How do you weed out bad sellers on Discogs?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Hand Of Ike, Aug 1, 2018.

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  1. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    This morning I ordered four mono Kingston Trio records from an unfamiliar seller on Discogs. Three of the four were graded near mint for both the vinyl and the jacket. I included this note with my order:

    You should know I believe that when it comes to 50+ year old albums, ones which are near mint are as rare as unicorns. You have three listed here, both sleeve and LP. I'm not that picky. I accept these are old records. VG+ is a better-than-average rating for records from this era. It's just that near mint means something. Do you stand behind that?
    After I made the order, I regretted it. I realized I should have asked this question first. Oh, well, at least it was asked now. I paid for the order through Paypay.

    I then went to the Y to work out. When I got back, I found my purchase had been refunded without explanation, beyond it was at the buyer's request. I'll accept the back handed acknowledgement that these albums weren't really near mint.

    Or maybe the seller just didn't want to deal with me. In any case, I dodged a bullet.

    As has been said upthread, how do you weed out bad sellers? Communication. Sometimes they even pull the weeds themselves.
     
    G E, cwitt1980, SixOClockBoos and 4 others like this.
  2. KevinG

    KevinG Well-Known Member

    Location:
    The Woodlands, TX
    I have encountered a few bad ones
     
  3. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    My suggestion is deal with a larger store...

    Once I find a good retailer I stay with them...

    I buy from Philadelphia Music on a regular basis & have had no issues...

    Also ask the seller to be specific about condition if they refuse then don't buy the item
     
    12" 45rpm and bmh5879 like this.
  4. Skychan

    Skychan Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    FYI, there are many sellers that are dropshipping and don't actually have the item/product, so that could be why you're getting those kinds of responses.
     
  5. cporcp

    cporcp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kentucky
    I've been trying this as well. One person so far has downgraded an LP as a result, a couple of others have reiterated - and been accurate - in their grading. My most recent experience had the seller reply tersely that "it's in the condition it says it's in." Confident, so I went with it - mistake - big red flag there, but the feedback history was solid, so....

    Agree that without play grading it's a gamble. Fortunately I don't buy much vinyl, so I watch the sales here closely and always get great - outstanding - records.
     
  6. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    One seller on Discogs has a few 45s that are HTF (in NM- no less), but I'm scared away by the 772 Negs & 1,045 Neutral fb.

    Darryl
     
  7. rockindownthehighway

    rockindownthehighway Not interested

    Location:
    Gone
    If the guy has 772 negative feedback and a million sales that would be different from 772 negatives and 2000 sales ;)

    Still, I wonder what you have to do to get kicked off discogs as a seller...
     
  8. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    He has 17,000 total sales.

    Darryl
     
  9. rockindownthehighway

    rockindownthehighway Not interested

    Location:
    Gone
    Well the HP calculator says that's 11% customers who are not satisfied. I wouldn't touch it with a hundred foot pole.
     
  10. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    I consider anything over 50 negatives to be way too much. I don't care if he has 100 transactions or 100.000.
    Also a lot of it has to do with grading (he said NM, but was more like VG).


    Darryl
     
  11. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    I think the HP calculator needs some re-calibration. Closer to 4.2%, but still it's enough to convince me to avoid them like the plague.
     
  12. rockindownthehighway

    rockindownthehighway Not interested

    Location:
    Gone
    HP calculators never need recalibration. Ever.

    772 Negs & 1,045 Neutral fb = 1817 unsatisfied customers / 17000 total sales = 10.69% which I rounded up to 11%
     
  13. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    I understand. I wasn't calculating the neutral feedback into the equation simply because it's not an accurate relation to complete dissatisfaction with things like "It took so long to get here!" as if the seller is somehow responsible for delivery times. :rolleyes:
     
  14. rockindownthehighway

    rockindownthehighway Not interested

    Location:
    Gone
    I agree it's often hard to know why somebody leaves neutral feedback whether it's for things out of the seller's control or whether it is not wanting to give negative feedback and harm somebody's reputation even when the transaction was considered unfavorable for a valid reason. Still, neutral is not satisfied, hence my calculation ;)
     
  15. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    :laugh: Still, this seller isn't looking very good in our eyes any way you slice it.
     
  16. Timeless Classics

    Timeless Classics Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Lots of great suggestions on this thread. One thing I always do before purchasing any records on Discogs is to ask if there are any marks visible at all on the record surface when viewed UNDER LIGHT at different angles. Too many sellers just give a record a quick once over and don't take the time to really be critical of any flaws. Make sure all grading is done under light. Also, how do you feel about leaving negative feedback for sellers who overgrade but did give you a full refund? I always want other prospective buyers when sellers don't know how to grade records, but offering a full refund always gives me hesitation. Just curious how others have handled this. It does seem that negative feedback is the buyers only recourse to help others weed out the sellers who overgrade.
     
  17. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Most of the evaluation of sellers I may consider using comes from most negative fb.
    I do skim through the neutrals, but if there are too many negatives I move on.
    The ratio of negatives to neutrals or me is usual 2 to 1.
    I try to limit negatives to 20 or less, but there are exceptions.
    Like a friend of mine that I've known for years has 53 negatives.

    Darryl
     
  18. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Just sent a general note on his Discogs page asking why he doesn’t respond to inquiries.
    I basically dared him to respond, although I don’t think he will. Possibly disabled communications.

    Darryl
     
    SixOClockBoos likes this.
  19. Mugrug12

    Mugrug12 The Jungle Is a Skyscraper

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    If it's fun for you then go for it, but w that feedback I wouldn't waste the typing time!

    Just to add a friendly gripe- I've had a really bad time the past couple months getting records from discogs that were the wrong edition. It's always been easy to work it out w the seller though. I hate to be "that guy" and ask for photos every time but it might be necessary.
     
  20. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    If I'm dealing with a seller for the first time, I send him a question about one of their listings.
    I won't purchase with no acknowledgement of my message.

    Darryl
     
    Dave likes this.
  21. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    :agree: A wise decision Darryl.
     
  22. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    One seller I wrote to about a 45 he had for sale responded back with a snarky
    LOOK AT THE LISTING
    Yes I’m all caps.
    Another seller responded with it’s -36 degrees here, I will check when I get back to the office.
    With the second seller I’m wondering where this -36 degrees is (yes it’s in the USA).


    Darryl
     
  23. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    classic stuff! those folks must not really want to sell their items.
     
  24. birchstick

    birchstick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Haha - I message sellers before every purchase because descriptions listed are usually BS.
     
  25. G E

    G E Senior Member

    Buying vinyl used or new is a crap shoot.

    I got out of digital when I upgraded my analog front end. (See my profile) i had forgotten what a pain it is to build a high quality vinyl collection. Patience and diligence!

    I’ve received new defective pressings from Music Matters Jazz and they are the best in the business. Handled very promptly to my satisfaction.

    I like buying records in this forum, mainly great experiences, but one needs to ask questions:

    Discs pressed on center?
    No elongated spindle hole?
    Warpage? Describe.
    IGD?
    Smoke or off smells?
    Please confirm inner groove markings.
    Play graded or just look pretty?
    Label spindle trails?
    Marks on playing surface?
    Repeating tics or pops?
    Do you stand behind your sale?

    These are the ones I recall offhand.

    Not surprisingly a lot of Discogs sellers are never heard from or they answer one of my 2-4 questions and that’s it. No business for them!

    I’m dealing with a Discogs seller now that offered a NM Bowie let’s dance. Said immaculate from estate sale. I asked about RL inner groove markings each side -please confirm and he responded affirmative. Ok I’ll buy.

    $19 shipped so not much risk.

    Got the disc and it’s covered in dust. Have to wipe it down before putting on vpi cleaner. Afterwards see surface marks on both sides. No way NM. More of a weak VG+. Inner sleeve slits on all 3 sides. The cover was pretty good. A weak NM.

    Inner grooves RL present just side 1. So he didn’t check or lied.

    Played the record and no big noise during music a tic here and there. But the intra band noise between songs was bad and got worse as the record played.

    I thought about letting it ride but decided to hold him accountable.

    He didn’t like it and sent 3 or 4 notes defending his grading but ultimately said he take it back. I did not engage in his one sided argument. Waste of time. He either doesn’t know how to grade properly or doesn’t care because people don’t protest.

    But I do.

    I have even had transactions on this forum that underwhelmed me. Everyone took back the item and promptly refunded my dough. It’s a good crew on the sales forums.

    I am also a seller. Mainly the hi-Rez forum. I am culling to support my vinyl and new old stock tube habit.

    If you have ever purchased an Apple product, the unwrapping is an integral part of the experience. They are second to none. I decided it was just as important to pack all my sales as if somebody really cared. And I do.

    Nothing worse to receive an anticipated product only to find it’s been damaged or ruined in transit. So I go to extra lengths to ship with care. I re-use materials wherever possible (being green) and it takes more time and maybe I lose a bit on shipping costs. But gosh, my customers really appreciate. No returns to date. It also helps that I sell from my personal library and I know how each of these items has been treated for 10-50 years.

    Hopefully a few of you read this to the end ;-)
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2019
    LivingForever, uzn007 and Giorgio like this.
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