Purging for a move - sales advice wanted

[Hot Ptah]

4 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

And when will your lock-up unit come up on "STORAGE WARS" on TV, then? Might make for some interesting watching ...

 

1 hour ago, Hot Ptah said:

I can just see the episode of Storage Wars now. "What is all this stuff? CDs? Any Beyonce or Taylor Swift in there? No this is some stuff I have never heard of. We'll take all of the CDs to the city dump."

 

Edited September 12, 2017 by Hot Ptah

[Hot Ptah]

I remain very interested in anyone's experiences with Dusty Groove, Amoeba, or other known buyers of large collections. Do they travel hundreds of miles, and what is this "fair price" that they offer? How fair is it?

They may be the only option for my daughter, if I suddenly die.

[David Ayers]

Just to add to the library discussion, my most recent CD purchases (£0.79 a throw) were from ex-library stock dumped wholesale at the charity shop. 

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, CardinalJazzFan said:

Donating may get the items out of your house, and give you a tax deduction. Just don't expect the donations to be used as you had expected.

Getting them out of the house and getting a tax deduction is exactly the use I would expect!

But seriously...if one has the time and inclination, I'm sure there are many (ok, a few...) lower-end schools (all levels), community cultural centers, etc. that would not mind being seeded with some quality assets for whatever music education/outreach programs they are attempting.

 

[David Ayers]

But...CDs? Not any more.  

[sidewinder]

CDs are the new vinyl !

[Kevin Bresnahan]

3 hours ago, CardinalJazzFan said:

I donated about 200 pre-recorded cassettes to an assisted living facility after I bought the same music on CD. When I visited a few months later, I found that none of the residents had ever heard, or seen, any of the cassettes. Apparently the staff had simply taken them home. I had a very similar experience with a disabled persons' day service program facility.

Donating may get the items out of your house, and give you a tax deduction. Just don't expect the donations to be used as you had expected.

The difference is that I knew the director of the nursing home. I gave the CDs to her personally and she told me that her residents were loving the music.

[Dmitry]

Chuck, if it were me, I would sell the whole massive classical collection as one lot on eBay. Just put a reasonable "buy it now" price, take 12 quality photos (that's the maximum allowed) of the spines of your cds, and the collection will sell quickly. You're in the business, so you know how to ship and pack. 

Just to give you a ball park idea  -

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=252797927561&_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_nkw=classical+cd+collection&_sop=3

 

[Hot Ptah]

Did you ever decide on a best course of action Chuck? I am curious because I will be in the same position some day.

[Big Beat Steve]

6 hours ago, Hot Ptah said:

Did you ever decide on a best course of action Chuck? I am curious because I will be in the same position some day.

Yes, I would like to hear about the outcome too.
We will all be up against this one day. And the fact that I am seriously thinking about NOT going to the twice-a-year record clearout sale this fall at our #1 local record store that still carries a substantial range of vinyl is giving me the creeps (the reason being that I now have definitely run out of filing space if I want to maintain a halfway orderly system).

Edited September 21, 2017 by Big Beat Steve

[Hot Ptah]

17 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

Yes, I would like to hear about the outcome too.
We will all be up against this one day. And the fact that I am seriously thinking about NOT going to the twice-a-year record clearout sale this fall at our #1 local record store that still carries a substantial range of vinyl is giving me the creeps (the reason being that I now have definitely run out of filing space if I want to maintain a halfway orderly system).

Careful, it's a slippery slope. Don't go to the clearout record sale this time,  and it could snowball. Pretty soon you will not buy any new albums at all, until you have heard all of the albums you already own at least once. The horror! The horror!

[JSngry]

17 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

 (the reason being that I now have definitely run out of filing space if I want to maintain a halfway orderly system).

If you can find it, you have it. If you can't find it, you don't have it. Simple as that. 

 

[HutchFan]

On 9/12/2017 at 1:26 PM, sidewinder said:

CDs are the new vinyl !

More likely they're the new Edison cylinders. 

 

But I'm still happy to bring 'em home.

[felser]

On 9/21/2017 at 5:26 PM, Hot Ptah said:

Careful, it's a slippery slope. Don't go to the clearout record sale this time,  and it could snowball. Pretty soon you will not buy any new albums at all, until you have heard all of the albums you already own at least once. The horror! The horror!

[AllenLowe]

if we care at all about history and legacy and, more importantly, the MUSIC, then CDs have to be preserved. Not to start this debate all over; but they are a proven storage medium, like LPs and 78s. They still offer random access, but are less prone, at least at this point, to failure. And sonically, historical music is being abused in the medium of the download. I have bought more CDs is the last 3 years than in the previous 10; a lot of important music - and restoration work - is being lost. I have a lot of CDs, and they could be curated (with an intelligent institution, or with me doing the work) to give a very essential picture of American vernacular music from about 1900-1960. No one else has the perspective or the cross-genre knowledge that I have, and if I can't eventually give it away (and I have tried and been frustrated repeatedly by shortsighted administrators) than I will just donate them just before I die (since I cannot do my work without them). Sorry to digress, Chuck, but I wanted to address some of the arguments being made here.

 

[mikeweil]

In Germany we have the Darmstadt Jazz Institute, I know the director. Their problem is storage space. Since they are rarely asked for, the LPs are already in a separate storage facility out of town. It is similar to libraries purging books that are no longer asked for.

Only exception is the German national Library, which also has a music branch in Leipzig storing LPs and CDs as well and are obliged to keep one copy of everything published in Germany - they are state financed. All publishers must send them reference copies. Buying private collections would require funds, which are limited.

[David Ayers]

2 hours ago, CardinalJazzFan said:

Is there an institution that is dedicated to the historical preserviation of recorded music?

The Smithsonian I suppose. I should think they get a lot of calls from collectors. Maybe not so many archival visits. There’s your problem, by the way. 

[AllenLowe]

the thing is, CardinalJazzFan, that this is a problem. It is not enough for these places just to own something - it becomes like a giant albatross and they end up selling it or locking it away. Personally I will not part with my stuff until and if someone understands that it comes with the Lowe Curse - Allen Lowe.

In other words, this material is useless unless it becomes part of a curriculum - it needs to be curated and taught. My last great goal in life is to establish a relationship with some such institution, but I am becoming more and more pessimistic about this ever happening. There is less and less value applied to knowing the literature of American music, meaning the music itself, and it is not good for musicians. And I don't mean in that JALC, Great Books Sense. I mean that it is artistically imperative. Just like a writer is nourished by old and ancient sources, so, theoretically, is a musician. But it ain't happening right now.

Edited October 24, 2017 by AllenLowe