Unplayed as a grading

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Eno_Fan, Oct 23, 2018.

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  1. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    A new one I've been seeing lately is...

    as if it was kept in a time capsule

    ...which totally side-steps condition.

    Darryl
     
    lazydawg58 likes this.
  2. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    A time capsule sealed alongside with humidity, dog hair, fingerprints, hairline scratches, sticky tape, Inked initials on label & seam splits but you know really close to NM otherwise!
     
    greelywinger and Dave like this.
  3. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    In other words, it was buried under dirt.
     
  4. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    Grading is subjective at best and playback quality may depend in part on the gear used and how it handles noise. I clean to better than archival standards and am less concerned with visuals than actuality in playback, something that is virtually impossible for any seller to advise on 100%, even if they play back the record thoroughly and listen carefully. Most of the time, play grading is a spot check, if done at all. And depending on the seller, I may not want them to play the record particularly if it hasn't been cleaned properly and/or if their rig isn't good, to avoid further damage. That makes me sound like an impossible customer, no?
    I'm not and have only had a few real boners over the years buying online. Figure I'm buying 15 records a week, on average, some years, though less now. Some (quite a few, actually) were US 100 dollars and up. What do I do?
    Query the seller- history of record if known, visuals, whether the record has already been cleaned and play graded and whether they have the facility to do that effectively. I typically will not ask for play grading for a record below $100, but will ask the above questions as well as whether the record spins flat.
    Part of it, to me, is the seller's style-- I had a seller who said "look, I'm going to be very conservative and say it is a VG+, I think you'll be quite happy" and the record played perfectly, whereas same pressing from another seller purchased the same week, graded M-, claiming "appears never to have been played," had an off center spindle hole and was not pristine visually or in my playback. I've only had a couple occasions to come back to a seller for gross misgrading. On one occasion, a fairly expensive Vertigo Swirl had yellow tar in the grooves that was fouling my stylus, even after multiple cleanings using a Monks and KL ultrasonic; I talked to the seller and he was polite about taking it back.
    I prefer buying from knowledgeable sellers. I don't think there are many undervalued treasures out there and few bargains. I'd rather deal with someone who knows what they are doing, because the time and cost involved in shipping (most of my buys, not all, have come from the UK, and other parts of the world) make it a pain to deal with disappointment. I'd rather pay a little more and know what I'm getting from someone who is knowledgeable and willing to indulge me. I've only had a very few sellers who were rude, dismissive, or non-responsive.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2018
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  5. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Love it, you are even more particular than me and your TT looks wicked!
     
  6. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    And you guys have such great sharks! (kidding, love to visit some day-
    you also have some great pressings down under-
    bill
     
    All Down The Line likes this.
  7. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    To follow up the seller responded that he had two copies and perhaps he sent the wrong one and asked for a couple of days to look for it. Then he responded (evidently couldn't find the other copy) that all he wanted was to avoid a negative review and said keep the record and made a full refund. I appreciate the refund and am glad I don't have to go to the trouble of sending it back to him. But there's 10-15 other records I bought from other sellers around the same time. I haven't had time to play them yet. Some are suppose to be NM others VG+, one is VG. If these sellers also over graded I don't know it yet. I'm not going to message a seller that over graded with a complaint that is weeks old. I'll just have to live with what I get.

    How often do sellers keep high ratings because when someone does call them on over grading they refund the money right away, thus avoiding action by buyers? How often to they avoid negative ratings because the buyer didn't immediately put the records on the turntable and checked them, thus they never make a complaint?
     
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