Discogs...

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by averica, Jul 15, 2020.

  1. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I'm doing much of my international shipping manually, but I think that there is a way to enter 2 LPs or CDs into the field and select country and your required shipping price, no?

    I am slowly filling in those fields as I get requests to ship. Like the other the day I got a three-LP box set with libretto plus a single LP added ($60 total) to France. I took it all to the post office in shipping carton and got the quote $39.50, I rounded it to $40.00 and invoiced the buyer. Then the buyer said oh it's in the US, no never mind. I looked at the buyer and saw several orders with no payment received, and Neg feedback on them. At least I got a message cxl'd. The good news is that I learned that 3-4 LPs are likely $40 to Europe. I can fill in the price / cost in the discogs field. And I learned that I must hear back from a buy when I message them that I am getting them a quote on shipping costs and that they need to inform me that they are a "go" with international shipping and the associated costs. I won't be bothering with the effort to get the quote if they are not really talking about wanting that order, and not just having fun window shopping and spending nothing.

    I learned several things out of that transaction. And sales are consistent enough that I don't need their business right now.
     
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Most people are flakes, period. Whether it's international or local CraigsList inquiries, most people will rarely follow through. That's just life.

    Secondly, you can get quotes online so no need to go to the post office. Get yourself a postal scale with digital readout ; it'll save you a world of trouble and will be worth the $20 or so.

    Lastly, most Discogs users don't pay one iota of attention as to where the seller is located and will put in orders anyway. Once shipping is added, they'll back out. In one month, I had a handful of those. It is a waste of time for everyone and can be frustrating to see this predictable cycle unfold, especially with new members but it's unfortunately part of the experience.
     
  3. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I'm not that cynical and believe that most people WILL follow through. I've sold a dozen things on CL and bought a handful of things as well and every one of those transactions went smooth. I just got a 7.1 channel receiver that originally went for $1,299 new for $50. I needed a replacement for the one I was using because I could hear a bit of noise in the phono stage when I turned up the volume all the way with no LP playing. I wanted a deader quiet background, no money outlay, and I found the exact model I wanted which was several higher than the one it replaced. But I have had buyers offer more for shipping than stated. I've had sellers let me walk off with an item at a record show and send them the payment later. I guess I have an honest look. Lots of decent people out there, you just have to be aware of the scuzzy slimeballs.

    I needed to go to the post office anyway, I had things to send out. I'm doing three orders very two days solid non-stop.

    So far as buyers not caring and backing out, that is why I said that from now on, they are going to tell me it's a "go" before I even consider dropping the item on a scale or getting it weighted. They are going to start talking right away, or nothing is moving forward. I got a sale on a $75 box set, and payment did not come in within 24 hours and I kindly asked when I should expect. But I don't consider anything a done deal until its a done deal.

    I've been at this for 20 years now as a part-time thing. I never used it to live on - but it has paid for the cost of collecting. I've doubled and tripled my money over and over. The only concern I have right now is that my strongest sales are for rock CDs. And I only have 300 of them to sell. I sold off the common ones many years ago - kept the obscure and nicer things which I am now selling off. I need to move more vinyl, and hope that more of it will sell eventually.
     
  4. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    So did you suggest a partial refund? Like 1/3 or 1/2 even? VG is a really ratty condition, if I were you and you do not want this item at all (because there are other sellers with the same item), then I would mention that you will take it to PayPal - and communicate through them from here on out.
     
  5. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    No offer was made. Also, because this is an international seller who had issues sending items to the US because of COVID, I have no feedback recourse because it took over 90 days to ship.

    I would take a discount of at least 1/3 or a full refund/return, inclusive of all shipping costs.
     
  6. Eric_Generic

    Eric_Generic Enigma

    Location:
    Berkshire
    PayPal covers you for at least 180 days, I think?

    EG.
     
  7. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    :agree: As I understand it as well.
     
    Eric_Generic likes this.
  8. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I just noticed something on Discogs. Tonight I went into my store and looked at and made notes on paper of every LP that did not have at least a picture of the front cover. Then I went and (for each LP on list) scanned every LP jacket front and back in 600dpi. The trimmed them and reduced size a bit and went to load them into the release pages for each LP. I came across a few that had artwork already there but it had been deactivated likely by the person who first loaded it in. Seems like they had one to sell, and so they provided the missing pictures, and then after they sold their copy, they deactivated the pictures so as no one else would benefit from their pics being in the database.

    This sounds so much like those bitter record dealers scrounging for a sale, and working against anyone else having sales. I loaded my pictures in and then reactivated their label scans if there were any. My covers were always better than the old ones anyway. In fact, I updated some active pictures that were poor with my new scans.

    I just thought that was funny. For the majority of the missing covers, there was none inactive.
     
  9. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Another thing - as I list more and more titles on Discogs I am seeing more titles not in their database. And I am too busy at the moment to submit any new additions.

    But a couple of missing examples that might be surprising: The Strawberry Alarm Clock - "Incense and Peppermints" album I have, an original 1968 LP with shrink wrap on the cover. My copy has a label variation with producer printed just below the artist and album title appears. All other variations of this original US LP have the producer mentioned first, just below the UNI logo, and then artist and title. So I can't list mine, bummer and it's NM for both LP and cover with shrink wrap.

    Then the Pointer Sister had a big hit in 1978 with "Fire" written by Bruce Springsteen. The (imo) collectible 12" single was pressed in clear gold vinyl. I thought everyone knew this, and while it was in semi-demand in the late 70s, it's likely fallen in demand now, might be available for $6, $8 to $10 tops now when it appears. But looking at Discogs entries to list mine for sale, I see many pressings of this hit. A few 7" pressings are on red or blue wax. Several 12" singles are also listed, none are on colored vinyl, certainly no gold vinyl. So that record is out for listing at this time.

    Oh here it is: $14 on eBay with free shipping. So not exactly a hot item anymore.

    Fire by The Pointer Sisters (Vinyl 12") NM Orange Colored | eBay

    Red vinyl also on 12" pretty cheap:

    Pointer Sisters - Happiness, Fire - U.S. promo 12" EP red vinyl | eBay

    No Discogs listing for the 12 on Red either.

    So this has been happening a lot in recent days. Many records I have on NM condition all bagged in poly sleeves hardly played or never played even. Such nice condition, and appealing records. And I can't list them at this time.

    I'll check back in a year or so with these, and maybe some of them will get added to the database.
     
  10. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    You know you can add them to the database yourself, right?
     
    Lost In The Flood likes this.
  11. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Would've taken you just as long to submit at least one of those as it took for you write your post.
     
    Lost In The Flood, noname74 and Dave like this.
  12. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Yes of course.
    not really. It takes me longer because I never found the “duplicate” and then edit button, or the shortcut way to do them. I might be slow on this. And I’d have to take the pictures of do scans of the labels too to show the differences.

    I found doing entries on Discogs tedious. I felt I was working on Maggie’s Farm.
     
    cwitt1980 likes this.
  13. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    There's a "copy to draft" function, I think it's somewhere in the "Edit" page. But yeah, I agree, adding albums is tedious, even if you use that function, since you're supposed to go in and verify that everything from the version you copied still applies to the new version.
     
  14. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Lately I’ve experienced a problem with two sellers, which may be a problem with the Discogs site. I put some items in my cart and left them there (something I’ve done in the past, sometimes leaving them there for weeks). After a few days, I got a notice all of them were gone, the indication being they had been sold. All six? Hmmmmmm. Then I saw they were still for sale. Back in the cart one went (as a test). Two days later, same unavailable message, but still for sale by the seller! The same thing happened with another seller! Anyone else experience this?
     
  15. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Must be a Discogs thing, where it just dumps your cart for you and gives an auto notice. Not a problem with sellers I would guess. I believe sellers only get a notice when an item is bought or a question is asked.
     
    misterjones likes this.
  16. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    This is a very common situation. The seller delists and re-lists their inventory in order for their items to show up on want list emails as newly available items. Happens all the time.

    If the seller doesn't do this, the item will sit in your cart until you or someone else buys it. If neither of those two things happen, it sits there forever.
     
  17. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    You don't have to add photos right away. I sometimes didn't and would go back later to add them.

    The photos don't even have to be great. They just need to be in focus and of sufficient quality so the differences can be seen.
     
    Lost In The Flood likes this.
  18. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    I thought that was meant to be Discogs advantage over Ebay as far as sellers were concerned.
    ie: Sellers that are/were more likely collectors and pay attention to details and grade more realistically?
     
    Lost In The Flood likes this.
  19. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    So the fact that it disappears from my cart as no longer available but is still listed by the seller as available (and can be reinserted into my cart) indicates a mere relisting, possibly of the seller’s entire inventory? Happens a lot then. The seller I mentioned must do it weekly, at least.
     
  20. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    Back when it first started; sure. But it's become mainstream enough now that there are plenty of sellers who are just amateurs with no idea about matrix codes or foreign pressings or limited editions. Especially if it's a rare edition of a popular album selling at an unreasonably cheap price. When I've asked for details they just respond, "oh, I just go by the title."
     
    All Down The Line likes this.
  21. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Some do, not all. There are still sloppy sellers and scammers. I ran into a seller recently whose entire stock was "Mint factory sealed".
     
  22. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Yes it's a source of annoyance for many.
     
  23. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    Yes. It's a trick of being a seller (that many of us don't like). I'm not a high volume seller by any means (mainly sell stuff to afford my own buying habits). In a way, it's nice if I have to leave town or don't want to do anything for a few days. I can pull everything down and put it back up when I'm ready to go again. This function gets abused. My want-list is filled with the same listings by the same sellers daily.
     
    Willowman and misterjones like this.
  24. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Real estate brokers use the same trick. Relisting an item makes it look, at glance at least, newly listed on Zillow, and further triggers new emails to potential buyers.
     
  25. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I think that if one changes the prices (lower), and tidy up the descriptions, and add the "accept offers" feature as you relist it's not being deceptive. It's good house cleaning, and buyers should appreciate lowered prices. If I have been the lowest price offered for the condition, and it did not sell in six months, then maybe it's just too high. After one year, and not sold when the condition is really nice, then yes it is just too high. But if you are the only one offering a copy of the album at all, you can stay on the slightly high side.

    I plan on doing just that after 6 months of the given titles being up and listed. And I want to relist things and get them grouped into genres again.
     

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