Discogs...

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by averica, Jul 15, 2020.

  1. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Shipped out 5 items just this afternoon, and came home after a quick stop at the thrift store (found 4 CDs there that I think are sellable), and see that a $10.99 CD has sold. It is a double CD set that I could not get $6.00 for here in the classifieds when I tried last fall.

    I think that the CD market is still alive for those really good items in nicer condition.
     
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Why not use the Wantlist as a wantlist?

    This is turning into your daily selling blog.
     
    Lost In The Flood likes this.
  3. TwiceFan

    TwiceFan Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Coast
    It's a way of keeping track of specific copies that I have searched for and found based on their grading and price. Works for me. YMMV...
     
    Sprague Dawley and uzn007 like this.
  4. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I'm obsessed with getting that 1000 items up, and so I am working an hour or a few every day on it.

    But it is interesting how items can have no interest here, yet sell well online elsewhere. I find the whole used music racket fascinating. And Discogs being so new to me as a sales venue and all.

    After I get my full 1000 items up, and then add to that 1000 as they are each sold, you know what I am going to do? I am going to use that work (grading all those LP conditions), to load them into Amazon, so that they are on sale there as well. I may as well have two venues pushing for me at the same time. I'll have both sites open on my desktop and do copy & pasting' it won't be too bad.

    I've not had much time to do this in the last 6 or 7 years. So I'm trying to take advantage of the slower work weeks while I have the time and can.
     
  5. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    You should do some research into the liklihood of selling your CDs on Amazon before you get too excited about the idea.
     
    zephyr25 likes this.
  6. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Only the vinyl I am talking about for Amazon. CDs on Discogs are only 20% of my stock at most. I am aware Amazon does not permit your average 3rd party to sell CDs. It's reserved for corporate interests at this time.
     
  7. Woodhawk

    Woodhawk Active Member

    Location:
    England
    I buy and sell through Discogs and much prefer them to Ebay and the Amazon marketplace.
     
    Dave likes this.
  8. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I previously preferred eBay over Discogs. This was because I felt that the layout and details in a eBay listing plus pictures of the actual item told me a lot about that item and it’s value. Quickly looking at their other items for sale, and completed items was beneficial as well. And seeing the feedback on their previous sales and what those actual items sold were did not hurt. You don’t get this much history about a seller on Discogs, to connect the feedback with the item that it corresponds to.

    But I’ve come around to accept the trade off. Both venues can result in good A1 quality items.
     
    Dave S and Spitfire like this.
  9. Lemon Curry

    Lemon Curry (A) Face In The Crowd

    Location:
    Mahwah, NJ
    After a good streak, some whiffs now on Discogs. Three orders in a row went back. One for incorrect version listed, two for NM-listed vinyl that was actually much worse. And these were 99%+ US vendors. They all were more than willing to take the items back, which is how they are protecting their ratings.
    Looks like in this case their rule was "ship it and hope for the best".

    I'm going to start being extra careful now. Play grading only, and verify versions. Which I would recommend for everyone.
     
  10. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    I had a similar situation recently. I found a seller with two records I was looking for, rated "NM", at a reasonable price. I wrote to ask if they were play-tested, and the seller informed me that he doesn't bother to playtest anything rated VG+ or better. His logic was that sometimes he gets a return due to surface noise, and he sells the same record to someone else who loves it, so, shrug, what is truth, if you follow my meaning? Apparently, it's not worth playtesting anything when there's always another sucker out there. Took a pass on that one.
     
  11. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    I think many here are too canny to pay retail prices for many items, especially CDs. Thrift stores are full of them, many of them junk, but there are some good bargains as well.
     
  12. Lemon Curry

    Lemon Curry (A) Face In The Crowd

    Location:
    Mahwah, NJ
    In my case, I'm hunting down some early 70's vinyl, specific pressings, and paying for it. It's so frustrating to hear that rainstorm of crackles after paying for more.
    But I am trying again, and have a vendor willing to play for me.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  13. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    at least you got a response, i guess! that's some real record store mentality right there.
     
  14. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I just had my first order in many years of an online selling go bad. But the buyer was wonderful. It was just the damage in shipping. The message below is a tribute to the sometimes higher class of a Discogs customer.

    $45 item + $27 shipping the the UK.

    Hi Jeff,
    Thank you for the excellent packaging including the clear outer poly sleeve on the LP.
    Now for the bad news: The parcel arrived on Monday. It was immediately obvious that the parcel had sustained water damage even though it appeared to be dry on the outside; hence it was likely something that had happened early on in the delivery process My thought at the time was that I hoped you had used a clear protective/poly sleeve. As I began to open the parcel I realized that it was still soaked on the inside. The vinyl was OK. Sadly, the jacket is different story! Apparently the water managed to seep thru the protective poly sleeve. You can guess the rest! I let it dry out. Needless to say, the jacket is now badly water-stained and so brittle that no reasonable person would even attempt to insert the vinyl! A huge disappointment.....but stuff happens.....certainly not your fault, Jeff.
    I will post POSITIVE feedback shortly.
    Thanks again for a great LP and excellent follow-up communication.
    Stay safe!
    Gene
     
  15. Eric_Generic

    Eric_Generic Enigma

    Location:
    Berkshire
    Wow, a $72 order trashed by the courier and he's that gracious about it.

    (Obviously not your fault at all...but if I were Gene I'd be having words with the shipping company!).

    EG.
     
  16. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    USPS airmail, not anything anyone can do about it. I'm going to give him $20 back to take some of the edge off of it, and I just got a $180 order in so it won't break me.

    The ruined LP was a gorgeous 1959 copy of Elvis' second RCA album.

    Oh well, it happens and best to get over it mentally.
     
  17. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Perhaps best to list the seller. :)
     
  18. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    I probably would have bought insurance on that Elvis order, normally I'm pretty loose but I certainly insured the only foreign order I've gotten in the last couple of months.

    Unnecessarily, BTW - It was in Germany in 5 days (1st class) and passed customs in three.
     
  19. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Then I get this feedback. This is why selling online and dealing with records is worth it. He did not ask, but I'm refunding $22.50 on a $45 LP - so that we each take a smaller hit out of this nightmare.

    Vintage LP as described posted and arrived quickly in UK. Excellent Seller communication. I would happily purchase from this reliable and motivated Seller in the future. Cheers!
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
  20. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    that is indeed a nice and reasonable response.

    it's also an example of why i will unfortunately not ship internationally with anything but priority mail with insurance now. folks like gene are far too rare.
     
    Eric_Generic likes this.
  21. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I'm looking into large zip-lock bags for pricey LPs from now on. That's all it would have taken is another airtight baggie over the LP inside. I cannot afford to reject UK, German, Japan, or Aust. Too many deep-pocketed buyers will splurge on US music items. I want the sales and accept some risk.
     
    khanrahan and Eric_Generic like this.
  22. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Check Bags Unlimited. I'm pretty sure they have some sort of "archival storage" bag that might meet your needs.
     
  23. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Thanks, but....
    Bags Unlimited are the highest priced record supplier I have so far checked out. Their selection of LP mailers has gotten really slim pickings I noticed yesterday when I looked. They are offering a fancy design that they created (expensive), and have pulled back from offering much else. I'd do better looking into large food storage bags in bulk. A good piece of sturdy clear tape after the fold.
     
    uzn007 likes this.
  24. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I just got over the last few weeks two requests for refunds.

    One of them insisted in not returning the LP because it was broken to bits and there is nothing to return.

    The other is a CD buyer who said that the VG+ graded CD has scratches all over both sides of the disc.

    The broken LP guy did finally return the LP to me. It should signs of play in the grooves on certain songs as if a worn stylus went through some scratches. Since I graded it Mint, I am sure it did not have these signs of play wear. I check under a bright light before grading any LP, and would not have missed this. So I gave a refund as is my policy, but I want to ding him in FB for being a cheat. He obviously did not like the LP and wanted to get the cash back. I think he did break it and thought pictures would be enough. But I insisted on getting it back to look at it and confirm it is the same LP. This buyer has a previous FB mentioning a "damaged in post" comment, but seller resolved the issue.

    The CD came back today and I refunded it right away as well. But as per the Discogs grading guidelines, it is a solid VG+. VG would have some stronger scratches and not the fine lighter ones this disc has. And it's a rare import known for stunning sound, better than any of the US mastering / pressings. And only one other US seller of this CD, and they want $20 more than my asking price for it. I feel that the guy bought it and did a quick rip and burn of it and then returned it. A "Burn 'n Return" of my disc. This one at least can be relisted, and pointed out that it is VG+ and buyers hoping for NM- or EX+ need not bother with this copy. I've noticed some buyers, and comments in the SH forums from folks, they really want a NM item out of their VG+ purchases. I think I am going to re-edit my listings for the few VG+ items I have for sale, and state, that if buyer is looking for NM or NM-, they should avoid this disc because it is NOT NM, and only VG+. And my prices on these discs is at least 35% lower than a NM copy. Often I am lower priced than other VG+ copies. So I can't go any lower. VG+ and the lowest prices offered for the grade should be enough.

    Anyway, sales are staying strong with 24 - 26 items per month for the last 5 months. I don't mind returned items (once in a while) that I can relist.
     
  25. ukozcd

    ukozcd Jedi

    Location:
    Australia
    I have been using discogs for years and usually have about 5000+ items listed for sale.

    I might get no sales for a few days and other days I could sell a $5 item right up to anywhere from $150 - $800 worth of CD's in 1 day.

    The selling fees are cheaper there. I have had a handful of bad experiences but overall I do enjoy using it.

    The search function allows you to search not only album and title but catalogue and matrix information as well. A number of times I have typed in a matrix to reduce the amount of possible matches...

    I only update prices every so often to freshen it up.

    As a buyer, I use the want list which has helped me grab some rarities quickly. I do get annoyed with some sellers regularly close and open their inventory so my daily want email is usually full of their stuff....
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2020

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