I only buy from sellers with a 99.5% to 100% rating. And then any seller with less than 100% I will check the reasons for neutral or negative feedback. I only buy Mint or Near Mint vinyl and sleeve condition. I do consider VG+ for sleeve condition if I have experience of buying from the seller. For any records with a high price, I ask for photos as I do not want to be paying US 1st issue prices for a more recent reissue. I started buying on Discogs in 2016 and have only had a couple of small issues - both of which the two sellers resolved by offering partial refunds.
Another great video Nadine ,thanks for sharing this important information. Discogs certainly a minefield . Some amazing sellers on there it’s just finding them. Grading in the VC is like the Wild West,we need transparency. Someone’s VG + is another man’s Fair & so it goes on. Discogs does need to improve their platform 100%. Take care Nadine 🙏😎
Brick and mortar store prices might be higher, but you usually have to pay for postage with Discogs. So it kind of evens out. I've had good luck with Discogs -- most of the time. When I didn't, the seller honored a return.
I've run into the same issues you have with discogs and also sometimes on ebay despite having pictures, many sellers overrate the condition, which means the price is also much higher than it should be. I bought a supposedly VG+ LP off ebay for the price a VG+ would go for, the cover was falling apart and the LP was unlistenable. The other issue is the pressing they are selling is not the one advertised like your example. The cost difference in highly collectible records can be as much as 20-30 x higher or more, take Led Zeppelin II for example. In the last year almost half of the records I've bought or asked sellers to verify on discogs were not the correct version. I've had so many sellers send me a different/inferior pressing, now I always ask them to confirm the matrix before I pay.
Nice one Nadine. I do appreciate what Discogs does and appreciate it as a resource and marketplace. They do need to put an end to these scammers. Even though they are easy to spot, its making the experience browsing there a pain. The idea that a seller would not get the difference in pressings by country or pressing plant is nuts to me in 2023. Maybe 20 years ago sure but now thats just insane. Enjoyed! I just posted a video about 2 good experiences on Discogs, and 1 not so much. Curious your thoughts...take care
Sellers that know records and care about the hobby will communicate it in the details of their listings where flippers haven't a clue. If a listing doesn't communicate a sense of respect for the hobby it's best to move on unless it's something really, really rare.
As yet I haven't had any major mishaps with discogs but I do follow a strict rule of thumb. 1. Never buy from sellers with 1000+ sales with a feedback rating below 99.7% 2. 100% feedback minimum for sellers with under 1000 sales. 3. Scrutinize seller feeback to make sure it is real before buying anything from a seller you have not used before. 4. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Hi Nadine, Thanks for your videos. They are very interesting and informative. I personally like Discogs because I have records that I would never have without the worldwide marketplace. I agree that grading is an issue and I've been on the losing end of this. You would be surprised what some sellers are calling NM. I have learned over the years which sellers I can trust and I try to stay within my select group. I do however take chances at times and sometimes I win and sometimes I lose. Overall I do like Discogs. Thanks again for your videos.
Some sellers grade the vinyl VG+ on the basis that the audio has no static, skips and so on, but the vinyl has been heavily played and looks in really poor shape. That is a common problem i think with some sellers, over-grading vinyl simply because just the audio still plays very well.
No it’s actually pretty damn good. I use it all the time. Selling and buying. Like anything else its not perfect but anyone using it for a while should do ok. Pay attention to who you’re buying from. Ask questions esp on big ticket items. Problem seller’s usually don’t last long. But It would be nice as sellers to have a spot to put pictures in our sales. Having customers see what they’re buying can only help both parties.
Totally agree. Anything less than 100% is a red flag. However, it is also important to read the comments. A 99.8% seller with two or three negative reviews is probably still a safer bet than a 100% seller with 50 neutral reviews.
@@Souldisco Anyone with less than a 99.8% rating inevitably has several negative reviews indicating that they overgrade records. Once PayPal stopped reimbursing for return shipping, the risk of losing shipping fees every time you get a bum record just became too great. At this point, if a seller has a less than 99.8% rating and the record is listed as anything less than a NM grade, it’s a hard pass for me. UNLESS I am taking a punt on a $15 record.
Great topic. I just had my first bad experience with a highly defensive seller. After ultrasonic cleaning, the sound issues continued. I let the seller know, and he asked me to send it back. I did the next day, cleaned and in a new mofi inner sleeve. When he got it back, he emailed me that it played perfectly and proceeded to give me a bad rating-my first after hundreds of purchases. Very unsettling.
I buy and sell on Discogs for 5 years now, as a seller, my feedback is completely positive, as a buyer it is 98% positive. So you see I had some bad experiences too but not very much and nothing too serious, no frauds so far. For me as a jazz collector in Austria I have no chance to build a collection without Discogs or ebay.
All valid concerns you mentioned. However , I think we may be asking for reforms that will be regretted in the long run. Pushing for more services is going to have one sure result; Price will escalate and fewer records will be listed. The way I see it, Independent sellers will decide that the hassle of selling a dozen unwanted records just isn’t worth the effort. Meaning that all those potential bargains will vanish. The same is true of grading records. No matter what is done there will always be a certain amount of ambiguity in the grading process. This can work to a buyers disadvantage but also to a buyers advantage. If we demand a standardization of the grading process, the result again may be that independent sellers walk away from the platform. The time, cost, difficulty, of selling on Discog will make listing albums pointless. I call it the corporatization of selling records. It may be more safe. And more convenient. But buyers will pay a very high price for those conveniences. Higher prices and fewer records. Just my opinion. Danke.
@the-vinyl-dreamscape5084 Thanks for watching, will check that out, but wouldn't people be willing to pay a higher price for a more secure way of getting what they ordered/want?
@@Souldisco Some people likely would be happy to pay more. But that misses a larger point, I think. High prices will only be one negative factor. The other will be the loss of the “casual seller”. High fees, mandatory photos, rigid grading (which isn’t possible imo) will fundamentally change who is willing to list albums for sale. If Discog becomes that safe, highly regulated and expensive platform, many price conscious buyers and sellers will abandon the discog marketplace. They will look for other platforms (return to eBay) or simply selling their family records locally. Either way, I fear we will be left with a discog that is a shell of the vast, vibrant marketplace that we have today. Don’t get me wrong, there are many flaws. Many. But I have scored so many great records on Discog that I’m reluctant to make changes that will discourage everyone from participating. In this case, a safe and standardized Discog may be the enemy of a great record score from across the globe. Just my thoughts. Be well. Shawn.
Discogs will have to go through the same painful development as eBay did if they want a sustainable business - right now it's a terrible platform for buying (and database... but that's a separate topic!). I've got to the stage where I put a note in every purchase to say cancel the order if it isn't accurately graded 🤦
@@Souldisco Where do I start regarding the database... vague guidelines that lead to small groups of users making up rules on the forums (which may or may not be helpful, but if the solution is good then it should be incorporated into the guidelines)... terrible "tough guy" attitude from a notable number of users... experienced users leaving negative votes on entries that are correct (even established artists doing the same!). So, yes it's great that Discogs exists and that they have a marketplace where we can find obscure releases from around the world - but it's not a nice place.
I dared to try my first discog purchase. A few minutes AFTER I made my purchase, Discog sent a message saying it was a suspended seller because he was a scammer. Um…. Why tell me after? Take his sale offers down. Lost the money.
It’s tricky to identify bad graders on Discogs, but not impossible. The answer is in the positive feedback. If much of the feedback is written with positive emotion, and if the buyers really took the time to write something with enthousiasm, it could be a pretty good seller. If much of the feedback is short with just a few words and kind of cold, such as “OK”, “Thank you”, or “very nice” then there is something going on which tempers the enthousiasm of the buyer. It is easy to identify scammers from 100 miles away, and the answer is definitely not in the feedback, because it could be a hacked account with old feedback or fake feedback. Instead, there are just too many red flags when you analyse their sales inventory, item descriptions, and profile history.
I had a few bad experiences, now I always ask to FACETIME me or a video call so I can see what I’m buying. Some sellers are really taking the piss on Discogs and giving it a bad name.
Lately sellers: have sent 1. Wrong variant listed. Seller was suppose to send Prelude Records Promo and sent Red commercial. 2. not as described, 3. Writing on item when not described. When it arrives is it an isolated error? Or not. Some have been too obvious. As of today I will provide negative (-) feedback.
Sometimes I sell there. Last time, from 284 eur the buyer paid, I only got 84%. This sucks, as supposedly they take 9% of record AND shipping. Ridiculous and unacceptable
As a buyer, I don’t want photos. Nobody knows how to photograph vinyl. If there is wear on the sleeve and I miss it, seller has an out. Returns are easier if there is a discrepancy between description and item received. Biggest issue for me is unprofessional sellers who get in a huff and accuse buyers of lying when you point out discrepancies. EBay, which requires photos when requesting a return, is much better for resolving bad transactions. That said, there are still a lot of great records in great condition on Discogs that you will never find anywhere else (despite the rise of fake sellers, website issues, etc.)
I never ever buy used lps from on line. Never purchased from discogs or eBay and the more I hear I wound be in the future. I buy my Jazz from Amazon as new albums and my other vinyl from my local used new record stores.
I couldn't imagine not buying online. I am lucky to live in a large city with a lot of very good stores, but even so, there's a lot of stuff I want that just never turns up. locally. Before, I spent over a decade in a country without a lot of good records to be had, and buying online and/or buying on my travels was what saved me. Either way, while I always prefer buying in local shops, I couldn't imagine not buying online. So that's the flipside, I guess.
@@phantommuon perhaps I worded my comment poorly. I do buy online but only from what I feel and know to be reliable & trusted sources that I can return with zero hassle any defective product etc. Discoqs for me is insecure from complaints I hear in videos. Perhaps I should try once or twice but I find no real reason yet. I buy new albums online not used. Used I prefer to find in the wild and inspect etc. The hunt for me is 75% of the “buzz”.
Probably 30 or 40% of the records I have bought on Discogs were overgraded. One from the 60s that was graded VG+ looked like it been skated on. The sellers excuse was that Its still in great condition for its age. 😕 One problem is I find im hesitant to give a bad rating to the seller in case he retaliates with a similarly bad rating. The most bad gradings seem to be on records graded VG+ which are no better than VG.
Hi good video hi and good video. Hi have a record. But it has a little skip in but other than tyat plays vg+ but i have stated as a vg as the lutttle skip i have graded with continuous grade. I dont no plays witout noises but a little skip
Never had a bad experience with Discogs to be honest.Look at the feedback of the seller (esp the disputes), return to sellers where you have a previous good transaction and like everything on the internet, if its too good to be true, it usually is! Use instinct
I only buy from sellers with a 99.5% to 100% rating. And then any seller with less than 100% I will check the reasons for neutral or negative feedback. I only buy Mint or Near Mint vinyl and sleeve condition. I do consider VG+ for sleeve condition if I have experience of buying from the seller. For any records with a high price, I ask for photos as I do not want to be paying US 1st issue prices for a more recent reissue. I started buying on Discogs in 2016 and have only had a couple of small issues - both of which the two sellers resolved by offering partial refunds.
@lastexittobrooklyn1416 thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
Another great video Nadine ,thanks for sharing this important information.
Discogs certainly a minefield .
Some amazing sellers on there it’s just finding them.
Grading in the VC is like the Wild West,we need transparency.
Someone’s VG + is another man’s Fair & so it goes on.
Discogs does need to improve their platform 100%.
Take care Nadine 🙏😎
Brick and mortar store prices might be higher, but you usually have to pay for postage with Discogs. So it kind of evens out. I've had good luck with Discogs -- most of the time. When I didn't, the seller honored a return.
@tonys9102 thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
I've run into the same issues you have with discogs and also sometimes on ebay despite having pictures, many sellers overrate the condition, which means the price is also much higher than it should be. I bought a supposedly VG+ LP off ebay for the price a VG+ would go for, the cover was falling apart and the LP was unlistenable. The other issue is the pressing they are selling is not the one advertised like your example. The cost difference in highly collectible records can be as much as 20-30 x higher or more, take Led Zeppelin II for example. In the last year almost half of the records I've bought or asked sellers to verify on discogs were not the correct version. I've had so many sellers send me a different/inferior pressing, now I always ask them to confirm the matrix before I pay.
@rawheadjim Thanks for watching and sharing your experience
Nice one Nadine. I do appreciate what Discogs does and appreciate it as a resource and marketplace. They do need to put an end to these scammers. Even though they are easy to spot, its making the experience browsing there a pain. The idea that a seller would not get the difference in pressings by country or pressing plant is nuts to me in 2023. Maybe 20 years ago sure but now thats just insane. Enjoyed! I just posted a video about 2 good experiences on Discogs, and 1 not so much. Curious your thoughts...take care
@seekingathread Thanks for watching. I really enjoy your channel! Will watch it :-)
Sellers that know records and care about the hobby will communicate it in the details of their listings where flippers haven't a clue. If a listing doesn't communicate a sense of respect for the hobby it's best to move on unless it's something really, really rare.
@allen-rp3gm thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
As yet I haven't had any major mishaps with discogs but I do follow a strict rule of thumb. 1. Never buy from sellers with 1000+ sales with a feedback rating below 99.7% 2. 100% feedback minimum for sellers with under 1000 sales. 3. Scrutinize seller feeback to make sure it is real before buying anything from a seller you have not used before. 4. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
@staggerlee6794 thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
@@Souldisco You're welcome, Nadine.
Hi Nadine, Thanks for your videos. They are very interesting and informative. I personally like Discogs because I have records that I would never have without the worldwide marketplace. I agree that grading is an issue and I've been on the losing end of this. You would be surprised what some sellers are calling NM. I have learned over the years which sellers I can trust and I try to stay within my select group. I do however take chances at times and sometimes I win and sometimes I lose. Overall I do like Discogs. Thanks again for your videos.
Thanks for watching and sharing
Some sellers grade the vinyl VG+ on the basis that the audio has no static, skips and so on, but the vinyl has been heavily played and looks in really poor shape. That is a common problem i think with some sellers, over-grading vinyl simply because just the audio still plays very well.
@audiointelligence7611 Thanks for watching and pointing this out.
No it’s actually pretty damn good. I use it all the time. Selling and buying. Like anything else its not perfect but anyone using it for a while should do ok. Pay attention to who you’re buying from. Ask questions esp on big ticket items.
Problem seller’s usually don’t last long.
But It would be nice as sellers to have a spot to put pictures in our sales. Having customers see what they’re buying can only help both parties.
@Stonecutter334 thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
Buy from sellers with a smaller inventory who grade accurate with 100% rating. Big sellers tend to over grade
Totally agree. Anything less than 100% is a red flag. However, it is also important to read the comments. A 99.8% seller with two or three negative reviews is probably still a safer bet than a 100% seller with 50 neutral reviews.
@kieronkelly959 Thanks for watching!
@christopherpfiffner724 Thanks for watching! So no less than 100%?
@@Souldisco Anyone with less than a 99.8% rating inevitably has several negative reviews indicating that they overgrade records. Once PayPal stopped reimbursing for return shipping, the risk of losing shipping fees every time you get a bum record just became too great. At this point, if a seller has a less than 99.8% rating and the record is listed as anything less than a NM grade, it’s a hard pass for me. UNLESS I am taking a punt on a $15 record.
Great topic. I just had my first bad experience with a highly defensive seller. After ultrasonic cleaning, the sound issues continued. I let the seller know, and he asked me to send it back. I did the next day, cleaned and in a new mofi inner sleeve. When he got it back, he emailed me that it played perfectly and proceeded to give me a bad rating-my first after hundreds of purchases. Very unsettling.
Thanks for watching and sharing your story
I buy and sell on Discogs for 5 years now, as a seller, my feedback is completely positive, as a buyer it is 98% positive. So you see I had some bad experiences too but not very much and nothing too serious, no frauds so far. For me as a jazz collector in Austria I have no chance to build a collection without Discogs or ebay.
@mymixture965 thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
All valid concerns you mentioned. However , I think we may be asking for reforms that will be regretted in the long run. Pushing for more services is going to have one sure result; Price will escalate and fewer records will be listed. The way I see it, Independent sellers will decide that the hassle of selling a dozen unwanted records just isn’t worth the effort. Meaning that all those potential bargains will vanish. The same is true of grading records. No matter what is done there will always be a certain amount of ambiguity in the grading process. This can work to a buyers disadvantage but also to a buyers advantage. If we demand a standardization of the grading process, the result again may be that independent sellers walk away from the platform. The time, cost, difficulty, of selling on Discog will make listing albums pointless. I call it the corporatization of selling records. It may be more safe. And more convenient. But buyers will pay a very high price for those conveniences. Higher prices and fewer records. Just my opinion. Danke.
@the-vinyl-dreamscape5084 Thanks for watching, will check that out, but wouldn't people be willing to pay a higher price for a more secure way of getting what they ordered/want?
@@Souldisco Some people likely would be happy to pay more. But that misses a larger point, I think. High prices will only be one negative factor. The other will be the loss of the “casual seller”. High fees, mandatory photos, rigid grading (which isn’t possible imo) will fundamentally change who is willing to list albums for sale. If Discog becomes that safe, highly regulated and expensive platform, many price conscious buyers and sellers will abandon the discog marketplace. They will look for other platforms (return to eBay) or simply selling their family records locally. Either way, I fear we will be left with a discog that is a shell of the vast, vibrant marketplace that we have today. Don’t get me wrong, there are many flaws. Many. But I have scored so many great records on Discog that I’m reluctant to make changes that will discourage everyone from participating. In this case, a safe and standardized Discog may be the enemy of a great record score from across the globe. Just my thoughts. Be well. Shawn.
Discogs will have to go through the same painful development as eBay did if they want a sustainable business - right now it's a terrible platform for buying (and database... but that's a separate topic!). I've got to the stage where I put a note in every purchase to say cancel the order if it isn't accurately graded 🤦
Thanks for watching. May you can go a little more into details concerning the database. Sorry about the note but I totally understand it.
@@Souldisco Where do I start regarding the database... vague guidelines that lead to small groups of users making up rules on the forums (which may or may not be helpful, but if the solution is good then it should be incorporated into the guidelines)... terrible "tough guy" attitude from a notable number of users... experienced users leaving negative votes on entries that are correct (even established artists doing the same!). So, yes it's great that Discogs exists and that they have a marketplace where we can find obscure releases from around the world - but it's not a nice place.
Thanks for sharing this. 👍
I dared to try my first discog purchase. A few minutes AFTER I made my purchase, Discog sent a message saying it was a suspended seller because he was a scammer. Um…. Why tell me after? Take his sale offers down. Lost the money.
@hubaarhabilis Thanks for watching!
It’s tricky to identify bad graders on Discogs, but not impossible. The answer is in the positive feedback. If much of the feedback is written with positive emotion, and if the buyers really took the time to write something with enthousiasm, it could be a pretty good seller. If much of the feedback is short with just a few words and kind of cold, such as “OK”, “Thank you”, or “very nice” then there is something going on which tempers the enthousiasm of the buyer.
It is easy to identify scammers from 100 miles away, and the answer is definitely not in the feedback, because it could be a hacked account with old feedback or fake feedback. Instead, there are just too many red flags when you analyse their sales inventory, item descriptions, and profile history.
@huberts1682 Thanks for watching!
I have my 4 trusted discogs sellers, if they don’t have it, I’m not buying it.
@anap3333 thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
hi there, i amnew tothis channel, youre experience is also mine, i buy more in stores therefore,
Thanks for watching
I had a few bad experiences, now I always ask to FACETIME me or a video call so I can see what I’m buying. Some sellers are really taking the piss on Discogs and giving it a bad name.
@DJStanSteel thanks for watching and sharing your experience, never tried FaceTime with a seller on discogs.
Lately sellers: have sent 1. Wrong variant listed. Seller was suppose to send Prelude Records Promo and sent Red commercial. 2. not as described, 3. Writing on item when not described. When it arrives is it an isolated error? Or not. Some have been too obvious. As of today I will provide negative (-) feedback.
@FxMora02 Thanks for pointing this out and sharing your experience
Not Discogs fault. Although seller may have had an isolated error a negative feedback should provided to advise future buyers.
Sometimes I sell there. Last time, from 284 eur the buyer paid, I only got 84%. This sucks, as supposedly they take 9% of record AND shipping. Ridiculous and unacceptable
Thanks for watching and sharing your story
I only use ebay. With ebay the photos tell us details which leave nothing left to the imagination (or for the most part).
@LPS-R-US thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
Ebay is a lot safer as you have photos and you can make a claim against bad sellers who are in denial.
@classicrock7890 thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
As a buyer, I don’t want photos. Nobody knows how to photograph vinyl. If there is wear on the sleeve and I miss it, seller has an out. Returns are easier if there is a discrepancy between description and item received. Biggest issue for me is unprofessional sellers who get in a huff and accuse buyers of lying when you point out discrepancies. EBay, which requires photos when requesting a return, is much better for resolving bad transactions. That said, there are still a lot of great records in great condition on Discogs that you will never find anywhere else (despite the rise of fake sellers, website issues, etc.)
@christopherpfiffner724 Thanks for pointing this out and watching.
I never ever buy used lps from on line. Never purchased from discogs or eBay and the more I hear I wound be in the future. I buy my Jazz from Amazon as new albums and my other vinyl from my local used new record stores.
@knifewhipped thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
I couldn't imagine not buying online. I am lucky to live in a large city with a lot of very good stores, but even so, there's a lot of stuff I want that just never turns up. locally. Before, I spent over a decade in a country without a lot of good records to be had, and buying online and/or buying on my travels was what saved me. Either way, while I always prefer buying in local shops, I couldn't imagine not buying online. So that's the flipside, I guess.
@@phantommuon perhaps I worded my comment poorly. I do buy online but only from what I feel and know to be reliable & trusted sources that I can return with zero hassle any defective product etc. Discoqs for me is insecure from complaints I hear in videos. Perhaps I should try once or twice but I find no real reason yet. I buy new albums online not used. Used I prefer to find in the wild and inspect etc. The hunt for me is 75% of the “buzz”.
No pictures=No sale
@rodlecloux3820 Thanks for watching!
Yeah, I’m not a fan of Discogs either, however, it’s for completely different reasons.
@BeAGoodDoga Thanks for watching!
@@Souldisco no worries! Hope you’re having a lovely week!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Probably 30 or 40% of the records I have bought on Discogs were overgraded. One from the 60s that was graded VG+ looked like it been skated on. The sellers excuse was that Its still in great condition for its age. 😕 One problem is I find im hesitant to give a bad rating to the seller in case he retaliates with a similarly bad rating. The most bad gradings seem to be on records graded VG+ which are no better than VG.
Hello Peter, thanks for watching. Same experience when it comes to VG +. All the best Nadine
Hi good video hi and good video. Hi have a record. But it has a little skip in but other than tyat plays vg+ but i have stated as a vg as the lutttle skip i have graded with continuous grade. I dont no plays witout noises but a little skip
Thanks for watching and sharing your story
I have a vintage original button that reads DISCO SUCKS. btw I don't agree.
Never had a bad experience with Discogs to be honest.Look at the feedback of the seller (esp the disputes), return to sellers where you have a previous good transaction and like everything on the internet, if its too good to be true, it usually is! Use instinct
@tushansoulboy thanks for watching and sharing your experience.