Resale value of standard CDs

I attempted to resale a bunch of CDs recently and was surprised at their worthlessness. I’m not talking about DCC, MOFI etc…just standard CDs.

Some of these were by good established artists that I owned duplicate copies of including: Neil Young, Hendrix, Who, Dave Mathews, Miles Davis, Nora Jones, Cindi Lauper, Blondie, Joni Mitchell etc…I cleaned each CD and case prior to visiting the shops – sometimes upgrading with new trays.

I visited 3 shops where these normally re-sell for $8.99 each. They didn’t already have these CDs in their racks, so I assumed I’d be offered at least 40% - 50% of their resale value. I was surprised that I was only offered $1.50 - $2 for each title and some were only valued at 50 cents. Other titles (coincidentally all the female artists excluding Joni) were rejected completely. The only exception was a $3 offer for Let It Be Naked.

On average that’s approx 450% profit margin. I rejected the offers and would prefer to give them away to friends.

I didn’t realize how worthless CDs had become – is this common where you live?

 

It sure is. I know of nowhere near me that'll even give you more than $1 per CD, even if it is a well established artist.

 

Yes, the general public do not buy CDs anymore so stores need to get them at rock bottom prices because they might sit in their racks for a very, very long time.

 

This is how it has been for the last couple of decades. Nothing new.

 

I can get around $3-$4[once in a while $5] for cd's near where I work.

 

Consider yourself lucky that they are buying them at all anymore. At this how many people don't have something on CD that they want.

 

It has been like this where you live since '91? That really surprises me. Up until about 5 years ago, I could usually get $4 - $5 for a "big name" artist. The bottom really dropped out of used CDs where I live around 2005 or so.

 

It's the first time I've attempted a re-sale, so I was shocked - the trays are almost worth that much. At this rate I assume I'll have to PAY the shop to take em off my hands in the near future.

These shops normally re-sell vinyl for $4.99 - $5.99, some titles are in the $7.99 range and I buy some myself. I wonder what deal they offer customers on vinyl re-sale?

 

The used shops in NYC have always offered a pittance; $2.00 per disc at most, but usually just a buck. Back when there was a lot of turnover and used discs were priced at $7.99 or $8.99 it was a profitable part of the business, but these days I don't see much in the way of standard catalog items in shops. They know that most people who still buy CD's are looking for unusual things, not the big name artists of yore.

There's no way they're going to pay 50% of the potential resale value when there are so few resales. Most of the discs will probably end up as landfill.

 

I purged a large portion of my collection last year. I kept my DCCs, my MOFIs, my SACDs, and anything else even vaguely collectible, but everything else was fair game. I didn't keep exact totals, but I think I averaged about $2 per disc.

 

Pawn Shops won't buy them anymore, but for those of us who like the shiny things, it's a buyers market!

 

I moved last year so I did something similar to this. I kept the CDs from my "favorite" artists (about 500) and sold maybe 200 that I didn't really need. I sold the rare/collectible ones on eBay and the rest at a used CD store. I averaged probably around the same...$2 a disc.

 

I think the buyer's market for CDs is coming to an end though. Most people who are going to dump their CDs already have or they are just being thrown out. I don't see the selection of used CDs I used to compared to even a year ago. (Although I'll still find something occasionally.)

 

If you can get $2/each on average, consider yourself lucky. The bottom has definitely completely dropped out on this stuff. The only titles you can get a decent amount for are typically very recent, still hot titles (e.g. the "new" Lady GaGa, Taylor Swift, etc.)

 

I don't even bother trying to sell CDs to record stores anymore. I never get anything for them so I might as well keep 'em, even if they're just sitting in a box in my garage.

 

The trend is the same in Sweden. DVDs you can't even give away and the CDs are going in that direction as well. I guess one have to be careful what CDs one invest in from now on!

 

Same here. Sounds like we're the lucky ones. Wonder how long that will last.

 

I thought about selling a few of my doubles on the Amazon Marketplace, or here on the Classifieds.

 

The DVD market is worse than the CD market in my opinion...good luck trying to sell them for anything.

 

The '09 Beatle remasters inspired people to dump their '87 Beatle CDs, so I didn't attempt to re-sell mine. However, I was surprised that I didn't see many of them in the used racks, so I might attempt to see what I can still get for mine...just for the record.

It's interesting that of all the CDs I attempted to re-sell, I was offered the most value for the Beatle album "Let it Be Naked". Those Beatles just keep on rollin'.

 

It's a downward spiral similar to the demise of the mainstream B&M shops. The Used places are being more selective about what they will buy and are often shrinking their shelves to make room for vinyl or DVD's. They're selling less so they shrink the display so there's less for people to buy and so-forth and so-on.

The main used shop that I patronize is just a block from my office so I go there a couple times a week. It's obvious that they're selling less. I've occasionally passed on a disc and then regretted it, only to find that it's still in the rack a week later. That never used to happen with anything remotely disireable. They try to focus on interesting and borderline collectable stuff rather than the standard big artists of the past. That's cool... I've found a couple Japanese mini-LP replicas of Nilsson albums recently at a good price.

I've also acquired all the Beatles Stereo Remasters for $8.99 per disc or less... usually sealed. So they do still go for some big name artists.

 

I held on to my '87 Beatles and will hold on to all my Paul McCartney Collection CDs as he rolls out the Archive Collection over the next untold number of years.

For the record, so far I like the new McCartney remasters over the '93 Paul McCartney Collection.

 

I know you are exaggerating for effect - and I understand. But the bottom really has dropped out in the last few years.

 

I haven't sold any recently, but, speaking as a consumer, I've definitely noticed prices plummeting in the used bins. I was just in a store where their sizable selection was $3/per across the board, no matter the artist (I bought Flamin' Groovies, MC5, and Radiohead, for example). Seems like most things in the places I visit sell for about $5 or less.

 

and yet, somehow, vinyl stills has a demand!
My local Hastings has a new vinyl section where most of the discs go for $19 and up.