E-Bay One Cent C.Ds

Lawrence Lupkin · Post by **Lawrence Lupkin** » 3 Aug 2005 10:04 am

I see c.d.s on E-bay listed at $0.01. Here's one that is up there now: http://cgi.ebay.com/Joe-Goldmark-CD...

With the shipping and handling, the total price would be $3.46. What's the angle? It doesn't cost $3.45 to ship it, but it costs something. Are these legally distributed copies? They must cost something too. Then there's the cost of the E-Bay listing.

I was just wondering if this practice hurt the artist in some way.

Thanks!

[This message was edited by b0b on 04 August 2005 at 10:25 AM.]

Steve Pacholl · Post by **Steve Pacholl** » 3 Aug 2005 10:30 am

1 Cent is the opening bid. There are a number of CD dealers that use the 1 cent opening bid. Highbid (winning bid) is rarely 1 cent.

They are usually promo copies of the CD's.

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 3 Aug 2005 10:32 am

I was just wondering if this practice hurt the artist in some way

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that the artist has already been paid for these CDs. That is, once the publisher has sold the CDs the artist has or will be compensated (whether it's a lump sum fee, or a percentage of the sales, etc. etc.) for the CDs.

Although it's not exactly the same, you can sort of think of a CD like a book. The author of a book makes a deal with a book publisher. The deal might be a lump sum figure for the publishing rights to a certain book, or the deal might be for a percentage of the sales that the publisher makes, or it might be a mixture of the two, or it might even be something else.

In any case, once the publisher has sold a shipment of <a href='http://consumeralertsystem.com/cas/zx-hclick.php?hid=64' target='_blank'>books</a>, the author has more than likely already received whatever compensation he/she will be receiving for that shipment of <a href='http://consumeralertsystem.com/cas/zx-hclick.php?hid=64' target='_blank'>books</a>.

Once the publisher sells a shipment of <a href='http://consumeralertsystem.com/cas/zx-hclick.php?hid=64' target='_blank'>books</a>, some of those <a href='http://consumeralertsystem.com/cas/zx-hclick.php?hid=64' target='_blank'>books</a> may end up going to a book wholesaler, who may sell them to a distributor, who may sell them to a bookstore, who may not be able to sell them, and who then unloads them to whomever he/she can just to get them out of the store.

It appears from the eBay description that this may be what happened in the case of these particular CDs. [This message was edited by Tom Olson on 03 August 2005 at 11:32 AM.]

Lawrence Lupkin · Post by **Lawrence Lupkin** » 3 Aug 2005 10:40 am

Makes sense. I just wanted to make sure they weren't pirated. I got mine for one cent plus shipping. The only thing odd about the c.d is that it has a notch cut out of the plastic spine approximately 1/2" from the bottom.

By the way, I highly recommend "Strong Like Bull...But Sensitive Like Squirrel!" It is really well done.

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 3 Aug 2005 10:47 am

Lawrence, I think the little notch in the CD cover is like the old "cutout" albums that you could buy at a discount.

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I belive the notch is put in the cover so the CDs can't be sold for full retail price for whatever reason.

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 3 Aug 2005 12:46 pm

A notch in the cover of an LP or CD, is to indicate it can't be returned to the distributer for credit.

Will Holtz · Post by **Will Holtz** » 3 Aug 2005 12:50 pm

I was at a Dave Gleason's Wasted Days concert about a year or two ago. Joe Goldmark was playing with them at this show. Dave looked at Joe and cracked a joke about having to put all their surplus CDs on ebay if the sales didn't pick up. Joe shook his head and laughed.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 3 Aug 2005 12:53 pm

The notch or cut out over the bar code can mean that it is a promo copy sent to reviewers or radio. In a way it does hurt the artist because he makes no money on the CD at any point. Those CDs are an actual expense to the artist because, in this case, Joe paid for the manufacturing and then shipping of the CD to radio or whatever.
You will notice on many cut outs a sticker that says promo only. Not for sale.

Bob
[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 03 August 2005 at 01:55 PM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Aug 2005 3:36 pm

Oddly, I've only noticed one-cent eBay sales of Joe's CDs, not those of other steelers. The guy must have somehow secured a large number of them, as I've been seeing them for sale like this for several years already. Maybe a caseload of Joe's CDs fell off a truck somewhere, or got "misplaced" at the manufacturer's?

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 3 Aug 2005 7:02 pm

I am aware of the sellers you are discussing, and this is the way it works; They buy in bulk from used CD shops, vendors and other wholesale dealers. They pay a small amout for an enormous number of CD's. If you look at the titles they are carrying, you'll get some of the worst music ever committed to disc and some really great stuff. I used to do a lot of those sales, and they can be pretty lucrative. The seller usually has about .25 in each one, shipping is around $2 and they get $350 minimum, if the unit sells. And these are sometimes cutouts, promos or just used CD's that were traded in at Warehouse records or another used CD outlet.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 3 Aug 2005 10:34 pm

Whatever the dynamics of the auction are, it's a great CD, as are ALL of Joe's CDs.

I think Joe is vastly underrated. He is a truly unique player with a style all his own, and one of my personal heros.