Shepherd's Bush and Brixton both have CDs. I think there may be more in London. Ipswich and Bristol do too. But yeah, I'd never rely on Cex for CDs because it's the most haphazard selling policy of all time. What they do works for DVDs and games but they are just choking themselves with CDs, they'd be better off mid-balling and selling everything at, say £3 -£4 As it is I don't check them regularly because I'm not going all the way there to pay £8 for an average find.
I'm trying to get my head around this. (will I ever unhear the Blankety Blank theme now?) But fair enough, you don't like the Promise ... what about the rest of the Disc, which is wonderful?
I didn't think they even charged £3-£4. The biggest problem with these stores is that the more interesting CDs are always sold online. It was the same when Music Magpie took over the That's Entertainmdnt store chain. Stock selection went downhill quickly. You couldn't even get Rumours on most days.
Sorry! The rest is fine, some tracks are great (Untouchable especially) but that was a difficult time in my life and a lot of albums suffered as a result...I just wasn't able to get into them properly. One day I need to revisit it! EG.
I had them down as the usual teen fare until I read Johnny Marr had been involved on a couple of numbers. He doesn't often work with muppets, so that piqued my interest. Mark Radcliffe and David Hepworth had good things to say about 'Chemistry', so I took a dive. There's genuine talent there. Not all the stuff reaches me. Any track where they've opted for a drum 'n' bass approach gets skipped, but generally I get what they were trying to do.
Just returned from the one in Sheffield city centre. No CDs there either. Guy was cool though. Told me to head to Poundland…...
I guess it depends on the psychological characteristics of your customer base. Like Dave I immediately recognize a changed case on older discs. Personally, it bothers me a but the state of the disc and paper inlays is even more important to me. I've asked around and most people don't seem to really care. Maybe it's a sign of mild ocd or even autism.
I was told by people that CEX in Bristol stopped buying CDs a couple of years ago, they may have continued to sell them for some times after that, I really don't like the shop so never go in there. I was having a conversation with someone the other day and I couldn't think of anywhere in the city that sold the music he wanted on CD, most shops just don't bother with CDs now, we're down to HMV for a new and Plastic Wax for used, everyone else has few if any CDs, that's quite scary and much worse than the vinyl supply ever went, especially as CDs are still the main physical format.
Went back to my local Barnardos today and came out with a stack of 7 inch singles, a clean (compared to my old copy) Queen Flash Gordon vinyl album, 3 cds including Goo by Sonic Youth and the 2nd Mahavisnu album. All about 3 quid. I'm going back tomorrow for some of the singles i left like some early OMD and Undertones singles, all in clean picture sleeves. If they're still there of course..
No CDs so far this week, but today I found a copy of Bang On A Drum for a quid. It's my second, so will do as a swap or gift copy.
I bought some half-decent (and reasonably priced) blu-rays in CEX Bristol just after Christmas - but, yeah, they haven't had CDs for a while. You're better off trying the (numerous) charity shops.
I had that, found it in a charity shop for @ £1-£1.99, sold it to a guy who was obsessively collecting all the music released by Factory about a decade (& a bit ago) (didn't even get a fiver for it). Factory Records Collection Factvm: Deed Completed – Interview with Collector Collin Gibbins
Just been car shopping for the wife ..4 dealers and 4 diff manufacturers, one thing in common ..no CD players ..
Colin is my pal - small world! Laughably the Piers Adams CD I got in The British Heart Foundation recently for 99p.... ....was the last album Col needed to complete his Factory collection. He hunted high and low and finally Piers himself sent him the Factory cassette version.
CEX Bristol used to have CDs about 5 or so years ago. That being said, everytime I've seen a CEX that has CDs now its like the section time forgot. Stuff released 8 years ago is still priced as if its 8 years ago, and the general condition of the cases often look scratched, broken, etc..
I think I was more OCD when I replaced the case of every used disc I bought. Nowadays, you cannot get decent CD cases, so I tend to only replace ones that are broken. edit: and the disc/inserts usually had to be mint.
Different eras. As @juss100 said, you could probably go online and find most of the discs you want. There's no shortage of them out there. In many ways, they are the ideal thing to buy online as postage is cheap.
I like it when the case has a sticker on it, (e.g. the Island remasters) where it advertises the extra tracks or lists the five star reviews. It's disappointing when one of these cases gets cracked as you can't replace the sticker. Even worse is when there's a unique jewel case (e.g. the purple one for Yes' Magnification). But overall it's the state of the disc and the inlay that's more important. How many inlays haven't been slid properly under the tabs before the case is shut, or not pushed in enough before closing, leaving those annoying indentations at the edge? I wish people would take more care of their CDs!