Sell Your CDs Online in Australia

So you've got a tower of CDs gathering dust and you're thinking of donating them to an op shop. Don't. Some of those discs are someone else's white whale, and frankly it pains me to imagine a mint-condition pressing ending up in a milk crate at a garage sale. List them here. Set your price. We charge fifty cents flat when it sells — not a percentage of your price — because we'd rather the music moved than the fees did. Now go and get the good ones off the shelf.

Selling secondhand shouldn't be a part-time job

You know how it goes on Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree. You list an album, and within the hour there are eleven messages: four asking "is this still available?", three offering half price, two arranging a pickup time they have no intention of honouring, and one offering to swap it for a PlayStation game. A week later the disc is still on your shelf, and you've aged.

CD Sauce removes the chit-chat. Your price is the price — no haggling thread, no meetup, no negotiating with strangers at 11pm. A buyer pays through Stripe before you lift a finger, and the handover happens at the post office, not in a car park. List it, sell it, post it, paid.

How selling on CD Sauce works

1. List it. Artist, album, condition, your price. We'll find the album art for you — no photographing a jewel case under your kitchen light. You can also mark a listing as open to swaps, or both sale and swap.
2. A buyer pays. Checkout runs through Stripe, the same payment system used by millions of businesses worldwide. The money is committed before you post anything.
3. You post it. AusPost, padded mailer, done. Packing tips below.
4. You get paid. Once the delivery's confirmed, the money lands in your bank account via Stripe. First time selling? Stripe runs a quick one-time ID check — that's an Australian legal requirement for receiving payments, and it's with Stripe, not us.

What it costs

Fifty cents. Flat. Per sale.

• No listing fees
• No monthly fees
• No percentage of your sale price
• The buyer pays a 50¢ service fee on their side; you never see or pay it

Whether the disc sells for five dollars or a hundred and fifty, the fee is the same fifty cents — your rarest disc costs you no more to sell than your dustiest. We are not running a charity — we're running a record store that happens to live on the internet, and the lights stay on at fifty cents a sale.

What can you sell?

Any genuine CD: albums, singles, EPs, soundtracks, compilations — Australian pressings, imports, the lot. If it's a real disc in a real case, somebody out there probably wants it; the stuff you assume nobody cares about is routinely the stuff someone has been hunting longest. The only hard rule is the obvious one: originals only. No burned copies, no counterfeits — this is a record store, not a flea market.

Grading your CD's condition

Every listing carries one of five grades. Buyers trust them, so grade honestly:

• Mint — Like new disc, case and artwork. Plays perfectly.
• Excellent — Plays perfectly. A few faint marks at most. Case and artwork clean.
• Very Good — Plays perfectly. May have light scratches. Case or artwork may show wear — a scuffed case, a creased booklet.
• Good — Plays through, occasional minor skip possible. Visible scratches. Case and artwork worn.
• Fair — Heavily worn. Regular skipping likely. Case and artwork worn but readable.

When in doubt, grade down. In thirty-odd years behind a counter, real or spiritual, I have never once heard a complaint that a disc arrived in better condition than described.

Packing and posting your CDs

A CD survived the 90s in the door pocket of a Commodore; it can survive AusPost — if you pack it properly.

• Wrap the case. Jewel cases crack when flexed. A layer of bubble wrap or even a folded sheet of newspaper inside a padded mailer does the job.
• Use a rigid or padded mailer, not a bare envelope. A snapped case is the number-one cause of sad buyers.
• Add tracking for anything valuable. For a collectible, the couple of extra dollars is cheap insurance — and buyers love a tracking number.
• Post promptly. The sale's already paid for. Don't make them wonder.

Questions people ask

Where can I sell my CDs in Australia?

You can sell CDs online on CD Sauce, an Australian marketplace for used CDs. You list each album with its condition and your price, a buyer pays through Stripe, and you post it. There's no meetup and no haggling. Other options are eBay and Discogs for single albums, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace for selling a whole collection locally, and second hand record stores, which buy collections outright.

How much will I get for my CDs?

Most second hand CDs sell for $1 to $5 each, and harder-to-find albums go for $15 to $35. You set the price. CD Sauce takes a flat 50 cents per sale, not a percentage.

How do I get paid?

The money goes to your bank account through Stripe. The first time you sell, Stripe runs a one-time ID check, which is a legal requirement in Australia for receiving payments.

Do I need to take photos?

No. CD Sauce finds the album cover for you. You can add your own photos if you want to show the actual disc and case.

Do I have to meet the buyer?

No. Every sale is posted. The buyer has paid before you post anything.

What does it cost to list?

Nothing. Listing is free. The only fee is 50 cents when a CD sells.