[Squeek]

I've got a problem, if you could call it a problem.  First world problems, I know.
 
I have hundreds of compact discs sitting in boxes in my basement.  None of them have received any play in years.  All of my music is transported electronically, and the discs were ripped to hard drives years ago, so I have had literally ZERO use for my CD collection.
 
I am faced with the dilemma of selling them, as my basement space is now at a premium.  They need to go.  However, they are too valuable to give away, and shipping costs makes it impossible to sell them anything but locally. 
 
Any suggestions?

 

[MorbidToaster]

Grab bags of 10 CDs for 20 bucks.
 
I have a weakness for good deals and the unknown.
Quote:

I've got a problem, if you could call it a problem.  First world problems, I know.
 
I have hundreds of compact discs sitting in boxes in my basement.  None of them have received any play in years.  All of my music is transported electronically, and the discs were ripped to hard drives years ago, so I have had literally ZERO use for my CD collection.
 
I am faced with the dilemma of selling them, as my basement space is now at a premium.  They need to go.  However, they are too valuable to give away, and shipping costs makes it impossible to sell them anything but locally. 
 
Any suggestions?

 

[MohawkUS]

I agree with the above. I'd post them all in the FS section here and see if you get any interest. As for shipping costs, you'd be surprised, if it is a hard to get album people will pay. Amazon charges about $3 per CD here in the US so us CD guys are used to paying about $3 shipping per disc as annoying as it is. Then have some discounts on package deals for the people not so willing to shell out for a particular album. And if you've got any metal or ambient music let me know, I pretty much import all my music. Shipping from Canada is probably cheaper than I'm used to.

 

[Squeek]

Bah!
 
I was hoping not to have to catalog and rate each one, but I guess that is inevitable.  I like the grab bag idea.  

 

[MohawkUS]

You could also try the site Discogs. There are a lot of music collectors there, but you'll have to go through the extra effort of finding which version you have(which label, what year, remastered or not). You'll sell a lot quicker there than anywhere else really. Reminds me that I really need to clean out the stuff I don't listen to in my collection.

 

[Feedback]

Do you have any record stores near you? Most buy used music. Due to the size of your collection you'd probably have to make an appointment.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

You can sell locally or just within Canada to shave off a lot of shipping costs.
If you catalog it you might see lots of interest for particular albums then you can just fire sale the rest.

 

[El_Doug]

Note that it is illegal to sell the CDs if you are keeping the digital copies.  This is akin to photocopying a book and then selling it. 
 
If you delete them, then selling is of course perfectly fine. 

 

[warubozu]

Maybe try Craigslist, state that shipping cost might be expensive outside of Canada to see if prospective buyers would be willing to pay. I used to sell some of my old cds to music/comic book stores locally but they paid diddly crap for my cds which were all in excellent condition. It was as if they expected me to literally give them my cds for free and then have them sell for a profit. Maybe you may have better luck at it.

 

[Feedback]

Quote:

It was as if they expected me to literally give them my cds for free and then have them sell for a profit.

 
OH NO! A business selling things for profit! A record store can't really give you much more for CDs then they already do. They purchase a CD for maybe $2, and they can probably count on it sitting on the shelves for at least a few weeks, only to be sold for 6-10 bucks, if at all. There is not much profit in it for them if you really think about it.

 

[warubozu]

Quote:

 
OH NO! A business selling things for profit! A record store can't really give you much more for CDs then they already do. They purchase a CD for maybe $2, and they can probably count on it sitting on the shelves for at least a few weeks, only to be sold for 6-10 bucks, if at all. There is not much profit in it for them if you really think about it.

 
Yes I realize that, I was foolish to think I would get good money for my cds going that route decades ago.

 

[Feedback]

Quote:

 
Yes I realize that, I was foolish to think I would get good money for my cds going that route decades ago.

 
It's definitely not the best way to get rid of CDs, I'll agree with you on that, but if OP wants to quickly and easily liquidate his collection it might be a good way to go about it.

 

[Squeek]

I think the grab bag idea is best.  What is a fair price for a 10 CD grab bag of quality albums?  $20?  $30? 
 
Otherwise the most popular albums will get cherry picked and I'll be sitting on the rest and still have a problem with storage.  I just need to take the time to catalog them and post them. 

 

[MorbidToaster]

I'd probably buy at least a few if you went through the trouble. Grab bags however...I'd say $2-$3 a CD is fair depending on how many 'good ones' you're sticking in there. You could do them by genres as well.
 
Quote:

I think the grab bag idea is best.  What is a fair price for a 10 CD grab bag of quality albums?  $20?  $30? 
 
Otherwise the most popular albums will get cherry picked and I'll be sitting on the rest and still have a problem with storage.  I just need to take the time to catalog them and post them. 

 

[Squeek]

Yeah, I would bag them according to some sort of system.  I don't see the value in bagging Meshuggah with Sharon, Lois and Bram!