Or, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do."
Or, Ken's Therapy Item. :/
As some of you may have heard me mumble in party or in person, the time
has arrived to give my collection of recorded music a bit of a haircut.
The key issues are that we have run out of storage space in our
fairly small house, and I am fed up with not being able to find
specific recordings I want to hear because they are lost in the
morass. I also wouldn't mind raising some cash.
How do folks find it most profitable to sell CDs? How do you make the
selection on what stays and what goes?
I've got a vague algorithm for the CDs which looks like this:
offer to friends
Possibly post list in music conf/ classified conf on Grex & M-net
list items at half.com
folk items for trade to Elderly Instruments / non-folk items to
Encore / PJ's / Wazoo / FBC used shops
Kiwanis or Library sale for free disposal
I'm hoping I can average $4-$5 each on the CDs.
Getting rid of LPs will be less profitable, but it needs to be done.
Three towers of LPs are taking up valuable living room space, yet I
probably don't play 20 LPs per year. At least 500 of these LPs must
go, and 700 would be a better target.
It's a no-brainer to sell the few valuable items (like a Mobile Fidelity
"Abbey Road" LP) on Ebay, and I know two used folk music dealers who
might give me some credit for some of the folk LPs. And Encore
still seems to buy LPs. People interested in perusing lists of
my discarded vinyl should let me know. I'm disinclined to offer
LPs in bulk on E-bay -- they don't seem to draw much bidding unless
they are collectible, and shipping them is tedious, and there is too much
room for getting into arguments over grading.
I expect the Collection Reduction Project will take up much of the rest of
2001. So far all I've done is look in a few boxes in the basement and
whimper. Suggestions and offers of hand-holding are welcomed!
21 responses total.
I just put a ton of mine up in the Grex auction....check there in the next few days for them to post them. :)
I would be interetestd in the list of vinyl, Ken. I'm sure there are a LOT of people who'd be interested on Grex. You'll get LITTLE money selling them at stores, but if space is less important than money, then PJ's and Encore are okay venues. But you know that there are some of us on Grex who will give them the love that you would. <hold's ken's hands> A list of CD's too...
Well, I've already said that I'll happily buy what I can (depending of course on what you're getting rid of... if it's folk, well.... grin.) I think the GREX option for vinyl might be worth a try. At least it wouldn't be as bad for shipping as ebay. And, of course, you do have my sympathy. I've had to go through my books recently and get rid of several bagsfull, and I still have a long way to go. I'm *thinking* of weeding my CDs but don't know if I can face that yet.
<laughs at the thought of the armwrestling contests over some of Ken's stuff>
Hey, *I've* known him longer and he's corrupted me more. -- calling dibs on Ken's stuff! Next up? (At least I think I've known him longer than you have, ashke... ten years, almost? Gads!)
Ashke, how little money are we talking about in selling LPs to PJs and Encore? (resp:2)
Pennies to what they're worth? PJ's will give a bit better of a deal, he's honest, but he has less of the traffic, so he might not be able to take a lot. Encore is full of idiots who are too young to care about vinyl and still think of it as a dying form, and will buy from you for $1-2 on some, unless they're REALLY rare and in mint condition, and then sell it for up to a 500% markup. That's what my mother ended up doing with hers, and she got ripped off. re 5: Hey, I'm INJURED and might have surgery...the sympathy vote goes a long way! <wink wink ;)> Sides, I been here 7 years!
I'm aware of the possibility of flooding the market. I expect to dribble both the LPs and CDs out over several months.
Ashke, you are a buttwipe who has no idea what you are talking about. the folks at encore know what they are talking about. Your mother is a big fat dummy and deserved to get ripped off.
I have never found a salesclerk at Encore that knew what they were talking about. (Actually, the only record store in A2 that has clerks that I've found that know what they're talking about is Schoolkids in Exile) (then again, I don't usually buy a lot of CD's, and I try to deal with clerks as little as possible.
(add a ) at the end of my resp:10 Finish a semester programming in scheme and my parentheses are all shot to hell)
Yanno, I'm going to ignore #9, but before I do, I have experience shopping at most of the stores in A2 that sell Used and buy used, and Encore has the worst reputation for their goods. So keep your insults off me, my family, and get a grip.
fatso. :P~~~
I don't know... they always seem to shoot me the good champs.
Whenever I have been in, they have seemed disninterested in their customers, the merchandise, and anything other than themselves behind the counter. I go to PJ's or Wazoo and I can talk with the staff, and they help find things, and help locate with "match the cover" when you're not sure of the title, and just a better attitude overall.
(I've had hit and miss experiences with Encore and Wazoo, and excellent knowledge from PJ's, but I've always had a pleasure buying from each, and rarely sell to them. frankly, having been stuck in a musical wasteland [as far as commercial sales go], I've come to realize how lucky I had it in A2.) (of course, I've never done business with that krj character. I've heard he's pretty shady.)
As a buyer I have never had any problems with Encore, and I have always found the staff and the owners helpful. For my main used CD buying interests -- folk, world music, and classical -- Encore seems to have the best selection. PJ's I just don't get to much, because it's located out of my usual path wandering downtown, and because they don't stock many CDs in my favorite genres. But I could see where perspectives might change as a seller, particularly a seller of vinyl. You know, if one used CD store was clearly better in all respects then the others would probably go out of business.
I've had pretty good experiences with Encore, aside from the long-running natual gas leak somewhere in the back. Apparently I'm the only one bothered by it. :(
(I've been thinking about this a bit more. Ken, if you get to the point of needing to sell off LPs, you might consider carting them to a record expo. I think they were every 3-4 months while I was in A2, and you're likely to see a crowd that's 1) more interested in what you have and 2) more likely to compensate you for what you have. used record stores are businesses just like any other, and my guess is that they'll only buy from you what they think they can sell, and only at a price that makes it worth adding to the 1000s of other LPs sitting around gathering dust on the jackets.)
Hmm, interesting thought. Thanks...
Well, the auction people have started putting in my cd's.....they're being sold off in groups of two (mostly), and right now they have 4 sets running. (they didn't want to glut the market. :) Check it out for Grex! :)
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