[fyrfytrhoges]

I just recently received some cds I bought from ebay, eight in all, and some of them have cut marks in the cd cases, why would someone do this to a sealed cd and did I get ripped off, the ad on ebay stated nothing about this. thanks for your thoughts!!!

 

[sapphiremodena]

I have 4 or 5 CDs like that, with a slit cut in the spine by the bottom left hand corner. My brother said that people cut them to indicate that they're discounted or something? Or that they were given away for free or something? I dunno....

 

[andrzejpw]

HEY! I was wondering the same thing. . . I picked up the Lost in Space soundtrack from the dollar store. It also has a slit in the spine.

Now, when I bought it, there was a best buy tag on it. So, I'm guessing it was there to prevent people from buying the cd for a buck, and returning it to bestbuy for a larger price.

 

[CaptBubba]

They could be samples like the ones often sent to DJs in order to get them to play the songs on the air. I have a few like that, but the cut isn't in the spine, it is diagonal across the barcode.

 

[BenG]

THey're promotional copies. Some even come in nothing but a cardboard slip case with no jewel case or liner notes.

You have to be careful on Ebay if you don't want a promo copy or a record club version. Usually, the minimum and final bid will be much lower if it is either.

 

[andrzejpw]

really? But the one I got came with the notes, etc. I didn't see any type that said promo copy. . .

 

[mbriant]

All of you are correct. They're either discounted or promo copies. The cases are marked to prevent them from being sold/returned as "new" full price copies...even though they are new.

With vinyl LPs they'd drill a small hole through either the corner of the album jacket ( missing the actual disc ) or sometimes they would drill through the center label.

 

[andrzejpw]

ah, ok. Makes sense!

 

[mbriant]

Most likely they are promo copies because these days they don't seem to sell discounted CDs as much as they used to with LPs. It probably has something to do with the fact that the "world" music library of today contains a lot more titles than it did 20 or 30 years ago and retailers/wholesalers don't have the space to stock everything.

A friend of mine owns a garbage disposal business and has contracts with several record retail chains to destroy and dispose of 40 ft. garbage bins filled with CDs, VHS tapes, and DVD discs. Some are returns, some are defective, but most are simply excess, unsold stock. Because the actual manufacturing costs of these discs is low, it's cheaper to destroy excess stock than to store it.

They dump the bins and crush the discs/tapes at the municipal dump with a bulldozer. This is done under the observation of a representative of the appropriate company to ensure all the product is destroyed and out of circulation. It's all about controlling supply and therefore price.

 

[andrzejpw]

huh. Pretty interesting!

How do cds from best buy get to clearance stores though? I mean, do some people buy cds from best buy that, they for some reason, just don't want to sell anymore?

 

[mbriant]

The reason Best Buy wouldn't want to sell them anymore is lack of display/storage space. They've over-estimated the demand for certain titles and need to make room for new releases.

Perhaps some label/distributor/retailer is allowing discounting of certain excess stock because they simply have way to much stock to destroy and therefore too much money to lose. They decide that recouping a discounted amount on a lot of stock will be more profitable than making a lesser amount of full price sales of that title.

 

[john_jcb]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbriant The reason Best Buy wouldn't want to sell them anymore is lack of display/storage space. They've over-estimated the demand for certain titles and need to make room for new releases.

I bought a couple of CDs at Best Buy in their highly discounted area and they were cut on the corner as described. When I asked why they were cut they told me it was as mbriant says, they are overstocked with no storage and sales were not that fast. So they deeply discount them and cut the case. This prevents you from buying it at a low price and bring it back for exchange later when the price and supply are back to normal.

 

[Mr.PD]

I recently bought some CD's at a grocery outlet store for $2.99 each. Out of the 3 I got one was cut. 2 of them had Walmart tags and one had a Best Buy tag, it was the cut one.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

I recently bought some CD's at a grocery outlet store for $2.99 each. Out of the 3 I got one was cut. 2 of them had Walmart tags and one had a Best Buy tag, it was the cut one.

There's always going to be some discounted copies go through that are not marked as discounted copies....whether on purpose or by mistake.

The record label/manufacturer ( Sony for example ) sells the CDs to various regional distributors. These distributors re-sell the CDs to retail stores and sometimes to other, smaller distributors. ( like a guy who sets up small racks in convenience stores and services them with a van full of CDs)

Some retailers and distributors buy the CDs on consignment (ie: they get credit for returning unsold copies) Some retailers and distributors take the risk of buying the CDs outright, without the option of returning unsold copies for credit. In return, they are able to purchase the CDs at a lesser price than a consignment buyer. It's often the returned copies from consignment buyers that get destroyed or resold to other retailers as marked discounted copies. If a small retailer or distributor buys them outright, they would then prefer to recoup any money they could from unsold copies and would therefore discount them.

Then there are grey market CDs that some private importers may bring in from other countries, where currency exchange and local pricing make it profitable to do so.

Then there are stolen copies, ( sometimes by the truckload) which often wind up being sold at small independent retail stores or flea markets etc.

And sometimes, a label will decide to release ( usually re-release ) certain titles as a discounted item right away.

And sometimes mistakes are made and discounted copies which are supposed to be marked, don't get marked.

These are the primary reasons why some discounted copies are marked and some aren't.

 

[Mr.PD]

That makes sense. These that I got were all marked "promo CD" which I took to mean discounted CD, as in promotional price.