Discogs experiences-postive and negative*

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by ROFLnaked, Oct 17, 2015.

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  1. Sondek

    Sondek Forum Resident

    Does anyone else get a bad vibe when it comes to the sellers in the Russian Federation? Stuff that's either vastly overpriced, or somehow too good to be true? And when you make contact with them to ask something, you either get ignored, or they say they've already sold it. That's my experience anyway.
     
    scobb likes this.
  2. AudiophilePhil

    AudiophilePhil Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    I avoid the sellers from the Russian federation or Ukraine.
     
    Vetiver, ted321, parman and 4 others like this.
  3. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    I made my first purchase from discogs last week and everything went very smoothly. My record was priced fairly, it shipped immediately, was well packed and the grating was right on.
    No complains.
     
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  4. Sondek

    Sondek Forum Resident

    I've never been brave enough to order anything from one. I've tested the water with messages, but that's how I got the idea its best to steer clear.
     
  5. Yost

    Yost “It’s only impossible until it’s not”

    I've bought many CD's using Discogs and 9 out of 10 times it goes well. Sometimes things go wrong, but this is mostly due to errors or clumsiness of the seller. I always got my money back without problems.

    If I'm not sure about a seller, I tend to start a conversion and see how that goes. Most of the times people respond quickly and kindly.
     
  6. riverrat

    riverrat Senior Member

    Location:
    Oregon
    I like discogs. It is far from perfect, but given the magnitude of what they've taken on (an apparent attempt to catalog every single pressing of every single recording ever made, in all formats) I think it is an amazing resource. I think discogs has improved, and will continue to improve. But a project like this will likely never be truly complete or 100% accurate. Expecting that will result in disappointment.

    I also appreciate it is a resource for buyers and sellers that isn't quite as blatantly profit driven as eBay. Having said that, the oversight of sellers is much looser, so "buyer beware" applies in spades. Using caution - i.e. communicating clearly about expectations, taking cues from communication style, not ordering from certain foreign countries - can usually result in good transactions, at least in my experience.
     
  7. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Every seller I've ever questioned got back to me quickly. I've had 15 great buys there, and zero negative. I keep my entire collection there for free, and reference the site at least daily.
     
    abor1g, klockwerk, ARK and 1 other person like this.
  8. Purplefowler

    Purplefowler Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bedfordshire, uk
    I love discogs! I've only had trouble with one purchase but the seller was superb and sorted it out really quickly so I was still happy. It's just so easy...almost too easy :D I'm pretty selective about who I'll buy from. I won't touch anything that doesn't have a description on the listing and I always check the feedback before I buy.
     
    Simon A likes this.
  9. zongo

    zongo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Davis, CA
    If you look for listings that "make sense" - in other words, extra language describing the condition using phrases that you are familiar with, descriptions that are very specific and leave relatively little "wiggle room", no red flags of confusing stuff, etc - then most of the time it works out fine. I think that looking for these types of things are much more likely to help than, for example, avoiding the cheapest listing - sometimes the best sellers are listed the cheapest because they have the best understanding of the actual value of the object!
     
    Purplefowler likes this.
  10. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    I have purchased LOTS of records via Discogs and only experienced what the OP describes a few times. I think it is the exception and not the rule. I now have 3-4 vendors that have done right by me and I stick with them for the most part. When I do order from a new vendor, I pay close attention to the reviews. Even if their total ratings are in the high 90s, if there is a recent run of negative or neutral reviews and especially if they all complain about the same thing - I steer clear.

    JQ
     
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  11. LordThanos1969

    LordThanos1969 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    While I like the database aspect of Discogs, I have become very frustrated with buying there for many of the same reasons that the original poster mentioned. My rate of satisfaction is lower with Discogs than eBay. The main issues I have experienced are overgrading and unresponsive sellers.

    I did buy a CD from one Russian seller, and that actually worked out OK. I exchanged several messages with him before committing to the purchase. I am highly skeptical of all the high grade vinyl that seems to be offered in Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern European countries.
     
  12. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Any reason the sellers can't show pictures of what they're selling? I'm not up to speed on the technical aspects of the site.
     
    Sondek likes this.
  13. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    I agree with the fact that you can’t add your own pics, sucks. Too generic, and when your looking for something specific, emails are required, due to the fact.
     
  14. Vinyl Addict

    Vinyl Addict Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    This.
    They will also provide pics if you ask.

    I like Discogs, it's the best option we have.
     
    TwiceFan and plentyofjamjars67 like this.
  15. Yost

    Yost “It’s only impossible until it’s not”

    It's not build into the site. But many seller will send you pictures of the actual item they're selling when asked, or list specifics in the description.

    Maybe it's a downside, but I like the fact that you're always sure which specific release is on sale. While on eBay sellers can post pictures of the actual item, but often just post a generic picture, list no catalog number or correct release date and in general have no clue of what they're actually selling …

    So yes, every platform has its up- and downsides.
     
  16. sound chaser

    sound chaser Senior Member

    Location:
    North East UK.
    I'm not sure, I took a chance on AF Deep Purple "Machine Head" for a fab price and it turned out great.
    (I always answer asap :))
     
  17. ROFLnaked

    ROFLnaked Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Hello Yost--

    My issue has been that 3 of the 4 LPs I've purchased through Discogs have *not* been the release that was specified. I had written off Discogs, but I recently spotted on there what appeared to be a certain tough-to-find LP that I've been hunting for, so I sent an inquiry to the seller requesting confirmation of the matrices. Two days later I noted that the listing for the LP had disappeared. Two days after that, I received a message from the seller saying, "Sorry--record has been sold."

    First-world problems, I tell you.
     
    Sam Cruze likes this.
  18. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    My biggest problem with Discogs is that I've gone to buy something and the seller comes back and says they don't have it. That's happened a few times on Discogs and never on E-bay even though I've bought a lot more stuff there.
     
  19. Giorgio

    Giorgio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Varese Italy
    I bought a couple of times (LP vinyl) on Discogs and all was ok.
    I am very fussy and skeptical and before buying I do a lot of questions, sometimes I request photos and matrix confirmation etc., and I always received answers fast enough.
    Anyway, as already stated by someone, I think that often the classification (grade), both visual and play, are very inaccurate!
    To my choice and for greater security, do not buy from sellers who have a positive feedback less than 99.8%. And always before buying read some feedbacks received by the seller to make me an idea of the person...
    That's why I bought little until now :D
    However, if you are experienced and you know what to look for, Discogs is IMO a source of very valuable information.
     
  20. Discogs is an amazing resource for music. I've only had a couple problems with sellers (sent a wrong disc and lied to about the condition of the record). But those cases are few and far between. Most people are generally eager to sell/talk about music if you message them. If you message a seller and they dont reply they are probably busy or out of stock/havent updated their database.

    Ebay has been hit or miss in my experience, and now people are throwing around Excellent (totaly subjective) gradings instead of using the Goldmine standard which Discogs uses
     
    klockwerk likes this.
  21. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I've ordered probably about 30-40 CDs from Discogs and have only had one issue where I received the wrong version, which I think is stupid considering it's a database that records every single unique version and categorizes them as such (although the seller did refund me and let me keep the disc). Also, I did order a CD about a month ago and it still hasn't arrived, but it's coming from Croatia so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. As for the marketplace, I find it to be second-best to brick and mortar stores and definitely the cheapest around. Plus, you know for certain what you're getting, unlike Amazon - unless you end up with one of the few sellers who thinks that it is Amazon.

    The only real problem that I have with Discogs is that new releases generally don't get entered until well after the fact. It took about two weeks for Matt Berry's new album The Small Hours to get added, and even then it was only the vinyl version for weeks (maybe a bad example, being a mostly obscure artist whose material seems to be released on CD only out of necessity, but whatever). Obviously records are the more popular format, especially for a collector site like this, but it does kind of irk me when I want to learn more about a CD and the only one listed is the LP. The inverse is obviously true for record collectors where applicable - just a stupid pet peeve of mine.

    Oh, and also, it's really difficult to edit and create new releases. So that's probably why. And the list functionality is really counterintuitive and doesn't work well. But when your alternatives are eBay and Amazon...
     
    black sheriff likes this.
  22. grandegi

    grandegi Blind test maniac

    Location:
    Rome, Italy
    I like Discog as an online database, since I created my own collection on it I can manage it much more easily. I also try to contribute to the website, uploading new releases and correcting or adding info to the database records. It's imperfect but I try to do my best to make it work better. Regarding my experience as a buyer, I actually encountered a few overgraded items and a couple of "wrong" releases but nothing to get mad for. I don't purchase very often from it mainly because of the high postage rates: I can get what I need from amazon marketplace, even early unremastered CDs, paying significantly less.
     
  23. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Happened to me again today.
     
  24. You should contact the seller before paying for the items. You can also ask them for pictures and audio samples if you're in doubt. I've done it on a few occasions and they seemed happy to oblige. Where as on ebay, I found communicating with sellers to be sketchy.

    The Discogs community is a lot different than Ebay.
     
  25. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Paying isn't the issue. I assume when an item is listed they have it for sale. For some reason on Discogs I've had the sellers come back a few times and say they don't have it. Never has happened on E-bay once. Frustrating when you find a rare item for a good price.
     
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