Discogs experiences-postive and negative*

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

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    :laugh: Love the irony, or better, the timing.
    I just opened a just-rec'd purchase from a fellow forum member, who didn't do this, and I plan on sending him a friendly, respectful message, enlightening him on the positives of this practice, which I myself, only learned in the time I've been a member here.

    @Combination , I'm reading this over my first cup of coffee, and to call it entertaining does it no justice. What a find ! :laugh:
     
  2. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    I had to, as I needed the album for some inserts that are hard to find. The inserts were fine, and the records were blah!
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
  3. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    I've never bought there. And your experience is a poster child for why.

    I don't gamble.
     
    ROFLnaked likes this.
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Sorry but I don't understand the reasoning of buying vinyl in that condition. Not one bit. Since the amount and resulting noise of an LP is a bit subjective, it comes down to the individual... unless the seller has a history of over-grading. I don't get how an LP was shrinkwrapped by the seller. That seems a bit strange to me.

    Regardless, you can return these orders if they're not to your satisfaction if you paid via PayPal. I suggest discussing your findings with the seller first as he might be willing to make things right or perhaps hand you a partial refund if an agreement can be reached. Otherwise, initiate a PayPal dispute and wait for confirmation from PayPal before sending the LPs back.
     
  5. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Firstly, it's not a gamble if paid via PayPal. Secondly, the platform has no bearing whatsoever on the kind of individual you might deal with.

    That would be like blaming Steve Hoffman because you read a nasty post from another member. Makes no sense.
     
    Dave and uzn007 like this.
  6. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    I agree with you on paypal. But paypal is simply not an option for me. negatives outweigh the positives. And regarding the individual and the platform having a relationship, I disagree. I trust the stores in some strip malls and less in others, depending on the strip mall.

    But, for me the platform is "sight unseen". I do all my business with reputable online stores, Amazon, or face to face (CL).
     
    ROFLnaked likes this.
  7. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    A strip mall is a geographical location but a website is not. Anybody from anywhere can join so you get all types. There are good and bad sellers on any platform whether it be eBay, Discogs, and even when you dealt with sellers via ads in newspapers way back when.

    As somebody with extensive experience in buying and selling online from as many places as you can imagine for the past 20+ years, I can confirm there's no correlation whatsoever between platforms and users.

    You mentioned Amazon. Well, there are honest and dishonest sellers on that platform too. Buying anything from Amazon is also sight unseen. Moreover, most of the problematic LPs I've ever bought came specifically through Amazon.

    It's important you spend your time and money however makes you most comfortable. My post is not designed to change your mind. I'm merely pointing out the flaws in the associations that you're making, especially in light of your inexperience.
     
  8. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    Yep. Different strokes for different folks. :)
     
  9. Stankey

    Stankey Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Boston

    It was still the original shrink wrap. I don't care for shrink wrap so I take them off. I guess to me, VG always sounds good, and sellers always play it to be: has some scratches, still sounds great. Always subjective I find. I do agree that I will pretty much only stick to VG+ and above now
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  10. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    How was it rated VG if it was in the original shrinkwrap? I am confused.
     
    Dave likes this.
  11. Stankey

    Stankey Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Boston
    Shrink is open at the opening, but still on the jacket, so you can take out the LP
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  12. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    The first one sounds G+ to me since you said "pretty listenable" as that sounds like it was constant and noticeable. To be VG I would expect it to be not that noticeable and not constant. I'd hesitate to call it VG if I was grading it. The second one should be poor or fair since it skipped on you even once but certainly twice. How did you fix the skip? It skipped when you got it so I don't think it should matter that you did.
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2019
    uzn007 likes this.
  13. Stankey

    Stankey Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Boston
    I was able to fix both skips by locating the scratch and rubbing a toothpick over it a bit. But all that surface noise remained. I think Blue moods is listenable because its such a loud/high fidelity album with its wider grooves that the noise overpowers it 95% of the time
     
    lazydawg58 likes this.
  14. Mugrug12

    Mugrug12 The Jungle Is a Skyscraper

    Location:
    Massachusetts

    This was even funnier than the very funny tv show I just watched! I liked how it just kept going. He should add more caveats and disclaimers. Also he should use some words like "forthwith", etc.
     
    uzn007 and ROFLnaked like this.
  15. Mugrug12

    Mugrug12 The Jungle Is a Skyscraper

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    I only buy vg on discogs if it's a person that I really know their grading. To some people online vg means trashed sounding unfortunately. It could go either way and if you say anything you're likely to hear "well it was graded vg". Now that the shrink is off it wouldn't be fair to request a return...
    you might want to keep shrink on records just in case you find a way nicer copy sometime and want to sell your old one, because it's a nice plus for some folks/stores.
     
  16. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    Which means that those people are totally disregarding the grading system. VG is a record that has surface noise noticeable in quiet passages but does not overpower the listening experience.
     
    uzn007 likes this.
  17. ROFLnaked

    ROFLnaked Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Just read through one of these on the popular online auction site, where the guy took blurry photos and is trying to pass an obviously compromised (bent) stylus. The description goes on and on with the "strictly sold as-is with no warranty either expressed or implied" phrases. The "legal document" chock full of 50¢ words aside, I never understand why they even bother putting "no returns accepted" in the auctions: if it arrives bent, rusted, or not functioning after you wrote anything but "not working/for parts only" in the description, then as per popular auction site rules, it's going back to you for a refund whether you like it or not.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2019
  18. Mugrug12

    Mugrug12 The Jungle Is a Skyscraper

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    Yes you are right but in practice I've found that if I buy vg online there's a good chance I'm going to be disappointed. Do you personally buy vg records from strangers online and get better results? Not sure why you used bold letters.
     
    lazydawg58 likes this.
  19. Mugrug12

    Mugrug12 The Jungle Is a Skyscraper

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    They write it to scare people that don't know about the site's guarantee.

    And also to give us stuff to laugh and post about ;) :uhhuh:
     
    Gumboo and Strat-Mangler like this.
  20. ROFLnaked

    ROFLnaked Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Exactly. When buying "VG" records online/sight-unseen, I realize it's a crapshoot and only do so for bargain-priced, rare mono LPs, as the mono system is much more forgiving. My experience is that the Brits' understanding of "VG" is even shakier than ours, as their purported "VG" platters usually turn up looking like frisbees.
     
    lazydawg58 and Mugrug12 like this.
  21. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    Bold was just to show which part of the passage I was referring to. I don't buy much online because of the over grading. When I do buy it is because I've looked for a particular album or artist out in the wild and just can't find it anywhere. I normally figure that anything graded is a step below whatever they are saying it is. Of course most of the time they are just grading visually which means it is a total crap shoot. If they say the record is play graded I give it a little more credence. I'll buy VG+ expecting it to be VG and if it is better than that it is a bonus. The same for NM.
     
    plentyofjamjars67 likes this.
  22. Mugrug12

    Mugrug12 The Jungle Is a Skyscraper

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    That sums it up, me too (except for sellers I know). I was trying to convey that to the guy above who was disappointed in his miles davis record. VG should be mostly enjoyable, but the odds of being disappointed online are high, so aiming for vg+ and higher might be best practice.
     
    lazydawg58 likes this.
  23. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    I've bought a couple dozen CDs on Discogs over the years. The only snafu was a CD-R instead of the rare disc that should have been there. Seller issued immediate refund.

    I would assume buying secondhand CDs is much less fraught with grading and shipping problems.
     
  24. joachim.ritter

    joachim.ritter Senior Member

    I guess quite a few CD buyers are unhappy with condition of artwork and/or CD as well, but at least CDs usually play "mint".
     
  25. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    OK here's something weird that just happened to me.

    I found a seller overseas who had a number of records I wanted, and several of them had "Make Offer" enabled.

    Seller has 100% positive ratings, but I'm still a little gunshy because I recently was disappointed by an "NM" record I purchased from a European seller with 100% positive.

    So I sent this guy a message asking about two different albums. One was marked "M" but the description didn't say it was sealed, so I wanted to clarify the condition. The other one was rated "NM", so I just quoted him the description of "NM" from the Discogs site and asked him whether he could confirm that this was an accurate rating and I wasn't going to hear any significant surface noise on the record.

    He writes back to and says that he's checked out both records and realized that they were both overgraded (whoops!). Says that they both should be "EX" (which, I gather, is a grade between VG+ and NM... it doesn't appear on the official Discogs grading guide).

    But here's the weird part... I click on the links from my original message to see whether he's changed the grades on these listings. Instead, the listings have been deleted (maybe Discogs doesn't let you edit a listing after you post it?), so I go to his "for sale" list, and find that he has re-listed each of these records, and the grades are exactly the same as they were before, i.e., the grades that he told me were inaccurate.

    WTF. Just another illustration, I guess, of why it's always worth it to email with questions before buying, especially if you really care about the condition of the item.
     
    Giorgio likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine