What is it with Discogs sellers? Post your horror stories here...

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by glamorbowie1, May 10, 2021.

  1. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    The pricing model is the same everywhere else. The individual SELLER decides on the price; not Discogs.

    The value of an item depends on how much someone is willing to pay for it. Market prices are currently in the stratosphere so a bad time to gauge prices on anything. Nevertheless, prices on everything ranges from reasonable to outrageous for most items on all platforms so again, kind of a strange complaint.

    If I can sell a record for $100, why should I price it at $50 to make you happy?
     
    joachim.ritter likes this.
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    That's on you. The prices are clearly shown prior to you pressing on the button to submit the purchase. If you suspect someone is inflating their shipping prices for no good reason, empty your cart and don't buy from that seller. Simple.
     
    joachim.ritter and thewonders like this.
  3. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Why didn't you ask to confirm before submitting these first 2 orders?

    People are by nature lazy creatures. That doesn't change on Discogs. MOST sellers categorize their inventory in a haphazard manner. Due to this, I *always* confirm the matrix info before even considering a purchase. In this case, I wouldn't also asked for the song's duration as confirmed by the label as well.

    It doesn't take much effort. If a seller doesn't respond to my simple inquiry, I simply don't buy from them, period.
     
    4-2-7 and Timjosephuk like this.
  4. tonyballz

    tonyballz Roogalator

    Location:
    arizona
    Part of the problem is that Discogs' guidelines as to what constitutes NM, VG, etc. are fairly broad. I've bought VG records that could have been graded Near Mint. I've also bought VG records where the words "very" and "good" should not be allowed in the same room with them. I've also found that my definition of the term "plays fine" might not be the same as everyone's.

    I tend to cut dealers a bit of slack in this department, but I always let them know when I'm disappointed in the condition. Nearly every time they have sent me a refund or a discount on future orders. Telling them "I threw this record in the trash" usually gets results pretty quickly.

    I order a LOT of records off Discogs and I would rate my experiences at 95% positive. Guess I've been lucky.
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2021
  5. Manalishi

    Manalishi With the 2-pronged crown

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    I can't believe I have to answer this. I picture is worth a thousand words? A picture reveals the flaws a seller omits. If the picture(s) are blurry, ask for better ones. I've had nothing but good luck buying on Ebay when a picture is included. Apparently your buying experience is very different than mine.
     
  6. thnkgreen

    thnkgreen Sprezzatura!

    Location:
    NC, USA
    People like you give humanity a bad name
     
  7. bobcat

    bobcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Ha ha.....that's a bit strong.....worse than Hitler, Stalin, Harvey Weinstein etc?

    ....particularly when you're the one at fault...:)
     
  8. jmcecil

    jmcecil Analog Jitter

    I must be lucky, I've only had 1 bad transaction which was literally a 1 man shop getting sick and not shipping for a month. My worst "used" experience was with AcousticSounds, not discogs. Their used stuff is way over graded and sold at premium grading value. I'll not buy used from them again. But, I've had great service and good luck with used stuff on Discogs. But I only buy from high 90s% people. Maybe that has something to do with it. Or, maybe I'm about to get 6 or 7 crappy packages :p
     
  9. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    In order to participate in the thread and not merely educate those who appear to be buying merely on faith instead of verifying what they're buying,...

    One that still burns me up is the following. A Mint-graded (cover & record) sealed copy of a hard-to-find album. I confirmed it's sealed and in Mint condition as many sellers will choose "Mint" even if the record has been opened and played before. In this case, I submitted my purchase after getting that confirmation. I work 2 jobs so got a bit sidetracked. Realized after 5 days, I got no update about my purchase nor tracking #. I send a message; ignored. I send a 2nd one and use the feature to have the seller's account suspended if I get no answer within 3 days. Seller eventually responds with a lame excuse about being on vacation, implying that is why the record hadn't shipped. I replied back to him that it would've taken a mere few seconds to let me know about this after seeing my purchase and that being on vacation didn't stop him from changing the status of the order which has to be done manually. Album was sealed but amateurishly packed, resulting in the record moving inside and causing a big seam split in the jacket, rendering it 2 grades lower than what I bought.

    After contacting the seller about my concerns, he resisted any notion of a partial refund, and ultimately reluctantly accepted only half of the proposed refund amount which was 1/4 of the purchase price; so 1/8th. Sent him a couple of additional messages suggesting he reconsider which were ignored. I left a negative feedback entry outlining the story. He reciprocated with a negative comment that was plain stupid. Had Discogs remove the comment. Prior to this, the seller had a 100% feedback rating. He sullied his reputation for a few Euros. I have no pity for him considering the complete Mickey Mouse fashion with which he operated from A to Z.

    This is an instance of a situation that was beyond my control. There will always be dolts on every platform. I merely had the misfortune of falling onto that one.
     
    cwitt1980 likes this.
  10. bobcat

    bobcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Wow! What an insight!

    You must be one of those social media influencers I keep on reading about....

    Having said that, in general, if you are aware of a rip-off, do you try and rectify it or alert other consumers to it....or do you just move along?
     
  11. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    No, a pic doesn't reveal the flaws. Or at least 99% of them won't. Ambient lighting does nothing to reveal imperfections on a record. Kind of an obvious thing if you have any experience in gauging the state of a record.

    Most people are incapable of taking good pictures. Want to see how it's done? Check my ad.

    https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/supertramp-crime-of-the-century-uhqr-gorgeous.953995/

    You think most people can provide this level of thoroughness and detail in their pictures? No. You could ask 1000x for better pics and you won't have anything matching near the level of my ad. Period.

    And even so, it *still* doesn't beat a play-grade.
     
  12. stepeanut

    stepeanut Make sure that candy's in the original wrapper

    I am a casual buyer from Discogs, but I’ve always had positive experiences. Maybe I’m just lucky, but I think the trick is to check out the seller ahead of purchase, and to ask questions if you’re unsure. If you don’t get the answers you’re looking for, bail and don’t look back.

    Just today, I received this Aussie Velvet Underground book set from 1993, which I purchased from a guy in Portugal. Seen so many crappy, damaged copies of this set over the years. This one is clean, no dents, the corners are all sharp, the book is still attached at the centre, the track listing sticker from the rear shrink is still present, and all three CDs are pristine. It looks as new as a set of this type and age could possibly be. Very happy customer here.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Timjosephuk and bobcat like this.
  13. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Do you disagree that it is up to the buyer to accept or refuse the terms of a sale which include shipping charges? If you don't, then move along and take your witless sarcasm with you. ;)
     
  14. bobcat

    bobcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Well, if you want to be a docile consumer that's up to you.
     
  15. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    The NM grade is actually not very broad at all. So it's very clear, and I insist on it when I buy. NM essentially mean, "new, but opened." It doesn't mean: "looks pretty good for something that is 40-50 years old." A NM record from 1975 should look the same as a NM record from 2015, with vinyl luster being a variable, due simply to age.
     
  16. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'm a consumer with the gray matter to think prior to purchasing a product. Buying something and bitching about the shipping prices after is baffling. I just buy what I need elsewhere, hence the phrase "vote with your wallet".

    When a customer submits a sale, he agrees to the terms of the sale. I have no respect whatsoever for the total lack of accountability that some consumers have. Sellers have a responsibility to deliver what was promised and the buyer also has a responsibility to be aware of the terms of a sale which include how much he'll pay in shipping to receive the product. It's quite a simple concept of responsibility distribution for each party.
     
  17. dubious title

    dubious title Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario
    No one's asking you to make me happy. Based on the tenor of some some of your posts I'd be looking in the wrong place.

    I'm guessing many are not willing to pay the prices on Discogs, and a good chunk of records will be unsold for the duration they are on Discogs. I also know everyone wants as much as they can get for everything. However, it is the absolute absence of almost any sellers offering a "deal"or below market price that seems conspicuous. Surely there's an option in-between taking your records to a shop and not getting very good money and expecting the moon on Discogs?
     
    Sprague Dawley and bobcat like this.
  18. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    Yes you re right, actually.
    I remember being ripped off by selling me an unofficial copy without advertising this as such..it was on physical shop not discogs
     
  19. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Discogs doesn't restrict what they can charge just like eBay doesn't. It's only places like Amazon that do that to their 3rd party sellers. Sellers can't have hidden fees but if they want to charge $1000 to send a cd to you, they can, as long as they tell you upfront.

    If you're looking at this from a post mandatory ASP perspective it could be that some sellers have given up trying to set up their postage rates or have done it wrong and therefore you see high prices. Always worth checking the seller terms. I do and a lot of the time, the seller terms and what Discogs displays as the postage do not match.

    In general though, I find the postage prices to be fair based on current rates. I can check most by visiting the various postal sites the seller is based on. It's easier to work things like that out yourself these days. There's a bit of variance sometimes but nothing huge.

    Postage rates have increased around the world and by a considerable margin over the past 2-3 years.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  20. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    Yeah, and it makes no sense to me to see people complaining about shipping prices. If you don't like the shipping prices, don't buy the item! One way to mitigate the sting of the shipping is to just go through the seller's stock and see if there's anything else they have that you want. 2 LPs usually cost the same to ship as 1, so you're getting "half price shipping" if you buy more than one thing.
     
  21. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Uncalled for as there was a single post that wasn't as civil as could be and that was merely in response to someone's sarcasm. Unless you have a difficult time with someone pointing out certain things that you may have missed or have not thought of? In almost all cases in this thread, dissatisfaction has been the result of the buyer's assumptions or inaction.

    Discogs is a platform specifically tailored to music sellers. It isn't catered to people who want to unload a few cheap records they found in their attic for a couple of bucks. It requires typically knowledge of matrices and the ability to track specific pressings prior to putting them up for sale. This will automatically get rid of any fly-by-night seller. Those types are more often found on eBay. You'll encounter the same kind of thing on MusicStack.

    There are some sellers asking for the moon on Discogs just as there are on eBay and anywhere else. I've routinely seen albums that sell for $100 on eBay for $300 or above for the exact same condition. Best to skip those listings and not try to understand the reasoning behind the unreasonably high price.

    There are deals out there but the market being what it is, they are rarer than they used to be. Still, there are deals out there to be found. Let's remember that this is a hobby and no record is a necessity. I'd love to be able to pick up a NM condition Sgt Pepper UHQR pressing for $100 but that just won't happen. Prior to the pandemic, these were about $350. Now? Double that. There won't be any deals for that record no matter where I look.
     
    eddiel likes this.
  22. ascot

    ascot Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I have mixed experiences with buying vinyl from Discogs. I have come to expect items are overgraded, but the LP is not so poorly oversold that I raise a fuss. In fairness, I have found some exceptional LPs that were low priced and exactly as described NM copies. The one LP that really cheesed me off is this Madonna debut album from a seller that had a 100% rating.

    The listing said


    Madonna - Madonna (LP, Album, Win) (Sire, Sire - 1-23867, 9 23867-1)
    Media Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)
    Sleeve Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)
    Great copy, Vinyl appears never played, Jacket shows some storage edge wear, no splits/cuts and no writing-Original inner sleeve with lyrics.


    So I get the LP in the mail and the first thing I notice is the cover has a creased corner and lots of wear along the top and bottom edges, and there's a small rip on the spine. Overall, not a VG+.

    [​IMG]


    The next thing I see is that the inner sleeve is trashed, completely split open on the side and the LP has been placed in a replacement sleeve. No mention of this but hey the lyrics are there.


    [​IMG]


    The record itself - described as "looks barely played" - has several marks including one lengthy scratch across "Holiday". I did not even bother trying to play it.

    Not surprisingly, the seller did not want the LP back but did eventually concede to refunding my money. The other thing to add to the listing problem is that the pressing does not match the Discogs entry. I am looking for a very specific pressing of this LP and this copy is not it.
     
    Echo and Veronica Mars like this.
  23. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    Maybe the reason it was "barely played" is because of the huge scratch - LOL.
     
  24. Ctiger2

    Ctiger2 Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I just received a ELO UK first pressing and the LP was stored in the dreaded petrol based PVC sleeve to the vinyl has a cloudy sheen both sides and plays with a whooshing sound. This was advertised as NM/NM and the jacket is surely NM but they must have never looked at the vinyl. Getting a full refund as this came from the UK. So sad cause the vinyl looks NM besides the cloudy sheen. HAHA!
     
  25. bobcat

    bobcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    What a waste of a rant!

    I have no idea who you're talking about when you say this, but it's not me (and nothing I said indicated that it was): "Buying something and bitching about the shipping prices after is baffling".

    As for buying what I need "elsewhere," the reason I use Discogs is that you can obtain some specific and rare masterings on the site, masterings which are very hard to find and not easily available "elsewhere."
     
    Sprague Dawley likes this.

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