Deals

DEAL OF THE DAY: John Martyn / The Island Years / 18-disc box set

By Paul Sinclair

Comments

78

johnmartyn

Update 16/12/13: Deal is now over. Back to €199!

This John Martyn Island Years box set is epic. It contains 17 CDs featuring the 12 key studio albums (recorded for Island between 1967 and 1987) with previously unreleased mixes, outtakes, unheard songs and two complete, previously unreleased live solo concerts from 1972 and 1977 and the complete demos for The Apprentice, the last album Martyn delivered to Island. Add to that a DVD with loads of TV performances, a large hardback book and you have an amazing set.

This has to be our BEST EVER deal of the day, because you can pick this up now from Amazon Germany at the time of writing for just €39! That’s £33! It’s £154 on Amazon UK. Don’t hesitate because this will surely be gone before the day is out!

SuperDeluxeEdition.com helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.

Related Content

78 Comments

78 thoughts on “DEAL OF THE DAY: John Martyn / The Island Years / 18-disc box set”

  1. Pingback: John Martyn / The Best of the Island Years: 4CD box set | superdeluxeedition

  2. Add my name to the list of people who had their order (for just one copy) cancelled.

    I’ve now had various orders cancelled by Amazon Germany, Amazon USA and Amazon UK. They have been for different products at widely different price points, and some not even much under the rrp.

    Most have been preorders (though admittedly not this one), so the Amazon “Price Promise” really does mean nothing.

  3. Amazon.de cancelled my order as well but I found a sealed copy on ebay for £100 which is bargain enough for me now (the seller probably bought on the great amazon giveaway). It arrived this week and I’m very pleased with it.

  6. I’m one of the lucky ones; Amazon.de honoured my order and the box has just arrived (I suspect because I got in early and didn’t get greedy by ordering multiple copies.)

    It’s truly a thing of wonder (weighs a ton!) I suspect it’s going to take me weeks to plough through all this audio/video content.

    Before this box I only owned ‘Solid Air’ & ‘One World’ so I’m just hoping that some of the other material holds up.

  7. Just been informed that amazon.de will not honour this price indicating the item was incorrectly listed. Item has been removed from my orders on amazon.de. Anyone else get the same message from amazon.de?

  8. I also got the e-mail today. A sad day indeed for many of us. Let’s still keep an eye on it though because at that overinflated price they’re probably not gonna move too quickly. If they have a 50% sale I’d bite.

    Happy Holidays

  9. Yeah, got the same cancellation email. Disappointed, especially as I’d ordered the afore mentioned Rufus Wainwright Boxset which Amazon.co.uk have also cancelled…

  10. Same here after the earlier expected delivery. Mine was from a seller whose price, I guess, linked to Amazons. I suspect those (earlier birds) whose order was supplied by Amazon were lucky, and those whose order tripped to a third party missed out.
    Ah well, working my way through the Nilsson set..still in the early, happy, pure voice years to cheer me up.

  11. Just got email from Amazon Germany advising that order cancelled because incorrect price listed. Bummer. Might have to be quicker next time.

    Google translation of email is below

    we have important information to your current order 028-6415189-3371534 .

    They had ordered from us following:

    The Iceland Years ( ASIN: B00DRAS9BC )

    This item has been honored by us on the website by mistake at an incorrect price . We had him therefore cancel from your order. Of course, he is not charged to you .

    We ask for your understanding – maybe you have even been wondering myself about the unusual price.

    According to our terms and conditions of the purchase contract on a product without first talking with sending the shipping confirmation e- mail concluded. However, the alternative, we explain the avoidance for mistake .

    Please excuse the typos, we have now been corrected .

    Thank you for your understanding.

    (This is an automatically sent e-mail. Please do not reply to this letter , as the e- mail address is only set up to send but not to receive e -mails. )

    Friendly greetings .

  12. Do not order anything from Amazon Germany my daughter ordered a JM box set as advertised, the order was cancelled they should have honoured the order. Do not waste your time giving them any business

  13. Yeah mine got cancelled too, I reckon people got greedy and ordered multiple copies making it impossible for Amazon to honour all of them. I was really looking forward to it too ;(

  14. Yes, just got an e-mail cancelling my order, very annoying as some people got theirs. They should have the decency to honour it. Oh well at least someone will be pleased.

  15. I am from Germany. No cancellation here and my amazon account says “Versand wird vorbereitet” which means that the item is prepared for shipping. Looks like I am one of the lucky few. Thanks Paul – this is a great site!

  16. Got the cancellation email also. Shame.

    To be honest not much of a surprise and not convinced this shakes my trust in Amazon (.de or others) or the German nation or people. It was obviously a mis-price and I’m not sure I can pretend otherwise. Great if anyone got it but i’m hardly surprised. Ho, Ho, Ho, Hum.

  17. My box arrived on Friday, early christmas present that will be ringing through the house for weeks to come.
    There is a little bit of damage to the box, but at under 45 euros all in, it’s an amazing bargain for almost 20 years of a man’s musical output.
    Thanks again to SDE for the heads-up on this one
    Gary C

  19. Bad luck to those that have had their orders cancelled. Really was a bit of a case of luck of the draw/getting in early. Well done if you got one.

    Interesting that Amazon.de honoured the €20 Tommy SDE even when it was pre-ordered at that price by many months ahead of time. I guess they draw the line at over €100 below what it should be :)

    1. Had just a complain call to the customer service – saying they can’t do anything As I could understand the number of orders where way too high. On monday the boxset was on 2nd position in the highest climber ranking. I`m really diappointed and not sure whether I have no rights against this policy.
      @Michel: But I am sure that this has nothing to do with the germans !!!

  22. Amazon Germany cancelled my order this morning. Last time I use the tax-dodging b&*ards for any purchase. Many thanks for the original heads-up tho’ – at least some people seem to have received their orders.

  23. Like Barry I have just received an e mail saying my order has been cancelled. That was just after getting one that said my delivery was being moved forward like abitoftap’s. Gutted!!!

  24. I had note from Amazon this morning to say it was a misprice and they’re not honouring the deal. I ordered late in the day when the delivery time was 1-2 months so I’m not too surprised nor too bothered. At least that will make Mani happy :)

    1. Mine also arrived today. I’m now a bit overwhelmed: where to start? The beginning seems like a good place, I guess. Or is it? For some reason, I wasn’t expecting something quite so physically big. No idea why. The book looks great.

      This is my instant John Martyn collection. It would not have happened were it not for the selfless vigilance of SDE and the retail insanity of amazon.de

  27. Not to cast a downer, but Amazon UK did a similar deal with the Rufus Wainwright box set 6 weeks back (£140+ box set down to £35). I ordered it, waited 6 weeks, and then out of the blue they cancelled the order and gave no reason. Perhaps Amazon Germany are a bit more honourable though…

  28. Who the fuck is this? Lol. Why in the hell don’t people who have been heard of get this type of treatment of their songs?! How does something like this make sense commercially?! I don’t get it.

  29. And perhaps even more important is to mention how extraordinarily amazing John Martyn is. This man was truly one of the most amazing musical things of the last 50 years. I know it may be heresy to some but I could go the rest of my life never hearing the Beatles or the Stones and not be much fussed. John Martyn however is someone who, as long as I had some kind of music playing device, couldn’t do without.

  32. Hey Mani,
    I know it hasn’t worked out this time but NEXT time it will; if Paul/we all keep our eyes open for these deals and let Paul kno so he can make the rest of us aware, we will all ultimately gain. Stay well

  33. Mani, to some extent I can understand your annoyance but I’m afraid that this path could go on forever and ultimately it’ll only annoy you and does perhaps make you seem rather mean spirited to some. Most of us collectors or even mild shoppers have a list of “I saw it at X and now it is Y, GRRR” or “I saw that Talk Talk wooden box thing for £8 once and didn’t buy it and not I cannot get it for less than £200 on ebay” memories.

    I did ordered the set at this price and I’ll be delighted if I get it and can cope if not. For someone else to me annoyed at me getting a bargain is not something that is likely to cause me concern, and hey I like to think I am a nice guy.

    What matters more is that we all remind ourselves what an absolute star Paul is for this blog and the endless treats he lets us know about at all kinds of prices. He’s a muso/collectors hero and if we don’t have a hurrah for Paul separate thread then we should litter positive comments for him around the place.

  35. Shaving the odd £10 – £20 off things is one thing, but £140, come on! Never mind goodwill, I don’t have much dosh and had saved up for this. First of all there was the mp3 giveaway cock up with it and then this ludicrous price reduction. Sorry if it looks like humbug but surely I’m not the only one angry about this?!!

  36. Wow, Mani….while I understand ur frustration, what about being pleased for people who might otherwise not have been able to afford this box set?!? Seasonal cheer and good wishes and all that fella….

  37. Thanks for the heads up Paul. Now back to the “I’d love to but cannot afford it” 199 euros. I guess we can all hope they will be honoured at the lower price…

  38. Some readers like myself paid the full amount for this when it was released. Now here come a whole truck load of pleased as punch bargain hunters grubbing after it. Really hope the price isn’t honoured!

  39. Just ordered a copy from Downunder. Amazon Germany even recognised that I had an account with either Amazon UK or US (both with the same email and password) and had all my details for the purchase.

  40. Paul, both u and this site SERIOUSLY rock!!! Saw this in a small record shop yesterday who wanted £180…looked at it longingly, thinking that I’d NEVER be able to afford it. This is THE present of Christmas…one Boxset ordered. Thanku.

  41. Hi Paul, A massive thanks for this tip. I managed to get the mp3 set a few months ago but this is something else!
    I ordered a box for a mate also and have checked my account with Amazon.de and both are prepared for shipment. I just love this place but it costs me a bloody fortune!

  43. Wow, amazing! Merry Christmas to me! I don’t care if the ship time is 1-2 months, beats never as I couldn’t have afforded it otherwise! Thanks so much for the heads up!

  47. My order details are showing estimated delivery for 18-19th December. I opted for standard shipping rather than ‘super saver free delivery’

  48. It’s quite clearly a misprice.

    I doubt we’ll get them at this price, have ordered anyway and appreciate the heads up on the great price Paul.

    This is the message on the order page for that product

    Gewöhnlich versandfertig in 1 bis 2 Monaten.

    Which translates to:

    Usually ships in 1 to 2 months.

    1. It changed to 1 to 2 months after about an hour or two. It was available to be shipped in a few days earlier. I’m fully expecting them to honour this and while it’s absurdly low, not necessarily a mis-price. Amazon do crazy things occasionally, probably due to there systems which seem to allow for things like this to happen.

  51. Thanks for the tip Paul. Certainly the deal of year.
    I don’t think the original £140 price was over-inflated for what you get, but I do think the people who put this together didn’t do their homework on how popular the artist and content is/was/would be.
    John Martyn is a music legend in my book, but is there more than a 1000 people who’d shell out £150 for a box set of his?
    As an aside, John Martyn always reminds me of Christmas, because the first time I saw him in concert was the Sub Club in Glasgow, way way back in December, 1989. We had snow every Christmas back then

    1. Agree with your comments about how popular he is and whether this site was the right commercial decision. I wonder what suddenly makes Amazon reduce the price by 77%? Is a human even involved in the decision, one wonders?

  52. That is absolutely amazing – thanks so much for the heads up. I worry sometimes about how many bargains this site draws my attention to that are simply too good not to go for. Outstanding work Paul!

  53. GBP 38.88 inc. P&P – insane!

    I’ve ordered this out of curiosity, having heard some of his music and seen some material performed on TV. I don’t own anything by him as yet.

    The expected delivery date of Wednesday/Thursday 18th/19th December might be ambitious for shipping outside Germany, but that’s not a worry.

    1. Definitely worth a punt at that price. My experience is that Amazon.de are very quick at delivering and very cheap. Seem to recall my ‘uber’ deluxe edition of U2’s Achtung Baby – which is ENORMOUS – cost something like €3 to delivery via courier!!

    1. iTunes / Amazon were virtually giving away the MP3 set due to a cock-up earlier this year, but this is even better really, getting the physical set so cheap.

    1. I ordered 3 copies of this John Martyn box set late on December 15 or very early on December 16 after being alerted by your Deal of the Day story.
      However I received an email from Amazon.de in German, saying that the price had been a mistake and that my order has been cancelled. I am very disappointed with this and wonder if I could pursue this as my order was accepted and I have the print-out to prove it.
      I would value someone’s advice on this.
      Cheers
      John, in Belfast

      1. I have had the same problem – the order was cancelled. I am not sure this is legal however and will be contacting them to complain. I suggest anyone else who has had the same treatment should also complain, as well as to post on their public Facebook wall (https://www.facebook.com/Amazon.de) and their Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/amazon – can’t find a specific one for the German site) – big firms like Amazon do more often honour mistakes than not, to save themselves from too much public embarrassment…

        1. Until they take the money from your account, it doesn’t constitute a ‘contract’ – that’s my understanding. Therefore annoying, but not illegal.

Leave a Reply