# There is no market for used porn, is there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525 "2008-04-16T01:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/1 "2008-04-16T01:01:34Z")
Through a fairly unpredictable chain of events, I now find myself in possession of an alarming quantity of previously owned pornographic magazines. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing of interest to the serious collector of periodicals-- most of it seems to be “Playboys,” the dates ranging from the 1960s to probably a few months ago. I am by nature loath to discard any sort of printed material whatsoever; but the fact is that I simply don’t need this much porn in my life. Also, these are not the sort of magazines that you can simply donate to the VA (can you? It seems unlikely). So my only alternative seems to be throwing them out, unless anybody is currently engaged in a project to construct low-cost housing out of porn. Does anybody have any other suggestions? What would you do if a soft-core porn meteor landed in your back yard? This is not like zombies attacking; it’s not a situation I have ever felt the need to contemplate before. These older Playboys are kind of interesting though. I was not aware that the Playboy mascot was originally a muppet. I daresay that my Dad probably had most of these, but his pornography was much better secured than his firearm collection. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/2 "2008-04-16T01:05:28Z")
I imagine eBay might be interested. Better mail them to me so I can check them out. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/3 "2008-04-16T01:09:20Z")
Check these out. **h** ttp://www.magazineshoponline.com/history/collecting\_playboy.htm (probably not NSFW, but to be safe I disabled the link) [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/playboy-faq/](http://www.faqs.org/faqs/playboy-faq/) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/4 "2008-04-16T01:29:34Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] What would you do if a soft-core porn meteor landed in your back yard? This is not like zombies attacking; it’s not a situation I have ever felt the need to contemplate before. [/QUOTE] With later editions of Playboy and Penthouse, try giving them away to your local old-school barber. Many have a box of “special” reading material stashed on a high shelf, out of the reach of kids. I wouldn’t try it with something harder or oddball, like Juggs or Preggo Asian Amputees. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/5 "2008-04-16T02:09:18Z")
I visited a site recently that specialized in old-school porn mags relating to the topic of women with very large breasts (mostly predating breast implants). I was surprised at some of the prices. $40 for a single issue. Might want to go online and check those prices. Collectors will apparently collect anything. OK, maybe not used condoms. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/6 "2008-04-16T02:17:14Z")
There’s a few old Penthouse issues I wouldn’t mind recapturing. Got any of those? I’m with you on not throwing out such stuff, though, even if you don’t personally want it. Find a good home for them, or post shipping rates and see what pops up here ;). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/7 "2008-04-16T02:25:10Z")
I’ve seen old Playboys ('60s and '70s) going for $10-15 bucks apiece at kitschy vintage places. I usually buy a few, too! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/8 "2008-04-16T02:25:38Z")
I’ve often seen used/old adult mags and videos on sale at flea markets. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/9 "2008-04-16T02:26:54Z")
EBay was designed for situations like this. You’ll find collections of old pornographic magazines there on sale all the time. At the very least, check it out and see what the market value of your collection is. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/10 "2008-04-16T02:37:01Z")
[QUOTE=Dijon Warlock] There’s a few old Penthouse issues I wouldn’t mind recapturing. Got any of those? I’m with you on not throwing out such stuff, though, even if you don’t personally want it. Find a good home for them, or post shipping rates and see what pops up here ;). [/QUOTE] Er. There appear to be a few Penthouses mixed in… nothing particularly old so far. I haven’t really done any sort of inventory. So far it’s mostly Playboys, maybe 10% other, 1% extremely other. I hadn’t thought about eBay, mainly because I have absolutely no idea how it works. Their site is frustratingly hard for my tiny ossified pre-digital brain to decipher. But I probably ought to look into it, if I plan on becoming an amateur online porn merchant in my spare time. I suppose there’s a magazine grading scale along the same lines as the system for comic books. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/11 "2008-04-16T04:36:57Z")
Can I make the ritual _Playboy and Penthouse Are Not Porn!_\* comment? Please write on the blackboard 100 times: Nudity is not porn. Why not say skin magazines, which is a million percent more accurate? \*Well, vintage Penthouse, at any rate, not the ones they were publishing right before it went under. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/12 "2008-04-16T04:54:33Z")
The term “used porn” doesn’t conjure up nice mental images. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/13 "2008-04-16T04:57:11Z")
I bought a bunch of Playboys (not porn!) really cheap from a professor when I was in grad school. A few years back I sold them to a used bookstore in Oakland. I suspect you don’t see them in used bookstores that carry magazines because they sell so quickly. Real porn might be a problem, but Playboy has articles, remember. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![IdFindAnAAnswerForThat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3d9bf3/32.png) [@IdFindAnAAnswerForThat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IdFindAnAAnswerForThat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/14 "2008-04-16T05:04:13Z")
Perhaps if they were signed, I now we have a show in a local hotel here and the former Playboy girls will come and sign you copies of their old magazines for a price. And there is trading but the key seems to be a signature on it. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/15 "2008-04-16T05:12:10Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] These older Playboys are kind of interesting though. I was not aware that the Playboy mascot was originally a muppet. [/QUOTE] That “muppet” was a rather debonair looking bunny and, for a time, they used to incorporate his image somewhere into every cover photo. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/16 "2008-04-16T05:28:49Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Can I make the ritual _Playboy and Penthouse Are Not Porn!_\* comment? Please write on the blackboard 100 times: Nudity is not porn. Why not say skin magazines, which is a million percent more accurate? \*Well, vintage Penthouse, at any rate, not the ones they were publishing right before it went under. [/QUOTE] Penthouse has been porn for as long as I can remember - certainly since the mid-80s, when I saw my first issue. Nudity may not be porn, but split-beav shots are, in my opinion… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/17 "2008-04-16T16:33:27Z")
[QUOTE=wheresgeorge04] Penthouse has been porn for as long as I can remember - certainly since the mid-80s, when I saw my first issue. Nudity may not be porn, but split-beav shots are, in my opinion… Joe [/QUOTE] Who is it that said pornography is anything that gives a judge a hard on? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/18 "2008-04-16T16:39:33Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] … Preggo Asian Amputees. [/QUOTE] I only read it for the articles and short stories, promise! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/19 "2008-04-16T16:41:57Z")
I’m reminded of Krusty the Clown setting out large boxes marked “Used Up Porn” for the garbage men to pick up. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525/20 "2008-04-16T18:49:51Z")
On March 28, 1975, I drove a college friend to the VA hospital in Los Angeles to have his sprained leg attended to (he had recently come out of active duty in the Navy, and was still in the reserves – don’t ask me why he didn’t ask to go the the VA in Long Beach, which was closer). We spent most of the day in the waiting room, where I spent the afternoon perusing the largest collection of Playboys and Penthouses I have ever seen in one room. Very much more educational than spending the day in Anthro 101. Still, I’ve been to the VA several times since, on my own account, and have never encountered a similar library. Times change, I suppose, even if waiting room lines don’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-market-for-used-porn-is-there/445525.md?page=2)