Downloading and iTunes Making "Rare"CDs Worthless?

[drone on]

It's getting really bad now.  Most of the rare, supposedly in demand CDs I've attempted to sell over the last couple years, I couldn't even give away after repeatedly lowering the price.  Are collectors like me just giving in to the digital age?  Even on eBay, buyers won't pay what several years ago would have been a bargain. 

[thirdsystem]

Have to say storage of my physical media, and I am talking CDs , Vinyl, DVD/Bluray, Cassettes , Books , ( Loads and loads of each !!!!! ) is becoming an issue.

After years and years of buying the above it is very handy indeed to be able to Download (and stream ). Especially with bandcamp and the app which is fantastic.

Would not stop me buying that elusive or important CD/record although I am now being very careful about said purchases. Vital stuff only.

[APK]

Maybe the old guys have too many albums on their shelves already,
and the new generation just aren't into collecting CDs that much.

[LNerell]

I still buy CDs, instead of downloading files from iTunes mostly because CDs are better quality than mp3 files. But then again I won't pay collectors prices for stuff, so if I can find a decent version of something on Bandcamp or some other place that sells non compressed file formats I'll buy it there instead if the disc is more than what a normal used CD goes for.

[drone on]

Well I'm talking about rare items on Discogs that show the entire selling history of the disc.  If the highest paid is $70, the median $40, and the lowest $20, and I cannot sell it for under $20 (and its in 80 people's want lists), that is sad.  That's what I'm talking about.

[chris23]

I would assume some (unknown) portion of the people with an item on their Discogs want lists are simply monitoring the price of things--maybe even things they already own.

Having said that: I wouldn't pay a lot (e.g., more than $30) for something that I could buy digitally on iTunes or Bandcamp unless I considered it absolutely essential for my CD collection.

[drone on]

One thing about want lists on Discogs I almost forgot; you have to go into your Discogs mailbox to see the "new item from your wantlist" messages.  They aren't automatically sent to your email address.  So you may not know something you want is for sale until you log in to your messages.  I'm on the site every day but not everyone is. 

[chris23]

Mine get sent to my email. There might be an option for toggling on-and-off that action.

[cvac]

I still buy CDs, instead of downloading files from iTunes mostly because CDs are better quality than mp3 files. But then again I won't pay collectors prices for stuff, so if I can find a decent version of something on Bandcamp or some other place that sells non compressed file formats I'll buy it there instead if the disc is more than what a normal used CD goes for.

My thoughts are pretty much the same. A few years ago I would often pay quite a bit for certain OOP CDs but I am loathe to do that now. I'd rather buy a reasonably priced lossless download, especially if it's direct from the artist. I'm also at the point where I have so much music and not nearly enough time to listen to it all, that I am okay waiting for something to be reissued or show up on Bandcamp or some other site.

I still buy CDs all the time, but the days of me paying $30-60+ a pop for certain OOP CDs are over. I think more artists should get on Bandcamp and/or find a way to distribute their music in a lossless format at reasonable prices to fans. Mp3s don't really cut it for me and I'm guessing most people that are willing to actually pay for music  feel the same way.