Where to sell CDs in NYC?
July 18, 2012 3:25 PM Subscribe
Where can I sell a couple hundred CDs in New York City? (Assuming that it's even worth selling them nowadays....)
Now that I've moved all of my music into the cloud, I have between two and three hundred CDs to sell. They are all in great condition and are, for lack of a better word, cool: These are actual CDs that a person who is into a wide range of music would actually want to own.
My question is: Where in New York should I go to sell them? Because CDs are heavy and I don't have a car, I'd like to make this as close to a one-stop experience as possible, ideally at a place in Manhattan. In the best case scenario, some record store would simply take them all off my hands at once. I'm also open to the idea of donating them to a charity, like Housing Works, if the used CD market is dead in the water.
Have you sold any CDs lately? Where did you go? (Mods: I searched, and the most recent question on this subject I could find was from 2005 -- it seems likely that things have changed since then.)
Now that I've moved all of my music into the cloud, I have between two and three hundred CDs to sell. They are all in great condition and are, for lack of a better word, cool: These are actual CDs that a person who is into a wide range of music would actually want to own.
My question is: Where in New York should I go to sell them? Because CDs are heavy and I don't have a car, I'd like to make this as close to a one-stop experience as possible, ideally at a place in Manhattan. In the best case scenario, some record store would simply take them all off my hands at once. I'm also open to the idea of donating them to a charity, like Housing Works, if the used CD market is dead in the water.
Have you sold any CDs lately? Where did you go? (Mods: I searched, and the most recent question on this subject I could find was from 2005 -- it seems likely that things have changed since then.)
I moved away several years ago, but Academy Records at 12 West 18th Street was always a good spot for used CDs and still seems to be going strong.
posted by otters walk among us at 4:46 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by otters walk among us at 4:46 PM on July 18, 2012
Best answer: I think it likely depends on your music taste. If you have excellent taste and your collection is made up of CDs on consistent labels (Drag City, Impulse, Blue Note, Water, Bear Family, Lionel Hill, Chess, Stax, Motown, (early) Sub Pop, Type, Important, Trojan, Mosaic, etc.) then your stuff is probably still worth selling.
If your stuff is just mainstream radio-friendly pop and rock music than I would suspect it is probably not worth your while and would suggest donating to the Goodwill.
Note that I'm in Toronto and am basing my answer on that market, though I suspect NYC would be similar.
In the first scenario, stores in Toronto would be paying you $3 - $6 each. In the second, 25 cents each or, more likely, they'd pass.
posted by dobbs at 5:36 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
If your stuff is just mainstream radio-friendly pop and rock music than I would suspect it is probably not worth your while and would suggest donating to the Goodwill.
Note that I'm in Toronto and am basing my answer on that market, though I suspect NYC would be similar.
In the first scenario, stores in Toronto would be paying you $3 - $6 each. In the second, 25 cents each or, more likely, they'd pass.
posted by dobbs at 5:36 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I've enjoyed selling to secondspin.com. You list them, they tell you how much they'll pay, you send them media mail and the x-fer money to your account. Easy Peasy.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:04 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:04 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
These are actual CDs that a person who is into a wide range of music would actually want to own
This doesn't have much to do with their resale value. Check Discogs or Amazon to get a sense of what your CDs are going for on the used market. Then know that the store will offer you way less than that.
posted by box at 6:05 PM on July 18, 2012
This doesn't have much to do with their resale value. Check Discogs or Amazon to get a sense of what your CDs are going for on the used market. Then know that the store will offer you way less than that.
posted by box at 6:05 PM on July 18, 2012
If it's standard pop/rock/rap, try Craigslist and aim pretty cheap.
posted by Slinga at 6:58 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by Slinga at 6:58 PM on July 18, 2012
Spun.com and secondspin.com are really easy. You scan/type in the barcode, they tell you what they're worth, you mail them to them and they pay for the shipping. Then you get the money in your PayPal or via check.
posted by k8t at 7:19 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by k8t at 7:19 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers so far. I think I'll try Academy Records. My collection is closer to what Dobbs is imagining -- a lot of high-brow music.
posted by josh at 8:05 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by josh at 8:05 PM on July 18, 2012
Definitely worth it. I suggest doing little trials with a small variety of stuff at Kim's, Academy Records, and Other Music, to see where you'll do best.
posted by sparrows at 3:41 AM on July 19, 2012
posted by sparrows at 3:41 AM on July 19, 2012
I was in the exact same situation and I ended up using iPodmeister because their drop off was close to me and I had a friend who used them, but they told me I could have shipped them for free even though I only lived a couple miles away if you want to go that route. The people at the warehouse were very friendly, answered all my questions, helped me unload, the turnaround was quick and the prices were fair. I really recommend them if you are looking to unload everything at once, they were the only place that I found that take everything. I opted out of doing the record store thing after I made some calls and most places gave me a rundown of what they could and couldn't take. I didn't want to have to do a bunch of work to figure out what is what and separating them so I didn't have to cart them around the city unnecessarily, blah blah blah. I did list them on CL for a little while, but got no bites.
posted by GeraldineR at 11:36 AM on July 19, 2012
posted by GeraldineR at 11:36 AM on July 19, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
The trick to this is to use the word 'lot' in your ebay title and description.
posted by Ardiril at 3:36 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]