What to Do with Old DVDs and CDs
Article updated Jan 26
How you feel about DVDs and CDs will probably depend on how old you are.
Boomers / Gen X and DVDs / CDs
If you grew up watching films on VHS or Betamax, or listening to music on cassette tapes or vinyl, you probably remember how expensive and futuristic DVDs and CDs were when they were a new thing. How exciting: to be able to choose a scene or track without having to rewind and fast-forward (or count the smooth lines on a vinyl record to work out which track you wanted to drop the needle on)! How convenient: to have them contained in a flat little box, rather than a chunky novel-sized cardboard sleeve! How crisp the sound quality! How clear the picture!
Millennials and DVDs / CDs
If you’re a little younger, and grew up with DVDs and CDs as the norm, you probably didn’t appreciate the little conveniences that they brought, but will doubtless have enjoyed watching or listening to their contents.
Gen Zs and DVDs / CDs
Streaming became mainstream in the early 2000s / 2010s, so if you were a child during that era you might never have owned a DVD or CD (though your parents might have bought you some when you were little). You may well think it extremely odd that older generations have physical copies of films or music that we have to find, take out of a box, insert into a machine, and then operate with a remote control.
Is it worth keeping old DVDs and CDs?
To Gen Zs, it must be baffling to wonder why many of those DVDs and CDs which take up space in our homes aren’t even that good. It’s not as though we only bought the very best films or albums; we bought ones that were on special offer in the supermarket, or any film that we thought we’d want to watch more than once (because Blockbuster’s wasn’t exactly cheap).
Now that streaming is the norm, we can see or hear pretty much anything we choose at the press of a button. Anything we want to keep, we can download, taking up absolutely no room in our homes. The future is here! But is it worth hanging onto those old discs?
Are old DVDs and CDs worth anything?
In a nutshell … no, probably not. If the zombie apocalypse happens or a solar storm hits that wipes out the internet, we’re not going to be watching films in any format. Digital content will always be available, and most mass-produced DVDs and CDs are worth a few pounds at best.
That said, if you have any out of print DVDs / CDs, or ones with limited edition covers, or sought-after box sets, you might have something worth selling. Do your research on the titles you have and see if anything rare or unusual could earn you some money.
Regardless of their objective value, if you have a collection of DVDs / CDs that are your absolute favourites then yes, they’re worth keeping. You know where they are, you don’t have to search for them online or have them interrupted by adverts; you won’t get pop-ups that you have to click away; and more importantly, you don’t have to spend money buying digital versions if you have hard copy versions already. Goodness knows, Boomers and Gen X spent enough money replacing vinyls with tapes and then with CDs, or replacing video tapes with Blu-Rays and/or DVDs - the constantly changing formats have cost us a fortune over the years. The madness must end!
What can I do with unwanted DVDs / CDs?
By ‘unwanted’, we mean those DVDs and CDs that you bought because they were cheap, or as a stocking filler for your children at Christmas, that you’re not bothered about keeping. Some films from the 80s and 90s haven’t exactly aged well, have they?
Well, you could keep them, just in case anybody coming to the house fancies watching films with cringey levels of gender stereotyping, transphobia and racist undertones. Or you could:
- Donate them to charity. Charities will still sell DVDs, CDs and even VHS / cassette tapes in their shops and will welcome donations.
- Sell them to a DVD / CD online retailer. Some sites specialise in taking DVDs / CDs off your hands for a few pounds. They buff them up and resell them, and presumably they make money from doing so.
- Sell them on an online marketplace. Selling them directly can be a slow process, and a matter of waiting for someone to decide that they absolutely must have a DVD copy of Mrs Doubtfire and will pay for it to be delivered to them.
- Digitise them. You’ll need software to convert your DVDs / CDs into digital versions, and you’ll need a drive with sufficient storage to keep all that data available. You could keep the hard copies (see below on how to store them) as back-ups just in case.
- Ask your local library if they will accept them as a donation (some libraries loan DVDs / CDs as well as books).
- Find a company that will recycle them - DVDs and CDs are not easy to recycle, but they contain materials that can be reused, including aluminium, so there are companies out there that will take them off your hands.
- Throw them away - but note that many recycling centres will just direct you to put them into ‘general waste’, which goes straight to landfill as they cannot be easily recycled.
Storage solutions: how to store DVDs / CDs without taking up space
If none of the above options for getting rid of your DVDs / CDs is right for you, or if you just want to hang on to more discs than you have space for, you’ll need to find a way to store them that doesn’t take up a lot of room.
One option is to buy a DVD / CD folder. Yes, you’ll need to get rid of the cases - it might be possible to recycle the cases at your local recycling centre, as they’re made of hard plastic which is easier to recycle than soft plastic. The discs can be slotted safely into individual pockets within the folder; you can store hundreds within a single lever-arch sized folder.
Another option, if you want to keep the boxes too, is to pack them into a box and pop them into a self storage unit. We have self storage units that are 10 sq ft, which is about the size of a car boot and ideal for storing smaller belongings. Or you could rent a larger unit and use it to store other items you don’t use every day - things like Christmas decorations most of the year, or garden furniture during the winter.
If you think self storage could be an option for keeping your DVDs and CDs safe, clean and dry until you want to watch them again, feel free to give us a call or chat with us online and we’ll give you all the information you need about unit sizes, costs and locations to help you make a decision. You can also pick up boxes and packaging to keep your discs organised and protected.
FAQs about old DVDs and CDs
Are old DVDs and CDs worth anything?
Most mass-produced DVDs and CDs are usually worth only a few pounds. However, limited editions, out-of-print titles, rare box sets, or collectible releases may have higher value. It is worth researching specific titles before selling or donating them.
Should I throw away my old DVDs and CDs?
It is best to consider other options first. You could donate them to charity, sell them through online retailers or marketplaces, digitise your favourites, or offer them to a local library or community group. If disposal is unavoidable, be aware that many recycling centres treat discs as general waste due to recycling limitations.
Can DVDs and CDs be recycled in the UK?
DVDs and CDs cannot usually be recycled through household kerbside collections. However, some specialist recycling companies accept them because they contain materials such as aluminium. Always check with your local recycling centre or specialist providers before throwing them away.
