Context
Cash-for-media and cash-for-books services are fantastic, aren’t they. The most popular is Music Magpie. Thanks to their above the line advertising, a lot of people are at least aware that they can send their old CDs, DVDs and games off to some company that will give them cash in return. Thank you very much.
What many don’t know, however, is that there’s plenty more where that came from. If you have a high turnover of media in your home, or you do regular decluttering sessions, you need to be aware of the differences between each.
As well as the overviews, I’m going to let you know my experience of each (where I have some).
What Companies Offer Media and Books Trade-Ins?
Trade in method: myHermes drop off and courier collection
Items accepted: Books, DVDs, CD albums, games (and more that we’re ignoring)
Experience: Ordered a trade-in back when they were advertising, but didn’t have a box to send the stuff in, so bottled it. Wasteman antics, back then
Trade in method: Collect+ drop off
Items accepted: Books, DVDs, CD albums, games
Experience: Whole heap, and tend to use them before any others
Trade in method: Collect+ drop off
Items accepted: Books, DVDs, CD albums, games
Experience: My favourite of 2012 and 2013, but things changed
Trade in method: myHermes drop off
Items accepted: Books, DVDs, CD albums, games
Experience: When all the people of South East London swapped physical books for Kindles, and handed over their excess to me, this was the first go-to website
Trade in method: Didn’t respond to my email
Items accepted: Books, DVDs, CD albums, games (and more)
Experience: None yet
Trade in method: In-store drop off
Items accepted: Games
Experience: None, actually
Trade in method: myHermes drop off
Items accepted: Books, DVDs, CD albums, games
Experience: None so far
Trade in method: Collect+ drop off, Royal Mail postage, or in-store
Items accepted: DVDs, CD albums, games (and more that we’re ignoring for now)
Experience: In-store game trade-ins since when PS1 games weren’t worth anything, although I probably haven’t done it for 9 years.
Trade in method: Collect+ drop off
Items accepted: Books
Experience: Absolutely none
Trade in method: Royal Mail Post Office postage
Items accepted: DVDs and games
Experience: None yet
Trade in method: myHermes drop off
Items accepted: DVDs, CD albums, games
Experience: New to me
Did You Know…
Most of the companies named are practicing what’s known as recommerce; reselling second-hand products on a mass scale.
Recommerce for media items is simple, even if the cases aren’t what they used to be. Let’s take CDs, for example. As long as the CDs are unscratched, and the inserts are intact, you’ve got profit sitting there. Just get yourself a new case (which will cost pennies), test that the CD works as it originally did, you have a viable commodity. You can even reseal it, for a little extra.
We all know that Game are reselling the PlayStation and Xbox games that we give to them, but people don’t seem to see the same association with these trade-in platforms. Other than the ones with a high-street presence (of which one used to be), many of the rest are simply selling on eBay and Amazon.
Have a look Web Retailer's list of eBay’s top sellers:
It’s not just online that these companies make money through reselling trade-ins. Poundland get some of their pre-owned, refurbished stock from Music Magpie. Charity shops with refurbished CDs probably have the same deal going on. They’ve all get it figured out, and it’s working for them.
What Do They Want?
There are specialists who stick to their lane. We know that Game want video games (newer ones, mainly). Some of them also take electronics and gadgets, but let’s not get into that right now. In terms of media, they are after things with actual resale value.
CDs – Albums
DVDs – Most Region 2 titles
Books – Mainly non-fiction
Video games – PS4, PS3, PS2, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox, Wii U, Wii
When they say ‘no’ to something, check on eBay and you’ll be able to work it out. It will probably be because there’s too little resale value, there are too many sellers, or because it’s just not that fly.
The same applies for if they do want something.
How Much Money Should You Expect to Receive?
Assuming every item is at least three years old.
CDs: 15p-£1.50
DVDs: 15p-£1.50
Books: 15p-£10
Video games: 15p-£3
What Quality Do Products Need to Be In?
Now you know where they’re selling it on afterwards, you work it out. Everything has to be of a quality that it could be sold on, once it’s been cleaned up a little.
For CDs, games and DVDs, they will more than likely accept everything, if the discs aren’t scratched. However, just know that if you send in a dud CD and you know it, you’re a wrong’un.
Books can be a bit trickier. They don’t mind a mashed up jewel case, but a severely water-damaged paperback book is no good to anyone. I’ve got away with GCSE Shakespeare books full of scribbles, but you want to limit the amount of products with writing in them.
If you’re going to send in a poor quality product, expect that they won’t reimburse you for it. They won’t send it back to you either.
Be aware that the quality of the item has absolutely no bearing on how much they are willing to pay you for a trade-in.
What Happens to the Poor Quality Items They Don’t Accept?
Sad times, mate. I dunno about near you, but near me there’s this fella that buys boxes of books by the kilo. He claims he’s giving it all to charities in Eastern Europe and Africa, but I dunno. Anyway, I hope these companies give them to someone like that, or local charity shops, instead of binning them.
What Have We Learned Today?
We’re not gonna get scammed again, are we.
If anything is worth over £1 as a trade-in, it’s worth a lot more on eBay or Amazon. If you’re willing to list, you will be rewarded for it.
These companies are out here making money on the very same platforms ordinary people can profit from. It’s worth knowing that, before you box everything up without a second thought.
On the other hand, I appreciate that most people don’t want to deal with the hassle of listing things on eBay, only to see them go unsold for weeks. If you want shot of something now, these will let you get rid of some of it straight away.
Just to Let You Know…
I've followed this up a media and books trade in comparison, showing the difference in prices across a few of the main platforms.
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