How to buy used CDs (deals)

[PortaStudio]

Hello everyone,

a discussion on physical media has motivated to open a thread on how to buy used CDs and making great deals.

Something that would interest me as well is buying older japanese productions (70s, 80s, 90s) on CDs.

Please share you tips and experiences with buying used CDs.

 

[Yuhasz01]

Hello everyone,

a discussion on physical media has motivated to open a thread on how to buy used CDs and making great deals.

Something that would interest me as well is buying older japanese productions (70s, 80s, 90s) on CDs.

Please share you tips and experiences with buying used CDs.

I buy used cd from local thrift store. I can inspect them before I buy them. $1-2 each. At a used vinyl and cd commercial store I pay $3-5 for a cd.

 

[fpitas]

I find popular used ones at Amazon from bookstores etc, but for the rare ones I have to go to Discogs. I can't remember any bad experiences either way.

 

[DVDdoug]

I don't know. I've bought used CDs from Amazon (or other sites) a few times when it's out of print and otherwise unavailable, or if I just wanted one song and/or I was "feeling cheap". I don't remember ever having a problem.*

But a funny story... I bought a used VHS tape (probably from Amazon) for about $20 USD. It was a concert not available digitally. When I bought it, it had a $2.99 Goodwill price sticker on it!!! (I didn't mind that the seller made a big profit... I was happy to find it. But I wouldn't have paid a "collector" price.)

Somebody told me that there are people that go to Goodwill (or other thrift stores), take an inventory, and then list the items on Amazon. If somebody orders an item, they go to the store and buy it.




* I have had a bad new CD a couple of times. One time it was just a "bad production". Not defective or damaged, just some tracks with gross audio defects. And the song list on the packaging wasn't exactly correct... Some unknown record company. I ripped the good tracks (and stole them) and returned the CD for a refund. One time I bought a double CD and both CDs were the same. That was a long time ago from a retail store and I simply exchanged it. And I once bought a "new" DVD (from some unknown seller) that turned-out to be a burned copy from a digitized VHS tape. "VHS quality" and very amateur with no menu. I think I kept it, but "remastered" it with a proper menu and chapters.

 

[henologist]

Something that would interest me as well is buying older japanese productions (70s, 80s, 90s) on CDs.

For new and re-releases, CDJapan and HMV are alright. For older releases, Discogs is the easiest to use but may have more of a price markup; Buyee and Yahoo Auctions Japan require some language knowledge and may require a proxy shipper (someone in Japan who receives the package and then mails it to you) but you can find better deals.

If you ever get the chance to visit Japan, you can still find lots of great CDs at decent prices from stores like Book-Off and Disc Union, and some locations in touristy areas will offer tax-free purchases if you're a visitor buying more than 5,000 yen worth of material.

 

[PortaStudio]

For new and re-releases, CDJapan and HMV are alright. For older releases, Discogs is the easiest to use but may have more of a price markup; Buyee and Yahoo Auctions Japan require some language knowledge and may require a proxy shipper (someone in Japan who receives the package and then mails it to you) but you can find better deals.

If you ever get the chance to visit Japan, you can still find lots of great CDs at decent prices from stores like Book-Off and Disc Union, and some locations in touristy areas will offer tax-free purchases if you're a visitor buying more than 5,000 yen worth of material.

Nice. Thank you very much!

 

[MRC01]

Where to go also depends on how picky you are. Do you want a specific version / mix / master / year of a particular album?
If you don't care, you can often find what you want at Amazon & eBay.
If you do care, Discogs lists every version & release.

 

[levimax]

I used to buy CD's at Thrifts and still do but since I have been collecting for awhile I seldom find something I don't have and am looking for anymore. There is a used record store I go to that has thousands of CD's and while they are a little bit more expensive than the thrifts the selection of "desireable" CD's is much greater than the thrifts. As far as getting good deals you need to know what you are looking for and what the prices are. I have recently found several desirable titled "Target" CD's at the record store for just a few dollars... they just mix them in with all the other CD's. In addition to Amazon and Discogs I buy used CD's on Ebay, if you know what you want and are patient you can often find what you want at very reasonable prices.

 

[Dunring]

For ebay you can search for music CDs and go to advanced and click "listed as lots" to maybe find a big collection at a good price. Estate sale auctions too are worth checking on.
Locally if you have flea markets, always people unloading previous tech items like discs. Facebook marketplace, Mercari, OfferUp!, and Craigslist are worth a quick check.

 

[Mart68]

I buy via ebay and Amazon, usually Music Magpie on ebay.

Sometimes the cases are in bad shape but I have a box full of new ones.

I always try to get the original release rather than a remaster. As long as it is the original I'm not bothered if it was the release from Japan, Germany, UK. USA wherever.

It's not like with vinyl where pressing quality varied a lot over time and with different pressing plants and there could be significant SQ differences. I've seen people claim that Japanses CDs sound better but I can't see how there can be any basis in reality for that.

 

[MRC01]

... I always try to get the original release rather than a remaster. ...

Agreed. With few exceptions, the term "remaster" is a warning that the CD is dynamically squashed and the better your equipment is, the worse it will sound.

 

[levimax]

It's not like with vinyl where pressing quality varied a lot over time and with different pressing plants and there could be significant SQ differences. I've seen people claim that Japanses CDs sound better but I can't see how there can be any basis in reality for that.

While you don't have to worry nealy as much about "damaged" CD's (it does happen) spoiling sound quality there can be significant differences between different CD masterings, even those that don't specifcally say "remastered". While there is a lot of foklore surrounding early Japanese CD's they do often times have a mastering that is unique. Whether this is better or worse than other masterings is of course subjective but many releases of older music on early Japanese CD's are considered the best versions. Like anything else in this hobby my experience with early Japanese CD's is mixed but I do have some that I prefer to all other releases, LP or digital.

 

[sonitus mirus]

I only purchase music now if it is not available to stream. Amazon was great for CDs for quite a stretch, but that ship appears to have sailed. I'll look on Amazon first, but I like what I see at decluttr with their prices and deals. When it comes to more difficult music to find, I have used Discogs to make purchases. I bought Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" from Magnolia Thunderpussy in Columbus, Ohio through Discogs.

 

[MRC01]

I only purchase music now if it is not available to stream. ...

I do the same most of the time. But sometimes the only version available on streaming is remastered and sounds terrible. If I like that music I'll find an old/early version of the CD.

 

[sergeauckland]

Here in the UK, Charity shops (Presumably called Thrift Stores in the US) only have a very poor selection, generally of the 'Greatest Hits' variety, and only of Pop acts long disappeared or perhaps Military bands. (similar selections on vinyl)

The best sources of CDs I've found is eBay, where I can BIN a CD for under £10, or our local market where the Music stall sells CDs for £4.00 Amazon is also a good source for used CDs, classical music can be as little as £1.99 including postage, although jazz and folk tend to be more expensive.

I can't see any logic to CD or LP prices, I think it's whatever the seller thinks they can get away with.

S.

 

[MRC01]

... While there is a lot of foklore surrounding early Japanese CD's they do often times have a mastering that is unique. ...

One thing to watch out for with early releases, especially Japanese ones, is CDs that use pre-emphasis. Make sure your CD player or DAC can detect this and apply de-emphasis, else it will sound like really bright, like somebody turned the treble up to "11".

 

[sonitus mirus]

I do the same most of the time. But sometimes the only version available on streaming is remastered and sounds terrible. If I like that music I'll find an old/early version of the CD.

Yes, I experienced the same issue. There was a period when I couldn't find the radio edit version of some Bad Finger songs on the streaming services. However, I think this issue has been resolved now. I had a similar problem with the eponymous King Crimson album. But usually my luck is just terrible with regards to streaming holdouts for artists. I just got my Eagles CD collections a few days before they were available to stream everywhere. Same thing happened with Black Sabbath and Bob Seger.

 

[levimax]

One thing to watch out for with early releases, especially Japanese ones, is CDs that use pre-emphasis. Make sure your CD player or DAC can detect this and apply de-emphasis, else it will sound like really bright, like somebody turned the treble up to "11".

I have run into this on occasion. There are lists of CD's with pre-emphasis (it is not long) and if you don't have a CD player that can detect it (very rare for any player made in the last few decades) you can apply de-emphasis when you rip them to files or even when playing back through players like foobar.

Pre-emphasis (release list) - cdHistory

www.studio-nibble.com

Pre-emphasis list?

It is my habit on Friday evenings to partake of a nice glass of single malt Scottish whisky... ...with a Scottish CD. Last Friday I picked this 1995...

forums.stevehoffman.tv

 

[JaMaSt]

I've had a good experience with a business called Decluttr.

https://www.decluttr.com/us/store/category/music/cd/

 

[MRC01]

I have run into this on occasion. There are lists of CD's with pre-emphasis (it is not long) and if you don't have a CD player that can detect it (very rare for any player made in the last few decades) you can apply de-emphasis when you rip them to files or even when playing back through players like foobar. ...

It's also nice to have a DAC or player that can apply de-emphasis manually, since some of the CDs that use it don't set the proper flags for the player to identify it.