What should my heirs do to dispose of my vinyl and CDs?

@hifiman5 

One idea is to search your area for donation options.  Check out what a collection sparked here in Memphis.  They continue to accept donations. They keep new additions that are in good condition and have sales of the rest to help fund their operations.  Egglestonworks has their speakers in a dedicated listening room and the stations all have VPI turntables.  
 

https://memphislisteninglab.org/

@hifiman5 I’m intrigued by the fact that you are seeking some of the source material.  I part because I’ve been contemplating selling much of my cd collection because so much of it is accessible via streaming services. Even hiRes services (I use Qobuzz). There are, however a number of CDs that I can’t find on streaming services, such as Pale Fountains - Pacific Street or other parts of their catalog.  Therefore I have been ripping them onto my HiFi Rose streamer (and computer).  I love the accessibility and ability to create digital “mixed tapes”. 
 

Once ripped, other than perhaps a few collectibles I’m left staring at a wall full of discs that just gather dust.  
 

I had read that CDs are beginning to see a small uptick in sales as they are becoming nostalgic to a generation born in the mid to late 80s.  I just don’t see the demand for them becoming anything like early-print vinyl.  
 

Does anyone have first hand experience selling a CD collection and what people are getting on a avg price per disc?

I'm an audiophile and retired CFP(r), financial advisor.  I worked in an office that was mainly a trust and estate law.  Saw way too many families fight over inheritances, especially valuable collections/items.

My suggestion is to simplify as much as possible.  Being an executor of a will or successor trustee of a trust is a lot of work (and aggravation).  Give away or sell stuff now and give the money to your beneficiaries, family, friends, charities.  The benefit to you?  Seeing the joy it brings to others (See the book Happy Money).  

Idea.  Write your instructions out yourself and have it notarize.  

Another idea.  If you have teenage grandchildren who work part-time/summers.  Fund a Roth IRA for them.  

Years ago my daughters told me that they did not want my collection of Grateful Dead bootlegs.  And my wife won't touch my stereo.

Finally, talk to a lawyer with lots of experience administering estates.  It is worth the money.

If you're in the SF Bay Area, you could contact the San Francisco Audiophile Foundation.  I don't know if they're actively soliciting donations, but they are a 501c3 organization, so it would be deductible.  I haven't been to a meeting in a while, but they always had boxes of donated CDs & LPs for sale.  I don't recall any w/o the original packaging, though.  They may also accept equipment.

At least you'd know that the first people to get a crack at them would be card-carrying audiophiles!

Also, with respect to the public library, I think they need special licensing from the publishers, and can't use items that were privately purchased.  However, there may be an affiliated "friends of the library"  group that can accept donations and holds periodic sales locally.

@ross6860 -- Amen on the fishing gear.  One son will go with me if I ask, the other son couldn't catch a cold.  The son that will fish only knows how to use a spinning reel....kind of.  I've left my wife written instructions on what to do with my beloved Lews Speed Spool baitcasting reels (many from the 1970's), Falcon Custom rods, antique lures (many MY grandfather used), and boats.

As far as the high end stereo gear, vinyl, and CD's, expect what I see with the valuable riverfront farm land I grew up around in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia -- your body will barely be in the ground before your children are selling it.  With an acre selling for $20,000 or more, a family farm with 100 to 200 acres on a river is a goldmine today.  I see it every year around my farm -- doctors wanting to live in "the country" buying 2 or 3 acres and building million dollar plus estates with river views.  Real Estate developers descend on the heirs even before the "old man or Ma" die. 

All your heirs care about is cash.  Sad, but true.