Laserdisc advice (1 Viewer)

[jeff durborow]

i am considering selling my laserdisc collection
about 100ld's and a player. anyone out there know how much it would cost to ship all this.
dvd's are taking over i figured i'm not the only one who has gone through this any suggestons??
thanks
jd

 

[Paul_Scott]

i'm really disappointed in how much it costs to ship even a single LD.
usually its more than the LD closes at in auction.
i would suspect that 100 lds getting shipped UPS ground would run somewhere over $100...easily (50 -70 lbs. wouldn't it be?)

 

[John Sparks]

I was going to sell my 325 LD collection and it would cost me $566 to ship 25 boxes(18"18"x8") weighing 25 lbs each.

It wasn't worth it.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I sold all of mine individually, but most went more than a year ago. Now it's a lot hard to get rid of them unless you have something a bit special.

All of mine were posted on their own or two or three at a time. Shipping costs were high (on average, £4 to £5 per parcel plus the cost of the carton) and I did have a few people enquire why I charge so much. People just don't understand how heavy and fragile LDs are.

 

[Larry Bevil]

I still have over 1000 laserdiscs in my collection and would like to sell 500 or so. But, when you look at what they are going for on Ebay and such, it just wouldn't be worth it, particularly when you have to add a hefty shipping charge just to break even. So, I'll probably just sit on my laserdiscs and use them, someday, as BIG coasters.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Donate them to charity, pricing them at brick-and-mortar market value (Half-Price Books, for example).

Take the writeoff.

disclaimer: I am not a tax accountant. Verify the wisdom of this advice with your tax accountant.

 

[alan halvorson]

Ship them Media Mail! A whole lot cheaper than Priority. Since the buyer pays, I don't really care what it costs to ship but I like to give them options.

I would never try to sell 100 LD's in one auction; you'll lose a lot of money that way. But it is, of course, a lot easier. Up to you. This is the Link Removed. I use it a lot. There's also an international rate calculator. Additionally, UPS has a shipping calculator on their site.

Do a preliminary pack and get a ballpark figure for weight. I bought a 40 lb. digital scale from Sam's Club a few years ago that has been indispensable.

I have quite a few LD's to get rid of also, but I don't believe I'll ever get rid of all of them, at least not for quite a few years.

 

[Grant B]

I think it is insane. If you have a good player why sell discs you paid $40 for for under $5 and then rebuy it for $30 on DVD. It's not like my Twilight Zone boxes are going to be coming out in DTS 5.1 w commentary...but thats me

 

[Dave_P.]

Yep, I considered selling most of my 600 lasers, but once I saw what they were now worth vs. shipping them, I decided to just keep them for nostalgia.

 

[DougFND]

If you have the patience, sell them one at a time on eBay and use Media Mail (about $1.50/disc) to ship.

If you'll e-mail or PM me with a list, I may be interested in some. Perhaps the player, too. I have two players, but could use another backup.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I'm keeping most of mine (I think about 200-300) just for sentimental reasons.

 

[Jon Martin]

I've sold quite a few on Ebay in the past few years, but it got to the point that only the rare ones are selling and even if I put a bunch of them in lots, I couldn't sell them. (Not to mention one guy on Ebay who bids on laserdiscs, then promises and never sends payment. You relist and he bids again. Did this to a lot of sellers).

I found a place that buys them up in bulk (you email them your list and they send you back what they will pay for them) but they were only offering 75 cents a title. The artwork is worth more than that. They do pay for shipping though.

It has gotten to the point that it isn't worth the time, 5 minutes to list something that will (hopefully) sell for $1.

 

[Gary Seven]

I'm keeping mine. I suggest you do the same as many people I talk to who got rid of their collection now regret it.

 

[Mike_G]

I went through my list.

Checked out the prices on eBay.

Got pissed off.

Threw out what wasn't on DVD.

Seriously...no bids, or $0.50 on what were once damn good titles. Why bother?

Mike

 

[RickER]

I sold most of mine years ago...but still i was only getting $6 to $15, maybe as much as $30 for a good box set like Alien. I kept only the ones i didnt think id ever see on DVD. I still have 20 of my original 200. I will not let go of my Star Wars box or Star Trek animated until i have DVDs in hand. I was into LD for almost 20 years, since 83, so i got lots of years out of my collection. And for that matter...i still am.

 

[Adam_S]

The other thing you folks can consider is donating your laserdisc collections to a library. Many film schools have a cinema library and usually maintain a video library for student, faculty and archival use. For instance at USC we have some 2500 laser discs, 1800 dvds and 13000 vhs. But as most titles do get some use, and the more popular ones frequent use, there is constant wear and tear. So even if they already have titles you donate, they keep the extra copy (at least USC does) in storage in case they need to replace it.

Adam

 

[David L]

Hey, don't forget the laserdisc jackets make excellent home theater decor. I have my bond laserdisc jackets and star wars thx discs in lp frames from hobby lobby on the walls of my HT and they look great. I get compliments on them all the time. I've mixed them in with some full size movie posters and the laserdisc jackets appear to resemble "lobby cards." I switch them out occasionally just to see some friends reactions. It is an inexpensive way to decorate, seeing how some of the larger movie posters suck up space.

 

[Brian E]

If any of you guys looking to unload stuff have a Gettysburg box set PM me with your asking price.

 

[Michael Osadciw]

I'm keeping mine. They just look way cooler than a DVD. When I hold a DVD, all I can think of is "mass-produced".

At least with Laserdiscs, I felt special having them in my possession.

-Mike

 

[Dave Simpson]

I'm with you guys..."when you can pry them from my cold, dead hands...". I bought my first LD player (a Kenwood LVD-320, still boxed in my basement) in 1993(??) and quickly bailed due to cost and form-factor concerns (and those damn black bars, until I knew better). But I was fortunate enough to find in my possesion a used Pioneer 704 and de-mod box a year and a half ago, and there's been no stoppin' me since. Local shops and E-Bay have seen my collection swell to about a hundred titles, and I think I'm done. But those discs are going nowhere, man! And I surely agree with David L. about the value of an LD jacket as HT decor. Try that with a DVD case! Cheers, gang!

DS.

P.S. Where's Racheal in all of this??