"Near Mint" LP with a Crack In It.

Received a record in the mail with this defect. Worst part is, it came from a reputable "audiophile" retailer, not a Discogs or eBay seller. It's possible it was an honest mistake and overlooked before the LP was shipped out.

Let's see how they handle it.

In my years of buying used and new records I've never received a cracked record. Warped, overgraded, scratched, off-center, etc. but never cracked. First time for everything I guess.

 

Huh, this is pretty similar to a joke I posted in a different thread. One minor crack that renders the record unplayable, otherwise completely flawless! I would think that a chunk missing from the edge would have been noticed - and even if they hadn't noticed the crack, it still wouldn't be near mint. Just because it's not part of the playing surface doesn't mean it's not part of the record. Reminds me of the guy who sells CDs on Discogs with the both spine panels of the jewel case tray card ripped off, yet still claims the insert is "near mint" Suuure. I wonder if I can get more money by cutting the top and bottom of my LP jacket open and claiming it's a gatefold.

Anyway, hope this works out for you.

 

looks fine to me!

 

Sometimes they (reputable retailers with good reviews) do enough volume that they miss things unintentionally. But how they handle the request will be telling. I bought a "VG+" "clean copy" of an album for $12.75 from a discogs vendor with good ratings. It arrived with 3 deep scratches on the first track on one side, which caused skipping and sticking.

I inquired to the seller and they apologized and asked if there was a partial refund that would make me OK with keeping it. I made my request and they refunded that amount immediately. So they're still good in my eyes - they just missed something and were willing to take care of it. The other two records I ordered from them were fairly graded and played well.

 

I'm giving them a day or two to respond. This store does a lot of volume but isn't generally known for screwing customers. Hopefully they come through soon.

 

I would list it as "Acceptable" at best.

 

Update: the seller/store is making things right and a replacement LP is on the way to me.

This should've been caught before shipping out but wasn't because they use a separate process for grading, filing, and shipping out used LPs in their store (high volume). This is no doubt more efficient but also causes major defects to occasionally slip through. I told them they should take a small amount of time (say 30 seconds) to double check for these things to avoid problems in the future.

Even small scale sellers should really take the time to double check records before shipping out.