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How to purchase The Best of Percy Faith (12-CD set)

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Submitted by admin on Sat, 2020-05-30 12:30

I've received several inquiries about how to purchase The Best of Percy Faith (12-CD set) and, more specifically, whether The Great Concert can be ordered separately. I've already purchased a copy so perhaps what I've learned will be helpful to others.

The set was manufactured by Sony Music Entertainment Japan as a custom project for U-CAN's Mail Order Shop. At the moment, U-CAN is the exclusive distributor. They do not ship to international addresses and they do not sell individual components of the set separately.

Fortunately, there are many proxy services that can acquire and ship Japanese products for you, including Jauce, BuyeeFrom Japan, and the one I selected: ZenMarket. ZenMarket made shopping easy; I simply had to paste the URL of the item I wanted to purchase. There are many payment options (e.g. various credit cards, Paypal, bank transfer) but the buyer should carefully examine the fees involved. For this set, domestic shipping (i.e. from U-CAN to ZenMarket) was free so I only paid for the set itself (31,680 yen ≈ US $295) plus 3.5% to cover the money transfer fees. International shipping rates have gone up in recent years so I'm anticipating it will cost $50 or more to ship to USA. When I receive the set, I'll update this page with the final cost breakdown.

June 17 update: I submitted my request to ZenMarket on May 25; they responded on May 27 confirming availability and price which I promptly paid. The item arrived in their warehouse on June 4. I chose my shipping carrier (FedEx) and requested that they pack the item Alternatively, you could purchase items from multiple vendors and ZenMarket would ship them together. Due to COVID-19, they had limited staff so the package sat in their warehouse for 11 days before they could pack the item and confirm the shipping cost. I paid for shipping on June 15 and they shipped June 16. FedEx delivered the package to me in the USA on June 17 at 10:30am (EDT).

Cost: ZenMarket charges a flat commission of ¥300 (US $3) per item which they waive for your first order. My total cost was about US $363 ($295 for the set, $55 shipping, $13 in money transfer fees). I paid a premium for FedEx shipping and it arrived within two days. So, 23 days from order to delivery which is great given the pandemic conditions. I was very satisfied with the ease of ordering using the ZenMarket site and the good communication. I will use them for future orders.

The price is likely a bit over-the-top for most fans. I see this more as a "gift set" than a practical purchase.


Unboxing photos

ZenMarket packaged the U-CAN box (below) within a larger FedEx box (not shown) for shipping.

The Best of Percy Faith: U-CAN box The Best of Percy Faith: Guide Book The Best of Percy Faith: Guide Book (2) The Best of Percy Faith: Guide Book (3) The Best of Percy Faith: compact discs The Best of Percy Faith: The Great Concert

What is The Great Concert?

The album was originally released as Percy Faith In Concert (CBS/Sony SOPN-70) and included excerpts from a concert held at Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, on May 19, 1974. It was a single, quadraphonic Lp that omitted the following selections from the concert: What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life / Day By Day / Nights In White Satin / Bossa Nova Medley (Corcovado, Wave, Atrevido) / Killing Me Softly With Her Song / Crunchy Granola Suite / The Windmills Of Your Mind / Sayonara

The Great Concert (CBS/Sony 40AP308/9) was a tribute album released shortly after Percy's death. The double-Lp featured a gatefold cover with many photos and included all of the selections from the concert. It was never reissued on compact disc until it was included as a "bonus" 2-CD set with The Best of Percy Faith, released in 2019.

Below is the track listing. Some of the titles include YouTube videos (created by other fans) so you can preview the music: