Best Option To Liquidate CD Collection

We are less than 10 heads away from CDs becoming entirely irrelevant and I will tell you why. If you could have access to virtually every recording ever made and steam that music in CD resolution or higher would you still want to own CDs? Why on earth would you. The one and only reason I buy and own CDs is because mog and spotify don't stream uncompressed music. Once they do, I'm done owning or buying music. No reason to.

You can't control seller from copying material one wants to sell(and still want to listen). One who just want to listen to music has a right to be happy with burned CD or recorded cassette for PERSONAL use. That is considred to be legal anywhere you go.

Now I'm remembering the litigation back in the 80's regarding home recording to cassette and the recording of video rentals. The court ruled that it was legal to keep a copy for your personal use.

In the case of VHS movie rentals, it was also legal to keep a copy for personal use. That's when the movie studios started to use "Copyguard" on VHS rentals. The most effective system distorted the vertical sync on the tape enabling it to play, but couldn't be recorded. Next, copyguard was applied to DVD rentals but was too expensive to apply to every DVD released.

Czarivey said

I would pick up the record, record it onto cassette and kept the record till I wanted to purchase different one playing just a cassette after the record was opened and recorded.

Your economic situation has no relevance to the discussion. Making a copy onto cassette to use it in your car is, in my opinion as a non-lawyer, clearly within the fair use exemption allowing reproduction of copyrighted material. Re-selling it and keeping the reproduction is not. While the legal system cannot prevent people from committing an illegal act, that does not make it legal, ethical or moral. You've clearly failed the honor system test and your actions are part of the reason those of us who passed have to deal w copy-protection and DRM and etc. Thanks, dude.

Wait to you die, that way your estate will inherit the problem, or will them to one of your grandchildren.

Lowrider57,

Is it the honor system, such as it's assumed that the original owner has not kept a copy for himself

It does not and cannot happen in real world(Earth). You can't control seller from copying material one wants to sell(and still want to listen). One who just want to listen to music has a right to be happy with burned CD or recorded cassette for PERSONAL use. That is considred to be legal anywhere you go. The reason I started selling records was not for profit, but to listen to lots of music and almost free. I would pick up the record, record it onto cassette and kept the record till I wanted to purchase different one playing just a cassette after the record was opened and recorded. Occasionally I managed to profit and save funds for more new music.
I did not grow up with wealthy parents so I had to keep my allowances tight-tight. Slowly-slowly I became popular at street lots and started selling records for profit realizing that I'm making my living.

Lowrider57, first the disclaimer...I'm no expert with respect to the legal system. Now for my opinion... I don't think that the law has any additional or specific provision with respect to businesses that sell used material. I think the intent and the content of the law deals specifically with unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material regardless of where it takes place. That being said, I'm sure every business will have to assume that no unauthorized copies have been made. But, as Onhwy61 pointed out, that assumption is completely false in a case such as this where a member publicly asks for help in what would appear to be a clear intent to violate the copyright law.

The system relies upon people acting in good faith. There is no enforcement effort so there is no penalty for abusing the system.

If you found a wallet (with cash and credit cards) on the street, would you try to contact the owner and return it, or would you pocket the cash and try to buy a flat screen with the credit card? Most people would try to return the wallet, but some wouldn't. It's knowing the difference between right and wrong and acting accordingly.

Serious question...what is the law concerning resale of used CDs by record shops and websites such as Agon and Amazon. Is it the honor system, such as it's assumed that the original owner has not kept a copy for himself.

onhwy61, yes it is disappointing, isn't it?

I'm a little disappointed that so many frequent and respected contributors to this forum are willing to consul what is clearly unethical and illegal behavior. I'm surprised that Audiogon allowed such a thread. The RIAA isn't pursuing cases against individuals, but I would think a moderated, for profit website that abets illegal activity would make a tempting, high profile target.

I'm talkin' about character. I'm talkin' about - hell... I ain't embarrassed to use the word - I'm talkin' about ethics.

It's very easy to list them on discogs. Will take approx few hours since you don't have to supply any pictures of your own.
Just make sure you're listing proper release.
CDs now not easily sold unless your asking price is darn low low. So far my sales from the store 1CD per few hundreds of records and same is online.

Princeton Record Exchange; one of the top used record stores in the country.

http://www.prex.com

---no affiliation

To answer your question, the amount you'll gain from selling your collection is directly proportional to the amount of work you put in selling it. If you want to sell in bulk you're not going to maximize your return. Why would anyone pay you top dollar if they have to turn around and do the work to sell them individually? Selling your cd collection is no different form selling any other category of collectible. It's a pain in the rump to list and sell each cd on Ebay or Amazon, but it's the only way you're going to get more than pennies on the dollar. I've known several individuals trying to sell their music collections and the results are similar. Classical is hard to sell, jazz a little less so, and rock/popular sells the easiest (unless it's Three Dog Night or Barry Manilow etc.) In the end, everyone I've known said it was a lot of work to try and get a decent return.

Ok some good comments but no one has answered my question .....have you sold your collection? I do not have the room to store them. All music is backed up on spare hard drives.
Are you saving your 8 tracks and cassettes too.

My understanding is that if you buy a CD/DVD, you own that copy. If you copy that either as a disc or a hard drive you own that original copy. If you sell that original and retain the copy, you essentially have gained profit by retaining a copy then re-selling. The industry sees that one copy was paid for but two copies exist and they have been cheated out of the second copy.
As far as selling your originals, I agree with the comments made about retention. First off if you ever damage your hard drive you have copies to rebuild your library. Second if a better storage technology comes along(just wait) you have the originals to transfer from your best original. I hope to do this someday as well, and plant to package them up and store them so that they would be easy to move. In the balance what you will receive for your collection, especially in a bulk sale, that money will be a minor temporary gain at best.
Check with bagsunlimited.com and I am sure they have the right box to do the job.
Just another music lovers opinion.

Drubin
You cannot legally nor ethically sell or even give away your CDs so long as you have ripped and still have the files. Do the right thing!

I know that's the law...can anybody explain how record shops and Amazon can buy and sell used CDs legally?
Thanks.

+1 Drubin

You cannot legally nor ethically sell or even give away your CDs so long as you have ripped and still have the files. Do the right thing!

The stupidest action you could take is to sell off your CDs. Plus, there's the legal issue.

I agree with the above comments. Keep your CDs. I have over 2200 CDs that I have ripped to my music server. There's no way in hell that I would ever get rid of them. Actually, that thought has never entered my mind.

You just never know...

Agree with Lindisfarne on the value of the CDs as back-up. Also question the legality, or at least the ethical aspect, of selling. I believe that if you sell your copies you don't really 'own' the burnt copies. I understand many people go to the library and check out copies to burn. I feel a little uncomfortable with that as I would selling my copies.

I agree, keep them. Do create a catalog of them and post it on line. Let any buyers come to you. When they do, check eBay and Amazon for market rates. Never sell below $5 plus shipping and handling, its not worth the trouble. If you sell any, duplicate it on a CD-Rom to maintain the 'back up'.

Never get rid of your CDs. They are your "back-up". You'd be a fool to do so. Forgive me for the harsh tone but I'm seriously trying to show you the light.

"Amazon apparently has a plan to warehouse the discs and ship for you. Anyone tried that?"

Amazon fees are very expensive. Unless you have CD's that sell for a lot of money, you'll just be giving them away. I would not be so fast to sell them anyway. People find out that they didn't rip their CD's properly and have to go back and redo them all the time. Also, not everyone likes computer audio. Keep the CD's for at least another year or two.

Prepare a spreadsheet with your disk catalog.... Upload it to your public dropbox folder... Create an ad on audiogon, and post a link to your catalog.

Guido