When the overgrading plague started to take over Discogs' used vinyl market a few years ago, I cut back on used vinyl purchases and started to refocus on my CD collection, filling in gaps and seeking out particular versions of CDs that are hard to find elsewhere. Generally speaking, I've had a lot less problems with CD sellers on Discogs, but have still had some frustrating experiences. Here is a picture of the play side of a CD that arrived from a European seller, marked "Media: Near Mint". Additional info from the seller stated the "cd is as good as new". Now, scratches can be hard to photograph due to my limited equipment and lighting issues, but this CD is littered with scratches on the play side. In what universe does this pass for "Near Mint"?
A scanner would have produced a clearer image. In any case, G+ to VG- is the best grade range for this CD.
"Not Mint" at the very least. Annoying are grading like "Near Mint, except for ...". I am bugged by listings that advertise, "Plays Mint". People just want to get the word "mint" in there somehow, someway. Like saying, "I went to the Harvard University ... of central Pennsylvania" What was the seller's feedback like? I once bought a mint/near mint CD that had a lot of fine scratches. The seller got very angry of being accused of bad grading when I messaged him about it. After I sent the item back, the seller actually sent me a message saying he looked at the disc, and I was right. I think he just missed one, maybe looked at it under dim light or assumed it was as clean as other things from his collection.
100 percent positive. That doesn't mean anything though. It's very easy to game these feedback systems IME. Anyway I sent the seller a note with the picture. Waiting for a response.
I've had my share of issues with grading on eBay and Discogs. I get a chuckle when I read statements like "Condition is mint with the exception of....." -- HELLO! Then it's not MINT! I got an LP from Discogs that the seller described it as "Near Mint" - when I got it, the cover was pretty worn and the record looked like it was used as a frisbee. So I had to return it.. For me, going to a USPS to return is a pain as the only one near me has zero parking and I don't feel I should waste my time and drive 30 minutes to another one just because some seller couldn't grade accurately.
