How often do you use Discogs?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Vern, Dec 19, 2014.

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  1. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Who do you recommend inputs the data then?

    I see people complaining about the information being incorrect but if they spent the same amount of time complaining with fixing, there's be at least one less error in the database. I fix errors when I can. Others do the same.

    I have no tears for sellers who can't be bothered to spend time listing their record under the right listing. They benefit from the access to a base of buyers. If you don't spend the time and make an error and someone complains it's their own fault. But they'll probably get a pass in most cases as buyers won't know the difference unless they are the sort of buyers that exist on this site, who are looking for a very particular pressing other than just "an original pressing".

    The reality is, sellers in some cases aren't even spending more than a minute on checking if they listed their record correctly even when there's only a few variations. So the number of variations isn't the real problem IMO.

    Discogs does not exist to sell stuff. It allows people to sell via it's site and takes a commission but it's primary purpose is to catalogue releases. If it existed to sell stuff then there would really be no need to have so many variations. It could easily operate like musicstack.com. There's no bias to inflate the number of listings and no one is pretending that all variations are equally significant. It matters little to the people who run Discogs what people consider significant in terms of releases only that they are catalogued.

    To be fair there are things they should be doing to improve the database and it's by no means perfect, but we're better off with it than without it.
     
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  2. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    I really don't know what to say if you think Discogs is simply a government library in disguise and not trying to make money from sellers. But you are entitled to your opinion.

    Fixing errors is a pain in the patootie when you have self designated genre or artist police objecting to all manner of things. I am glad that you have not been afflicted with them.

    If you think that Sellers should not worry getting listings right because the majority of buyers are ignorant, rather than them spending 30 or 60 minutes to figure out which listing is the right one, I guess that is a strategy.

    The average user/seller should just submit a clear picture of the record labels and the front and back cover plus the deadwax or CD matrix. Someone knowledgeable about the Artist or Genre has to organize it and present it using whatever style guide Discogs sets up for their discographers. Those people should be held responsible for errors and their corrections. The public shouldn't be asked to become Librarians or Documentation specialists.
     
  3. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Someone knowledgeable? Are you volunteering? :biglaugh:
     
  4. ChrisEfterklang

    ChrisEfterklang Forum Resident

    Location:
    the Netherlands
    Basically the only fields within the database that are subjectieve are Genre and Style and I hardly ever make Changes to those. Certainly never remove something from those but do add stuff. If you provide quality images showing all details then all the other fields should not get you into any trouble. Problem is that a lot of people don’t take the time to learn about how to enter data and what every field stands for. However, to add a unique (as in unique that it warrants a submission in to the database) release you actually don’t have to document it in all its detail, just the basics plus those details that make it unique.
     
  5. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Believe me they don't want me or others. They think they are perfect.
     
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  6. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    You have described the basic problem. It is a pain to correct errors but very easy to add a "new" item filled with errors. Yes, having clear pictures would help but many images are poor quality or incomplete.

    As for complaining that the general user public is unskilled in Library Science and doesn't memorize the Style Guidelines, who is paying them?
     
    Vinyl Addict likes this.
  7. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    You seem like a very entitled individual. How much do you pay for your Discogs membership?
     
    Dave likes this.
  8. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    What you pay to make offhand comments here.
     
  9. PNeski@aol.com

    [email protected] Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    all the time ,wish roon had excesss
     
  10. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I'm not looking for someone to change things here to suit me.
     
  11. HearHear

    HearHear Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida
    Discogs is a great resource to educate yourself on all different vinyl releases, etc.. it's very easy to navigate and easy to buy/sell.

    However, you will not see a picture of the actual record you're buying unless you request it and the seller sends you one. That's kind of a pain. Discogs just has a generic pic of the record on the website, not a pic of the actual record you'll receive.

    I've been burned a few times on Discogs, receiving a record that was not as advertised because I didn't see pics of the actual record beforehand.

    I often "educate" myself on Discogs, as it's a very good source of vinyl release information, then what I sometimes do is go on Ebay to actually buy the record because then I can SEE what I'm getting, real pics, no surprises.
     
  12. Vern

    Vern Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Discogs seller raaage: when you ask a seller to confirm if the record they’re selling is indeed the correct one matching the listing and they then jack up the price.

    What a sh!tty thing to do! :realmad:
     
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  13. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    This makes sense. Unlike eBay, Discogs' first purpose was to provide a user-generated database. The marketplace was actually a secondary by-product.
     
    Lost In The Flood and Dave S like this.
  14. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    People here would be surprised to learn that Discogs didn't have rock entries at one time. They only started allowing multiple entries with the same catalog number in the mid 00s. And no classical music until they rejigged the software. I was a rock and electronic moderator at one time.
     
  15. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Up until recently that never happened to me but others have been complaining in the forums from time to time.

    In my case I didn't ask for a picture, just a verification on the condition of an insert that came with the lp in question. The seller removed the lp from the market place and then quoted me a price much higher than the one listed when it was on the market place. I declined to purchase.
     
    Vinyl Addict likes this.
  16. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Every once in awhile a seller will post on the marketplace forum on Discogs about how a buyer thought the picture was of the item he was buying and sometimes the gradings don't even match. I think some buyers don't really bother working out how discogs works. They just join, buy and then learn the hard way. I have little sympathy for people like that. Well I do if they own up to their mistake but usually the sellers are posting because the buyer is blaming them.

    Of course once a seller tried to use the listing of a promo lp as proof what he sent me was the promo lp and not the stock. I filed a paypal claim and he noted "the item sent was the one pictured in the listing" A-hole. He was kicked off Discogs sooner after that as he'd been screwing people from the get go and it caught up to him real fast. I got my money back but Paypal gave him a break. They wrote to me with the refund approval but mentioned that the "special circumstances" of this case meant that they gave me a courtesy refund and not a refund from the seller.
     
  17. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    If they didn't have rock and they didn't have classical, then what did they have, pray?
     
  18. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    Electronic music was their early focus.
    (There IS a life beyond rock and classical, after all.)
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2018
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  19. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Kevin Lewandowski started it to catalog his electronic record collection.
     
  20. klockwerk

    klockwerk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio USA
    Another 'everyday' user here. I've put in a few database entries and made around 30+ purchases of multiple items. I've only had one problem but it was eventually resolved (money refunded). I don't understand the criticisms that all the data was user generated. Discogs would be much smaller without user input. And believe me, people tell you when they disagree with you about the data you have entered, sometimes rather rudely. Is there a better physical music database in existence? I don't think so.
    My music collection is public and is here: Check out klockwerk's music collection on Discogs
     
  21. TwoTone25

    TwoTone25 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Arizona
    Discogs is basically nowadays an eBay of music only. The only difference is instead of creating your own selling page you work as a group and it gets checked. That's the reason for the very little information on the album page. The sellers list the album and leave it basic and up to others to add info. The guildlines of listing albums is also to limited to show differences in releases.
    .
     
  22. Fortysomething

    Fortysomething Forum Resident

    Location:
    Californ-i-a
    Been there. Asked a question about shipping and the seller withdrew the listing, then relisted it for exactly double.

    I shrugged and decided to wait. Rewarded for my patience with a newly reissued version of the album I bought from a local store, while his double-market-value version sits unsold.
     
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