How to Sell Your Old CDs

If you’re a music lover, few things in life are more satisfying than gathering up a stack of second-string CDs, lugging them to a used record store and exchanging them for cash or store credit. However, it’s best to approach this transaction as a businessperson first and as a music fan second. Here’s how to get the best value for your CDs and avoid any aggravation in the process.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Lower your expectations. Sure, you may have paid $16.99 list for that Metallica best-of, but you’re nuts if you think you can get even a quarter of that back. As a rule, most CD stores will offer two to three bucks for a decent used CD, four or five tops if the disc is rare or on an expensive (or import) label. And if you’re unloading your treasured Billy Joel collection, be prepared to receive as little as a buck a disc, or even less.

2. Examine your CDs carefully. A used-CD store will resort to any excuse it can to lower its payout—so even if that tiny scratch on the CD doesn’t affect playback, it’ll cost you a couple of bucks on a trade-in. There’s not much you can do about scratches, but at least you can make sure the CD case is in good condition, if necessary by swapping it with another, newer CD in your collection. Just remove the inserts, pop open the cases and presto! that Joni Mitchell disc looks like it was bought yesterday.

3. Don’t be afraid to haggle. Remember, the person doing the buying at a used CD store is trying to maximize his return, as are you. If you feel like you’re being quoted an unfair price, turn up the spiel and see if you can get the buyer to budge. If not—and if it’s the only store in town—you may have no choice but to take the offer or leave it.

4. Eliminate the middleman. Typically, when a store pays three bucks for a CD, that disc will be priced for resale at 9 or 10 bucks. This is business, pure and simple, and shouldn’t make you feel like you’re being ripped off. However, if you don’t want to give the store the satisfaction, consider selling your discs at a stoop or garage sale. You’re still unlikely to get more than three or four bucks per, but at least you’ll be dealing with fellow music lovers directly.

5. Consider going on eBay. If you’re convinced you have a rare, one-of-a-kind disc in your collection, check on eBay to see if it’s being sold by anyone else, and what it’s pulling on the open market. More often than not, you’ll find that your supposedly limited-edition Jimi Hendrix bootleg is worth—here’s that number again—three or four bucks. As for selling on eBay, that’s a task in itself, but keep in mind that the music auction market is especially tough and may not be any more lucrative than selling to a CD store.