I ripped my CDs to MP3 files years ago, and I never listen to them any more. So why have them sitting around taking up space? I have several heavy boxes worth, probably 3 or 4 hundred CDs.
What’s the most cost & time effective way to get rid of them?
Donate them to your local library. They’ll appreciate it, and you will have the good feeling of having given something, spared the environment, and, depending on your musical taste, added to the culture of your neighborhood. What a good soul you are!
(And I won’t tell the copyright owners that you ripped their CDs! 
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Pick random Doper names and mail everyone their favourite?
[FONT=Arial Narrow]*got any motown?[/*FONT]
Donate them? (Women’s shelter maybe?)
Sell them? (In lots of 20 or 50 or something?)
Check with a DJ in your area? (Maybe he’ll buy 'em?)
Is there a college in your area that has a radio station that might want 'em? (I do not know of such things personally - my college doesn’t have one I don’t think. But I do know there’s a college in the area that DOES because I’ve seen the tower and my husband told me so.)
Upon preview, I saw a suggestion about the local library - one thing I wanted to mention, call them first to see if they want them. I know from first hand experience that a huge, huge, huge amount of stuff that’s dropped off as a donation is pitched. Then the library pays to have the stuff thrown out on top of it.
I’d offer to take 'em off your hands, but my husband would KILL me. 
Attach strings to them and market them as rearview mirror ornaments. They’ll be the raddest thing since the Rubik’s Cube!
As far as I know, you have no legal right to keep the MP3 files if you sell or donate the CDs. That said, you might want to re-think getting rid of the CDs regardless of the legalities.
I just had a harddrive crash in January that wiped out close to 1000 albums that I had ripped over a period of years. The shear size of the collection stopped me from making backups but since very few of them were downloaded from the net (except a sizeable collection of Tom Waits bootlegs :(), I was able to re-rip most of them from my original CDs over a period of about 2 weeks.
I’d have been royally screwed if I had disposed of the originals. In fact, the mere thought of such a loss makes me a little queasy.
I like this idea. I’ll take jazz or blues please.
I’ve got backups, but yeah maybe to cover my ass I should hold on to the CDs, I’ll stick them in the attic.
I had the same issue as you, although with fewer disks. My solution was to invest in a bunch of CD storage sleeves and some 3-ring binders, and throw away all of the jewel cases. It cost a few bucks but it makes for compact storage and allows me to keep my originals.
I second Hodge - please give it a lot of thought before you get rid of those CD’s. I know someone who did the same thing and he totally regrets it now. You just never know what might happen.
3 or 400 is a lot, so maybe get rid of some, but keep your favorites. Isn’t it worth it to have the liner notes on your favorites anyway?
Not really, I hate clutter and if I haven’t touched something for a year, unless it has sentimental value, I get rid of it.
Different strokes I guess…I can’t imagine not having the liner notes to my favorite CD’s.
I’d probably get rid of all the cases and liner notes and store them on those spindles you buy blank cd’s on. 300-400 cds stored that way wouldn’t take up much space.
That’s not a bad idea…we get those spindles at work, a couple would probably hold all my CDs!
Same here.
I went to Microcenter and bought 3 cases of CD binders (12 each that hold 244 CDs) and had a nice winter project where I dumped the cases and kept the liner notes and CDs. It’s much easier to navagate and really cut down on space.
Damn! That’s a great idea!
Be different - rip them to vinyl, or maybe 8-track tapes…
I wouldn’t dith them for reasons already mentioned.
Personally, I collected empty CD-R spools from my office and I ditched all the cases and put the discs on spools. You’d be surprised how much space that saves! I went from 2 or 3 large boxes full of CDs to just a couple of spools on a shelf in my basement.