Advice on Selling CDs?

andyp · May 2023

Hi folks.

I have realised that as of yesterday when I sold my car, I now don’t have any CD players in my life. I very rarely used it anyway, so this day has been coming sooner or later. I’ve got a load of CDs stored in the loft. About 500, not thousands. Some are sort of rare although not very sought after, but 99.9% of them are standard-issue 90s, 2000s and 2010s rock, metal and alternative albums that most folk my age probably own or used to own.

I’m thinking I pull out any interesting ones and then Music Magpie the rest of them in one go. I’ll probably only get about £50, but I can’t face selling them individually… I don’t think.

Has anyone done this recently that could offer me some advice?

Many thanks.

Andy

Grampa · May 2023

I sold my mum's vinyl collection after she died, couple of hundred albums. Couldn't be faffed pricing them up individually so made a list and e-mailed to several local dealers to gauge interest and hopefully get an idea of value. Three dealers contacted me with offers, the collection went to the highest bidder who paid on pick up.
Hope this helps
Grampa

TTony · May 2023

andyp said:

I’ll probably only get about £50, but I can’t face selling them individually… I don’t think.

That's probably the decision only you can make.

500, listed for sale individually. You might sell half of them for perhaps £2 ea on average. = £500. The rest you try to persuade a charity shop to take.

Time taken to list them (wherever), update the list when one sells, put it in a mailer and post it = £ ? hours.

How much of your time is worth £500, and when will you get around to finding the time to do it?

[edit]
I need to shift a load too, just because I keep buying them and have run out of storage space, extra storage space, and the space I keep all the ones that I can't fit in anywhere else.

I'll probably create a few "bundles", each a mix of genres, and put them on here at a 50-for-£50 sort of deal in the hope that there'll be enough individual CDs in each bundle to tempt someone into buying a bundle and listening to stuff that they probably wouldn't otherwise bother with.

TheMarlin · May 2023

List what you have. I might be interested in taking the lot.

I hoover up all good stuff from local charity shops. They sell them for £0.25 each.

theatreanchor · May 2023

I’d be interested in what you’ve got (but I wouldn’t buy the lot!) I’m sure you could sell a bunch here (unless it’s all Limp Bizkit albums and demos).

Grunfeld · May 2023

andyp said:

Has anyone done this recently that could offer me some advice?

I got rid of nearly all a couple of years back and haven't even missed them.

I kept back about 50 which I thought were special and noticed them in their box over the weekend and thought, they can go too. They've been sat there doing nothing.

I just don't listen to music like I used to -- I mean, I listen to more than ever but not CDs.

TTony · May 2023

Send 'em over Oli @Grunfeld

(I imagine that stuff you kept back would be quite different / interesting!)

TheMarlin · May 2023

Grunfeld said:

andyp said:

Has anyone done this recently that could offer me some advice?

I got rid of nearly all a couple of years back and haven't even missed them.
I kept back about 50 which I thought were special and noticed them in their box over the weekend and thought, they can go too. They've been sat there doing nothing.
I just don't listen to music like I used to -- I mean, I listen to more than ever but not CDs.

I’m buying

Not a dealer, just a music but who like to own physical copies

andyp · May 2023

Thanks guys. Lots of useful info there.

I am going to dig them out this weekend and will most likely bundle them into similar stuff. I’ll come back to this thread with some sort of update with pics and info.

Cheers!

Andy

axisus · May 2023

I still buy CDs, but I'm only really interested if they are something like £2 each. I mostly mooch around car boot sales for them. I wouldn't buy 'bundles' personally, I don't want to be cluttering the place up with stuff I don't want!

If you are selling I think the best way these days is to pile them up and take quick photos showing all the spines. Far easier than typing out stuff.

Philly_Q · May 2023

I don't think I'd have the patience to try to sell any CDs (or DVDs for that matter), unless I could shift them in bulk to Music Magpie - but my past experience of selling to them wasn't great.

Do charity shops take anything, or are they fussy too?

marauder · May 2023

I'm always in the market to buy rock and metal CDs, for myself.

darthed1981 · May 2023

I did read an article the other day that a record reseller bought a house where a hoarder had stored 250,000 vinyl records, liquidated the hoard then (presumably after repairing the structural damage) sold the house...

Extreme hoarders... compact discs... when it comes and if it's a fretboarder then I'll watch...

I watched the show once, where the guy clearly needed help with his mental health, owned four houses in a village all full of crap and lived a miserable life eating beans cooked on a camping stove in a room full of dry paper, so waiting to be immolated basically. I felt incredibly sorry for him and it was all very sad, so never watched again.

Apparently one person hoarded and ate their own poop, so they at least did one to make anyone with forty years worth of magazines feel a bit normal...

axisus · May 2023

Philly_Q said:

Do charity shops take anything, or are they fussy too?

Walk up casually with a box full, carefully place it on the floor, then run ...

TTony · May 2023

axisus said:

Philly_Q said:

Do charity shops take anything, or are they fussy too?

Walk up casually with a box full, carefully place it on the floor, then run ...

What I’ve found heard works is to put something quite nice on the top, hiding the rubbish underneath.

Saves having to run.

darthed1981 · May 2023

Philly_Q said:

I don't think I'd have the patience to try to sell any CDs (or DVDs for that matter), unless I could shift them in bulk to Music Magpie - but my past experience of selling to them wasn't great.

Do charity shops take anything, or are they fussy too?

From browsing through charity shops, I'd say no.

Very much depends how many copies of Robbie William's swing album, Toploader, Orson and the Best of folk bands, military wives etc etc they already have...

Philly_Q · May 2023

darthed1981 said:

Philly_Q said:

I don't think I'd have the patience to try to sell any CDs (or DVDs for that matter), unless I could shift them in bulk to Music Magpie - but my past experience of selling to them wasn't great.

Do charity shops take anything, or are they fussy too?

From browsing through charity shops, I'd say no.

Very much depends how many copies of Robbie William's swing album, Toploader, Orson and the Best of folk bands, military wives etc etc they already have...

I haven't got any of those... maybe they'd appreciate a bit of hair metal, for a change?

ICBM · May 2023

I’m still buying CDs, so if you can be bothered to list them I’ll have a look and make a decent offer for anything I want - better than Music Magpie would give you, I’m happy to pay around their retail prices.

Philly_Q · May 2023

darthed1981 said:

I watched the show once, where the guy clearly needed help with his mental health, owned four houses in a village all full of crap and lived a miserable life eating beans cooked on a camping stove in a room full of dry paper, so waiting to be immolated basically. I felt incredibly sorry for him and it was all very sad, so never watched again.

The cameras were intrusive, I have to say. Not much room for them. either.

darthed1981 said:

Apparently one person hoarded and ate their own poop, so they at least did one to make anyone with forty years worth of magazines feel a bit normal...

I do feel slightly better now you've said that.

darthed1981 · May 2023

Philly_Q said:

darthed1981 said:

Philly_Q said:

I don't think I'd have the patience to try to sell any CDs (or DVDs for that matter), unless I could shift them in bulk to Music Magpie - but my past experience of selling to them wasn't great.

Do charity shops take anything, or are they fussy too?

From browsing through charity shops, I'd say no.

Very much depends how many copies of Robbie William's swing album, Toploader, Orson and the Best of folk bands, military wives etc etc they already have...

I haven't got any of those... maybe they'd appreciate a bit of hair metal, for a change?

The people browsing no doubt would if those are the other choices!

TBF - I love Achilles Heel by Toploader, great song, just in case their guitarist is a member

Philly_Q · May 2023

darthed1981 said:
TBF - I love Achilles Heel by Toploader, great song, just in case their guitarist is a member

I fucking hate them. Apologies if Mr Hipgrave is a member.

Philly_Q · May 2023

ICBM said:

I’m still buying CDs, so if you can be bothered to list them I’ll have a look and make a decent offer for anything I want - better than Music Magpie would give you, I’m happy to pay around their retail prices.

@ICBM I assume that was for @andyp, not me... you wouldn't want any of my stuff.

marauder · May 2023

I'd have some of your stuff @Philly_Q ;

Philly_Q · May 2023

marauder said:

I'd have some of your stuff @Philly_Q ;

Might have to wait a couple of years. My "Big Clear Out" (TM) hasn't got any closer. But I'll let you know!

marauder · May 2023

Don't do it. if you've got the room. keep them.

Boromedic · May 2023

I'd keep em if you can, after the vinyl and now tape revival. Guarantee they'll manufacture a CD revival now as well!!

Philly_Q · May 2023

Boromedic said:

I'd keep em if you can, after the vinyl and now tape revival. Guarantee they'll manufacture a CD revival now as well!!

It seems likely. I read an article the other day predicting a DVD and Blu-ray revival as well, people are starting to realise that not everything's available on streaming services.

TTony · May 2023

Seeing how many people are still CD-ers, and how many have probably got overflowing shelves, cupboards, lofts, maybe we should have some sort of trading/listening-box that we send around between us.

Person 1 puts together a box of 50-60 CDs and sends off to Person 2 who gets to listen to some stuff that they wouldn't have bought or listened to otherwise. Person 2 likes 10 (suggested limit) of them so much, so keeps that 10 but replaces them with 15 of their own "surplus". They send the original number on to Person 3 (who repeats the process) and the extra 5 back to Person 1 to start to replace their initial contribution.

Over time, the original box gets to Person N who - there being no other takers - sends it back to Person 1 (it's now a different box) and the cycle begins again ....

Philly_Q · May 2023

@TTony I stopped reading halfway through that post because I could feel a Scanners-like head explosion building up.

andyp · May 2023

ICBM said:

I’m still buying CDs, so if you can be bothered to list them I’ll have a look and make a decent offer for anything I want - better than Music Magpie would give you, I’m happy to pay around their retail prices.

Thanks! I am going to try and list at least a batch of the better ones. A task for this weekend.

darthed1981 · May 2023

TTony said:

Seeing how many people are still CD-ers, and how many have probably got overflowing shelves, cupboards, lofts, maybe we should have some sort of trading/listening-box that we send around between us.

Person 1 puts together a box of 50-60 CDs and sends off to Person 2 who gets to listen to some stuff that they wouldn't have bought or listened to otherwise. Person 2 likes 10 (suggested limit) of them so much, so keeps that 10 but replaces them with 15 of their own "surplus". They send the original number on to Person 3 (who repeats the process) and the extra 5 back to Person 1 to start to replace their initial contribution.

Over time, the original box gets to Person N who - there being no other takers - sends it back to Person 1 (it's now a different box) and the cycle begins again ....

Then Neo goes to the architect, chooses a new group of people to start the new Zion... yeah I saw Matrix Reloaded...

Seriously though, given the number of "im selling my CDs" threads on here actually quite a nice idea.

I've not got nearly enough CDs to participate personally but I bet loads do.

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