Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

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UpperNwGuy
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by UpperNwGuy »

rebellovw wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:04 pm Surprising how your CD library will compress/shrink once you get rid of those stupid jewel cases.

All my CDs fit in just 4 boxes on my office shelf.
Are there special boxes that are designed for storing CDs without jewel cases? Are there special sleeves that protect the CDs.
Jack FFR1846
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

This thread got me thinking. I don't listen to CDs anymore. Tons of them along with movies hanging around the house. So I did a search and there are several buyers of CDs, books, movies. You download an app on your phone and then use the camera to scan the UPC code and it gives you an amount they'll pay you. Don't expect a ton. From reviews, people complain about getting 21 cents for a CD that they think are priceless. For me, I'd love to unload without filling a landfill. I'll be going through and scanning and not even caring what they'll pay me. Getting free shipping and maybe a few dollars is fine.
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trinc
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by trinc »

I'd like to see a list of the CD's

Tim
rebellovw
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by rebellovw »

UpperNwGuy wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:48 am
rebellovw wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:04 pm Surprising how your CD library will compress/shrink once you get rid of those stupid jewel cases.

All my CDs fit in just 4 boxes on my office shelf.
Are there special boxes that are designed for storing CDs without jewel cases? Are there special sleeves that protect the CDs.
Yeah - I got these clear soft sleeves - you just take out the CD inserts, booklets etc- insert into the softsleeve - then insert the CD or CDs (holds up to two) - about the thickness of the CD + paper label. Two feet high of CD Jewel cases collapses to about a few inches.
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midareff
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by midareff »

by Coburn » Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:56 pm
When and if you have a complete listing of all your CDs prepared and are ready to move/sell some of them...I'd appreciate if you PM me.

I have about 2500 CDs myself which I've collected over 30-some-odd years...and which like you, although a bit onerous to sell now, still affords some listening pleasure when I have time to listen to them.

It's not about having the time... I'm retired and have the time. It's the convenience of the whole thing of turning on the lights, looking for the disc, opening the player and walking back to the chair, and the reverse when done to put the disc away compared to having 20 preset internet radio stations and a search engine for thousands more as well as Tidal and Spotify all on an Android app. I don't know that I would compile a list. I'll probably just start at A if I do it and see if things sell. I had about the same as you 25 years ago and trimmed that to about 500 or so back then when CD shops were still buying. I don't recall ever parting with my Jazz CDs and have some that are very long out of print including about ten or so Mosaic sets and a 9 or 10 disc Clifford Brown set. I don't think I would part with those either as the money to buy then was very dear then.


by 30west » Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:30 pm
One of the last pre covid parties i went to had a guy spinning old vinyl LPs from the 70s. Great fun. I have a modest [400+] CD collection and when i travel i drop into used music shops to see if i can fill a hole in my collection. Its cheap fun and im not alone. Many cities here in the midwest still have at least one used LP/CD music shop, think of it as antique shops for our generation. Im sure someone will want them. Post a link if you decide to ebay them if possible. I can always find room for a few more.

It's different here for some reason. As an example there are 83 FM radio stations serving the Miami - Fort Lauderdale area. Take the Spanish, Ethnic, Hip Hop, Urban, College and News stations off the top and that leaves 2 Classic Rock stations, 1 Country station and 1 Public Radio Station .. and a Jazz station that broadcasts only on the internet now. That and a boat load of drive time commercials won't get you to decent listening despite a much modified 45 year old Sansui TU-9900 tuner. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area as of 2019 had over 6 million people now and only one or two equipment salons, and no place I could find with a tube tester. It's just different here.


by humblecoder » Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:00 pm
30 years ago, everybody thought records were dead. Now they are retro and have made a comeback. Maybe CD's will be hip again in a few decades!

Might be but it sure won't matter to me in a few decades. I have a few friends that tout they only listen to vinyl and don't eat Tofu or Sushi. These folks also claim they can't hear any differences between different cables or interconnects. One of them keeps buying up record collections and is up to near 7,000 and has to build storage facilities in his garage. .... I hope he is planning on heating/cooling and insulating it as well as sanitizing all those incoming jackets as I bet there are a few little critter eggs in there somewhere. Heck, I like Sushi and will eat Tofu when my wife uses it with her Thai dishes.

by mffl » Fri Mar 26, 2021 2:19 am
Am I the only one that mourns the loss of actually "owning" things? Yes, yes, I know, you don't truly OWN the music on your CDs, but once purchased *one time*, the music was yours to play as you see fit forever. Sure, the CD could wear out, so you rip it to your computer.

I get the conveniences of streaming solutions -- relatively cheap, finally getting relatively good in quality, very large selection. But monthly fees. I despise monthly fees. As the consumer, I'm as opposed to the monthly fees as the companies forcing them on me are intent on gaining a monthly revenue stream. In addition to streaming platforms for music and movies, everything Microsoft does comes to mind. Now we don't buy Office, we rent it.

I get it while trying to be practical at the same time. Frankly, I've never run across a worn out CD that was properly stored in it's jewel case indoors, in any temperature range fit for people and many of mine are 25 or more years old. Played through the right gear streamed FLAC is at least as strong a medium as CD play back and many times better, unless they screwed up the remastering. I also get you on the fees but at $100 a year that's not even a new CD once a month vs. having access to a half million or so albums in CD or better quality. I do appreciate your perspective though and it is a consideration.

by TravelGeek » Fri Mar 26, 2021 2:37 am

I still own my music. I ripped all my CDs years ago (some 500, I think) to MP3 and FLAC. I listen to streaming radio and podcasts, but I am not paying a subscription to listen to music I already own. Listening to my own music brings back a lot of memories.

I felt that way after I bought my streamer and thought I would settle on the 20 presents for net radio stations and still listen primarily to about 6 or 7 of those I identified that suit my tastes and have incredible acoustics. I picked up an offer to try Tidal for four months for $4. It only took a couple of days to realize it was ideal for me. Then I found an offer for $99 for a year with $119 guaranteed renewals so I cancelled and jumped back in. I hear quite a few new (to me) artists on streaming radio and go to Tidal and find everything they have released as far as I can tell. I have to write down their names so I don't forget and am working my way through 13 new artists albums which must number close to a hundred.

I'd like to thank everyone for their input and thoughts on this. Much appreciated. I guess if I needed the money or the space I might get past the nostalgia and ownership thing and try it. I doubt many will get played again so maybe I'll just think of them as listening room decorations. Thanks again for the input.
Coburn
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by Coburn »

midareff wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:03 am by Coburn » Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:56 pm
When and if you have a complete listing of all your CDs prepared and are ready to move/sell some of them...I'd appreciate if you PM me.

I have about 2500 CDs myself which I've collected over 30-some-odd years...and which like you, although a bit onerous to sell now, still affords some listening pleasure when I have time to listen to them.

It's not about having the time... I'm retired and have the time. It's the convenience of the whole thing of turning on the lights, looking for the disc, opening the player and walking back to the chair, and the reverse when done to put the disc away compared to having 20 preset internet radio stations and a search engine for thousands more as well as Tidal and Spotify all on an Android app. I don't know that I would compile a list. I'll probably just start at A if I do it and see if things sell. I had about the same as you 25 years ago and trimmed that to about 500 or so back then when CD shops were still buying. I don't recall ever parting with my Jazz CDs and have some that are very long out of print including about ten or so Mosaic sets and a 9 or 10 disc Clifford Brown set. I don't think I would part with those either as the money to buy then was very dear then.
Jazz is where I'm weakest and would love to add more.

Lots of memories - Tower Records in NYC Village, J&R Music by City Hall...but my absolute weekly haunt was Vinylmania where I gorged first on 12" imports at their small rock/new age store and then later on, found House (at their other storefront further down Carmine St).

Those were some of my happiest times...
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FOGU
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by FOGU »

Is there a funky used record shop in your town? Maybe stop in and talk to the guy with the ponytail and black t-shirt about what you have, while he chain smokes and sips cold coffee behind the three-foot stacks of CDs on his counter.
rebellovw
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by rebellovw »

FOGU wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:43 pm Is there a funky used record shop in your town? Maybe stop in and talk to the guy with the ponytail and black t-shirt about what you have, while he chain smokes and sips cold coffee behind the three-foot stacks of CDs on his counter.
That guy isn't nice - he told me to 'blank' off.
Shallowpockets
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by Shallowpockets »

If OP is old and retired then these CDs are probably a music genre that no one wants outside that age group. I am sure they have sentimental value, but that would be it. All of it is accessible on YouTube.
As a boomer myself I can appreciate that there is the notion that someone may want them. As a boomer I can say that for our generation, we dreamed and protested and thought we would change things. We did not. But, we sure as hell had the best music of any generation. Nothing like it now.
Time to move on from trying to sell that music, no one hears it. It faded, we faded. And you can either spend the rest of your time in nostalgically thumbing through those CDs, or you can give them away, or throw them away. After all, the music still exists and is available.
Best of luck in your endeavor.
mffl
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by mffl »

midareff wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:03 am I'd like to thank everyone for their input and thoughts on this. Much appreciated. I guess if I needed the money or the space I might get past the nostalgia and ownership thing and try it. I doubt many will get played again so maybe I'll just think of them as listening room decorations. Thanks again for the input.
Before you go throwing them in the garbage or dumping the whole collection for $75 or something, DM me. And if not me, sounds like 1-2 others on this thread might be at least provisionally interested, depending on genre, etc. Better they end up in a good home than the dump.

Edit: I saw the genres up in the OP. Another thought is Craigslist. That way it's local, someone can come thumb through what they like and leave the rest, etc. Might be both the easiest route, most profitable route, lowest fees, and best opportunity for the collection to end up in good homes.
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by 22twain »

Coburn wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:18 pm Lots of memories - Tower Records in NYC Village, J&R Music by City Hall...
Aaahhh... I lived and taught in the Capital District for a couple of years in the 1980s, and made regular day- and weekend-trips down to the city to shop at Tower and J&R. I bought my first CD player at J&R in the spring of 1985. Schlepped it on foot over to the World Trade Center, then on the PATH train to Hoboken or Journal Square where I had parked my car. Those were the days...
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cbs2002
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by cbs2002 »

Loved reading this thread. I have maybe 1500 vinyl records and CDs put together. Many of the records are worth quite a bit, most of the CDs are probably worthless. They'll probably all be worthless someday. But I'm not selling cause they're worth a lot to me :happy

+1 to Discogs being the best place to assess whether the $ makes it worth your while. CDs are usually only worth more than a buck if they are of specific recordings that are no longer being manufactured or streamed, and are desirable by more than a few people.
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midareff
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by midareff »

22twain wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 5:08 pm
Coburn wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:18 pm Lots of memories - Tower Records in NYC Village, J&R Music by City Hall...
Aaahhh... I lived and taught in the Capital District for a couple of years in the 1980s, and made regular day- and weekend-trips down to the city to shop at Tower and J&R. I bought my first CD player at J&R in the spring of 1985. Schlepped it on foot over to the World Trade Center, then on the PATH train to Hoboken or Journal Square where I had parked my car. Those were the days...
My first CD player was about that time as well.... maybe a year or two earlier. A Sony that sounded so dead it was appalling but there were no clicks or pops. It gave way to a modded Philips CD80, the a PS Audio Ultralink fed by the Philips, then an Ultralink II and it sounded like music then.
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midareff
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by midareff »

Shallowpockets wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:59 pm If OP is old and retired then these CDs are probably a music genre that no one wants outside that age group. I am sure they have sentimental value, but that would be it. All of it is accessible on YouTube.
As a boomer myself I can appreciate that there is the notion that someone may want them. As a boomer I can say that for our generation, we dreamed and protested and thought we would change things. We did not. But, we sure as hell had the best music of any generation. Nothing like it now.
Time to move on from trying to sell that music, no one hears it. It faded, we faded. And you can either spend the rest of your time in nostalgically thumbing through those CDs, or you can give them away, or throw them away. After all, the music still exists and is available.
Best of luck in your endeavor.
Heya... age is just a number. When you say we faded I assume you are talking you, not me. LOL.... :sharebeer
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by Feb29 »

Go to an audiophile website like usaudiomart.com. Many audiophiles still listen to CDs. Under the Software category there's a sub-category of CDs. Don't list individually, but make groups of 20-30 CDs by music type and ask for $2-3 per title. You'll need to register first. I've bought and sold many items on that site. Good Luck!
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Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....

Post by summit »

My friends of the library shop sells used CDs for 25 cents each. I enjoy picking out 4 discs and dropping a buck in the box every time I go to the library. Nice way to explore new music. Maybe your library will take them.
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