discogs marketplace?

ebay, xpost

I've seen sellers add comments to a bootleg's page saying that people can DM them for private sale. Obviously a risky strategy for both parties though – the seller might get blocked for trying to circumvent the no-boots policy, while the buyer loses protection if the deal takes place off the grid.

ebay, xpost

they're not very good blocks, though. I think they also rely on people reporting items, but we've repeatedly sold Dylan boots without a problem. Led Zeppelin otoh

Funny, I was just looking at a LZ1 LP turquoise lettering, 'reissue' ont'bay so I guess it depends.

Need some guidance here. . .

I ordered a CD through the Discogs marketplace and it was set up to have a fixed shipping price, so I was able to just immediately check out through PayPal right then. The amount cleared my PayPal account and a week went by with no communication from the seller. I looked at the order history on my Discogs account and the status was set to "Payment Pending" (which is where it still stands as of right now). I messaged the seller to ask about why it says that and they responded with, "Sorry I'm out of town, blah blah blah." Couple days pass and they respond again saying, "The payment does not show up on my end." I respond with the date it cleared my account and the email address to which it was sent. They respond pretty quickly this time saying, "Oh yeah, I see it now. Sending it out as soon as I can." Couple days go by, they message again saying, "I can't find the disc. Unless you want to wait, I'll just refund you." I respond with, "That's okay. If you can't find it, no big deal, I'll just take a refund." Another two days pass and they respond with, "I'm going to look again. I think I got the disc out when you ordered it and misplaced it. If you get a refund in the next couple days, I couldn't find it."

So now we're ten days from when the payment cleared. First they say they were out of town when the order was placed, then it was pulled out to prepare for mailing and misplaced. I asked for a refund and they respond with a very ambiguous answer. At this point, I don't even want the CD anymore. What should I do?

Dispute it with paypal if you can and leave feedback on discogs

How much was the transaction? If it was less than $20, including postage, I would say just forget about it and accept whatever the eventual outcome is. If it was some kind of expensive rarity, take it up with Discogs.

otm

There's very little Discogs can do unless the seller is not even replying. Yeah, dispute it on PayPal of you used it and want a refund.

I mean, it was around ten dollars. I wish I was at a point where I could just shine that off and say oh well. But that's just not the case.

give me your email i'll paypal you $10

Haha, you are the most solid of dudes!

I sent the seller a kind but firm message and they refunded me just now, so all's well. Glad it didn't escalate any further.

i have two gripes with discogs: 1) I never seem to get emails from them. I'm not like on there all the time looking at my message box. why don't they send those out via email? or maybe they're getting marked as spam? 2) they won't let you list bootlegs anymore for sale. wtf.

You may need to look into your account settings. Under some settings, they won't email you at all.

yeah you can get hella emails from them if you want. I created a list for every single project and appearance by the members of one Australian band, two of whom had an unreleased song covered on an album that also had a cover of Tangled Up In Blue, and discogs email me every goddamn day to tell me about every Bob Dylan pressing that someone adds somewhere in the world.

Dropping bootlegs for sale was annoying when I was trying to turn KLF CDs into orthodontic treatment last year, but "wtf" is surely the least inexplicable "w" ever.

I mean they don't email me bcz I switched it off, but ykwim

ah, perhaps that's why. I had several messages in there about things I had listed for sale from months ago that I didn't know about.

i received negative feedback from a seller for leaving them negative feedback without contacting them first. wtf? i appreciate you allowing me to send you back your garbage for a refund but it doesn't make me happy or anything.

it's just.. your grading sucks.. and it should be public knowledge

Retaliatory feedback is bullshit. I received a record in the mail packaged in wrapping paper. No box, nothing. Like, if somebody gave you a record for your birthday, that's what I got in the mail. It was all jacked up and I immediately left negative feedback and the seller retaliated with "BAD BUYER HAD BUYERS REMORSE DIDN'T WANT RECORD AND TOOK IT OUT ON ME."

I'm still mad about it.

you see people list stuff as mint then the description is like "missing disc two" and despair

Seems like there should be a reporting system for that kind of thing, so it doesn’t have to be handled thru feedback?

you see people list stuff as mint then the description is like "missing disc two" and despair

like, this is fine if they clearly state it? assuming that all the intact parts are mint. someone might have left disc 1 in a friend’s car in 1992 and want a good replacement

no

the gradings are built-in, the description is the only way to add qualifiers

tends to be best to only call sealed items mint imo, NM w/ a note would probably be fine if you had a missing CD but the remaining one had never been played

There is a reporting system (there's an arrow next to the listing I think,) but how to grade incomplete items isn't really defined. Mint is really pushing it though. It's kind of a mythical state of perfection even for new complete items.

yes yr all correct, I was thinking of the general principle not the specificity of “mint”!

Re negative feedback: when you bring up the "Leave Feedback" page, it says "Please communicate to try to resolve any problems before leaving feedback." As a seller, I'm grateful for that, as it gives me the chance to resolve a genuine mistake without incurring reputational damage. As a buyer, I do follow this guideline - so if a record is over-graded, I'll message the buyer and suggest a remedy. If the problem is then resolved, I'll then leave positive feedback, but I'll reference the problem in my comments, e.g. "disc was VG+ not NM, but the buyer resolved the problem quickly and amicably".

(duh, "the SELLER resolved the problem quickly and amicably")

Nope, sorry, I want to know if a seller overgrades. It should be public. Grading vinyl is not hard! If in doubt, grade down. I'm just done giving these clowns benefit of the doubt. It's happens to me way too often.

What else is feedback there for? Just straight up fraud?? No other negativity allowed?

I would never leave negative feedback without first contacting the Seller. I've had several issues with grading and packaging, and in every case they seller has refunded a fair amount.

The fact is that site staff can't be expected to mediate disputes sight unseen so all that's asked is that there's a chance to work thing out in case of a mistake made in good faith or a misunderstanding.

It doesn't preclude leaving feedback if you still feel that way, but you do have to contact the seller first.

i don't have to do anything.. i just don't like being lied to, or being sold garbage

I would leave negative retaliatory feedback if I received negative feedback from a buyer about item condition / grading without them contacting me to attempt to resolve it / refund / return. Also seems questionable to call out a single instance of overgrading like its a public service for some chronic over-grading problem. It could be a one-off, mistake, human error.

here's the thing: the problem isn't resolved when i return something or receive a partial refund (lol, again it's like paying to take someone's garbage from them). it's an inconvenience. a resolution to the "problem" would be for them to send me what i paid for and not making me send their garbage back to them.

just my 11 cents!!!

xp it happens all the time to me, plus these are usually record shops that should really know better

hm yeah if it is record shops that is a bit more suspect.

i don't have to do anything.. i just don't like being lied to, or being sold garbage

Of course. But if the seller requests a review there's a very good chance the feedback will be removed if you don't make contact first.

As I said, it doesn't preclude feedback. There's no obligation, it's so that there is a chance of a resolution where possible.

this was eBay but i had a guy win a bid for an album and then he completely ghosted, just never paid me. After a couple months i left negative feedback and he left negative feedback for me, saying not only had he paid but he had the record in his possession. like he was trying to "Robert Blake in Lost Highway" me via an Underworld 12".

weird thing is the guy had positive feedback, 100%, a couple hundred transactions' worth. but after that one with me there were a few more left on his page with the same issue. must have lost his mind.

Recently I bought a new CD from a shop on eBay that turned out to be a CDr, as well as the digipak being damaged in the post - it did have a tire mark on it but too many people seem to think a padded envelope is adequate.

I wanted to contact them but ended up starting the return process automatically so I guess they just got charged straight away for tracked return post. Not quite my intention initially although I wasn't happy with it, especially as I have the release on Bandcamp anyway.

Not sure if there's a point to this tale.

Here's how i break it down

M - doesn't exist but I guess you can use this for new things
NM - the best
VG+ - would be NM apart from a couple minor things
VG - average. There's a wide spectrum of subconditioning within the VG realm. Very dangerous.
G - beat up
F - worthless
P - worthless

If something is missing a disc there is no way in hell it can be mint near mint very good. Maybe good?

Half the media is gone. If I cut the cover in half and throw half of it away, I'm not going to say that the remaining half is mint. That's crazy.

M - sealed
NM - no marks, no sound issues
VG+ - marks, but no sound issues
VG - sound issues that don't overwhelm
G+ - sound issues that overwhelm
F/P - jumps, sticks, cracked, warp that affects play etc etc

When listing a VG or G+ for sale, I always describe the sound issues in detail. Sometimes a VG will just have a bit of brief, light intro crackle.

I bought an original UK MC5 "Kick out the jams" recently, it was listed as P. (poor) but I thought hey...

Anyway, yeah it's worn and the sleeve is well worn, but not torn and the LP plays well, bit crackly but hey.. Or indeed ramalama..

Anyway, I sell a fair bit on Discogs, most are listed as vg+, I'm not checking every LP and CD

I do check before sending, if I'm in doubt about the condition or the version. I get a few that say no I wanted 'that' version so I refund. Most say they don't mind.

Condition is all in the eye of the beholder...

M = "still shrink wrapped"
NM = "if I bought this new in a shop, I would be OK with it"

VG+ = Yeah, owned clearly but no visible damage and a minor LP markings it's seen oxygen.

VG covers a multitude of sins but it depends on the music...

yeah I've def taken a punt before on things the seller presumably considered effectively unplayable and found them to be basically OK

I play-grade every record I sell, before listing it. Not all the way through, but always at the start of each side (the biggest danger zone), then a few places in the middle, plus if a mark looks significant then I'll play that section as well. With CDs, it's much the same. I'm also rigorous about listing the correct version. It takes longer, but it's helped to keep my feedback at 100% positive, after 1800+ orders in the last two years. Considering how much of my monthly income comes from Discogs sales, that feels like time well spent; even if I dipped to 99.9%, I'd lose out on some orders. (As a buyer, I've had so many over-gradings that I'll now only purchase from 100% sellers, and I suspect many others do the same.)