How the "8 CDs for Penny" Club Worked 

If you remember the days before music streaming services, your joints hurt now!! 😂😂😂😂

Props to the guy who ordered 22,000 cds then sold them at flea markets! 😆

As a music-obsessed tween who sent in those pesky mailers and recieved a ton of CDs(and never paid for them😏), I have zero regrets. It helped me start a lifelong love of all music.

I still have PTSD episodes when the phone rings, and I think the Columbia House people finally found me, and they're gonna make me buy those '12 CD's at regular price'... with my blood!

Yes, I bought several albums and books through these clubs. I only paid a penny each time. I never got in trouble because I ALWAYS properly canceled my subscription on time. No problem 😎

I read the small print and would order the free CD’s and immediately cancel the subscription wait 30 days and do it again. This was totally legal and I had so many CD’s that I didn’t get around to opening half of them. Never once did the companies contact me even though I gave them my correct information.

Ha, actually my friend and I were able to scam them, we used to alter names and addresses and we got over 100 CDs. Never had to pay over $1.00. Now I don't feel so bad knowing they were scamming people, what comes around goes around.

Lived in a small town, and could use "general delivery" as an address. I used my street address, PO Box, and general delivery to cycle loads of CD's from BMG and Columbia House.

This got me in so much trouble when I was a kid. As soon as I saw the thumbnail, I got flashbacks of that ass whooping. 😭

Makes me thankful I had tons of accounts spread out to get the free CDs for the penny. In my late teens and 20s I moved around a lot and was able to capitalize on this. I even remember my first couple of CDs; Beastie Boys License To Ill, Ozzy Osbourne Tribute, The Outfield Play Deep, among others. They came the day my son was born in July of 1987.

My dad was in the U.S. Air Force back then, so, yes, initially we had limited access to music stores. My parents did subscribe to one of these clubs for a time, but eventually canceled out legitimately. However, the distributer kept sending CD's regardless, and since it would still cost my parents non-refundable postage charges to send the CD's back, we just kept the CD's. The CD's that came were always (by that time) the "picks of the month," so many were CD's that we would want anyway. Our collection of CD's grew so big that, after my dad retired from the air force in the early 90's, and our family had moved to Southern California, my parents started a mobile DJ for hire business that my dad and I operated. This began my weekends life as a DJ throughout the 90's and into early 2000's.

Columbia house is still searching for Mya Buthurz, and Ben Dover.

I don’t remember anybody paying. My Buddy signed up his cat and got a shitload of music

I'll tell you how it worked....I was 8, sent the postcard in...and Voila....free cds

I forgot about this! I love this channel. I can't wait for the 90s videos. Please consider a video about Limewire and Napster.

Am I the only one who had no problems and never scammed them? I would get the introductory offer, buy the required amount of CD's, pay my bills, send back the cards when I didn't want anything that month, and cancel the right way? Even on the rare occasion that I neglected sending the card and got a CD that I didn't want, as long as I didn't open the package, I would just send it back and not have to pay.

Most of my CD collection in high school and college came from music clubs. Columbia in High School. BMG in college. I started with cassettes in middle school in the mid-80s.

I my old enough to remember when they were actually vinyl records. I also bought a lot of 8 tracks through Columbia House. Those were the days.

I used to go back and forth with these Penny sales and my favorite name to use was Turd Ferguson and Seymour Butts.

Can't wait to get to heaven and Saint Peter is like "Dude, you got 40 CD's for nearly nothing and never paid for the full priced CD's. Denied entrance."