Rupert Jones in today’s Guardian has a note about Music Magpie, a site where you can sell old CDs, games, and now DVDs. The site calls itself an “online CD recycling service.” I like CDs, so I took a look.
The service is a commercial operation and as far as I can tell isn’t any different in principle from any other online secondhand retailer – I guess they all ought to get some green cred by calling themselves recycling services.
So how does Music Magpie compare to others like, say, Amazon or eBay? Let’s look at it first as a buyer. I love the Cowboy Junkies, so I did a search. I can get their great CD The Trinity Session for £3.99. Amazon has this new from £5.98, or used from £3.91. What about postage costs? At Amazon it is currently £1.21. I can’t so far discover what Music Magpie charges, or whether it is included. The terms and conditions say:
9.2. These prices include VAT but exclude delivery costs, which are detailed on the website.
However I can’t find them detailed anywhere. Maybe it is included after all, but you would have thought this would be flagged as a selling point. So it could be more than Amazon, or less, depending on this point; it appears to be in the same ball park. However, Amazon has a vastly greater stock available and nice features like customer reviews.
OK, how about as the seller? If I decide to sell my Cowboy Junkies CD, Music Magpie will currently offer me 98p (the price varies according to the CD, and can be as low as 25p). There’s no postage cost to the seller; the company sends out a freepost envelope.
There are some alarming terms and conditions. If Music Magpie decides one of your CDs needs refurbishment (polishing), it deducts up to 50p. If it decides it is unacceptable, it neither buys nor returns it. There is no appeal.
Now Amazon. If I sell Trinity Session for the current lowest price of £3.91, Amazon will grab £1.82 in fees (including VAT) but contribute £1.21 for postage. That means I get £3.30. If the postage actually costs that much (it could well work out less), I still get £2.09 net, more than double what Music Magpie offers.
Listing an item on Amazon is not much more difficult than selling to Music Magpie – just type in the barcode and go. The big difference is that with Amazon you have to sit back and wait for a buyer. With Music Magpie I get the money instantly. Another difference is that with Music Magpie I can parcel a bunch of CDs once and send them off. With Amazon, you have to deal with each customer individually.
My immediate impression is that Music Magpie scores well on convenience, but if you need the money and have a little patience you would be much better off with Amazon.
Now, here’s an interesting remark on the Music Magpie site:
We originally launched musicmagpie as an easy way for everyone to turn their old CDs into cash so that they did not have to be thrown away if they had decided to go digital. This proved to be a massive success with thousands of people using musicmagpie as a fast and efficient way to turn CDs into money.
Well, CDs are digital; but I’m guessing that Music Magpie is referring to people who have ripped their CDs to a computer for streaming, or for an iPod, or another MP3 player. Here’s a can of worms though. I’ve heard it argued that even ripping your own CDs is illegal, though it seems a reasonable thing to do. Ripping your CDs and then selling them though – intuitively that seems wrong. Arguably, Music Magpie by its own admission is dealing in stolen music.
Still, I do see the other side of this too. You’ve ripped all your CDs, you no longer need them, you are short of space: isn’t it better to move them on?
When people moved from vinyl to CD they had no choice but to purchase again. In the case of CD to music files though, you can migrate without re-buying. That’s a headache for the music industry.
Personally I hang on to them anyway, as a kind of license and physical backup, and just in case I might want to read the sleeve notes again one day.
Note: Comments to this post are now closed.
I have used Music Magpie and must come to their defence, to a degree. You do not have to sell your older good to them, so if the price tag of 30p puts you off, do not do it, I have had worse from second hand record shops who took loads of vinyl, 7inch of me really cheap, because I needed the money. When I sold my good to MM I got a cheque for the amount they promised. However, they do take ages- ages for the packages and then ages for the cheque, it’s just a wait tho- so I would not worry, you have not been conned, it’ll just take a while before you get them.
i would just like to say that i sent my dvd’s & cd’s off on the 12th sept , and i received my cheque on 2nd oct , i think that is a wonderful service.
julie
I too used Musicmagpie recently and think it’s great.
Ok, you don’t get great prices for CD’s (mostly 30p) but I’d rather have a small amount of cash (which I received after 15 days) than my CD’s storing up space and gathering dust. I fully recommend it!
I have sold to MM a few times, and had no problems. From sending goods to receiving cheque usually requires about 3-4 weeks, so be patient, especially now with the Royal Mil strikes.
I have used Music magpie a few time and never had any problems. good for getting rid of clutter, if there is anything you think is worth good money dont sell to music magpie, but for getting rid of bulk at a resonable price cant beat them.
I too work at Music Magpie and would also like to add that we are not a con. nearly all items received are indeed paid for at the price quoted as long as they have the barcode on them that was quoted for. The best advice I can give anyone wishing to sell their collection to us is to do one of the following two things. Use the ‘Tub collection service’ we offer on our site as this cuts out the ever tiresome royal mail delays as we will use DHL directly to drop off and pick up your order. Having recently advertised on tv we have recieved a huge amount of small packages with one order split over 5 or 6 packets. this is normally the reason for any delays on payment as until all packets are processed and the FULL order is completed on to our system we will not send out the cheque as we have not received ALL of the order. With this in mind send all of your items in ONE packet/box to ensure speedy payment. The happy customers above i’m guessing sent their orders as i have suggested. It would be interesting if a few would test my theory with a small amount of old rubbish and post your findings in this blog. the worst that could happen is you get paid for it!!!
I’ve used Music Magpie numerous times this year to clear out some of the stuff in my far too large CD collection and,while there seemed to be a few minor teething troubles earlier on in the year (to an extent to be expected with a new venture),I’ve never had a problem with them.If the product is in good condition then they’ll accept it but you only have to go into most second-hand CD/DVD/games retailers to see the shocking condition some of the stuff that gets traded in is in to understand why Music Magpie have to have the quality control if the items being sent in are unsaleable. Although it is a bit mean that they don’t allow you to have the unsaleable items back but I guess that’s where the recycling bit comes into effect.
I have been using Music Magpie since March 2009 and have only had one problem with a cheque not being received. I emailed them to ask where it was and got a reply within 30 mins and a cheque two days later. To date I have sent to them over £1000 worth of product and I think they are a brilliant way to get rid of cd’s and dvd’s that I no longer use.
It can take 3 weeks for a big box to be delivered by Royal Mail to them as the returns service they use is not a first class service. You have to be patient.
I would recommend them to anyone.
I have recently sold over 300 DVD’s, CD’s and Games to Music Magpie, I thought it was a great idea, getting rid of items that have just been sitting on a shelf. I received the tubs ,to send the items to them in, promptly, and after a week (and an email), they confirmed they had receiced them and the orders were completed. Now the wait begins……its been a week now and no cheques have arrived, apparently they should be with me ‘soon’. I would be interested to know, out of he others that have posted on this topic, how many received their cheques and in what time frame?
This site is having a laugh! they offer pathetic prices for good dvd’s. offering 30p for a 2009 best seller! take my advice, go to a car boot sale and get at least a quid per dvd! you will make much much more money plus its alot more fun than typing in barcodes….
Be patient, 2nd hand postage takes a while longer than 1st class, also if you send them rubbish it takes even longer and dont sent in multiple packs send all in one box if you can like did, im on my 8th package….
This website is great. It took a while from dispatching the games to getting the cheque but I did get a cheque for the same value as stated on the website.
I sold my entire PS2 games collection, the majority on play.com and amazon but I was left with 40 or so old games that I would have made a loss on due to amazon and play.com fees but MusicMagpie was happy to take them and pay me a considerable amount more than I could get on amazon or play.com when nobody wanted them.
I sold a mix of 172 cd’s and dvd’s to music magpie. On their website it said I would receive £125.12 but after they received and checked my order this went down to £118.83.
A week after the courier came to pick up my package I received my cheque which cleared today. I sent mine in one big box which I think helped to process my order quickly as opposed to sending it in two or three boxes.
I would definitely recommend them to a friend and use them again myself.
Fore sure this Magpie must be a scam!
I sent my collection of CDs, Nintendo DS games and DVDs to THEIR value of £68.22 (a terrible deal, but I desperately wanted some quick cash for buying Christmas presents- Doh!) all in one box, all in good condition with original packaging etc.
My order date was 20th October 2009.
Heard nothing from them, sent them an email… heard nothing again.
Can’t believe they are still being allowed to “trade”. Wish I’d seen this site before I stupidly trusted Magpie… : (
If you try to shift your unwanted CD’s at a carboot sale you are not going to get much more, if any than you would with what MM are offering.
Posted 60 DVD’s to them November 17th for a £80 cheque, got it 10 days later. Excellent service! Sent in one box and I checked each disc thoroughly myself, all were accepted.
IT IS A SCAM BEWARE, I SENT IN DVD’S AND CD’S OVER A MONTH AGO AND MY DAUGHTER SENT IN CD’S ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO AND WE BOTH HAVNE’T RECIEVED ANY TYPE OF CONTACT OR MONEY.
DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE.
I have been on this site and found it neither a scan nor a con, maybe some of you have bad luck! I did get my cheque for nearly £60. perhaps some of you shouldnt be putting people off by sharing your personal experiences, like i said its obviously down to luck!!
Some people are just far too impatient. It clearly states on their website that it can take a while to receive and process your sent items. Try having a little patience or if you people can’t (more like wont) wait a few weeks for a payment then take them and trade them in at a store for instant cash ! Get a grip.
I have used them several times, and experienced a good service with probably a 6-8 weeks b4 payment, i only used them as amazon wasnt offering enough to sell there and at the end of the day they were OLD cds with no real value, i happy to get shot
I have added a lot of cd to price up and most of the time they only offer you 50 pence. I think most people will get that at a Boot Sale or jumble sale for CD’s.
They seem to be like the Gold Adverts.
Offer the world then give you pitence when you sent it to them.
They want you to buy brand new original cd’s for top whack at a store upload to your pc or upod etc… then sell them back to them for peanuts .. For the minimal money they are giving you , it is worth keeping the originals just for the covers alone.
50 p for a double cd NOW 59..
absolute rubbish.
Nicola who Posted comments on 12 Dec 2009 at 6:03 pm .
Think you need to contact your Trading Standards office itf you have not had any money from Music Magpie.
Think you can also complain to the TV broadcasting Complaints Authorities cos they are advertising a service you feel is a scam.
Its always interesting to read other peoples comments but you have to take them with a pinch of salt. People are busy calling the site a con but it clearly isn’t – they list their address / have a phone number and also advertise on TV. Of cource the CDs and DVDs are worth less than what you bought them for but so is a second hand car !!!!!
Like many of the other posters I’ve used the site a few times. I came across it about a year ago as a friend started working there. The main thing about the site is convenience – you enter the CD or DVD and get a value – simple.
To be honest in most cases I’m amazed they can offer as much as they do for some of the cds or DVDs as I’m sure I’ve see them for sale for less than offered in Asda.
If you want convenience and would like to get your cash pretty quickly you cant go wrong with musicmagpie.
Music magpie just has to be for desperate people. Just tried to sell them a Nintendo Wii game, (super smash Bros), a PS3 game, (pro evo soccer), and 5 cds some old and some new, (I won’t give the titles as some are a little embarassing), and they offered me a grand total of £10.38. Not a scam as you know what you’re going to get before you mail them in but let’s just say it’s a little on the unfair side.
Elaine (post number 48), what you say is just astounding. Of course we appreciate that everything devaluates but it’s the amount of devaluation we are talking about here. To compare it to a second hand car is a little ridiculous. I was just offered 50p for a cd which cost £10.99 just under a year ago! The main devaluation in a new car when it is resold is the VAT. Even when you take the VAT of a £10.99 cd it only devalues it by about £1.92 so by my reckoning the cd itself is worth £9.07 when new. Obviously it’s used and we accept that Musicmagpie need to make a profit but we’re talking a loss of £8.57 here. Even if they sold it on for £2.50 they’d be making a 450% profit on this item alone. Going to have a look round Asda tonight and see if I can find my CD for less than 50p. If I can I’ll buy the whole stock and sell them to Musicmagpie. Now that would be useful.