Ebay or Discogs for selling?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by 12" 45rpm, Nov 22, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. 12" 45rpm

    12" 45rpm Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York City
    Any rules of thumb for when to sell a record on Ebay or Discogs? I've been using Discogs exclusively but stuff moves very slowly. Even cheapo $1-2 records will sit for months/years .. I recently tried to sell a cheapo record on Ebay and it sold in a few days.. Of course, could just be beginners luck or the record was more popular than I thought..

    Am I correct that in ebay you don't have to list the exact pressings and matrix numbers? You can just say , here's a NM copy of a record with no other info.?
     
  2. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    Ebay for speed. Discogs for accuracy (sometimes)
     
  3. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    eBay doesn't require much info at all. One of its biggest drawbacks, IMHO. You'll get a much bigger pool of buyers.

    Discogs will require you to choose a specific pressing and since that's the point of Discogs, people (including me) get pissed off if the wrong pressing is listed.

    For $1-2 LPs, I don't even think it's worth it. Just sell them as a lot on EBAY, Audiogon, or USAM.
     
  4. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I hate to make these sort of generalizations but I figure I would add my 2c on Audiogon- it's been a really weird experience for me; selling audio gear (even a few 5 figure pieces of equipment)- no problem buyers are incisive and know what they are looking for, great transactions all around. List a bunch of cheap vinyl or CDs and you get people asking weird questions, low balling, asking what I thought of the sound quality, why I'm selling them, etc. And these are people with $5k to $500k systems, just flat out bizarre IMO.

    And one of the worse transactions I can recall on Audiogon, I sold all the SRV MFSL SACDs after upgrading to the AP SACDs (accepted a pretty significant discount on them in his offer), very clearly listed as SACD with pictures and the buyer thought he was buying vinyl and said he didn't even know what SACD was. He has a Monaco Grand Prix turntable so not exactly someone that doesn't know audio. Then tells me they play fine in his CD player but he feels he is missing out knowing there is a better sounding part on the same disc! And then asks if he can send them back to swap with the MFSL vinyl, which I never had in the first place. After I told him I didn't have them he just stopped communicating.

    Another was selling a $10 King Crimson LP to a pretty famous reviewer (another one of those $500k system people) and he complained that the pressing didn't sound very good, not a grading/condition issue but sound quality. Yes, it was a bog standard US pressing of an album that is not a very good recording in the first place, of course it didn't sound great compared to the AP RCA Ultra Analog Tapes he said he recently reviewed.
     
    black sheriff, 12" 45rpm and Myke like this.
  5. grouploner

    grouploner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    What is USAM?
     
  6. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    US Audio Mart
     
    grouploner likes this.
  7. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    Guessing I'd say it's US Audio Mart
     
    Strat-Mangler and grouploner like this.
  8. grouploner

    grouploner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Thanks!
     
  9. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    As a buyer, I prefer eBay, as long as there are photos of the actual item. That removes a lot of the unknowns, compared to Discogs.
     
  10. 12" 45rpm

    12" 45rpm Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York City
    It sounds like more generic and cheaper vinyl is better put on ebay due to less hassle of finding the exact release on discogs?
     
  11. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    With Ebay you know how many people are watching what you're selling.
     
  12. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Only the naive buyers.
     
  13. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Mostly it's other sellers who have the same item and want to see what you get for it.
     
    12" 45rpm and Veni Vidi Vici like this.
  14. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I find eBay easier. I don't have much of an issue wrt to finding the correct copy on Discogs, when I have tried to sell on there, but I find that my items move faster when I list on eBay. I think for a lot of buyers, matrix and pressing info don't matter much. Some just want an OG press and don't care where it was pressed.

    But if you have an item where it does matter, extreme example Zep II RL pressing, then you would be better off including that information on eBay.

    For the OP, hard to say why your sales are slow, without seeing your inventory details. But if Discogs is slow for you sales wise, it's worth listing a bunch on eBay and see how it goes. eBay does take a higher commission but it might be worth it if they sell faster.
     
    uzn007 likes this.
  15. danielkov86

    danielkov86 Playing Devil's Avocado Since 1986

    Ebay is garbage for selling. They charge a hefty fee (technically multiple fees). Their return policy also favors buyers.
     
  16. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Yeah, I don't know why anyone would try selling $1-2 LPs, except as a job lot. And discogs doesn't allow job lots.
     
  17. 12" 45rpm

    12" 45rpm Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York City
    Well if you include profit from shiping, I make around $3-4 for those $1-2 LPs.. The same LPs won't fetch even 50 cents at a local record store.. So it's kind of worth it from that point of view..

    Also some folks who buy multiple records will throw in one of these cheap ones to their order. Although that doesn't seem to happen often..
     
  18. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    eBay is higher than Discogs but not by much. I think 2%. However, I believe Discogs doesn't take a % of the postage costs like eBay does (might be wrong there) so that's a point to Discogs with respect to fees. eBay does have other charges if you want to use them but they are not mandatory.

    When it comes to buyer protection, Discogs doesn't offer any like eBay does (30 day guarantee). However, Discogs buyers can claim though Paypal, which also favours buyers. So I find there's little difference here as well.

    The extra cost required to sell on eBay is worth it for me though. My interest is in moving the item and generating cash flow and the increased traffic on eBay just works out better for me in that respect. Items sell quicker. There are a lot of people who have great success on Discogs with steady sales but I'm not one of them :)
     
  19. 12" 45rpm

    12" 45rpm Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York City
    When you list on ebay do you put matrix numbers and all that stuff down?
     
  20. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    I don't sell on eBay but it couldn't hurt and might be of benefit IMO.
     
    Dave S likes this.
  21. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    I agree that selling to a store is the least best option (other than throwing the LP in the trash). Not sure about overcharging for postage. It would put me off returning if I felt the postage costs were inflated. But I guess people factor in the postage costs when ordering and are happy to pay the total amount.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine