Letting you provide pics is not the same as REQUIRING you to take pics. For an expensive used item, you might take pics. For a cheap item, probably not. You are welcome NOT to provide pics. Depending on the item and value, I may or may not be interested as a result.
I HAVE to offer international shipping because a huge chunk of my stock is modern classical and the market for that genre is outside the US for the most part. There are only three groups of countries to consider. It goes like this: German, UK, Sweden, France, etc. are one rate zone Japan & Aust, is another rate zone. Canada is one other rate zone. I don't ship to Russia, Ukraine, middle east, or other high risk of loss countries. I avoid Italy but have had all successful transactions there. So there are three International zones to be concerned with. Once I get an order weighted I can log in the cost and use it the next time another order is placed. When I buyer places an order from the UK or Germany. and it it for several LPs in a box set with booklet, or something questionable, I state up front that we may have to adjust shipping cost up a couple of dollars and let me check. So I pack it all up and take it to the PO (with other things I am sending out). And if it is only $4.00 or less higher than the buyer paid I go and send it out. I then message the buyer asking for the difference, and then create a pp invoice for that additional shipping. I've not had a buyer refuse to pay that additional funds for shipping. If the additional; shipping is way over the amount paid then I will hold off on shipping the item until I get paid the funds. It seems classical buyers are a fairly high-class type of customer and they have no issues with good communication, and request for the shipping funds. So I am required to send to international countries due to my type of stock, and the buyers seem to be great, and willing to converse and work with me. 1-2 LPs is one price 2 LPs w/ booklet or box set or 3 LPs is another next higher price. X three zones is all there really is to it.
I started with my 20th Century Classical stock (a tough sell in the US), and then added Rock CDs (selling like hot cakes), and then I added the thrift store finds I have in storage boxes (oddities that are hit and miss but the condition is tops). Anyway, I am on a hot streak at the moment and taking all sales I can get. It will cool off for me I'm sure (in 6 to 9 months) once my best stuff has been picked off and sold. I am actually selling all the stuff I have except the best Rock, R&B, and Jazz (my personal collection of listening materials). I'm working on getting 1000 items up at my Discogs store. Then after that I will just enter things as other items sell - so there will always be 1000 items up. I will do this for 10 years. In 2030, the crown jewels of the collection will get sold off as well (I think). So I can enjoy the good stuff for the next decade before I am over it all. So I have a 12 to 14 year plan with this stuff. I have tons of thrift store finds to unload which are moving pretty nicely. I picked up many LPs which were not exactly my cup of tea but were vintage items in M, and NM condition, and still sealed copies. So when I list an LP that is not exactly the hottest thing going, or there are other copies for sale, most of ther time I am offering the best condition out of all sellers. Stuff like Rod McKuen, Martin Denny Exotica, Les Baxtor, Julie London, and other even more common stuff (Easy Listening) can sell for $19.99. $24.99 - $29.99 when you can offer it up in unplayed looking copy with shrink wrap still on cover - condition. This is why Doscogs appeals to me, I can put this stuff up and wait it out for a buyer even if it takes years. And I can drop prices a couple of times per year is certain things have too much competition. I now need to make a run to the wholesale shipping supply place outside of Los Angeles and buy bulk LP and CD mailers. Better get set for the next year of music sales action.
Seeking guidance from other members: I just bought a CD from Discogs advertised as M/M. However, upon inspecting the CD (no, it wasn't sealed, though Discogs grading does not require that M be sealed), I see that about half of the disc has scuff marks. No, the marks don't affect play. The CD is somewhat rare, cost me $25, and was an international sale (it's not a US CD). Seller has 100% feedback, though it's not based on many sales. Do you leave negative feedback? I mean, there is no interpretative element in grading something mint. It's either blemish-free, or it's not. And this is not. It's probably a VG+, based on Discogs ratings.
I would write back to the seller to complain. He may offer you a partial refund, and he should offer to refund your entire purchase if you want to send the disc back.
There is nothing wrong with Russian Ballets or Lounge Exotica. I am having fun with all kinds of stuff. Hell I just purchased an old radio show.
Always try and communicate with the seller before anything else. Neg feedback should be a last resort. Most sellers will want the customer to be happy, or at least satisfied with an outcome. If they refuse to be of help, then you can neg them and put why. EG.
Yes, no point in leaving negative feedback before contacting the seller. It's frowned upon at Discogs and if you do leave negative feedback without contacting the seller first, the seller can ask for it to be removed and it will be removed. Contact the seller first and see what resolution he offers.
No, you contact the seller first and ask him what's up. If he refuses to work with you (no partial refund, for instance), you can escalate to Discogs. "Mint" is reserved for sealed items. I regularly see sellers use that when the item is not new and sealed. For instance, they'll have a record listed as M with a comment such as "record is flat and spotless!" Obviously, that's not sealed if he could examine it. Whenever I see this, I skip over that seller, the reasoning being that if he's that clueless or imprecise with something so fundamental, he's bound to be so with other more granular details such as specific pressings, etc. If the seller does provide a partial refund, I would personally leave a Neutral feedback entry explaining why. That is why the feedback system exists but it needs to be used appropriately and in (and with) context.
Just "bought" a limited release on Discogs for about $10 less than what it was going for on ebay and elsewhere, but the seller immediately canceled the sale, saying that someone just bought it off the floor and he was just about it de-list it right when I placed my order. On a Monday morning - what are the odds!!!
This has happened to me a few times on eBay and discogs lately...a lot of sellers seem to have listed things awhile ago and not noticed the price rises and when I placed an order it got cancelled by saying they no longer have the product. Then I see them relist it...had 3 items recently I was going to win on eBay well below market value and the auctions got cancelled with no explanation. Very frustrating and it seems like there’s nothing I can do about it to complain to eBay or discogs...
You see Discogs sellers do that in part because Discogs does not require an item to be sealed in order to labeled as Mint. How To Grade Items
I may grade too conservatively but even sealed records are graded NM for me and not M when I’m selling. If it’s open I put VG+ and note that it’s conservatively graded and only VG+ Because it’s not sealed. I’ve never had anybody complain about my grading as a result of that.
Same here. I don’t sell much on Discogs, but when I do, I grade conservatively as well. Avoids all kinds of hassle.
It's always possible someone bought it over the weekend and they clean up Discogs on Monday morning. Who knows really. Keep in mind there are some small stores that have to try to sell wherever they can just to survive. I work at one. Sometimes you sell something and forget to take it off Discogs. It's human.
Agreed. Some of the worst so-called "offenders" in this respect are Discogs sellers who have brick-and-mortar stores. And while it's annoying as a buyer to order something and then find it's out of stock, I strongly agree with @cwitt1980 on this: they don't do this because they're lazy, inconsiderate, incompetent, and so on. It's just part of the struggle of being a small business with a retail store. The only way they could avoid it would be to use their own real-time inventory online web store like Bull Moose and some others do - but then you couldn't buy from them on Discogs. So if you want brick and mortars to have Discogs storefronts, you're going to have to put up with the occasional out of stock order cancellation, at least for the smaller stores who don't have the staff to stay on top of their Discogs inventory 24/7.
Same here which is more than I can say about some eBay vendors. One thing bothering me this week is Google ads popping up even though I have Adblocker installed.
I have to amend the above. I got around to listening a record I bought a few months ago. It was horrible: so much surface noise. It was listed as NM. It is a 1965 record and some noise is to be expected I suppose but not this much. Certainly it wasn’t NM. Not the end of the world. I liked the music so I purchased another copy so we will see how that goes.
His reply was that he hadn't noticed any issues with that item and that I had to consider its age (the CD came out about 20 years ago), and that it was priced lower than a mint copy normally would be. I'm really not sure what any of these excuses have to do with offering a VG item at mint.
Yeah, tell him there's no expiration date on condition, just like there's no sliding scale based on price ("You got a good deal!").