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Discogs

Weekender said:
Old thread and only skim read it but why don't Discogs use the Excellent category? As someone posted it's a big jump from VG+ to NM.
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The adopted the US Goldmine grading standard which is a little different to the UK Record Collector.
I think in theory EX is about the same as NM- but it tends to get used like a VG++....
 
The last couple VG+ records should have been rated F and G. I think I’ll stick to buying NM as a minimum in the future or just stick to streaming the music if a decent vinyl copy is unavailable. I can’t have a physical copy of all music I really like.
 
I’ve certainly been disappointed with US gradings before now. I’ve had some potentially nice jazz stuff that was claimed to be NM (US system) that I’d personally grade at VG to VG+ (UK system, i.e. the whole huge EX grade jumped over!). Disappointing when one is paying a lot for shipping and customs. This was back in the pre-Discogs eBay days, but it made me very wary. On the other hand I’ve never had a single record over-graded by a Japanese seller. I’d actually risk VG+ from Japanese sellers as they likely equate to a strong UK EX grade.
 
Luckily media mail postage was only $3.99 so I could at least recover most of the cost but it’s a shame it was sold in the first place. I should have read some of the 3% of bad reviews as I’m not the only one to be disappointed with his ratings.
 
I recently purchased this Junior Mance record that I was put onto by Spotify Ai. I found a brick and mortar record store that also has an online presence that had it rated at VG+. On first play I found it much noisier than I’d prefer, even after a cleaning. I played it again this morning and it’s sounding not as bad, maybe because of my lower expectations. I did notice a bunch of dust picked up around my stylus and cantilever after side one. I’m thinking maybe there’s a bunch of old dust impacted in the grooves and maybe the more I play the record it will continue to improve.

It’s a rare record and I’m thinking $25 was maybe not an unreasonable price even though it should have been graded a bit less.
 
I thought I'd lucked out last week after spotting an original 1950s Miles pressing on Prestige for £4 on Discogs.

Purchase was subsequently cancelled and I got an apologetic message the next morning from the seller explaining that he'd missed a zero off the price.. :D
 
Just in case any other members experience the same thing...

I noticed recently that my DIscogs store had zero items in it despite having a few things for sale. My items also didn't show up on the 'for sale' link from a release page.

Frustrating as unless you go in and check you wouldn't know they're not visible to potential buyers - the inventory page shows them as being 'for sale'.

Reading Discogs forum threads this seems to be a problem going back several years. Expiring and re-listing the items didn't help. Eventually I saw the suggestion to open a shipping policy, not make any changes and click save. Weirdly this seems to have done the trick!
 
after I had expired all items for sale, I had to relist them twice for my shop to show stock in the marketplace
 
You never shout rotten fish .. there are many sellers on disgogs who grade way beyond what they really are .. I've been done 3 times and actually got a negative for telling the seller he was lying .. media near mint !! aye right I'm sure he ate his dinner from it
 
Lots of records graded NM- is generally a warning sign for me - I just assume the seller is over-grading and work on the basis that they'll be VG+, especially if they're pre 1970.

I also look for a description of flaws - if it's VG+/VG+ and says something like 'a few hairlines and minor scuffs, name written in biro on rear of sleeve' it indicates the seller has at least looked at the record properly even if it's not been play graded and gives you something to go on.

I contacted a seller once to ask how a VG graded record played. "Like a VG record" came the response :D No sale.

I also bear in mind that a lot of sellers aren't professional record dealers, just music fans having a bit of a clear out. So the accuracy of grading will inevitably vary.

As others have said upthread most sellers are happy to resolve any problems (though I've never tried calling one a lying cheating bastard!)
 
Sold a Cast album this week.
I stuck in some Chopin gratis.

it turns out that you can give Classical music records away…



edit: I made £20 for Headway charity. :)
 
I sold a Sergio Mendes LP before Xmas. Buyer was really friendly and chatty so I stuck in a Judy Collins record I'd found in a £1 box and didn't get on with. Got a really nice message back a few days later saying he was a big Judy Collins fan and was chuffed to get it. Warm glows all round - a quid well spent!
 
Arise old post.

Despite saying upthread I was done with Discogs I keep getting pulled back in. I’ve made 100+ consecutive successful transactions but this has now come to a juddering halt.

Last week I made 4 transactions and two were dispatched straight away on Thursday, but despite both being tracked, neither have been delivered. The Post Office sent me a helpful email saying that they are “sorry” that they were unable to deliver as promised. So am I.

However these were the easy two. Of the other two the first was a seller who quickly marked the transaction as Order in Progress, but then has done nothing (as far as I can tell) in 10 days. He did reply, eventually, that he was looking for the record. How many records can one have? Doesn’t everyone put them in some sort of order? How hard can it be? I suppose something will come at some point but who knows?

Anyhow the final transaction is the best/worst. £25-00 for two 12inch singles so not exactly the end of the world if I lose the money but the seller hasn’t responded at all. I opened a Seller not responding procedure but nothing. I was wondering how Discogs would refund me but then realised Discogs don’t get any money from me – I deal with the seller directly. So now I have to open a dispute with PayPal which is a load of hassle I could do without. I can afford to lose the £25 but why should I?

First world problems I know but very annoying indeed.
 
Why not just buy on ebay? You know they favour buyers, should you need to open a dispute.

Far more incentive on sellers to grade correctly due to this.

Assuming you buy from a seller who previously sold Lp's, or mainly sells Lp's even, big check of feedback 1st.

You paid £25 for postage of an Lp-? eh?!
 
I buy where I can get what I want and, in most cases, its Discogs. Its all very well saying buy on eBay but if what I want isn't for sale then that's tricky. I'd much prefer to buy in an actual shop but if what I want isn't there.....

For the non responder I paid 2 x £10 for two long out of print 12 inch singles and a £5 post and packaging fee which, I think, is reasonable. The actual postage is usually £3 so £2 to cover the mailer and actually taking it to the post office seems OK.

What isn't OK is the non response.
 
It's tricky when this happens. In my experience there is generally a good reason - illness being one - but that obviously doesn't help the buyer who faces the hassle of jumping through hoops to get a refund.
 
paulfromcamden said:
It's tricky when this happens. In my experience there is generally a good reason - illness being one - but that obviously doesn't help the buyer who faces the hassle of jumping through hoops to get a refund.
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Oh completely agree. I’m sure no one is trying to rip me off but all I’d like is to get my money back so I can reorder elsewhere. It’s a pity I can’t do this quickly via Discogs but have to go to PayPal.
 
Of interest to no one other than me, the non responding buyer prompt from Discogs has resulted in the order being changed to dispatched. The seller manged this after about an hour of the Discogs prompt despite the order being placed 10 days ago.
I'm curious to see what, if anything, arrives. I rather suspect that's £25 I'll have to write off.
 
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