American sales for this Box Set have been 37,000 units in its first week and 58,000 units from its release date to December 8th. That are 232,000 single CDs (counted the RIAA way). That is pretty decent, considering that no new songs or previously unreleased outtakes are included on it. Usually Box Sets contain plenty of unreleased stuff as incentive for the fan to buy it. So it has done pretty well in its first couple of weeks considering that it lacks anything new. For comparison, Michael Jackson`s new Box Set (released at the same time and retailed at roughly the same price) as only managed to sell 14,000 units. The Beatles Box has thus outsold Jacko`s more than four times!
Its debut position in the Billboard 200 Albums Chart was #35. One may compare this to an Elvis Presley Box Set release from August 1997 called "Platinum: A Life In Music" (which was surrounded by lots of media ballyhoo due to the 20th anniversary of his death). This Elvis Set contained dozens over dozens of unreleased outtakes, live songs and newly discovered songs not released before, and look, it only managed to reach #80!
Considering all these circumstances, "The Capitol Albums" has done very well!
