Discogs While Shopping...

...is there anything more tacky than someone openly browsing the Discogs app while shopping? I'm a big flea market/yard sale guy, and there is nothing more depressing than some dude (and it's ALWAYS a dude) looking up records that are priced at $1-$5 each on his phone. If you can trust your gut and your accumulated knowledge in this price range, move on.

 

What's the harm? Why do you care? How does this affect you? This is thread-worthy?

We all start somewhere with that aforementioned knowledge and a lot of people are just now getting back into vinyl. Again, no big deal so...

 

If I see an LP at thrift I've literally never seen before, I sometimes pop it in discogs. If it's going for "decent money," (and what's decent money really $20?), I'll grab it. I don't have the time in my life to put every LP at the thrift store into my phone. But I have no shame popping something in discogs if it is an item I'm not familiar with, and suspect it may be of value. I don't sell much. But will occasionally list here or on Ebay. Like many here, I've spent $1000s on music in my life (probably tens of thousands but don't tell my wife). Is it wrong to at least tell myself I'll be able to recoup some of it, if I ever really want to sell?

But I wouldn't do that at a garage sale. You have to respect that this is their own personal property (often sentimental) and they are pricing it accordingly. Here I would go with your gut. But I think that's much different than a thrift or flea market situation. Obviously I wouldn't do this at a record store either. At least not while anyone who worked there was looking! It should go without saying you are gonna pay more at a record store. But what you get is the convenience of bringing LP home that day, inspecting it for quality, and in most cases the ability to even listen first. That commands a premium, to expect your local shop to pricematch discogs isn't realistic.

 

If I was the seller this would bother me. That's why I don't do record shows.

If I'm out and about I don't go on-line because I pretty much know what I'm looking for. And what the price range is. My wife and I like bumming the antique malls.

I haven't been to any of the record stores out here in Portland. Even though I worked across the street from a big one for 3 years. Retail pays rent/wages.

 

Sometimes I check to see if I already have it, is that OK?

 

I went to PREX a few weeks go and used the Discogs app to look at specific releases on my want list. I apologize wholeheartedly and throw myself at the feet of Collapsed Lung, begging for forgiveness.

Or not.

 

I will consider it.

I think it's fine at a thrift store, particularly bigger Goodwill/Salvation Army Operations, although, honestly, their LPs are a buck -- odds are if you've never seen it, it's probably worth more than a dollar. It's objectionable in more intimate situations: Mom and Pop record stores, flea markets, yard sales...it just seems tacky and disrespectful. Even worse is when some dude (and it's ALWAYS a dude) is standing in front of the stacks looking at Discogs, blocking access to the records while not actually looking at them.

1. It's disrespectful, disruptive, and oh-so-gauche. The records in these scenarios are a buck or two. You can't really lose. Go with your gut.
2. Quite often people don't move when they search discogs, so they block access to records while checking to see if that copy of Rumours is worth more than a buck. It also just makes for an uncomfortable dynamic between buyer and seller, which hurts all of us.
3. This is a forum about marketplace issues, and this certainly is one.

...if your collection is so out of hand that you can't remember what you have then yeah, you may have bigger problems than being socially graceless.

 

I like the people looking up albums at thrifts. The barcode book people lookum-up are everywhere.

 

1. Unless you throw $5 at the guy, you don't really have a legitimate complaint. He's shopping and has every right to peruse the goods as you do.

2. People being unaware of their surroundings is unfortunately commonplace. I agree with you that it's annoying but no one can do anything about it. As for that awkwardness you described, IMHO that's a bit far-fetched.

3. A pretty minor one, though I never witnessed what you described but even then, a simple "excuse me" would work wonders.

 

Any playable copy of Rumours is worth more than a $1. I have utmost confidence in my ability to identify rock and pop LPs without discogs. But when you get into foreign language albums, classical, old school country/western, rap promo 45s. Sometimes I look it up, sometimes I don't. And as far as blocking other people, I will always pull anything of interest, then go sit on a couch and look them up away from other shoppers. Neat thing about thrift stores is they always have a couch.

 

What's worse is a store owner who doesn't put prices on his stock and then uses Discogs to price them.
I visited a "store" in Shreveport, La last year while I was working there.
The emporium was in a converted house with racks and crates everywhere, very dificult to move around. - the place was an absolute firetrap.
The guy who I took to be the owner, spent about five minutes explaining the byzantine system he used to file stuff - just as well as you'd never find anything otherwise. Most of the stock looked like stuff you'd find in a thrift store: very few albums in poly bags, most covers in less than VG condition. I spent about half an hour browsing, during which time I noted that there were no prices on anything....
I pulled a few albums and took them to the owner who was sitting on a chair in the centre of the "store" with a female companion who appeared to be somewhat distressed. I asked him, "How much for these?" holding out my selections. He proceded to take them from me and went into another room of the house, through a strip curtain, where there was a PC. I watched through the curtain as he searched Discogs for each album. When he came back he quoted me prices that were obviously for mint examples. As none of the albums were better than G+, I declined his offer and left.
I don't mind paying retail prices for quality stuff, I know what an album is worth - to me. When chancers like that guy think that they can use Discogs to abuse potential customers like that, I just walk.

 

So many "stores" are like that. Wax Trax in Vegas is an example

 

This is what I do.

Darryl

 

Yeah this does my head in more than anything. I've always found places that do this massively overgrade too which kinda defeats the point.

 

I went to a place like that long before discogs. I spent too much time looking through his worthless jazz and rock and finally found 1 record I could use in classical. He would have no idea why, it looked like nothing. He said "how about $100?" By now, I'm sure he's died with that record (hell. most of his records) unsold.

I wish that when I sold at fairs everyone looked up stuff on Discogs so they could see the unhealable deep cut discounts I was already offering.

 

I'll be honest: I've never experienced something quite like that, but yeah, that's awful. Prices should be clearly displayed...occasionally I've been at record shows and dudes will just have boxes of records with no prices, and you have to ask them what the prices are...and, strangely, they are almost always well over the going rate -- and, for some reason, these guys rarely have anything interesting. I've just started avoided vendors with unpriced stock. If I'm at a record show, I may go to their table last, on my way out, after I've spent most of my money on vendors who are more considerate.

I guess my point is, when you are at a yard sale, flea market, record show, or a small indie retailer and you start Discogs-surfing right in front of the seller, you're basically saying to them "You're a sucker for pricing such great stuff so low," or "I don't trust your wack prices." It's just not polite. If I really must check Discogs, I walk away and do so out of sight. If the record I looked up is gone when I come back, well, I didn't deserve to buy it.

 

Oh yeah 100% agreed... the only place this is acceptable is at a thrift store. The workers there don't really care if you buy their LPs or not. And since most every thrift store the records are all priced the same (i have seen a few try and fail miserably at individual pricing), there's no risk of offending if overpriced or tipping your hand/insulting if underpriced.

 

I'm relatively new to vinyl, so I like to use Discogs to get information for the pressing I'm looking at. It is my understanding that not all pressings are equal.

 

I haven't done this, but would look up a specific pressing to make sure it's the one I want, more so than just checking for price.

 

Why are you messing around with G+ grade LPs?

 

It's most often dealer-flippers doing this. I am not particularly bothered by this, as I can spot LPs prime for resale without phoning home or anywhere. I grabbed a few things today that looked too good to pass up. Top condition and odd rarely seen stuff gets me to drop a couple of bucks most of the time.

 

Based on what? A hunch? You don't know and only assuming. I stand by my post unless you wish to deny lots of people are just now getting back into vinyl.

 

I would not dispute that lots of people getting back into vinyl, and I'd even go as far as to say many never got out of it, and many are getting into it for the first time as well.

My opinion is that these guys are often dealers, based on seeing them around the bins for years, I've of course spoken to some of them. Since you are not there to see what I see there is no way for you to really dispute who I saw and what they do in the Los Angeles used circut. I've been at the record game a long time. I never needed to get back into it.

 

I think you're probably right...but in that case, if they have to check DISCOGS to see if something is interesting, scarce, or valuable, they are not very good dealers: They should know most of this stuff off the top of their heads -- and they should know that you're rarely going to lose money when you find something strange at a flea market for a buck.

 

Well, nobody can know everything, and there is always a title, a pressing. Sometimes artists that were not in demand become somewhat more in demand later. Things change too./ A title that was low in demand can become in demand.

Or get this, an odd import appears that you've never heard of or seen. But since it is an import and rare, you feel compelled to get it. This happened to me yesterday. I didn't look it up online because it was cheap and the condition was good, and I'll take my chances. It turns out to be a funky thing that has had fancy reissues in recent years on vinyl, an expensive Japanese CD issue exists.

While I did not look it up online before buying, this is a good example of something that is worth the risk if it's found in the wild cheaply.

This exact issue (from Brasil / EMI is not on Discogs but the title with other releases of it are. And it sells consistently. My new entry is coming later today as I want to get $12 - $15 or so for this.

Marcos Valle - Marcos Valle
Jazz, Latin, Funk, Soul (who'd have guessed)