My CD Collection

[Mayonnaise]

I'm getting older.

In my attic are all my cds in their jewel cases; they've been untouched since they've been downloaded onto my computer. They've been up there awhile, all 1500 of them.

Age has made me aware of certain things, and in this regard I don't see much need to keep these cds anymore. Yes, I have an emotional attachment to the physical cds and I am afraid if I let them go I will regret it. This is precisely why I need to get rid of them. I don't want to be a captive of my possessions and need to work through silly attachments to nostalgia.

That said, the question becomes, what do I do with them?

Most people tell me I have excellent taste in music. While there are a few clunkers up there, most of the titles are essential and worth owning.

I tried selling off some of the boxed sets on ebay but I got tired of the hassle. Turns out to be a lot of work for a small return. There is no way I'm loading each cd on ebay and waiting for it to sell.

I thought about writing an ad and putting it on craigslist. Sell them all for one large sum. Might be difficult to find a buyer.

I thought about donating them somewhere but I do want to get some kind of return on all the money I spent.

Honestly, I don't know what to do.

Any suggestions?

 

[Adam]

I don't have a suggestion for selling them, but I do have a suggestion in general. Make sure that you have at least one back-up of those files. I put all of my CDs onto a hard drive, and the hard drive crashed. If you lose your digital copies and no longer have your physical copies...well, I guess then you'd be even less of a captive to your possessions.

 

[Mayonnaise]

I don't have a suggestion for selling them, but I do have a suggestion in general. Make sure that you have at least one back-up of those files. I put all of my CDs onto a hard drive, and the hard drive crashed. If you lose your digital copies and no longer have your physical copies...well, I guess then you'd be even less of a captive to your possessions.

cds are backed up on an external hard drive

 

[Adam]

cds are backed up on an external hard drive

Just to be clear, I meant multiple hard drives (at least two). If you have your files on only one drive, and that drive fails, then your files are gone (or potentially very expensive to retrieve). Hard drives are so cheap these days, it's worth having at least one back-up, IMO.

You're probably saying that you have a second copy on an external drive, and that's a good approach.

 

[caupina]

My CD collection is one of my most precious belongings. I think of them as valuable possessions for the artistic and probably "sentimental' value they hold (not to mention the $$$ value. I just saw in amazon.com a CD that I bought almost 10 years ago that now costs USD 294.00). If you're still interested in selling your collection, it would be a good idea for you to make a list of all the CDs you own. On the other hand, there are some places that buy used CDs (Amoeba Music, comes to mind).

Good luck

 

[Hicks]

Take them to your local independent record shop that sells used CDs, they'll be happy to take the ones they want off of your hands, and they should give you about $2-4 a pop for the better titles.

The ones they don't take you can donate to goodwill or your local library and get a tax credit.

 

[skizzerflake]

I have too many to count too, and have ripped many to digital media, but I would be very reluctant to part with the hard copies. Backups or not, a lot of things can happen to digital media and then you have nothing to use to restart. In addition, I like having the pictures, inserts, etc. I don't like being encumbered by things, but my music collection is an exception.

 

[Soundman]

I have too many to count too, and have ripped many to digital media, but I would be very reluctant to part with the hard copies. Backups or not, a lot of things can happen to digital media and then you have nothing to use to restart. In addition, I like having the pictures, inserts, etc. I don't like being encumbered by things, but my music collection is an exception.

This is soo true. Screw digital media! it's not reliable. Believe it or not, it is possible for multiple hard drives to fail and then your S.O.L.

 

[Hi Ho]

I would highly recommend using off site backup as well. Use an external drive as a local backup but backing up to something off site like Carbonite or Jungledisk is a really good idea. You can use it to backup all of your important files and even in the worst case scenario (theft, fire, other disaster) your files are still safe.

 

[dkane360]

You can give all your CD's to me, and if you ever need them back you can just let me know