Got ripped off on Discogs...help!

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by beachboydw, May 23, 2013.

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  1. iamthecosmos

    iamthecosmos Forum Resident

    I've great experience with Discogs apart from two purchases. The first was what turned out to be a bootleg pressing of Five Leaves Left with an audible pressing defect on Way To Blue. It was cheap, what the hell.

    The second was infuriating. I'd bought a NM copy of Heroes from a Spanish seller, which was probably so on the majority of the LP, however there was a clear and audible scratch halfway through the first track and into the second. The seller even had the cheek to leave me negative feedback! I asked Discogs to remove this, offering to send a photo. I'm still waiting for a response.
     
  2. oregonalex

    oregonalex Forum Resident

    I know. At least a grade. I used to be much stricter, but it was just too depressing. It is rare that a record I buy strictly conforms to the visual grade advertised and very very rare indeed that it also plays to it. My record buying has fizzled to a mere trickle for that reason.
    I don't trust play grading at all. Some of the worst buys I have made were the so called play graded records. For some of the Pink Floyd records listed above I quizzed the seller in detail about any audible issues and he said he played them all and they played virtually perfectly. In reality, some of them play like crap. And he had 100% feedback. It is a sad state of affairs.
     
  3. scottc1963

    scottc1963 Forum Resident

    I have a bunch of promo copies of Motown and soul, even some newer Classics Records stuff that I was going to sale, but this type of stuff scares me off. I wouldn't want to mis-grade and get someone mad at me or disappoint them but on the other hand, I don't want to give it to Goodwill (they now have their own online store and prices on there are ridiculous) and half price books are just as bad! I do hope the OP gets his money back, it is a shame that it has gotten this way with buying stuff.
     
  4. noahjld

    noahjld Der Wixxer

    Lol,swings and roundabouts,you win some and you lose some.
     
  5. mark f.

    mark f. Senior Member


    I'm well aware of the fact that mistakes are made on both sides (seller and buyer) and not all of it is sinister but I just don't take the risk. I would not buy from you unless of course I knew you on a forum. ;-)

    The same thing that happened to you happened to me on Amazon and it killed my sales. I have a flawless eBay record and otherwise flawless record on Amazon but one neutral on Amazon sent my feedback rating into the low 90%.

    I'm slightly more tolerant on Amazon (wacky feedback system) and eBay where there are tighter controls on sellers.
     
  6. mark f.

    mark f. Senior Member


    I'm thinking of not touching records graded as NM. Most sellers who use that grade, even the ones with good intentions, have no idea what NM really looks like. The problem with NM is that a lot of sellers don't use proper lighting or they've seen too many records and they stop seeing obvious groove wear.

    The problems you are describing are common in all areas of collecting. Sellers see too many records and they become blind or deaf to things that are obvious to the buyer.

    My favorite experience was a seller who bought old warehouse stock and sold it as "New/Mint". He never bothered to look at the actual sleeves and the records - which were trashed from years of being stored and shoved around. But he insisted that because he bought it as a stored, never played item, that his grade was accurate.
     
  7. thematinggame

    thematinggame Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    In general it is much safer to buy on amazon because there is a 30-day return policy and also the possibility to file an A-Z claim if yiu are not satisfied .
    I think the most important thing is that as a buyer you know you can communicate with the seller , I sometimes contact a seller beforhand to ask for further details or even photos , if I don´t receive an answer I won´t buy
     
  8. Denti

    Denti Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Well, then we get into the thorny issue of some new, sealed vinyl sounding like crap. How do you rate that? If I buy a new LP, play it once, determine it's a crap pressing (not just mine, mind you, but the whole lot), am I then allowed to turn around and sell it as NM?

    An extreme example: I recently purchase a sealed reissue of Sharrock's Monkey-Pockey-Boo which turned out to be warped. Now, this is a case where I got a bad pressing in a lot of good ones. But still. I sold it, but I listed is as G with the caveat that it was warped. Played fine, actually, and sounded NM, actually, but visibly not at all flat.
     
  9. bobfrombob

    bobfrombob Forum Resident

    I'm generally in agreement with earlier posters who feel if you are careful, you can get very good results on Discogs. But be cautious.

    I don't have a cut-off per se for ratings but I certainly always drill down. Because the rating itself doesn't tell the whole story. You can have a 100% rating but still lots of neutrals. You can also have a 99% rating but then when you look into it, that's one negative rating out of 1oo, and it's from somebody who cancelled their order or something.

    I always look at the neutrals and the negatives and see what they are about. If somebody has 3 negatives but they are all because somebody didn't get their record from Europe in 3 days or whines like that, I totally ignore that. The seller response usually tells you quite a bit too - if the seller says stuff like "well you're a jerk too" then I tend to avoid them, but if they say "too bad you didn't contact me 'cause I would have given you your money back", I give that negaitve review a lot less credabiltiy. If there are grading neutrals or negatives, that makes me cautious - 'cause I am in agreement with those who say a lot (the majority?) of Discogs sellers rate stuff a grade or two higher than I would. I've had transactions where the seller told me when I complained that he graded vinyl based on the jacket - he had graded the media without ever even looking at it. Also, check the rating the buyer has - a postive (or negative) rating from somebody with 125 transactions means way more to me than somebody with 6 transactions.
     
  10. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    Unfortunately I am going this route as well but not without learning a few tough lessons first......like many others, you pay for LP's graded as NM or "looks unplayed" and they show up looking like someone did a dance on them and then played non stop with a ceramic needle with 50 cent pieces on top of it. I am dealing with this exact thing right now on Discogs.....it will be the last time.
     
    Pendulous Threads likes this.
  11. spartanmanor

    spartanmanor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    IMO I would never purchase used vinyl under VG+ to grey as to what you are getting below that rating.
     
  12. GreatTone

    GreatTone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Falls Church, VA
    Oh yeah, I forgot: I even sent photos both to the seller and ebay that clearly showed the severe damage. Horrible experience.
     
  13. Romerovm

    Romerovm Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    Well, I just had an issue with a scratched CD that I bought at Discogs. Seller was completely unhelpful and rude so I opened a claim. I get an email this morning from Paypal requesting that I send the CD back. The seller is in the UK and I paid $10 for the CD. It would cost me more to send it back!

    I called Paypal (this is not about the $10 anymore, but the principal of the matter), and they refunded me, but they ate the money. I logged in Paypal later and there is note saying that it was a "one time courtesy" to me. I am furious about it because I didn't want to burn that bridge for $10! :realmad:

    Should I call back? Opinions?
     
  14. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Immediately file with PayPal: SNAD (Significantly Not As Described). When the seller says something like that, I'm over and done with them. PayPal will most likely side with you, but you may be required to return the item at your expense (annoying). At any rate, do not correspond with the seller anymore. Just go to PayPal. I will repeat: DO NOT email any further with the seller. Something you say might get you in trouble, considered a threat, or otherwise be misconstrued. Just go to PayPal.

    Any TOS (terms of sale) do NOT obviate the requirement that the item delivered to you be delivered in the condition described. Sellers who hide behind TOS are fools and/or crooks.
     
    Gavinyl likes this.
  15. Romerovm

    Romerovm Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    I just had a bad experience at Discogs, but I am afraid of retaliatory feedback and I haven't left a negative yet. It seems like Discogs does not have a way to stop or remove this, and while looking at sellers/buyers pofiles I have seen tons of retaliatory feedback left for buyers.

    Anyone knows something I don't?
     
  16. phoenixhwy1982

    phoenixhwy1982 The Last Cowboy

    Location:
    Chicago
    I bought from Discogs once and it was enough for me. The CD was so scratched I was surprised it played at all. At least there's EAC. <shrug>
     
  17. thematinggame

    thematinggame Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany

    Not really but negative feedbackaas a buyer doesn´t really affect your status , sincer buyer and seller feedback are seperated - and if you gather lots of negative feedback as a buyer you can be sure that it´s not always the seller´s fault
     
    Romerovm likes this.
  18. buckeye1010

    buckeye1010 Zephead Buckeye

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    You can actually call Pay Pal on the phone and talk to a person? I didn't know that! They have come a long way.
     
    Romerovm likes this.
  19. sgb

    sgb Senior Member

    Location:
    Baton Rouge
    This is why I buy used records priced below $15 at ebay, never any more than that.

    Thanks for the info on Discogs; I'll be sure not to even look there.
     
  20. Willowman

    Willowman Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    If you ignore Discogs, you're missing out on a lot of very good, trustworthy dealers who don't tend to list elsewhere.
     
  21. Leviethan

    Leviethan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I haven't received retaliatory feedback yet. I'm not worried about it, though. I kept the record and didn't push the refund issue with the guy I left negative feedback for. I'm not sure what he would say if he were to leave negative feedback about me. He's gotten a couple of neutral feedbacks since then that mention his overgrading. I will rarely order anything from Discogs in the future.
     
  22. Leviethan

    Leviethan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I did just leave negative feedback for the guy I had to fight for the Paypal refund.

    I've been on eBay for 14 years and I don't think I've ever had to post negative feedback for anyone! I've posted two on Discogs in the last couple of weeks.
     
  23. Romerovm

    Romerovm Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    Anyone has an opinion on this? And why do you think Paypal was forcing me to send the CD back when I read here you guys got refunds without problems? :confused:
     
  24. ridernyc

    ridernyc Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida, USA
    You have 45 days through eBay and paypal and I have never lost a case.
     
  25. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Generally, PayPal will require you to return the item. Any deviation from that is off script.

    The best was the time I bought some printers from some cretin on eBay that turned out to be not as described. The guy wasn't going to reply to me at all. I complained to PayPal and the guy replied to them quickly. They told me to return them to the seller. The seller gave me a bogus shipping address. I shipped, they got returned to me. I showed PayPal that I'd shipped to the address the guy specified and they gave me a full refund including original shipping. The guy went ballistic at this point. I ignored him.
     
    Romerovm likes this.
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