My CD Collection Conundrum
For several months, I’ve stared at my CD collection, wondering what I should do with it. It has probably been a good 2+ years since I actually listened to a “CD.” Nowadays I listen to all my music on my computer, or every so often I will pull out my iPod. Though probably larger than average, my collection is not enormous - somewhere around 1,200-1,400 CDs. I feel that by this point most people have done away with their jewell cases in favor of more compact solutions, like CD binders. I never did this because A.) it can scratch the CDs and B.) I like seeing my collection stacked ever-so-neatly on the shelves. So far, I’ve justified keeping them all by telling myself that I like to refer to the packaging, but frankly I cannot even remember the last time I actually pulled out a CD booklet to read anything. In today’s world, I can find much more detailed information on the Internet, within a few clicks.
It is hard to imagine getting rid of all of my CDs, especially since my livelihood comes primarily from CD sales.
On the one hand, I would kinda like to keep them in hopes they will some day become collector’s items. (Yes, I admit it. I am a packrat.) However, I’m not sure this makes sense if I am going to continue to live in New York. Even if one disc turns out to be worth $500, over the years I will have probably spent more than that on rent/storage just keeping them - not to mention moving expenses.
So then, what to do with them? A regular used CD store will not even take most of them. According to “SecondSpin.com - The Internet’s Largest Buyer & Seller of Used CDs ” some of them are only worth about $.25, if that. To make matters worse, their terms include:
- You pay for the shipping
- They deduct $.50 for each cracked, broken or missing jewel case(s)
- CDs with notches or holes cut into the jewel case are accepted on an “as needed” basis
Of course, they still have some sentimental value to me, but really they are just dust collectors.
Thoughts?
July 4th, 2006 at 10:17 am
I have a similar problem, and a similar collection… I bought (you might remember) a cabinet from Can-Am to hold most of them… I can’t use the binder solution because I’m anal about alphabetization, and the second i buy a new disc, everything goes out of whack.
A quandary for the ages, to be sure.