What is it with Discogs sellers? Post your horror stories here...

So does Discogs. They just don't enforce it. lol

 

This was sold to me as a NM CD.

 

I’d be looking for a full refund - I’m sick of this happening to me too. They’ll probably offer u a partial refund and try to avoid negative feedback.

If you do keep that disc, a video game shop might have one of those scratch removal machines that they use on games discs. That’s what I end up doing with a cd in that condition.

 

My pet peeve for CD condition rating on Discogs: "plays NM."

Well, thanks for that. So do all VG-rated CDs, but that doesn't mean you get to call them NM...

 

You nailed it. They offered a 50% refund. Or ship it back at my expense for a full refund. Luckily it wasn't too expensive.

 

You know, if you wanted, you could leave negative feedback anyway, saying something like "Sent me a scuffed CD which was listed as NM." And to head off a possible seller response saying he refunded you (to make you look like the unreasonable one), I might add "and made me pay for return shipping even though the wrong grading was obviously not my fault". If you do, though, wait until you receive your refund.

 

Just utter nonsense. How about you graded this CD entirely inappropriately and then try to hold my refund hostage without paying for your own misgraded CD condition return shipping. You are both a bad seller and a thief as my feedback will appropriately indicate.

 

I have been lucky with Discogs. Don't remember buying anything I was unhappy with, but I never bought much there. On the other hand, over the past decades I have been burned with some amazingly mis-graded records. Not often, but the handful that came my way were indeed memorable. A record graded NM that was plastered with scratches and shipped in greasy pizza box. Ditto a similarly mis-graded record that got cracked in transit to boot that the seller shipped internationally in an envelope, then had the gall to ask "how do I know you didn't do the damage yourself?" when I claimed a refund. I got the refund from eBay or PayPal, not the seller.

In all I consider I've been very lucky over the years seeing the horror stories people tell.

 

Looks mint for its age.

 

I don't know what it is with that title (New Musik A To B) but when I was tracking one down years ago it was incredibly hard to find one in decent shape. I finally did, but I wouldn't call it NM.

 

Oh yeah, one of my favorites. As if there's a sliding scale based on how old it is.

 

Not a horror story -- but Boops Records Buy Vinyl Records and CDs from BoopsRecords at Discogs Marketplace has like a $16 or $17 minimum order -- so to get CD I wanted which was below his minimum, I ordered another item I really didn't need but he was only e-comerce site with CD I wanted. So when order comes up he charges me $6.75 for items that actually only cost $3.65 to ship USPS media mail. When I inquired about a possible combined shipping discount -- he says, "If you don’t like the cost of shipping I’m happy to cancel and refund the order." Oh great -- so I let it ride but that guy ain't getting another penny from me.

 

Just looked at his seller terms, and he lists a $10 minimum order and shipping at $5.75 with $1 per each additional item. The $5.75 seems a little high but not completely unreasonable; after all, most sellers add a little for handling and shipping materials. And the minimum order also seems reasonable IMO. Of course, maybe he changed the terms recently.

HOWEVER ---

Now that it sounds like I'm siding with him, I'll say this. From reading his negative and neutral feedbacks, he's not someone I would choose to do business with. I notice lots of complaints of overgrading and his replies tend to be unprofessional and nasty. If you end up with overgraded albums and choose to return them, you might want to consider going straight to Paypal and filing an "item not as described" claim. You'll need to pay return shipping, AND if you leave negative feedback, Discogs will remove it at his request because they require at least an attempt by the buyer to resolve problems with the seller first. But he looks like he would be very unpleasant to deal with. Me? I'd be willing to lose out on leaving feedback just in order to prevent dealing with further aggravation. Just something to consider. Hopefully, it won't come to that, though.

 

Yeah, the ultra-rare Namlook CD was only $9 and you're right about the $10 minimum. My total with shipping was $15.83 initially -- and I saw the $1 below minimum notice and thought it was for total order cost so I incorrectly assumed $16. I never read his terms ( rarely read those anyway.). Anyway, I ordered a 2CD release by David Parsons for $2 which got me over his minimum.

Like I hinted not another penny goes to him.

As a long-time Discogs, Amazon and top rated eBay seller -- the whole concept of a minimum order is ludicrous. IMHO.

now listening: The Zen Master's Diary by Darshan Ambient (the late Michael Allison, a great internet friend from the days of MP3.com, where I promoted him early in his career.)

 

The actual cost of postage is just that, the cost of the postage, so $3.65 is what he owes USPS for transportation. He also has material cost, mailers, insert pads, tape, ink, labels. Some sellers are businesses, they may offset employee hourly wages to pack and ship records.

Why would you expect the seller to take an outright loss on shipping?

As for the minimum order, I have a $5 minimum threshold, part of my inventory is low value 45s, which are often times $.50-$1. After fees and shipping, selling low value item, in low volume, would result in actually losing money. Despite the choruses of how expensive records have gotten, there is a ton of items that sell for under $5. At enough volume, they still make it worthwhile to sell.

Aside from that particular seller, who may or may not be a good seller, it seems like you are griping over 1)issues that were outline in his seller terms that you disregarded, and 2) are upset that he not take a loss on his shipping costs. Maybe I read your post wrong though.

 

You might want to start. I don't say that to wag my finger at you, but rather because it can often lend insight into the seller. Even this seller's terms raise a small red flag. They read almost like a list of "I won't do this"'s and "if you do that"'s. Sellers are certainly entitled to set their own terms as long as they don't conflict with those of Discogs or Paypal, but how they state their terms can be another clue as to the type of company or person you'd be dealing with. Some sellers have terms which show more flexibility, or show more concern with the buyer's satisfaction, and similar such things. Along with feedback, especially the neutrals and negatives, the seller terms really are one more useful tool to help you make buying decisions.

Best of luck with your current order; I hope it works out well without having to deal with any problems.

 

If their shipping cost seems reasonable and they have a minimum, it makes sense. As noted, if you're selling a lot of low dollar items, no seller really wants that extra time packing and mailing something for a buck or two. Plus there's that extra gamble of someone not being satisfied with something that low in value.

 

My odd discogs interaction this week.

I made someone an offer on Sunday, they declined on Monday and sent me a message offering me the item at exactly what their price is on Discogs plus $5 for shipping when there was free shipping listed.

I said his counter offer is the same price as the listing plus now extra shipping and he said his price was a fair price. I asked why have the best offer option if you aren't going down at all on your price. He replied that he only takes best offers from repeat customers or people buying multiple items. I said no problem good luck with your sales.

He comes back 3 days later offering me the item at the price I wanted before and I said thanks but I'm not interested now. They reply back with "why did you offer in the 1st place?". I explained that they declined my offer 3 days ago and I looked elsewhere.

Their response..."I was trying to negotiate. Thanks for looking elsewhere. I will just unlist it and burn it in the fire pit."

Why the attitude? I get it they decided they wanted or needed the money, but they let the buyer walk out the door.

 

Clearly there was a lot of emo nvolved.

Selling stuff is complicated. You never really know how well an auction or sale will go. Can't tell you how many times I kicked myself for not taking an offer during an auction. Then again sometimes auctions go way better than expected. Selling on discogs isn't much different. It's going to be both good and bad.

I don't buy much vinyl but about a year ago I purchased three titles by David Grisman on vinyl. The disc I wanted the most was warped. But it just wasn't worth the aggravation to return it. Each disc was roughly $10 and I just looked at it as that two discs that were okay were now $15 each.

 

I purchased a nm copy of AP 200g Getz/Gilberto limited numbered edition for $50. Felt like robbery, also seemed too good to be true. Sure enough, what arrived was a nm copy of AP 200g Getz/Gilberto but not limited number edition. Let the seller know, they were super friendly and offered to return at their expense, or if I’d like to keep it would offer a reasonable discount if I asked, given this was still $15+ less than the least expensive non-numbered version. Suggested 15%, less than his cost of shipping back to him, and out to a new buyer, and they promptly sent me a refund in that amount. Guess not all stories end poorly. A hell of a lot better than an experience I had over in these vinyl classifieds

 

Geez...sorry to hear that. It has been a very long time since I had a horror story, but I've had 'em, you can bet. And far worse that yours...some classics I'd say-- let's see...LP shipped in a greasy pizza box, shipped in an envelope and cleanly snapped in two, "NM" plastered in scratches and looking like the dog had played with it a few weeks out on a gravel driveway, then someone found the cover and thought "hey, this ain't so bad"... Thankfully all those events took place something like 15 years ago, but they are indelibly etched in my memory.

 

You know the non numbered ones are basically exactly the same and just used for promos or replacement copies.

 

Yeah that’s why I was fine with keeping it. Regardless they sell for about 1/2 the amount due to the numbers, so I’m not wrong in wanting a refund.