Creating your "good luck" buying vinyl on Discogs & eBay

I went through a pretty crappy run on Discogs where it seemed like half of what I was purchasing was flawed in some way, typically nowhere close to the grade it was given, warped or (more than I'd ever have thought) not actually the pressing I thought I was purchasing.

I started asking every seller 2 questions:

1. Is this definitely this pressing?
2. Has it been play-tested & verified to play totally quiet?

What I found was that about 30% of the time the seller would respond back and say something like, "I looked it up and it turns out it's this other pressing" (always the less valuable or lower quality pressing, of course).

It's VERY rare that a seller responds that the record has been play-tested, but the better sellers will actually offer to do so. More often, the crappier sellers who inflate their grades will just say that they'd rather not sell the record to me if I'm concerned about noisy vinyl. That's totally fine with me. I'd rather wait and find something that really is NM.

I've also realized that the difference between a Discogs seller with 99% favorable ratings and 97% is ginormous, especially if that seller has more than 150 ratings. I really try to only buy from dealers with more than 300 ratings that are above 99%.

The outcome has been pretty amazing. I've easily purchased 50 albums off Discogs in the last few months. All were described as NM and actually were NM. I haven't listened to all of them yet, but almost everything I've purchased has been totally quiet.

eBay is a different story since you can't really know if a seller's ratings are all from vinyl. I'm listening to a $70 copy of The Cure's "Mixed Up" right now that was described as NM and was allegedly play-tested and "plays perfectly". Seller had 100% positive feedback on 300+ ratings. First side of the album is unlistenable. The rest is noisy as hell, only covered up when loud songs are playing.

Anyway, thought I'd share my tricks. What are yours?

 

Easy, I ask for matrix numbers and photos. You'd be amazed at how many "classics" are more recent repressings, and how many "Mint condition!!!" records are far from it.

 

Do not buy from sellers who pepper their ads with slogans like this:

"No worrisome faults"

"Looks / sounds excellent for its age"

"Would probably sound much better with a little wipe clean"

"Conservatively graded at VG+++++++++++++"

"Do not ask me how this record sounds, as I do not have a turntable"

"Stunning gloss"

"Vibrant labels"

"Appears near mint in regular daylight"




*I'm sure I can think of some more. And all of these examples are from actual ads, by the way.

 

I, too, learned you must ask Q1 on Discogs. Always.

 

One thing I noticed is that Discogs does not allow an "excellent" grade. This seems to confuse some European and especially UK sellers who are used to the Record Collector grading system.

In that system, anything marked VG (no matter how many plus signs are added) is going to be pretty rough. The next grade up is "EX", which is comparable to a Goldmine VG+.

So, based on stuff I've bought over the years, it appears that some UK and European sellers are so fearful of the VG+ grade and its connotations in the RC system, they automatically upgrade anything they would have called EX to "Near Mint (NM or M-)" So buying a "NM" described record is often not anywhere near a guarantee of getting a Goldmine near mint record.

 

you know, I'm fine with buying records graded VG++++++++++ but I just can't make the jump down to VG+++++++++.

 

Thought of something I'm going to start asking... "Do you clean your vinyl before grading?"

Hardly anyone does, but asking might prompt them to do so. I think most sellers hide their overly generous grading behind dirty vinyl. How sellers think they can call something NM that is coated in an inch of dust is beyond me.

 

Thanks to the OP for sharing. I wouldn't have thought there would be much difference at all between a 97% and 99% approval rating. The number of records you've bought seems like a pretty good sample size though. One thing I have always paid attention to is the number of votes. At the same time, I've read on this forum about the different ways that seller ratings on eBay and Discogs can be misleading.

No matter what, I've always seen buying used vinyl online as a gamble. Usually, I try not to risk really big bucks. That way, any disappointment is easier to take.

And, you're right, asking questions can never hurt because it can quickly give you an idea of the type of seller it is. I've found that some sellers respond without answering my questions. Then there are those who seem offended by my line of questioning. Others don't respond at all.

In some cases, they're not probably not interested in wasting time on "high maintenance" customers who are more likely to be dissatisfied with their purchase. That's good, though, because then they're not wasting my time either. I don't expect sellers who deal in any kind of volume to play grade (unless it's a really special item), but I do expect them to understand how grading works.

 

I typically let a seller know that I'm interested in multiple albums (assuming they have more than one thing I'm interested in purchasing) if they are willing to answer my questions. That seems to help. But if it's more than $40 for a single album, I think they need to be willing to answer my questions or I'll just move on.

 

^ I've had many a disagreement with amateurs on this one.

Great post, Brian, and good points. The questions to ask are critical, for one more reason: a persistent seller can have unwanted, negative feedback removed with relative ease - both on Discogs, and especially on ebay.

.

 

Exactly!!!

 

How do they get negative feedback removed?

 

If you give a seller negative feedback, they'll often offer you a refund or something to remove it. Or they'll give you negative feedback for not contacting them to resolve the issue before posting negative feedback. Then you look like a bad buyer.

So what happens is sellers keep over-rating their goods because they know the repercussions can be minimized since lots of buyers won't bother complaining or will remove their negative feedback for a refund (even with the hassle of doing return shipping typically at the buyer's cost).

That's why I've come to realize that a seller with 97% favorable ratings is probably not a very good seller. It's in Discogs and eBay's best interest for sellers to appear to be very good. They really don't care about buyers.

 

This is great advice. If in doubt, move on. There are sharks on Discogs...buyer beware.

 

All I can say is: persistence pays off for those who whine the loudest.

I have left at least a dozen well-deserved negatives over the years that have mysteriously disappeared from seller profiles. A few times, I have inquired as to why. Vague answers, and my complaints only got me the "we're sorry you are not happy with our policies" type responses.

Brian is correct - Discogs and ebay are looking out for the sellers, not the buyers. They are simply following the money.

.

 

There are plenty of good sellers too though.

 

They either ask you to remove it if they give you a full or partial refund or they contact Discogs/eBay directly and ask them to remove it for whatever BS reason.

 

While I agree that whining will get you resolution, honestly that's the last thing I want. It's a huge pain in the **** to have to ship a record back for me. Not that's it's hard in reality, just that I never seem to get around to it. And if I bother to order an album, I just want it to be good quality.

If I have to return something, I think the seller should pay me 20% of the cost for my troubles in addition to giving me a full refund and paying for shipping back. But that's not realistically gonna happen.

That's why we buyers have to get more savvy in dealing with sellers, particularly given the costs for quality records these days and the dwindling supply.

 

Another point to always remember; Be it item, price, or condition; If it just sounds too unbelievably good to be true........it most likely is.

 

... especially if it's overseas. When I lived in the states, shipping a record back to Europe, with tracking and signature: $35 to $40. That's throwing good money after bad. Very little sympathy from customer service (now I'm also throwing Pay Pal into the ring), and usually no recompense from sellers.

.

 

I've spoken about Discogs feedback policies on another thread couple of weeks back. I cancelled my account because I got so p*ssed off with them. There's no way to 'neg' deceitful sellers without risking trashing your own feedback, so buyers very rarely 'neg' anyone. Sellers rely on the fact that if they offer 'returns' an unhappy buyer will just return the item and it gets re-listed. I got sick of returning items.

They're are good sellers though - look out for comments in feedback such as 'trusted seller'. I've been dealing with a new seller recently who is selling his private collection and it's in absolute mint condition. I gave him a glowing recommendation in the hope others will catch on.

 

Hate to say it, but I will not buy from a Greek or Russian seller. Not sure why, but I just do not trust sellers in those countries no matter what.

p.s. I should note that my best bud is Russian. Probably why I don't trust them.

 

I ordered a bunch of records at once and accidentally gave positive feedback on an album I had not actually received (it was the same artist, just different album and seller). Turned out that the seller hadn't even shipped the album. He tried to claim that he did and only admitted that he hadn't when I pointed out that he had re-listed the EXACT same album. Some people are shady.

 

^^ Yes, there are good sellers too.

Here is my latest ebay acquisition:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATOMIC-ROOSTER-In-Hearing-Of-SCARCE-EARLY-UK-1971-PEGASUS-LP-EXCELLENT-EXAMPLE-/191561090633?clk_rvr_id=822811913814&rmvSB=true&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=pdI%2B0%2FpVaNBiDvJssNFdgg%2Fn550%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Just received it yesterday, and I couldn't be more pleased. Notice how all of the questions posed in this thread are already answered in the listing. The mark of good seller who goes above and beyond. He delivered what he promised.

.

 

Now that's a great seller, but damn!!! He obviously doesn't go outside. Ever.