Why are CDs so cheap!!!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Klapamos, Feb 7, 2019.

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  1. Since when have CDs been downloadable online?
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  2. anorak2

    anorak2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    early 2000s
     
    CDV likes this.
  3. nodeerforamonth

    nodeerforamonth Consistently misunderstood

    Location:
    San Diego,CA USA
    Even cheaper than the actual cost for downloading! Which makes absolutely no sense.
     
    Spitfire likes this.
  4. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston
    It's amazing how they can fit that big piece of plastic through that skinny little wire!
     
  5. rikki nadir

    rikki nadir Gentleman Thug

    Location:
    London, UK
    Living in London I have easy access to a wide range of charity (goodwill) shops. There are around fifteen within a mile of my home, and if you get on a bus and go for fifteen minutes there are easily another 20 or 30.

    So I just automatically check in (and also donate to) quite a few. Here are some of my recent finds, all at a pound or less (around $1.35 with no sales tax):

    Jolie Holland - Springtime Can Kill You
    The English Beat - What Is Beat (US import)
    Joe Walsh - Smoker You Drink... and But Seriously, Folks
    New York Dolls - Too Much Too Soon
    Tindersticks - all albums I did not already have, so 1999-present
    Big Star – Double CD on Line - first 3 albums
    Steeleye Span - Sails Of Silver
    Prince - Purple Rain (Target)
    The Milk and Honey Band - Round The Sun
    Roger Daltrey – Moonlighting 2 x CD
    Talk Talk – History Revisited
    Cream – Strange Brew
    Big Star – Story
    The Chameleons – The Fan and the Bellows
    Ramones - Too Tough To Die
    Shriekback - Without Real Strings or Fish
    Flying Lizards - Flying Lizards/Fourth Wall 2 x CD
    The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America
    Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Weld, 2 x CD fatboy
    Marc Bolan/T Rex - Greatest Hits Universal 2 x CD
    Herbie Hancock - Gershwin's World
    BeBop Deluxe - Air Age Anthology The Very Best of 2 x CD

    Here's a funny thing: in ALL the years I have been scouring the thrifts for CDs, I have NEVER once seen a Kinks album that wasn't a compilation. Not once. And boy, do I look!
     
  6. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    I saw that 3CD Village Green set the other month.
     
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  7. rikki nadir

    rikki nadir Gentleman Thug

    Location:
    London, UK
    Next time, pick me up a copy! ;)
     
  8. You really have to look through various CD lots on eBay if there are no used shops in your area. That is where a lot of the excess value can be found today. Ordering single CDs from Amazon isn't much cheaper today than it was 10 years ago.
     
  9. Defdum&blind

    Defdum&blind Forum Resident

    CDs are cheap because the buyers are. I certain many on this thread are buying $1 and 2$ bargain priced CDs but in most cases would not pay the typical $9.95 that was common here in southern Ontario. I am finding dozens SACDs, "Targets" and first issue Japanese and West German titles for between $2 and $6. But then I had to weed through all the REM and U2 titles

    I've been told at two used CD/LP resellers that the buyers don't want to pay the former prices for the silver discs.
     
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  10. Defdum&blind

    Defdum&blind Forum Resident

    Demand from those who covet audio quality? Reel tapes were cheap before the Tape Project started the reel to reel resurgence. In the '80s and '90s I was paying from $3 to $10 for classic rock and jazz quarter track tapes which today are going for hundreds.

    MFSL LPs demand higher prices because of their reputation. And then the smiley EQ makes them sound great on many sound systems.
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  11. 56GoldTop

    56GoldTop Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nowhere, Ok
    Last year I bought a bunch of used CD's. My thinking at the time reflects many others. They're cheap and music is music. Why wouldn't I? (see my avatar) So, I did. However, now, in retrospect I'm not so sure that was a great idea given my preference even if it was incredibly cheap. Vinyl reissues are coming out of everywhere, nowadays. Stuff I thought would never be reissued or see a first pressing of either has or is going to be released.

    Case in point. There is another thread here titled something like "not on vinyl yet; but, you want it". Folks listed albums they would love to see reissued or a first pressing of. I listed several. The band "Self" is a local Nashville area band that got some exposure. It was wishful thinking on my part to put them on the list. Nevertheless, I now own Subliminal Plastic Motives and even better Gizmodgery on vinyl. Also on that list was Diana Krall's Girl In The Other Room and the entire Cardigans catalog. That's all a done deal, now.

    As I said, I don't despise the silver disc but my preferred choices are plentiful. That relegates the monetary value of CD's in terms of purchasing more at this time (for me) to next to nothing except in cases where there is not a vinyl (or R2R tape) alternative. I have and continue to pay more for something that I know I will enjoy more without reservation.
     
  12. Defdum&blind

    Defdum&blind Forum Resident

    Keep trying! I used to go the local thrift a few times a year and found only trashed LPs and CDs. I overheard two regulars and clued in that you have to go often. My luck has improved
     
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  13. Defdum&blind

    Defdum&blind Forum Resident

    It may depend on location. The employees at a thrift store chain here are not allowed to skim the new arrivals.
     
  14. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Shipping is still cheap for domestic mail in the UK. Plenty of bargains to be had on ebay and sometimes Amazon. Job lots tend to be a waste of time as sellers expect the same prices per disc that some sellers are charging for individual items.
     
  15. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I thought I was going to hold off on collecting any more CDs for a while, until I discovered that the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in my area is selling used CDs for 25 cents each.

    So while browsing I came across a CD whose front and back covers were totally black, and had no artist or title on it, just a track listing and a Warner Bros. copyright disclaimer. It turned out to be a copy of Prince's "Black Album" (the official 1994 release, not earlier bootlegs), which has a median selling price of $22.05 on Discogs! :yikes:
     
  16. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I got a still sealed CD of the 2018 Village Green remaster in a charity for 50p a few weeks ago. I gave it away as I have the 3CD and mono vinyl.
     
  17. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Some CDs--and they fall into two categories:

    1. Ones you already have (in some cases multiple copies)
    2. Ones you don't want.
     
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  18. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Most CDs. Though the ones that aren't are usually incredibly expensive and very hard to find. I've noticed that some CDs can go from very cheap to quite costly in a very short amount of time. Notably on good OOP 60s psych compilations.
     
    Dave S, Jarleboy and JoeF. like this.
  19. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I was trying to be cute--yes there are bargains out there. But you're right. Sometimes they go up (and sometimes down) without an explanation. Like the stock market.

    But anything "cool"--we all have our definition of what that means--is usually in short supply--and expensive.
     
    Man at C&A likes this.
  20. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Very true, but I do keep looking at the CDs in charity shops because, unlike with vinyl nowadays, large collections of good CDs appear quite often. Have to be quick to get them though. I admit, it's been a while now...
     
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  21. Dan Steele

    Dan Steele Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago suburbs
    Congrats on the finds, the target Prince is a steal. Also Weld and the Joe Walsh. Weld is probably the cd I’ve played most over the years and the only one I’m tempted to have an extra copy just in case I wear mine out!
     
  22. LitHum05

    LitHum05 El Disco es Cultura

    Location:
    Virginia
    Is my local goodwill the only one where the good cd cases are always missing the actual discs? I’d like to know once and for all: are people stealing those to burn them? Do they keep the cds without a case? Are they just trolling to be a-holes?
     
  23. I would guess theft is the answer.
     
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  24. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Unless it happens to be the later half target (which was in print until the release of the remaster).
     
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  25. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Theft is the most likely answer, but stores also get donations where the actual discs are mixed up or missing.
     
    vwestlife likes this.
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