Buying on Discogs?

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Tue Jul 09, 2013 3:58 am

Khnud wrote:Why even bother to have a grading system on Discogs if the buyer's always responsible to ask for photos? It exists for a reason, so the buyer will know the condition of the items he's purchasing. If a seller is abusing the grading system, how can the buyer be at fault?

Some people are more anal then others. One persons "EX" is another persons "VG". It's subjective, hence why asking for pictures if you are picky about condition should very much be part of the inquiring process prior to purchasing.

Khnud · Post by **Khnud** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 7:39 pm

Subjectiveness is one thing, outright lying about the condition is another.

My latest Discogs failure: I found a pretty rare album offered quite cheap. Item condition was listed as VG+/VG+, and description said "small sticker upper right corner", and "promotional copy not for sale". Ok, so I figured this was a radio station copy with a catalogue ID sticker that I could probably remove. The seller was new to the site so there was a chance he might not know the value of the item as it had never been sold on Discogs before. Since I knew this item was going to get sold fast I took a chance and bought it without asking for pictures first. My mistake, it arrived today.

Most of the upper left corner is gone because someone has torn off a 2 x 4 inch sticker completely ignoring that the cover came off as well. Most of the lower left corner is covered by a huge promo sticker. There are several other tears on the front cover where it's partially or completely missing, some torn areas are covered by tape. Ring wear is substantial, both on the front and back. Interestingly, the best spot on the cover was the upper right corner, where the seller claimed the "small sticker" was located. I haven't played the album yet, but it looks nasty with several deep scratches. I'm pretty sure there are several skips in it. In my book this is a Fair or even Poor item.

I'm giving up on Discogs. It's a place where unscrupulous sellers can unload their otherwise unsellable items. No offense to all you good dealers out there, but I've had it. Every item I've bought on Discogs has been way overgraded.

perishinflames · Post by **perishinflames** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 10:36 pm

In my experience Discogs has been just as reliable as any other marketplace. I've had a few misgraded items (nothing nearly as bad as what you describe) but the same thing happens on ebay, musicstack, gemm, etc.

edit:

Also I've never asked for photos. Once I got burned with some bootleg CDs but I was refunded without issue (seller paid return shipping). I guess I've been lucky, even though I've taken some serious gambles.

mordred · Post by **mordred** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:29 am

I've bought somewhere around 40 items on Discogs. Don't remember anything being overgraded except a cd which didn't cost anything anyway. Never asked for a photo.

Khnud · Post by **Khnud** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:58 pm

I hope your Karma remains strong!

mordred · Post by **mordred** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:04 pm

Khnud wrote:I hope your Karma remains strong!

Perhaps not, got a Sacred Warrior record in the mail today with severly bumped corners despite the fact the packaging was first class. Bummer.

Anyway, as you know I don't believe much in the Karma thing, I believe you get what you pay for. Most items I bought off discogs cost more than the "magic 250 SEK".

You're looking for inexperienced sellers that don't know the value of the items they're selling, then chances are they won't know about gradings or how to pack records either.

Khnud · Post by **Khnud** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 7:01 pm

Sorry to hear that.

Yeah, I know it's a gamble sometimes. I just need to let off steam when I get snake eyes. And Discogs has been responsible for most lately.

So, a word of warning to you folks. Be careful out there.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 5:32 am

Khnud wrote:Subjectiveness is one thing, outright lying about the condition is another.

My latest Discogs failure: I found a pretty rare album offered quite cheap. Item condition was listed as VG+/VG+, and description said "small sticker upper right corner", and "promotional copy not for sale". Ok, so I figured this was a radio station copy with a catalogue ID sticker that I could probably remove. The seller was new to the site so there was a chance he might not know the value of the item as it had never been sold on Discogs before. Since I knew this item was going to get sold fast I took a chance and bought it without asking for pictures first. My mistake, it arrived today.

Most of the upper left corner is gone because someone has torn off a 2 x 4 inch sticker completely ignoring that the cover came off as well. Most of the lower left corner is covered by a huge promo sticker. There are several other tears on the front cover where it's partially or completely missing, some torn areas are covered by tape. Ring wear is substantial, both on the front and back. Interestingly, the best spot on the cover was the upper right corner, where the seller claimed the "small sticker" was located. I haven't played the album yet, but it looks nasty with several deep scratches. I'm pretty sure there are several skips in it. In my book this is a Fair or even Poor item.

I'm giving up on Discogs. It's a place where unscrupulous sellers can unload their otherwise unsellable items. No offense to all you good dealers out there, but I've had it. Every item I've bought on Discogs has been way overgraded.

I'm not trying to support sellers that knowingly and willingly over-grade records. The point I was making is that if you ask for pictures then you are protecting yourself from disappointment. Otherwise, like you said, you are taking a risk.

I’m sorry to hear what happened but the end result is still half your fault. No one forced your hand when you clicked the “buy” button without knowing exactly what you would be receiving.