Amazon Will Now Buy Your CDs

For an easy way to trade-in old tech gear, it's hard to beat online services that offer cash or store credit for your unused phones, PCs, music players, video games, and DVDs. A variety of big-name sites, including Best Buy, eBay, and Gazelle, accept trade-ins.

Amazon does too, of course, but until now its Trade-In Store accepted goods in just four categories: Books, video games, movies & TV, and electronics. But there's good news for those of us with dusty stacks of audio CDs: Amazon will now take your discs as well.

To submit a CD in exchange for an Amazon gift card, go to the retailer's Trade-In site, select the "Music" category, and enter the artist and/or album name you'd like to trade.

In my test, Amazon offered $4.50 for a two-disc "Marvin Gaye Anthology" in "good" shape, or $4.95 for an "Anthology" set in "like new" condition.

I could try to sell my CDs individually, but it's not worth the time or trouble. It's easier to print a UPS mailing label supplied by Amazon (shipping is free), stuff my CDs in a box, and send them off.

There's one caveat, though: After examining my CDs, Amazon may decide they're worth less than the agreed-upon price, in which case they'll return them to me at no charge. (When you first accept Amazon's offer, you can decide whether to accept a lower price if Amazon deems your trade-in to be worth less, or just have the item(s) returned to you.)

If you have old CDs you'd like to unload, give Amazon's Trade-in Store a try.

Contact Jeff Bertolucci at Today@PCWorld, Twitter (@jbertolucci) or jbertolucci.blogspot.com.