reBuy, revisited

CD player (Bruno Glätsch via Pixabay)

A few days ago I found more stuff to get rid of. I returned to reBuy.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I checked the status of a random item I had sent in the last time. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this CD-single appears to be quite “in demand” today.

Remember that this was some random, hitherto unknown Swedish dance-pop act (based in Germany) who released two instantly forgettable tunes. It’s safe to assume that the group was dissolved before their announced debut album made it to market. According to Discogs and some casual research, it was finally put out — by a Russian label a year later.

Pure throwaway pop that came as part of a bulk job lot, I was happy to have received as much as 15 cents for the single.

Sold, to the gentleman in the basement, for 15 cents!

Now get this: Had I wanted to get rid of it today I’d have scored 4.88 euros!

Sold, to the script-kiddie at the back, for 4.88€!

This would suggest that there’s genuine demand for the disc — or they have none in stock at the moment.

Not quite: There are two available (as new) for 13.69€ via reBuy’s own shop (excluding postage). One may even be my old copy; it was in excellent condition when I sent it in.

Sold, to the nostalgic rollercoaster rider!

I don’t understand their algorithm. I’m also wondering if running a script against the site could help take the guesswork out of finding the best moment to sell your unwanted stuff.

Elsewhere, reBuy demands all of 9 cents for a used copy (excluding postage) while a “new copy” will set you back a whopping 26,90€ — albeit through a different seller.

Truth be told, we'll pay you to take if off our hands!

Obscurity aside, this price is hardly justified — especially when the same CD cost something like 6 euros when it was first released over a decade ago.

As I wrote before, one can only speculate how much turnover each individual physical media carrier can potentially generate during its lifetime! And people still do buy CDs.

Since the group will never see a cent of the second-hand trade turnover it’s no surprise that everyone’s rushing to get their old catalogue on iTunes, Spotify and the like.

Whether anyone’s buying is another story entirely but hey, at least now the farmer has a perpetual income selling droplets of milk past its sell-buy date, with little effort and without having to worry about shipping it in a carton.

All images and screengrabs by hmvh DOT net unless specified otherwise

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