Record 4,000 LP classical music donation leaves Oxfam spinning
The above story in today’s Guardian prompted me once more to consider what to do with my CDs.
I haven’t counted them but I reckon there’s somewhere in the region of 400. Previously I had a similary large collection of tapes. When I did the big clear out, pre my move overseas, I took them to a car boot sale and, heartbreakingly, they only sold when I moved the price down to about five for a pound.
My CD collection was kept. It stayed in a big trunk which cluttered my parents’ house. I’m back and I’ve relcaimed them but now they just sit there. Bagged up and unused. I no longer even have a CD player and everything is on MP3. CDs seem cumbersome now and buying new ones a waste of natural resources. I download instead.
Now, I could sell them. But for the money it hardly seems worth it. I’d give them to charity if I thought they really wanted them. Certainly, when I go on my travels next time I’ve decided that my sparse worldly goods will go to centres that assist assylum seekers, but I don’t think they’d want Aztec Camera’s Greatest Hits.
I’ve thought of having a “Take a CD” party but that seems sort of patronising and a bit naff. But I do want rid of them before the move to the new flat in a month’s time.
What to do?
And yes, my MP3 collection is backed up.
8 comments
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April 9, 2008 at 9:49 am
Abby
Argh! Keep them! I don’t care how fabulous downloading is, or how much space they take up, you still can’t beat looking through the artwork, reading the lyrics…or is that just me? Failing that, the ‘Take a CD’ party sounds like a great idea, although you know you’d end up bringing just as much home :)
April 9, 2008 at 9:57 am
Rachie
Hmm - I sold the ones I didn’t want on Amazon. A bit time consuming, yet slightly profitable. Alternatively, sell them as a general bundle on ebay.
April 9, 2008 at 9:58 am
Rachie
Forgot - there’s a facility on ebay where you can dedicate the money you get from a sale to charity.
April 9, 2008 at 10:10 am
ourmanwhere
Abby - I can read lyrics via a Google search - and I do a lot. Keeping them eventually means that they’re going to clutter someone’s house other than mine and that doesn’t seem fair.
Rachie - time consuming and ultimately not exactly money making - for me or the charity. Maybe I’d get £50 to £100. It just doesn’t seem enough. A drop in the ocean to a charity - even as former charity fundraiser I can see that.
I suppose your responses have helped me think more about what I DON’T want to do. And what I do want is for someone to enjoy them. Someone who will be excited to get them and will want to rush them home to listen.
Maybe it should be a CD give-away party - or something less crass.
April 9, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Mosh
I still like buying/getting CDs even though I’m in a similar position to yourself. I ripped the best of the bunch (well, as many as I could manage onto my small laptop hard drive) before I packed the house up, and they’re all in boxes in my parents’ cellar.
I confess i actually bought some when I was travelling. Three or four, I think. And ended up posting them home after I ripped them. But like Abby I just liked having them on shelves to flick through like I do with books.
April 10, 2008 at 10:25 am
Diehard Geordie
CD’s deterioate after time - so what’s the point of keeping them.
Fifty to a Hundred pounds may seem like a drop in the ocean, but £3 can save a childs sight - do the math.
April 10, 2008 at 11:28 am
ourmanwhere
Mosh - I still have the music that I ripped from Vietnamese CDs - those tracks are the jumpy ones with the crackle ;o)
Diehard - you’ve got a point but then again since working overseas and seeing the fleets of stupidly large Unicef four wheel drive vehicles that buzzed around Hanoi streets to no apparent purpose I’m a little less keen on the larger charities. I don’t want it to go on consultants or shiny chauffered vehicles - which is a ridiculous generalisation but still sticks in my mind.
But your right - better they generate something that just gather dust on someone else’s shelves.
April 11, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Diehard Geordie
Ourmanwhere
It was the ship that was converted into a hospital for eye diseases I was thinking of - they struggled for about 5 years to get enough money together - it finally sailed last year. Trouble is Craft’s has set in and I cannot for the life of me remember the name. Its not a big charity. I don’t support many big ones, too much spent on admin - but I do support Water-Aid (they dig the wells), and I have bought the odd animal or two.