CD's for Ipod. Worth it?

January 8, 2006 7:40 PM

I'm thinking about using the Ipod-for-CD's from milleniummusic.com. You give them 130 cds and they give you a 30gig Video Ipod. Is it worth it?

I've ripped all 700 cds I own to mp3 and haven't touched the actual cds in over a year. When I buy a new cd, I immediately rip it and store the cd in the closet. So I'm assuming I'm not out anything if I ditch 130 of them. Am I cheating myself out of anything in the future? Any thoughts?

posted by damiano99 to computers & internet (19 comments total)

For you, it sounds perfect. If you don't even look at the CDs anymore, you clearly won't need them.

Some things to think about: Will you ever want the booklet/liner notes? If you start using a newer, better compression method (for example, iTunes' m4a), will you be able to live with your lossier files? Will you back up your MP3 library?
posted by danb at 7:48 PM on January 8, 2006

Umm. Do you have a link for this? I went to their site and can't find it. Can I go back in time and unread this?
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 7:48 PM on January 8, 2006

http://www.millenniummusic.com/trades.html
posted by danb at 7:49 PM on January 8, 2006

If you go to a used record store and sell them for an average of $5 each, that's $650 -- a 30gig Video iPod ($299 before tax) and some change. Your CDs will last a long while, but your iPod will be a paperweight in a couple of years, tops. I don't think it's a fair trade at all.
posted by ori at 7:53 PM on January 8, 2006

I am kicking myself for taking them all out of their jewel cases and putting them into albums now. I have about 300 cd's in albums that I never listen to anymore. :(
posted by stew560 at 7:55 PM on January 8, 2006

You do know that legally if you sell the cds you are supposed to delete the mp3s? And that you would be committing a crime to continue to use them after you no longer own the physical CDs?
posted by Rhomboid at 8:01 PM on January 8, 2006

I until recently worked used CDs and if it was a high demand title and you wanted cash I would give you $4. Trade $5. More often than not I was giving two or three bucks cash. So they are getting a deal. But if you brought me in two hundred CDs for trade, I would be highly picky over what I took. That is the problem I see. You send them 175 CDs for approx $20 Fed Ex ground. That trade page says they will evaluate condition and the desirability of the title. You have to send them decent stuff or you will end up having to drop another $20 to get them shipped back. So you end up sending a couple hundred and then a few more, then a few more to reach the magic number. Then maybe pay to get your undesired ones shipped back or just be out of them too. And I'll bet when you are scraping to hit 175, you end up shipping off something you probably would prefer to keep.

That all being said I am eyeballing the CD shelf debating the viability of me doing this. I need a 60GB.
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 8:03 PM on January 8, 2006

IANAL, but I think from a legal standpoint if you sell those cds you're not supposed to keep the mp3s in your possession.
posted by shoepal at 8:04 PM on January 8, 2006

Heh. What bothers me is the "sales history" bit. I have crateloads of cds sent as promos etc., but I've already sold everything that would fetch cash in the market here... And I have no interest in paying their shipping costs if they're going to send me back 299 out of 300.
posted by klangklangston at 8:05 PM on January 8, 2006

damn. beat by Rhomboid and didn't preview. Curses.
posted by shoepal at 8:05 PM on January 8, 2006

ori - have you ever sold cd's second hand before? I WISH I got 5 bucks for all of them.
posted by atom128 at 8:24 PM on January 8, 2006

Sounds to me like a gimmick to promote their used CD buying business. They are giving you on average $2.50 for the CDs they take, and they don't necessarily take all the CDs you send them. If you live in a city of reasonable size, I'd think you could do at least as well selling them locally.
posted by Good Brain at 9:21 PM on January 8, 2006

OR....you could start up your own mp3 blog, wait for some random, generous girl to come across it, rock her world, and send you a fresh, new 60GB video iPod in the mail as a simple return gesture on her part for opening her eyes up to a whole new class of music.
posted by Mach3avelli at 9:45 PM on January 8, 2006

You should manually enter all the CDs you own into some Excel spreadsheet, including the quality of the CD, and shop it around whatever secondhand stores are nearby and see what they'd offer. You may have to part with fewer of your CDs than you originally thought to get an iPod.

As for the missing the CDs part (I'm not going to touch on the "delete your mp3s once you sell your CDs" deal; come on), that's all up to you. Physical media is falling out of favor, so as time goes on you'll probably care less and less about the actual CDs. Extensive CD collections that people brag about will give way to meticulously organized iPods with vast libraries. (Of course, I have a huge vinyl collection, so there are always people like me.) But I just say as long as you have your iPod library backed up physically somewhere, you probably won't miss the CDs that much.
posted by apple scruff at 10:15 PM on January 8, 2006

You get killed on the shipping back and forth, esp. with no guarantee on how many of your titles they'll keep.

Find a brick and mortar store and try to sell them locally. Bonus: you can buy whatever you want with the proceeds.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 4:17 AM on January 9, 2006

Hey thanks for the input. I think I will try to sell them locally first. Even if I get lucky and get 2/2.50 for each of them, I'll still have come out ahead because of not paying shipping and I'll get rid of the physical media I no longer use. I just looked in the Sunday paper and they're having a sale where I live right now on 30gig Video Ipod for 239$
posted by damiano99 at 6:45 AM on January 9, 2006

Depending on what you are selling, I might be interested in buying (for resale on GEMM).
posted by omnidrew at 7:13 AM on January 9, 2006

Rhomboid writes "You do know that legally if you sell the cds you are supposed to delete the mp3s?"

damiano99 doesn't have a location listed but this is not true in Canada. Heck I can even borrow a CD from a friend, rip a copy, and return it all without incurring the wrath of the police.
posted by Mitheral at 10:57 AM on January 9, 2006

You get killed on the shipping back and forth

Assuming you are in the US and shipping to a US destination, Media Mail is your friend. The maximum of 70lb would only cost you $26 and with an assumption of 60g per cd+case his whole obscene 700 cds would be 92 or so pounds. Sending 200 (to do a little CYA on rejections) would be just 27lb, or $10.94 plus insurance.

I'd be more interested to hear from anyone who has taken them up on this deal.
posted by phearlez at 11:55 AM on January 9, 2006