Selling Used CDs, DVDs and Games on the Internet
Or maybe you’re like me and the CDs that you’ve outgrown are just a little too alternative or avant garde to unload at one of your local used media stores. Have you ever tried to sell a used copy of a Bill Nelson CD at one of those places? Forget it.
Fortunately, once again the internet is proving useful for more things than the dissemination of misinformation and other harmful enterprises. With a little luck, and even better timing, you just might be able to sell that old CD or DVD or VHS tape for cold hard cash. And, failing that, you might at least be able to trade it for something new.
Using any search engine, you can probably find several places on the web for selling or trading, but chances are you will be trying out at least one of the following. Probably the best place if you are just looking to make some cash out of your CDs is, appropriately, Cashforcds.com. Don’t be fooled by the name, they also buy DVDs and even video games. And they pay out in cash. The only real drawback to this site is that you have to sell at least six items in order to make the sale, but that is probably due to the fact that they will pay for your postage to them. Which, as you will soon find out, isn’t necessarily always the case. After finishing up your order, you will print out a mailing label that you just slap onto your box and send in. If you’re going to be sending in large quantities of items you will soon figure out how important this might be in your decision of which site to sell to. Those jewel cases add up postage!
Selling to Cashforcds.com is rather easy. You can enter your product by name of artist, title, and even the UPC number. Chances are you will run into a glitch where your UPC number doesn’t match up with theirs, but that’s a rare happenstance. The price you’ll actually get for your CD or DVD or game varies, of course, but mostly it’s going to be five bucks and under for CDs. With DVDs it varies much more, but if you’ve got some box sets of TV shows that you don’t want, you can really make some nice cash. Another nice thing about Cashforcds.com is that they offer a list of most wanted CDs that they are willing to pay $6 for. Try getting that at your local used record store.
Will you sell everything you want here? Probably no. They have quite a few overstocked items, mostly CDs and DVDs that were extremely popular when they came but have sort of lost their luster since. Chances are, if you’re trying to sell something like this, so are many of the people who bought them when they first came out. Still, it doesn’t hurt to try selling anything you want to get rid of. Even a buck is better than having it take up space. Be forewarned however, if the disc is scratched, if you don’t have the liner notes or if it’s stamped with a Promotional sticker, then you aren’t going to sell it. On the other hand, if you bought a dozen CDs for a penny from one of those record clubs, then now IS your chance to unload the ones you only got because they were twelve for a penny.
As for payment, they are very prompt about sending you a check. Or, if you prefer, you can have your payment sent directly into your Paypal account. Just be aware that if you decide to try sending in a substandard disc or game you won’t get paid for it and you will have to pay postage costs to get them back if you want them.
If you’re looking to upgrade your collection instead of making cash, you will probably want to try out Spun.com. Like Cashforcds.com, Spun.com does offer cash, but you’ll only get half of what the product’s worth. On the other hand, if you go for store credit, you’ll get the full monty. If you sell three items and buy just one, you get the free shipping. No only do you get free shipping, but a free box as well, since they send you a box big enough to send the product your selling inside. Chances are you’ll wind up not paying for whatever you buy if you sell just three items so it’s really the same as getting a free CD or DVD. If you don’t want to buy anything, you’ll have to sell at least $30 worth of stuff in order to get the free shipping and box.
Spun.com offers on the whole a little higher payout for product than Cashforcds.com. You can expect to get $8 for many CDs. Another nice thing about this site is that, unlike Cashforcds.com, you don’t have a minimum and also you get instant feedback on how much each item sells for. With Cashforcds.com, you don’t get a final price until you’ve sold six items and then you only get the full price for all, not individual items.
If you buy something from Spun.com, or if you trade for it, you immediately establish what is called Spundex Value. In other words, you establish a buyback credit should you decide you want to trade in something that you got from Spun.com. Chances are if you have trouble selling something at Cashforcds.com, you might have a slightly better chance of selling it at Spun.
But if you want an even better chance at unloading something that neither Cashforcds.com nor Spun.com want, then check out Secondspin.com. I was able to sell at least a dozen CDs at Secondspin that I couldn’t sell to either of the other sites. Understand, of course, that many of those CDs only sold for fifty cents or a dollar, but hey, that’s better than nothing, right!
Again, like Spun, you don’t have a minimum to sell and you get individual pricing. The downside to Secondspin is that you have to pay shipping prices. You can ship any way you, as cheaply as you want, but don’t expect to get reimbursed. Obviously, therefore, the more you sell, the more money you’ll actually see. Better to pay one shipping fee than three or four, so the best advice to take here is gather up everything you want to try to sell and sell it all at once at Secondspin.
Secondspin.com is competitive with Spun in how much they may be willing to pay for your product. Just realize, once again, that you are going to have take into account how much of your profit will go into shipping costs. However, Secondspin does have something going for it that the other two don’t. Secondspin will pay for your VHS tapes! Not much, mind you, chances are you won’t get more than a dollar at best and you’ll probably have to be satisfied with as low as 25 cents, but if you’ve got a few you can load in with the better paying CDs or DVDs it might be worth it. I wouldn’t recommend selling only VHS because you’ll take a beating on shipping.
These three sites all offer chances to buy as well as sell so if you’re just looking for a place on the web to get a good bargain, check them out. And, of course, these are by no means the only places on the internet that deal in used CDs, DVDs and games, but they are probably the three best. Of course, if after visiting these sites you still can’t unload that William Shatner CD, then try out Discsfordogs.org. You won’t get any money for you CDs, but you will get reimbursed for shipping and the money made off your CDs is contributed to the Erie County SPCA.
