Discogs experiences-postive and negative*

I was checking out "The Live at Leeds" first UK pressing, black print jacket. It was $150 which gave me great pause but also the seller was considering offers.

I asked for deadwax stamper info. Seller did not know what deadwax was. Offered to send pictures. OK.

U.S. MCA later pressing in G+ condition is what I saw. This person does not know what they are doing. Inherited an uncle's collection or something.

I had a similar experience with a lady with a copy of Ziggy from her late husband's collection. Nowhere close to accepted grading standards.

Be careful out there folks.

Fingers crossed my Iggy Pop Lust for Life that is coming from Sweden will be good. Hopefully not the Swedish Yodeling version or something ha ha.

 

That's why you always gotta ask.

 

Almost all of my negative experiences on Discogs have been with European (specifically UK) sellers. Always overgraded. And partial refunds are the only way to go cause they never accept paying return shipping.

 

Agreed. I'm looking to Nordic countries, Holland, Germany etc at this point. Batting average with the UK is about 500. Not nearly good enough.

 

I keep things in perspective when buying overseas, and have mostly been fine.

Still cannot believe this idiot labeled a cover NM when the gatefold was stained so badly I don't think I could reasonably take their word again. Another seller where I had no issue had two copies of the same record, in the same condition however one was $7 less. I took that one since I just wanted it on LP in general but, what the hell? Either grade the higher priced copy as NM or, you know, grade the worse copy... worse!

 

I hate buying secondhand vinyl online. I get ripped off on Ebay and Discogs. Everyone overgrades.

I only ever buy NM/NM and rarely is that what I receive. It's usually good or very good that turns up but when you've paid $30 for NM then that's what you want! When they offer a $5 partial refund it's just insulting. Buying from overseas is a huge risk.

 

If you're wanting Japanese Mini LP's (CD), then buying from China or the Russian Federation is pretty much guaranteeing you'll get a fake.

However, writing off an entire nation of sellers on grading because you had one or two bad experiences is laughable. I mean, it's your money, so do as you please - but I doubt any of us can name a country where we're never had a bad experience. It's best not to generalize, imo. Grading isn't an exact science. Dishonest is dishonest (though I suspect some of the cases mentioned are driven by ignorance more than anything else) but building a relationship with sellers is the way to go. Ask for whatever proof/evidence you want, discuss returns before buying, and be realistic. IMO.

 

Certainly seems to be a lot of...

 

I was told by UK sellers, twice last week, that I should expect crackles, bumps, and pops on a NM vinyl, and that if I'm looking for better I need to rethink my expectations and buy only Mint/sealed records from now on.

Obviously, I didn't reply.

This one guy, with 99.5% positive feedback, told me that the clicks and the pops were all 'part of the charm of the medium'. When I told him that I own over 500 records, the bulk of which are from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, all of which are deadly silent (give or take a couple of very rare exceptions), he told me that it was impossible, and that in his 25 years of experience, he has never heard a vinyl record that doesn't tick, crackle, or pop.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was doing it wrong.

It's amazing how immediately defensive the majority of sellers seem to be when asking about the condition before buying. It's starting to get wearisome.

 

Sellers never mention non-fill because nobody would buy the record then. It's not even mentioned in the Goldmine Standards, but it really should be since its a terrible defect.

 

My town largest record shop says this too. They also overgrade and over price like crazy and the sad thing is, newbies believe them. They buy a crosley and think the snap crackle pop is the charm!

 

I helpfully provided my first negative feedback to a Discogs seller today - I was slandered in return. Also was told that “warps are common in records that have been stored, and should be expected.” This is for NM.

I’ve probably returned 30% of my NM/NM- purchases from there, today I decided I was tired of going to the post office and spending $4 because someone is unable - or unwilling - to honestly grade an LP. I just left the feedback and said a return/refund was unnecessary.

 

Mine does the same. I’ve never even seen anyone remove an album from the sleeve to check - unreal.

 

You can contact Discogs to have your negative feedback entry removed if it's purely retaliatory.

 

Happy to report Iggy Pop Lust for Life that I ordered from Sweden as a NM arrived in fine shape and accurately graded.

I then found a copy of The Idiot also NM on Discogs and ordered it after my usual questions. Also accurately graded NM.

I found another Ziggy in the UK graded NM and priced very well. She agreed to play grade and playback skipped on two songs and got stuck on another. I wondered if a good cleaning would take care of the problems but decided to skip it.

there are good people to work with. Caution and diligence are the bywords.

 

Two potential issues...if you left feedback without first trying to work things out with the seller, then your feedback can be removed if the seller asks for it to be removed. Discogs asks that you first try and work things out with the seller before leaving feedback.

The other issue is the sellers retaliatory feedback. Since it is purely retaliatory you can ask for it to be reviewed and removed. Which it probably will be since it is retaliatory.

But chances are both yours and his feedback will be removed.

 

As I understand the Discogs system, the seller will probably have the negative feedback removed because @cporcp didn't try to "resolve" the issue first.

 

I don’t understand. I rated the experience based on the condition of the album, and opted not to return it. Returning it wouldn’t change the fact that it was mis-graded, nor would a refund. How do I gauge a sellers honesty, if negative feedback is disallowed.

The whole business of having to “work out” someone’s mistake in exchange for favorable feedback is the rule and not the exception there, and very little that I’ve received from Discogs has been graded correctly, which typically would result in a neutral rating with an explanation.

It doesn’t matter, I won’t purchase another LP from there, too much of a headache.

 

I imagine that’s what will happen - I don’t see any way it will be resolved otherwise.

 

I can send two CDs side by side as a large letter (I would use cardboard so that the parcel doesn't bend). 3 CDs becomes a small parcel, but its slightly cheaper than sending 3 separate CDs.

 

These UK sellers are probably the people buying my rejects at local charity shops.

 

You don't. They're hoping you will buy more albums, which may or may not be misgraded. Discogs calls that a "win-win" because it's a win for the seller and a win for Discogs, who takes their cut of the purchase.

 

I bought a few records thru Discogs in the last few months to see how it would go:
From UK: 8 records. 2 graded fine, 5 over-graded, 1 stated as NM but was oily or (vinyl breaking down).... who knows what it was cleaned with. Unplayable.
From Canada: 3 records. 2 slightly over-graded, 1 under-graded... was stated as NM but it was Mint is it gets.
From Japan: 3 records. Spot on grading if not under-graded.

All sellers had 100% feedback....

UK N/M = No deep scratches, every other defect is okay! (dull lead-in groove showing hundreds of plays, dull surface, surface noise, many scuffs and hairlines, pen marks on jacket, corner ding on jacket all acceptable as N/M)

 

I've already been avoiding UK sellers due to the high shipping rates, but this certainly makes me secure in that decision, and unlikely to change my mind. I might have to check out some Japanese sellers, though...