Back in December of 2013 I noticed that the price of Guns ‘n Roses latest album CHINESE DEMOCRACY had gone up. Comparing the list price against a (super depressing) tweet from 2012, I saw that the album has increased in price by $1.22. The price rose, like a phoenix from the flames, from a paltry $3.66 to a robust $4.88. This was terrible-ish news for people who had not yet purchased the CD (and have very limited budgets). I, on the other hand, saw this as great news because the thought of CHINESE DEMOCRACY costing less than $4.00 feels just wrong.
Go ahead and check-out that first album-price post, it’s much better written. In that post I point out that prices on Amazon are always in flux so this might not actually mean anything. I also noticed (when I was halfway through writing that post) that I wasn’t comparing the price of the album at the same time of the year (October 2012 vs. December 2013). I even think I suggested that I check on the price of the CD in December 2014 to try and be more scientific about studying this trend. Of course I forgot.
I was checking on the status of a separate non-GNR related order this morning and decided to check-in and see what the price of CHINESE DEMOCRACY was currently. To my utter chagrin, the price has skyrocketed from $4.88 to $4.92. That’s an increase of $0.04! If you’d have taken my advice and purchased 100,000 copies of CHINESE DEMOCRACY back in December of 2013 you’d have made a profit of $4,000! Holy cow, I feel like the next Warren Buffet.
So for reasons that are absolutely beyond me, the price of CHINESE DEMOCRACY has continued to slowly climb. Perhaps this current jump in price is related to the “Only 8 left in stock-order soon” note, which was absent from the listing the last time I checked on the price of this album. Could it be a low supply that is driving the price up? I guess. Maybe. Sure.
$$$
If you don’t own a copy of this masterpiece now is the time to hop to it and buy this sucker. You don’t want to have to pay $5.00 for this thing, do you?
Defending Axl Rose 
Price doesn’t seem to have changed much in the UK either. Hovering around at the paltry £3 mark. The excellent vinyl edition is ridiculously cheap still too. About £6 for new copies if you go through the marketplace.
The price of CD’s in general has really bottomed out. It’s too bad I’ve given up on the collecting thing, because they’re practically giving them away. Remember when CD’s came in those long cardboard boxes and cost $30??? Man, times change.
We never got the long boxes in the UK. I remember seeing some in Tower Records cause they had import stuff and wondering what they were! But I definitely remember paying through the nose for CDs back then!
No long boxes! What about those dreadful plastic skeleton thingys that encased CD’s (roughly the same shape as the long box). This is starting to make me feel SUPER old, by the way.
No, I don’t remember those at all. All the earliest CDs I remember seeing were all just basic jewel cases. I was a late adopter of CD though but I’m pretty sure they didn’t happen here.
I feel like such a fool for not jumping on it when it was $3.66. I’ll never be a Wall Street day trader. 😦