Used CD market

DCC & MFSL gold CDs still fetch a high price on ebay.

 

I think this is the truth. You can stock up on run of the mill CDs by great artists for next to nothing but it's rare that I need or am looking for albums I already own on multiple formats. The rare stuff and out of print stuff seems to be going up in price and the boat on that stuff being found cheap seems to have sailed about 5 years ago. Still I try to be on the lookout for Grateful Dead stuff anywhere I look as that is the one band that needs to be heard on CD and I still find great deals all the time. Just grabbed Nightful of Diamonds and Without a Net for a couple bucks each. I got a bunch of the reissues of their studio albums with the bonus tracks for around 4 or 5 dollars and I am still getting lucky finding used Dick's Picks for less than $15 in a lot of cases.
Someone said movies are where the deals are right now and that person is exactly right. No one seems to want to buy a DVD anymore. I look for old concert discs and rockumentaries and I have been stocking up my collection for peanuts.

 

Do you think that there are now fewer 1p CDs than a year or two ago? It seems that way to me. Most of course are still fantastic value but there certainly seems to me to a shift up in prices recently (and those sneaky companies who are keeping prices low but increasing their postage rates instead!)

 

I never bought Used CDs before joining this Forum a few years ago, as then I learned about Dynamic Range and how most CDs around 1993 and earlier were not victims of the Loudness Wars. Now I look out for Used CDs in NM Condition from the 1980s and early 1990s when I am at a few Used CD/Record Stores. Found a Rolling Stones CD, 'Rewind' that had Hits from the mid 1970s-mid 1980s and never heard of it, but looked up the DR#s and bought it for $4.

Have bought about 25-30 Used CDs in the past year including a few albums I never heard before(Alan Parsons-'I Robot'), but in most cases, Music Artists, who I am familiar with(Dire Straits-'Money for Nothing' that is a Best of CD and built my Bryan Ferry Collection up this way since the CDs were all NM Condition). Before I bought the DCC & AF Doors Albums this past 6 months, I found a Best of the Doors 2-CD Fat Case Set that has good DR#s, so was stoked at the time. Bought a 2nd Copy of 'The Dreaming-Kate Bush(can 'Never For Ever' have enough Kate Bush), and same for 'Modern Life is Rubbish'-BLUR and even though, I owned 'Leisure'-BLUR from the '21' Box Set, it was a Remaster, and I found an early edition CD from the release year in the early 1990s, which I never had on CD originally(although being the US version, is missing the great song, 'Sing').

Makes it fun to find CDs then look up the DR#s on them, as if in NM Condition, I a willing to pay $3-$5 for single CDs. Actually, this past year also got the later Beatles 1987 CDs starting with Sgt. Peppers for only $5-$6 except The White Album Fatboy Case for $9 after reading on here that the 1987 CDs are the best Stereo Versions(CD), as I only started buying Beatles CDs('Revolver' through "Let It Be') with the 2009 Stereo Reissues which I liked, but had nothing to compare them to at the time(except the Blue Album 2-CD Set, I bought in the early 2000s).

 

Yeah, probably........I have more or less stopped buying back catalogue CD's now (lack of space and too many new CD's coming out), so don't go searching as much

Postage has definitely creeped up...on amazon it use to be that all postage for CD's was £1.26, however they must have relaxed the rules as the postage varies now.

 

A bit of topic but it is not common sense on this forum that the beatles 1987 cd's are superior
It is fashionable at the moment among some members to praise the 1987 cd's how different was that in 2009 when the remasters were released who are imho superior

 

A lot of good stuff is way off the radar and unaffected by being OOP, rare sought after, etc. 90% of my music purchases are second hand quality CDs that cost a few bucks, this then allows me splash on the odd expensive purchase.

 

Once I hook my recently bought Oppo 105D in another month(planning to buy the Outlaw 2160 Receiver/Amp after a month of consideration on options as I build a System), I can better determine for myself how the 1987 & 2009 Beatles Stereo CDs compare, but pretty sure I read on here from other Members, that our Host rates the 1987 Beatles CDs, as the better Stereo Version over the 2009 versions.

OT-but how do you like your Dali Zensor 6 Speakers? I was strongly considering the Dali Zensor 3 Speakers, but decided on the Monitor Audio Bronze 2 Speakers instead.

 

Ok than it is true of course......

 

I buy at least 20 cds a week, and now have a massive backlog to get through...it`s a journey of discovery.
Some of this last weeks purchases include `George Harrison - All Thing Must Pass` Box set, `Bert Jansch - Crimson Moon` 2cd Digipack, Taj Mahal - The Real Thing` Remaster, and `The Head and the Heart` digipack.
Each one for the INSANE price of 49p each! (35 c).
On the other hand the local `Oxfam` charity shop has vinyl albums by Shirley Bassey, Max Bygraves and of course Herb Alpert, plus loads of classical, at £25 each! ($20). Which is also INSANE but in a whole other direction.
People are gullible....they hear that vinyl is collectable so they start charging crazy prices for any old rubbish, and they hear that cds are worthless, so they give away their precious treasures for nothing!
By the way my Blu-ray collection of films is now reaching the 2,000 level for exactly the same reason.

 

I constantly stumble across decent used cds at great prices... Not every one is a 'Dark Side' Black Triangle, granted! But if you know what you're looking for, are willing to look via various sources on and offline and have the time to wait for things to turn up you should be fine these days.

In the last month I've had a Japan for UK Harvest copy of The Wall, an orig UK Charlatans 'Tellin' Stories', a early 80s West German Polydor 'Who's Next', a 92 'Dark Side' and Otis Redding's 'Otis Blue' (Atko remaster)

All sound lovely to my ears, all in Ex to Mint condition. Total cost about £14. I'm enjoying it whilst I can but it's very noticeable how many people on Ebay now know to charge a premium for things like West German Polydor pressings of Cure cds from the 80s.

 

You did well to get that Wall set. I agree, you have to sit and wait for things to turn up. There are bargains to be had for anyone who is patient.

 

I've bought as new used CD's for as little as 20 cents.

 

I love to buy used CDs from Medimops or Amazon...it's fun to get some great albums for cheap prices !!!

 

I reckon, if a CD was given to me for nothing and I sold it for $1, even I could make 100% profit on it..........

 

The older jewel cases are usually sturdier.

 

I think this sums it up nicely , the"vinyl resurrection" or what ever you may call it , is one of the cleverest marketing strategies I have ever come acroos in recent years .

 

Yeah, been there and all I get are dirty fingers.

 

On my first visit back to sell a few cd's in a while, I was appalled at what
was offered for a few titles, some duplicates, etc. Won't even attempt
that again, but I'm all in for buying. Besides, the trip was worth it
because they fixed an out of print dvd box (scratch) with one of those
strange looking disc repair machines that looks like a 1955 tv.

 

At the Stuyvesant Town flea market last summer, at the end of the day, I bought 20 CDs for $8. Lots of prime-era Bowie, Grateful Dead, Dylan, etc. Nobody had any interest.

 

Good point. Local record store owner, whom I have known and bought from for over 20 years, sells new and used CDs, sells new and used vinyl, buys used vinyl, but won’t buy used CDs anymore. They’re just not profitable enough.

Good for used CD hunters, as they’re more or less dirt cheap, but who knows about the long run.

 

It's certainly a great time to collect! And the great thing about cds, compared to any other physical format, is how easy it is to backup the files or convert them into some other format. This helps to extend their shelf life for a while.

It's also nice when you learn that you can "live with" the common $4 1980s edition of a title--which often sounds essentially like a perfectly preserved version of the vinyl version from the same era--instead of some "holy grail" West German or DCC edition, which will generally cost $20-$100 more and sound the same except for a little less nth generation tape hiss.

 

One of my local charity shops is doing 5 CDs or DVDs or a mix of both for £1.
Mostly rubbish but I have had some good finds.
I don't think we have seen this trend peak yet - there are still millions or people out there with millions of CDs they ain't playing and will one day decide to clear out.

 

This is a great story. I think of it as justice for all of us who jumped on the CD train at the start and were forced to pay high prices for them for years. Our time has come around.

 

They were sure pricey, even up to 1999 and after, Japanese obi CDs that is.