different currency.

 

Any plans for a 20 disc sampler?

 

Actually it's $250.99 CAD which is $238.244 USD at the current exchange rate and not taking into account what your credit card charges you. Not sure if you get free shipping from Canada to the States with this order.

 

No free shipping to US, which is why it comes to ~$249 USD shipped. That's $42 cheaper than what I already have it pre-ordered for. Still not sure if it's worth the hassle of ordering from Canada.

Any US guys ordered from Amazon.ca lately?

 

It's 140 GBP on Amazon UK as well. Don't know if that works out better for any of you..I'm saving around $20 compared to Amazon Canada, currently.

 

Yep, it would appear Amazon UK is the better deal. Worked out to $203 USD shipped. Even with a 3-4% conversion fee by my credit card company, it's still significantly less that Amazon US.

How can you resist at $3 a disc?!

Wonder if the DVD will be PAL or NTSC in the Amazon UK version?

 

Hope and prey not...The sleeves used in the Original Album Classics series are of very low quality...Very thin stock, made from pictures of old record covers in many cases. No inner sleeves. They couldn't be cheaper...

 

Well, with the dollar in free fall, who knows what the shipped price will be by the time it ships?

What happened to the option to lock in your conversion rate (pay in US dollars)? I wasn't offered that option this time...Maybe it doesn't apply to pre-orders?

 

I didn't see any option to lock in, or convert to USD for payment.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200224510

 

Good info, Claude. I suppose could just wait until it's actually released to order.

 

I would highly recommend buying now, and keeping an eye on the exchange rate. If it goes too far against the US, just cancel. You can cancel with a couple of clicks until it goes into shipping mode (a day or two before shipment).