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

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

  1. DK6400Brian

    DK6400Brian Forum Resident

    As I remember it from the mid-1970's to the 90's, this was the way things were done here. Pricetags or inventory identification numbers were put directly onto the covers.

    CD's weren't shrinkwrapped either and the CD's themselves were also kept in drawers under the desk, while a tiny sticker with the handwritten inventory identification number was put inside the tray/hub-inlay. At least this was the method used in those old shops that also sold/leased HiFi's, TV's and VCR's and that had been around for decades.

    I can't honestly say how it was done at the larger music only shops that came around during the late 80's. They could have had another approach for easying the workload on their personnel.

    So what I'm saying here could very well be half the truth, since being a poor youngster I didn't buy much back then. Maybe older members from this area of Nothern Europe have another tale to tell.

    But the good thing is: I actually like finding LP's, singles and CD's in second hand stores with their original price tags still attached.
     
    SRC likes this.
  2. TheRunoutMatrix

    TheRunoutMatrix I'm sticking with you, cause I'm made out of glue.

    Your experience is also the way it was in the UK, and I suppose in most if not all of Europe. However, not so in North America.

    I'm almost 54, and have been buying records since the 1970s. And from day one, records were shrink-wrapped. I'm quite sure they were shrink-wrapped for quite a few years beforehand as well.

    So the misconception you believe you are seeing is actually your own, in thinking that the way records are/were sold in Denmark are the way records were sold everywhere else in the world.
     
    JMR and chazz101s like this.
  3. originalsnuffy

    originalsnuffy Socially distant and unstuck in time

    Location:
    Tralfalmadore
    We had a local record store that would take back exchanges for bad pressings (yes it happened in those days a lot). What they did though was take it in the back and just seal it right back up again. I repurchased the same defective copy of Yes Fragile multiple times until finally I got a new copy without the pops and clicks during Roundabout.

    I still instinctively listen for pops and clicks on certain recordings in places where I was habituated to the noises.
     
  4. Scott Davies

    Scott Davies Forum Resident

    In the USA (and Canada, I believe), brand new vinyl LP's were always in shrink wrap as far back as I can remember. Many times, imports were also often in shrink wrap but often very loose wrap and likely done at some point after export, just to keep it relatively safe. The problem with shrink wrap is that if an LP stays sealed for too long it begins to warp, sometimes very badly. If it's been given a cut corner, as in a 'cut out', it seems to allow the vinyl to breath and thus the likelihood of warping is much less. I recently bought several sealed colored LP's with stock going back about 10 years to a couple of years. Every title was warped to some extent, the 10 year title much worse than the others, to the point that most people would have found it unplayable. Thankfully, it was Vinyl Flat and the kitchen oven to the rescue, and now they're all dead flat.

    For my own label's pressings, I keep 10 sealed copies of each color variant for my own archive. But I will poke a hole somewhere in the shrink wrap at the opening to allow the album to breathe in storage. The little bit of air that's sealed in at the time of manufacture can heat up and cause the warpage.
     
    Dave and DarkSideOfTheMoo like this.
  5. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    Your description of a record shop in Denmark sounds like every record shop I’d ever seen in the UK and continental Europe - until I first visited North America in the mid 1970s.

    And if a UK shop happened to sell US imports, they would carefully make a slit in the shrinkwrap, remove the record, store it behind the counter, and put the empty sleeve with its opened shrinkwrap in the rack…
     
  6. Comicsanstombstone

    Comicsanstombstone Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA
    I bought a copy of the "Mondo" CD by the Would-be-Goods from a seller in Japan. It was supposed to be the Japanese import, which has a cover of "Run for Your Life" (a song I don't much care for, but the completist in me wanted it). Shipping was, understandably, quite high. When it arrived, it was just the regular UK CD. I contacted the seller to say this wasn't what I ordered: he'd sent me the regular version, which I already had. He wrote back with "you a liar" (which p*ssed me off no end). He offered me a partial refund if I sent a photo of the two CDs next to each other. Absurd, as if I was obliged to jump through his hoops before he'd do the semi-right thing. I think I just claimed the money back from PayPal and took a negative feedback hit from him. This was a while ago, perhaps the system protects buyers from revenge feedback now...or perhaps not. I see he's still selling there; shame, he has some good stuff, but I don't appreciate being called a liar because of someone else's sloppy mistake.
     
  7. Lasting Spaces

    Lasting Spaces Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I have a horrible seller story on Discogs. I found a CD I had been looking for at a decent price; ordered and paid for it. Then I get a message that the transaction was cancelled because the item is unavailable. Okay, that happens and I was refunded, no problem. The exact same item shows up in my wantlist the next day from the same seller at double the price. I was ticked that it was supposedly unavailable but was now found and priced much higher. The seller sent an email about not realizing that his collection was live (despite having numerous feedback as a seller and buyer) and he had been adjusting pricing offline.

    It was not super expensive at either price but I thought it was shady and simply left negative feedback describing the bait and switch. Here is what I got back:

    "Your such a tool. I explained to you the listing was a error as I thought my inventory was offline, apologized for my mistake & even offered you first crack at it when I actually listed it (for a measley $1 more). I'm not a record store genius, did you even read the terms? Get bent Richard, lol."

    I did not reply to this and just let the seller have his vent.

    Three months later, out of the blue I get a message titled Hello from this same seller and the message simply says "Go f*^% yourself " (I edited the naughty language.)

    I don't know if Discogs had done something to trigger this, but by golly, Discogs would need to do something about that last gem. It took a lot of digging to find out how to contact Discogs with a complaint in which I included the offending messages, but they eventually did send me a reply email. They apologized that it happened, they would look into it, but could not tell me any outcome. They also suggested I block that seller, which I did.

    That seller is kind of there now but has nothing as showing for sale, so I am hoping they were booted. That is the only negative experience I have had on Discogs though.
     
    Sprague Dawley and NumberEight like this.
  8. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    He may not have seen you neg feedback him for a while, and then when he did it when the follow-up to you was sent.
     
  9. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    You actually wanted an expensive Japanese import of a song you don't care for that you already have a UK pressing of? Maybe this was god's way of saying "slow down" some kid!
     
  10. Comicsanstombstone

    Comicsanstombstone Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA
    Guilty as charged!
     
  11. headtheory

    headtheory Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Not really a horror story, but maybe an averted horror tidbit if you will:

    Asked a seller with like, ten thousand reviews how they visually grade, as their description of almost every one of their thousands of records is GORGEOUS COPY somehow — so I was asking if they used a light source or just were eye-balling it. No response for a few days. Fine. Thought I'll just give it a try on one of their items. Turns out, they blocked me! Can't buy anything from their store. Mind you I have 100% reviews as a buyer and seller myself.

    Must be super confident about their grading system and gorgeous copies, huh...
     
    theMot likes this.
  12. GimiSomeTruth

    GimiSomeTruth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Why isn’t ‘like, 10,000 reviews’ enough for you to trust someone? Might be a good idea to look at your communication and realize that talking to someone in this way basically sends the message that you don’t trust them.
     
    jackieboy likes this.
  13. headtheory

    headtheory Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I mean I feel like asking how one inspects their merchandise to determine a grading on a website with huge discrepancies in that regard, especially with a large stock and very similar descriptions of their items, is a pretty reasonable thing to do. Blocking a prospective buyer from purchasing based on that question alone just reinforces my reasoning for asking in the first place.
     
    Dave, chazz101s and Peter_R like this.
  14. GimiSomeTruth

    GimiSomeTruth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    That’s one side. There’s probably more to the communication that you’re not sharing, as that’s how it usually goes. Questioning the business practices of a seller that is obviously successful is rude, and takes on a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ feel before any money exchanges. Who needs that?

    The other side is that the seller - with ‘like, over 10,000 ratings’ has obviously been around the block a few times and can spot people that come across as problematic. The fact that you continue to blame the sellers action and make it sound like they’re hiding something is not based in reality, and it speaks volumes.

    they are obviously doing *something* right. They have enough business to where they don’t feel the need to answer to anyone in such a demeaning way.

    The customer is not always right, and vinyl has been a sellers market for over a decade. If you want nice records, simply treat people with respect (especially when their feedback apparently paints a clear picture that they know what they’re doing) and they won’t block you. If you get a record that you don’t agree with the grading on, just send it back. Life goes on. Very simple.
     
  15. Peter_R

    Peter_R Maple Syrple Gort Staff

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    I posted this in another thread. Looking for advice on the situation I'm in.

    Recently bought a rare CD on Discogs.
    Total, including shipping was £64.00 GPB.
    Disc arrived with a crack in the centre spindle. A major crack.
    While the disc is playable, the crack does appear it will get worse.
    The disc is essentially on borrowed time before it's garbage.
    He claims it wasn't like that when he sent it. The packaging was excellent, so I have my doubts.
    I sent a picture to the seller. He refunded £20.00 GPB.

    Neutral or negative feedback?

    Any other thoughts?
     
  16. I have the same predicament with a Pink Floyd WYWH SACD I purchased years ago. I have since purchased another WYWH SACD disc which is in perfect condition, so I haven't tried to "correct" the situation.

    I dunno, perhaps rubbing super-glue into the crack(s) will prevent further spreading? I haven't done that myself.

    Hopefully someone will offer a remedy on this aspect.
     
  17. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    You're in a sticky predicament indeed. The way I'm reading it you either return the refund and send it back or you accept it and Maybe try what DarkSideOfTheMoo suggests with some super glue or roll the dice like my WYWH CD you let it ride and hope for the best. FWIW mine is still fine after nearly 15 years and it's not as though we'll be playing war ball with them anytime soon. Either way I'd vote for the Neutral feedback at the most if you choose to keep it and the refund or return it for the full refund.
     
  18. theMot

    theMot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    People with thousands of feedback are nothing more than a sausage factory in my experience, they are hardly checking anything. They probably blocked the buyer because they just want easy meat. Someone who actually expects to receive a record as graded isn’t good for their sausage factory enterprise.
     
    SoNineties and headtheory like this.
  19. GimiSomeTruth

    GimiSomeTruth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Sounds like you’re a player hater, and with all that meat it’s probably a good idea to get your cholesterol checked.
     
    jackieboy likes this.
  20. headtheory

    headtheory Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles

    Since you don't seem to be extending the same level of trust to me that you are to this random seller — here's exactly what I sent in the message:

    Hello! Can I ask how you grade? Just visual or play test as well? And for the visual inspection, do you look under a light? Or just eyeball it? Thanks!

    Like, a pretty reasonable thing to ask I think (I know you love my use of the colloquial word like, since you've quoted that twice). Not rude, not implying anything, just a simple couple of questions. I mean, when you go into a record shop you've never been in before, do you check the condition of the vinyl? I do. I don't consider that being rude. And I don't consider it rude to enquire about a seller's process on a site and a hobby in general where there is a real issue with over-grading.
     
    Sprague Dawley and chazz101s like this.
  21. bibijeebies

    bibijeebies vinyl hairline spotter

    Location:
    Amstelveen (NL)
    This would be my question:
    Could you please tell me about your grading and have you ever play graded a title?
     
    GimiSomeTruth likes this.
  22. GimiSomeTruth

    GimiSomeTruth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Yep. That’s far more respectful, and isn’t talking down to someone.
     
    bibijeebies likes this.
  23. joachim.ritter

    joachim.ritter Senior Member

    Sounds strange to me. Isn't it like asking "Did you ever listen to a record you are selling?"

    Next step would be: "Do you own a turntable?"
     
  24. bibijeebies

    bibijeebies vinyl hairline spotter

    Location:
    Amstelveen (NL)
     
  25. headtheory

    headtheory Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    So just to summarize:

    I come here to gripe/vent on the "post horror stories about Discogs sellers" thread about sellers who run "sausage factories" as @theMot so aptly put it, you enter the chat to defend the seller — again on a thread where people gripe about sellers — and hypocritically accuse me of what you assumed I was accusing of this seller, try and make fun of the colloquial language I used, and then again accuse me of not being forthcoming about the communication I had with said seller (ironic accusation coming from someone who doesn't let people see their own profile).

    I then respond to your accusation of my supposedly rude and untrusting question to this seller by posting my actual message, and your response is: "Well, could've been better." Huh? What in the world is the difference between what I messaged and what @bibijeebies suggested I say which is apparently "far more respectful and isn't talking down to someone." I asked a few more specific questions, again in a pretty normal, not rude, non-accusatory or suspicious manner. I definitely don't think anyone besides you would say I was talking down to the seller.

    And one last time, this thread is literally called:

    What is it with Discogs sellers? Post your horror stories here...
     
    chazz101s likes this.

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