I think I'm done with Discogs

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by CAP, Jun 9, 2022.

  1. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    That's a good idea for many. Unfortunately, some of don't have that kind of access to fairs or don't live close to record stores. So were stuck with ordering either on Discogs (iffy) or Ebay (way iffy). I'm still waiting to get a tracking number for an order I placed 7 days ago on Discogs.
    Some of us in the used book business joke that "anyone with a closet and a computer can be a bookseller", hahaha. Apparently the same is true for used records.
    This isn't to say there aren't some great sellers out there, but they all have limited inventory.
    Good suggestions but often seller rating mean almost nothing. I always follow your suggestions but still, I've had problems even with sellers who have 100% positive ratings. (I think we all know how that works.)

    It's a real crap shoot out there.
    I'll add another general suggestion:
    -Don't "bet" more than you're willing to lose.
     
  2. CAP

    CAP Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    yeah from here on in i require photos. It was a lot more pleasant when it was people who knew what they were doing. once again tonight from a seller with 500 sales and 99.5% rating - a pressing that was so completely obviously not what was advertised. I am with you that I think it's the flipping crowd that seems to have really made it worse.
     
  3. CAP

    CAP Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    Yup. As a matter of fact, not one of the things I've ever ordered were from a seller with less than 99%.
     
    Brian Lux likes this.
  4. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    What is it they say about statistics?
    :laugh:
     
    CAP likes this.
  5. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    I don't really require photos personally. If a seller looks like a good seller, I'm fine. If they seem crappy, I don't even bother. Trying to acquire good photos seems like a whole other can of beans to get angry over. Ha.
     
    plentyofjamjars67 and CAP like this.
  6. Suspiciousminds

    Suspiciousminds Member

    Location:
    Wales
    I use discogs most of the time and tbh i love it.
    Although now i only buy NM etc or sealed if possible and price permits.
    I have found out to my cost that peoples perception of what is VG,Ex or NM can vary considerably but i dont think thats ever been any different collecting vinyl.
    I dont mind VG upwards on the Cover but with the disc unless the seller states something like “nearer NM” etc in the description i wont bother (unless its rare).
    Using discogs reminds me of buying the “Record Collector” in my teens, just to go through all the ads.
    Tbh, using discogs has allowed me to get my hands on some Elvis records that i could only dream about getting years ago, some at great prices.
     
    uzn007 likes this.
  7. CAP

    CAP Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    Today was my tipping point. Seller increasingly hostile and threatening after I didn't immediately respond to refund and discount offers in "exchange" for removing a factual negative review. Then starting getting more and more aggressive, messages every couple hours after him not responding for 2 days previously. Honestly I was pondering the honesty of removing a negative review until I reached my fill with the hostility.
    Here is a perfect example of someone gaming the system and trying to buy off negative reviews. So ratings basically mean nothing. And when you don't respond to the non-removal you're threatened.
    I dont have time or patience for that BS.
    Been on Discogs since 2010. Never had a scumbag flipper be such a jerk to me before. These flippers are dirtbags and scammers and increasingly hostile when called out for their behavior. I'll just stick around here I guess.
    Really bummed out about this today.
     
    Monkee Mark likes this.
  8. Ken Dryden

    Ken Dryden Forum Resident

    I don't think Discogs will tolerate such actions from a seller. If you gave the seller a chance to make the transaction right before leaving a negative review, you've done everything that you should as a buyer.

    Report this bozo to Discogs with the exact messages that this guy sent you and be sure to share his Discogs name so the rest of us can avoid his store. I doubt that this obvious amateur will be selling on Discogs for long.
     
    BluesOvertookMe and Dave like this.
  9. CAP

    CAP Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    I read the terms of service today as I pondered a report and honestly it's more trouble for me than this person, and likely just resorts in more hostility from them and perhaps worse. better to just walk away. scam artists and abusive people will continue to do what they do. I'll just go elsewhere. Sharing a username/store name in a public forum is not a wise move given this persons behavior.
     
  10. mstoelk

    mstoelk Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Iowa

    So rather than deal with the problem you'll take the easier route and let him prey and get fat off dozens, hundreds, more? I mean I guess it's easier to just complain to the wind, then take your ball and go home. Literally everyone has had a rash of bad experiences, myself included. Sellers can make mistakes, we're all human, but we can all spot the phony. We should all hold them accountable. I don't buy much, but if I do I use ebay, then if/when I do get a misrepresented item, at least the return process is (relatively) painless, not on my dime, though still my time.
     
    vivalapsych and Strat-Mangler like this.
  11. CAP

    CAP Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    I had enough abuse for one day. I decided not to take any more harassment online from someone who has my name and address in a world where people are petty and vindictive and violent. mea culpa for not falling on my sword for you and accepting the abuse.
    I attempted to deal with it the best I could over a number of days and couldn't deal with this person any more. I literally dont have the bandwidth. Theres enough going on in my life that I don't have the ability to deal with this sort of thing right now. I'm not going to argue about it or justify my decision to not further engage with a bully.
     
  12. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    There was some younger guy who was really into Fogelberg coming into the store a couple years ago. We had a couple out for $6 or whatever just because they were very very clean. I told him if he wasn't picky to just go to the dollar bin as I'm sure the exact same albums were in there. Sure enough, I think they were.
     
  13. ted321

    ted321 Forum Resident

    Only made about 35 vinyl purchases on Discogs in the last ten years but am happy to say I've never had a problem/
     
  14. jdubbiyou

    jdubbiyou Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Nevada City, CA
    I've had problem free dealings with discogs (CD's only)
    I don't buy a lot, but used them for years.
    Almost never buy outside of US or Canada
    I appreciate their detailed listings and concise indexing
    I'm not opposed to using ebay or Amazon and haven't had problems with those services either
    high ratings and sales are important
     
    kyouki likes this.
  15. Peter_R

    Peter_R Maple Syrple Gort Staff

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    All in all, I have had generally positive experiences with Discogs.
    That being said, I only buy CDs.

    However, I am spending less and less time there for the following reasons:

    1) the same sellers keep "bumping" their crap, so it ends up at the top of my feed. These clods always have prices 4-5 times over what the highest previous paid price is.
    2) I cannot block said sellers.
    3) I cannot block certain countries from my feed. I am never going to buy from Italy or the Russian Federation. Sorry, don't trust their postal services.

    By not allowing the filtering of feed content, I have to spend more time than I want looking for sellers that I am willing to buy from.
    Looking at Discogs's suggestions history, these are suggestions/request that have been made multiple times.
    Someone in their powers that be needs to understand that not everyone has 3 or 4 hours a day to spend on their website in the pursuit of an elusive title.
     
    cwitt1980 and tmtomh like this.
  16. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    Agree 100% with pretty much everything you say here (and I am a CD buyer too).

    In particular, Discogs has for years provided the ability to filter by seller location/country and many other criteria, when you're on the Discogs side looking through different pressings/versions of a particular release. So that makes it even worse that, as you note, they refuse to allow users to use this same kind of filtering when it comes to the Wantlist emails we receive from Discogs.

    In fact, not only has this feature been requested multiple times as you note - but apparently it's the single most-requested feature by Discogs users and has been for nearly a decade now. It appears that they could implement it but simply refuse to dos so, and I have read multiple, contradictory explanations - "it's not at the top of our priority list"; "we are working on it" - but never the explanation that I view as honest: "we fear that if we don't let large sellers spam the waitlist emails by constantly re-upping their inventories, they will leave our platform."
     
    uzn007, Peter_R and cwitt1980 like this.
  17. danielkov86

    danielkov86 Playing Devil's Avocado Since 1986

    I oddly have had almost all positive experiences as a buyer on Discogs. The key, I think, is not only to read the seller's feedback but also any feedback he leaves for others.
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
  18. DoctorJimmyGin

    DoctorJimmyGin Active Member

    Location:
    Phoenix
    I haven’t had the best of luck with Discogs Marketplace either and have actually had better luck on Ebay. Therefore, I don’t purchase much on Discogs any longer. I scrutinize sellers the same on both sites (only purchase with 100+ reviews and 99%+ positive feedback). I also only purchase vinyl that is graded based on the seller stating they actually listened to the record, since we all know looks can be deceiving, and the seller providing at least a short description of the condition of the sleeve and vinyl. I’ve been into music/vinyl 50 years and in my opinion the grading on most of the discogs albums I’ve purchased are at least a half grade over graded based on Goldmine standards. Very frustrating since I am willing to pay a premium for albums in higher condition (EX or better) and not expecting steak on a hamburger budget!
     
    theMot likes this.
  19. Muzyck

    Muzyck Pardon my scruffy hospitality

    Location:
    Long Island
    Seems like half of the time an item I purchase is either the wrong item, overgraded or not available. I took a chance on a hard to find item because the seller noted in the listing that the matrices matched a particular listing. The item arrived with different matrices, different artwork. Not even going to get into the grading. He was quick to respond to my inquiry on return with a request for photos and explanation of what the differences were. He agreed that it was not the same item but then the kicker was this...

    Do you still have the original package with shipping label on it? If so, tape it up and write Return to sender on both sides and put it into any mailbox/drop for USPS to pick up.

    :crazy:
     
    cwitt1980 likes this.
  20. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    UPDATE: Grand Hotel arrived in less than two weeks from consciousrecords UK. Packaging was excellent and thoughtfully performed, good for me as it was clearly put through a bit of a wringer on the way here. As a result it had a barely noticeable crease on one corner of the jacket, the vinyl itself was flat and very quiet so I'm quite satisfied.
     
    Dave likes this.
  21. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Discogs could have fixed this years ago if they had any desire to. Apparently they don't care that it drives buyers away, so maybe they get more sales from impulse buyers who just buy the first copy of an album that shows up when they search.
     
    Peter_R likes this.
  22. Peter_R

    Peter_R Maple Syrple Gort Staff

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    Indeed. The fact that it's one of the most requested features, and has been for years, speaks volumes for the powers that be over there.
     
  23. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    I had that. The funny part was they sent a note with the package as if they knew it was going to be possibly wrong or overgraded. It was also just two slabs of cardboard that I had to basically mangle to get to the record. The LP was grossly overgraded btw. Nancy is not my buddy.
     
    Muzyck likes this.
  24. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    eBay is not always more expensive. Sometimes total steals appear on ebay, and other times the best deal is Discogs. I even found a $30 LP with shrink wrap still on the jacket for $8.99 at Amazon.

    To collector records and get good quality and great prices one needs to keep an eye out for all titles of interest and check back every 3-4 days. Check your list of 20 wanted LPs or CDs at each site for new listings. Compare prices and jump when the right one appears with the right price.

    I am currently after a couple of 70s bubblegum group LPs and I want Mint or Near Mint, I need the inserts originally included, and I want them at the lowest cost. I think I am going to find still sealed, and get them for about $12 to $15 each. But I am going to have to check each week or every few days.

    One cannot just find a listing saying NM and grab it. Better to look at their feedback, and return policy. Look at their other items for sale, and then compare that listing to other sellers at other venues.

    It's supposed to be fun to do this research, and especially exciting to grab a really nice one for under $20 with shipping.

    I saw the 1972 UK import listed as NM/NM from a US seller. Priced at $9.99 OBO. I offered $13.99 after he confirmed it was the thickly laminated jacket is sweet condition. The LP asking prices in this condition on Discogs is $50 - $60.

    I don't buy as many LPs anymore, I do more selling. But there are some tricks to the sport, and ways to spot the bargains.
     
  25. jim249

    jim249 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Utah, USA
    I was burned the first time I bought on Discogs. Lp was listed at m- m- and was vg- vg-. I have since narrowed down to who I will buy from. Only the small sellers with stellar feedback and maybe 10 or 2o records listed at a time. These dealers that have hundreds or even thousands listed don't have the time to properly vet what they are selling. I have had no problems since.
     

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