Best Buy's long, drawn out CD wake

My nearest Best Buy indeed just moved out the CD's. It's now just several rows of blus and DVD's and vinyl (the latter somewhat hidden in the stereo section).

One funny thing I noticed is that when I went back to browse the vinyl, I seen CD players in stock in open view (a 6 disc changer, a few more modest models, etc). And they weren't even all that cheap! It just struck me as funny, because the music and format world is in such a fragmented and transitional state right now. We got stores selling players for a format they don't even carry. And a once vanished format now the only thing they do carry. DVD's are all over the store in discount bins, etc. It's pretty wild.

 

yes it is, for all the death knells of CD's they sure are still coming out every single week and the used market prices haven't dropped a penny.

however, dealers do not want to pay for used CD's and they use the argument that CD's are dying and no one wants them. yet when i ask why their used prices are so high, i usually get a smirky smile.

it is a sellers market right now, and they do not want to budge an inch.

 

The Golden Era of being both a music fan and a collector of the artform.

 

I thought discs are outta of Best Buy as of today, but they are still there and still 25% off anything $6 or more. Liars.

 

I still think your state must be living in some time of time bubble. Round these parts it's a buyer's market on CD's, except for collectibles / rarities of course. I buy used CD's to LP's today at a 10:1 ratio.

I'll keep a few pristine CD's to sell if I ever find my way over in that part of the country.

 

I was in my local record store last week and bought about $150 worth of new cds. They told me to go pick out 2 used cds for free. Stores seem to be clearing out used titles that have been clogging the shelves for years. It's about time they did.

 

You're right about it being a sellers market if you are talking about going to retail stores that still carry new CDs, like Fye or Barnes&Noble.
The B&N's by me still treat CDs like the Hope Diamond, keeping the box sets behind the counter with prices that would make 1998 blush....

But online or a garage sales, it's a buyer's market.

 

I can kinda see stores holding on to high used prices because that's what my local store does. However, I rarely shop there. At the other extreme, places that have very low used prices tend to have a lot of big selling CDs from the 90s that you would struggle to give away.

 

I certainly see plenty of those. But I've been surprised, at times, at other used CD's I've managed to grab recently.

 

Same with the one near me. The same thin selection from June on, and no new releases, but still a section for them.

 

The 2 free ones I got were Jimi Hendrix-"Live At Winterland" and a sealed Paul McCartney disc, "Press To Play". The Hendrix was very clean. Not too shabby for free.

 

It appears a few stores designated as "media locations" have kept a semblance of their CD section and even retain a fairly healthy movie section. Most locations have eliminated their CDs.

I'd love to know what demographic research led them in picking which stores would retain a healthy media section.

 

For Best Buy, the era of CDs died about 10 years ago. Seems like each year their selection was gradually reduced to nothing more than top 40 pop music and other pedestrian titles catering to the lowest common denominator.

 

Went to my local Best Buy on a lark over the weekend, not a single CD to be found in the place. I did find the teeny tiny vinyl section with about 18 albums in it, one of which was Tales From Topographic Oceans - one I'd always kinda wanted on vinyl. Didn't have a price sticker on it, but my decision was made easy when it rang up for $62.99(!!!!!) at the register.

Safe to say that'll likely be the last time I ever willingly step foot in a Best Buy.

 

CDs are dead weight at most stores locally. Can only recall a small handful of times I've seen people looking for cds and they were all older than me. I'm in my 30s.

 

I think CD’s and vinyl are going to eventually balance each other out. Neither will go away completely unless everybody on the entire planet turns into a soccer mom so they can stream the latest pop poop from Drake or Jason Aldean.

 

I have an ex girlfriend that resembles that description

 

You could get the whole SW vinyl box set for $30 more...…..rofl.

 

Best Buy was always irrelevant for my tastes. They never had anything I wanted to buy. I did find one great CD there about 18 years ago. Patricia Barber's Modern Cool.

 

I know. I even pulled up my phone to check Best Buy's mobile site - it quoted $32.99. I showed the girl at the register and she acknowledged she could give me that price..... but she didn't know how. No one currently at the front of the store knew how. I was told I could wait "maybe half an hour?" for the "manager" to "come back" and take care of it. Er, that's okay.

You think maybe a store might consider their laughably terrible customer service as a factor in sales slipping. But, nah, far easier to blame outdated technology that you haven't bothered even trying to keep up with in over a decade.

 

Even when Best Buy had a robust cd section, they were overpriced and had a standard generic selection, except for the odd exclusive title, I never shopped there, they were irrelevant even when they were supposed to be relevant.

 

Funny......I found a used CD of Tales (1994 remaster) in excellent condition for $5 a couple of months ago.

 

Long days from time of Rock Dreams Records, who is your local, if it is not Prex?

 

Rock Dreams was a great store. They even had two locations (late 80’s - early 90’s) at one time. They always had a good selection there.

I primarily shop at Princeton Record Exchange (Prex); I’m fortunate to work right down the road from them, so I can go there once a week on my lunch hour. I will also head over to Levittown, PA about once a month......a little hole in the wall called Positively Records. Pretty cool place.....late last year they were purging quite a bit of their used collection CD for $2 each. They do have a good amount of turnover so their used CD stock is always replenished.

 

So you are pretty well set up. Any luck with Bordentown? The Man Cave is usually a bust, how about the Record Collector? Scorpio the distributor use to be in Trenton, and there use to be a reggae store, which I believe is gone. I guess there is nothing else in Trenton.