Guides
Buying used CDs: what to check before and after you buy
Used CDs are one of the cheapest ways to own music on a physical format. A disc that plays cleanly sounds exactly like a new copy, and for many albums secondhand copies are easy to find on Discogs and eBay.
But a CD isn’t indestructible, and a used one carries risks a new one doesn’t. Some damage looks alarming and doesn’t matter; some looks minor and ruins the disc. Telling the two apart starts with how the disc is built.
How a CD is built, and why the label side matters
A pressed audio CD is mostly a clear polycarbonate disc. The music is molded into it as a spiral track of tiny pits, covered by a very thin reflective metal layer, usually aluminum. A thin coat of lacquer seals the metal, and the label art is printed on top of that. The laser reads the disc from below, through the clear plastic, and bounces off the metal.
That layout runs against intuition. The shiny side that faces down looks delicate, but the data sits well beneath its surface, so the laser focuses past light marks on it. The printed side looks sturdy, but the metal and data lie just under the lacquer. In its guide for librarians, NIST explains that a dent or pinhole from a scratch, a pen or any sharp point on the label side destroys the reflective layer at that spot, and that this kind of damage cannot be repaired. Scratches that don’t break through the lacquer have no immediate effect but can let air and moisture reach the metal later.
Scratches, scuffs and condition grades
On the playing side, NIST’s guide compares small scratches to a light mark on a pair of glasses: the laser is focused beyond them, and a player’s error correction can usually fill in what a deeper mark obscures. Problems start when scratches are deep, wide or bunched together. Direction matters too. A scratch running from the center toward the edge crosses the track briefly and is usually corrected; one that runs around the disc, following the track, is more likely to cause errors the player can’t fix. So a CD with a few fine straight scuffs is often a better bet than one with a single long circular scratch.
Discogs uses the Goldmine scale for CDs, with definitions its sellers expanded for discs, and grades the disc separately from the booklet, inlay and any digipak or sleeve. The table below paraphrases the disc grades.
| Grade | What the disc should look like |
|---|---|
| Mint (M) | Perfect and unplayed, with no scuffs or scratches. Possibly still sealed. |
| Near Mint (NM or M-) | No obvious signs of use. May have been played, but handled very carefully. |
| Very Good Plus (VG+) | A few minor scuffs or scratches. Played, but looked after. |
| Very Good (VG) | Many light scuffs or several more noticeable scratches. Handled less carefully. |
| Good (G) or Good Plus (G+) | Lots of scuffs and scratches, but it still plays through without problems. |
| Fair (F) or Poor (P) | May not play some or all tracks. The seller’s comments should say which. |
Two things follow. A VG or even G disc that plays through sounds as good as a Mint one, so a lower grade can be a bargain. And the grade is visual, which can mislead in both directions. Good listings say whether the seller played the disc all the way through and mention anything on the label side specifically. When a listing doesn’t say, it’s worth asking before buying.
Disc rot: what it is and how to spot it
“Disc rot” is the common name for chemical deterioration of the reflective layer. NIST describes the main form in pressed CDs as oxidation of the aluminum. Oxygen and moisture can reach the metal through the plastic, through the lacquer on the label side and edge, and more easily through scratches, cracks or lifting in the label. Some early discs were poorly sealed, and some lacked lacquer at the very edge, which left a path for moisture. High heat and humidity speed the process up. The Library of Congress notes simply that optical discs may have inherent chemical instabilities.
The best-documented case is a batch of discs pressed by Philips and Du Pont Optical (PDO) in Blackburn, England, between 1988 and 1993. A 1997 bulletin from the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives, passing on a notice from the label Hyperion, describes a coppery-bronze discoloration, usually at the outer edge of the label side, and a rhythmic clicking like surface noise that appears first toward the end of the disc. The notice named discs on Hyperion, ASV, Unicorn-Kanchana and Pearl, said the damage progresses over time, and said such discs usually carry a PDO mark near the center hole. It also points out that the faint yellow tint common to PDO discs is a cosmetic dye, not a symptom.
Signs to check, in person or in clear listing photos:
Pinholes against the light
Look
Hold the disc up to a bright light. Specks of light coming through the metal mean the reflective layer has holes in it, and the music under those spots can’t be read. One caution from NIST: on some discs the printed lettering is a window in the coating, and light can show through there normally.
Discoloration
Look
Bronze or brown patches, or metal that has gone dull gray instead of mirror-bright, especially spreading in from the outer edge. Compare against the shine of the rest of the disc.
Flaking or lifting label
Look
Bubbles, cracks or peeling in the printed layer expose the metal underneath and give moisture a way in.
Late-disc noise
Listen
The disc plays from the center outward, so damage at the edge shows up in the last tracks first: clicks, dropouts or skips that weren’t there on earlier songs.
Rot isn’t something cleaning or resurfacing can fix, because the damage is in the metal rather than on the surface. A disc showing these signs should be treated as a defect and returned, even if it plays today.
Jewel cases, digipaks and slipcases
Discogs’ grading notes say a standard jewel case isn’t graded at all, because it’s replaceable. A cracked jewel case or a broken hinge is a few minutes’ work with a spare case, provided the booklet and the rear inlay card are undamaged. Those paper parts are what carry the grade.
A digipak, the folding card package with a plastic tray glued inside, is different. The card is the packaging, so scuffed corners, split folds or a cracked tray stay with the item, and Discogs grades it along with the booklet. A slipcase or outer card sleeve over a jewel case is similar: easy to crease and hard to replace.
Holes, notches and clipped corners usually mean a cut-out: unsold stock the label discounted and marked so it couldn’t be returned for full credit. On CDs that might be a notch cut into the spine of the case and inlay, a hole punched through the barcode, or a corner clipped off the front insert. Discogs treats a cut-out hole as consistent with a VG+ insert, so it lowers collector value without affecting the music.
Club editions, promos and Japanese pressings
Through the 1990s, record clubs such as Columbia House and BMG Music Service sold CDs by mail. Their copies can turn up in any used bin. A 1997 Soundstage column notes that most club CDs replace the retail barcode with the club’s name and address, and that some titles sold in card sleeves in stores came from the clubs in jewel cases. Its author, comparing by ear, found no consistent difference in sound: sometimes the store copy sounded better, sometimes the club copy did. Some collectors still prefer the retail edition, so the main thing is that the listing says which one it is. Comparing the catalog number and the barcode area in the photos against the release pages on Discogs is the quickest way to tell.
Promos are copies labels sent to radio stations, reviewers and DJs. They were often marked in the same ways as cut-outs, so they couldn’t be returned through shops for a refund. A punched barcode on its own doesn’t say whether a copy was a promo or a cut-out, and value varies a lot from title to title. Where Discogs lists a separate promo release, its page shows what the promo packaging should look like.
Japanese pressings have a following of their own. Japanese releases often add bonus tracks; Loudwire explains this as a way for local labels to compete with cheaper imported copies. They are recognizable by the obi, a narrow paper strip, printed in Japanese, wrapped around the left edge of the case. The obi was easy to throw away, so it’s part of what a collector is paying for. When a listing calls something a Japanese edition, the photos should show the obi if the price assumes one, and the track list should match the Japanese release page rather than the domestic one.
Cleaning and resurfacing
Fingerprints, smudges and dirt on the playing side can make a disc skip as surely as a scratch, so cleaning comes first. NIST’s guidance for cleaning a disc, in order: blow off dust with an air puffer (the Library of Congress suggests canned air), then wipe with a soft cotton cloth, dry first. Wipe in straight lines from the center out to the edge, never in circles, so any fine mark the cloth leaves runs across the track rather than along it. Avoid paper towels, tissues and anything abrasive. For heavy dirt, rinse with water first; for stubborn grime, a water-based cleaner made for discs or isopropyl alcohol is safe on the plastic, while harsh solvents such as acetone dissolve it. Hold the disc by the edge and the center hole throughout, and leave the label side alone.
When cleaning doesn’t help, resurfacing is the next step. Repair machines grind away a very thin layer of the clear polycarbonate on the playing side and polish it back to a mirror finish, which removes or shallows scratches that the laser was catching. It only works on the playing side. Total Disc Repair, which sells the machines, says scratches on the top side can’t be fixed, which matches NIST’s point that label-side damage is permanent. Resurfacing also can’t cure rot, and because it removes material each time, it is generally better suited to a cheap copy that won’t play than to a scarce one being kept for its value.
A worked example: two listings for the same album
Say a buyer finds two used copies of the same 1990s album. The prices and details below are invented to show the reasoning.
| Copy A | Copy B | |
|---|---|---|
| Price with shipping | $9 | $7 |
| Disc grade | VG, “light scuffs on playing side, play-tested all the way through” | VG+, no notes |
| Case and booklet | Cracked jewel case, booklet NM | Case NM, booklet VG+ |
| Other | Retail barcode visible in photos | Barcode area shows a club name and address |
Copy A looks worse, but every listed flaw is cosmetic or fixable: the scuffs are on the tolerant side, it’s been played through, and a jewel case is cheap to replace. Copy B is cheaper and has a higher disc grade, but the listing says nothing about play-testing or the label side, and it’s a club edition. For listening, Copy B may be fine. For a buyer who wants the retail edition or a disc known to play, Copy A is safer, and a message to Copy B’s seller could settle the open questions.
What to check when it arrives
Is it the right edition?
Compare the catalog number, the barcode area and the matrix text around the center hole with the release page. Check for club markings and, for a Japanese edition, the obi.
What does the label side look like?
Look for scratches, dents, bubbles or peeling in the print, especially near the edge. This is the side where damage is permanent.
Does light come through?
Hold it up to a bright light. Pinholes outside the printed lettering are a warning sign of rot.
Is the metal evenly shiny?
Bronze, brown or cloudy patches, particularly at the outer edge, suggest deterioration.
Does it play all the way through?
Play it, or at least skip to the start and end of each track, paying most attention to the last few tracks, where edge damage shows first.
Is everything there?
Check the booklet, rear inlay, any obi, slipcase or extra inserts the listing promised, and grade them against the description.
Is the return window still open?
Do all of this soon after delivery, and check the seller’s policy for how long the window runs rather than assuming one. At the time of writing, the first step on Discogs and eBay is to contact the seller with photos of anything that doesn’t match the listing.
Sources & further reading
- Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs: A Guide for Librarians and Archivists (NIST Special Publication 500-252) — NIST and the Council on Library and Information Resources
- Care, Handling, and Storage of Audio Visual Materials — Library of Congress
- Bronzed CD alert! (Information Bulletin no. 22, July 1997) — International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives
- How To Grade Items — Discogs
- Cut-out (recording industry) — Wikipedia
- New CDs for the Price of Used CDs — SoundStage!
- Why Japanese Bonus Tracks Exist, Explained — Loudwire
- How (and Why!) to Repair Scratched Discs — Total Disc Repair