Discogs

[JeffCarney]

Anybody else feel that this site is slowly losing credibility?

From pricing by people living in some type of alternate universe to the way it insists on often putting second LPs before first and so on ... it's really become a bit frustrating to navigate.

My latest "pet peeve" is the legions of Sellers who cannot list their vinyl under the proper grade, but add comments which make it not the grade they are using. So you'll get something like NM/NM and then it'll say "Vinyl VG+ with some hairlines and cover EX with some very light water damage." Now ... what's wrong with this picture?

This is one I just saw which made me think maybe a thread was in order:

"... light ringwear, pricesticker, perfect copy!"

[Nijinsky Hind]

Discogs is a plenty complicated site. My beef same as yours, inadequate descriptions.

[rcarlberg]

Anybody else feel that this site is slowly losing credibility?

"Slowly"? I'm not sure they ever HAD any credibility.

[Don Arnold]

My main beef with discogs is their lack of a block seller function. I've had to delete many discs from my want list because I simply hated getting daily notices of a cd from my want list only to see that it's yet another relisting from the same seller. Some sellers seem to relist daily. I know, I know. I could simply delete the email every day and perhaps after doing that for 49 straight days, open up a notice showing a different seller...at a decent price...

[Taped Rugs]

The Discogs "Police" are a pain too. I've tried on more than one occasion to correct misinformation and/or provide additional information regarding MY OWN RECORDINGS that someone else has posted on this site, and often these alterations were later removed by various individuals who believe they were maintaining the data base "properly." Apparently the producer of a recording is not considered to be a valid expert on the subject of his or her own work, but instead is regarded as some sort of evil spammer. This is simply insulting, and it reinforces that this site is more far more interested in the supposed financial value of recordings than their artistic qualities.

[Chain]

My main beef with discogs is their lack of a block seller function. I've had to delete many discs from my want list because I simply hated getting daily notices of a cd from my want list only to see that it's yet another relisting from the same seller. Some sellers seem to relist daily. I know, I know. I could simply delete the email every day and perhaps after doing that for 49 straight days, open up a notice showing a different seller...at a decent price...

What is happening here is a seller is delisting their inventory from sale (just a box tick) and then relisting their inventory for sale (another box tick). So anything on your wants list that is in the relisting will be sent to you

[davis]

Never bought anything there, but I used it a lot for reference purposes. I like it when the time of the songs are listed. When they're not, they just not. no big deal.

[Trane]

I don't use the site for buying, only for references (along with RYM, whenever needed)

Discogs is a plenty complicated site.

Not the most intuitive site, IMHO

"Slowly"? I'm not sure they ever HAD any credibility.

Well ever since a Belgian dealer has been using it (ever since he closed his B&M shop), it can't have gotten better re: state of albums.

[JeffCarney]

Well, as someone who owns an online record shop, I'll say this as far as Buying/Selling on Discogs:

eBay moves records. Discogs lets them sit on the shelf.

We sell some things on Discogs but have backed off it so much because stuff just sits there. Even if you price it reasonably. I think part of the problem is that so many Sellers are living in some type of "La La Land" about how much their vinyl is worth, so it just discredits the entire Buying/Selling process on the site to some extent. And it has impacted some of our purchasing where people selling collections are in a dream world about what their albums are worth, because they start looking them up on Discogs. I then have to point out that just because an album is listed for sale at $100 doesn't mean it will sell for $100.

I buy on Discogs. In fact, I make some pretty good deals. I find it a very good resource overall, and often I'll buy VG+ albums and send them to Mike Prete for cleaning. The next thing you know, some of them are NM or close, they sound great, and I've saved quite a bit of money.

[rcarlberg]

I've only bought from Discogs twice. Both times the vinyl was listed as NM.

Both times the discs were P- when they arrived.

Never again.

[JeffCarney]

I've only bought from Discogs twice. Both times the vinyl was listed as NM.

Both times the discs were P- when they arrived.

Never again.

Is that Poor Minus? Wow ... NM to P-. So instead of nearly perfect to cracked and unplayable or something ...

I've had few problems in this respect. Probably 9/10 Sellers have delivered what was advertised.

[Jerjo]

Well, as someone who owns an online record shop, .

Gotta link? I'm not buying right now but it'd be useful down the road.

[ashratom]

Well, as someone who owns an online record shop, I'll say this as far as Buying/Selling on Discogs:

eBay moves records. Discogs lets them sit on the shelf.

We sell some things on Discogs but have backed off it so much because stuff just sits there. Even if you price it reasonably. I think part of the problem is that so many Sellers are living in some type of "La La Land" about how much their vinyl is worth, so it just discredits the entire Buying/Selling process on the site to some extent. And it has impacted some of our purchasing where people selling collections are in a dream world about what their albums are worth, because they start looking them up on Discogs. I then have to point out that just because an album is listed for sale at $100 doesn't mean it will sell for $100.

I buy on Discogs. In fact, I make some pretty good deals. I find it a very good resource overall, and often I'll buy VG+ albums and send them to Mike Prete for cleaning. The next thing you know, some of them are NM or close, they sound great, and I've saved quite a bit of money.

I agree with everything here. I do find Discogs convenient simply because I can have a "Record Store in the Cloud" as it were (referencing business meaning verse "lala land" pricing LOL) and it costs me nothing to have it sit there. "List it and Leave it" was the advice Mr. Prete gave me once, and it's spot on. We'll see an order come through every once in awhile. It just trickles in ever so slowly. I do have our shop down because I'm currently doing intermittent business travel, but once that settles down, I'll put it back up. But for moving things out quick we have other platforms like our semi-annual Purple Peak Records sale, and of course, ebay auctions. Both are better for high ticket LP items, whereas Discogs is better for the lower/mid range cost CDs for example

I do detailed written grading on most of our items, just to reinforce the rating I apply. Personally I'm a big proponent of the EX grade, and that's not there, so I have to determine if it's closer to NM or VG+, and I justify it with detail. I come from the old catalog days when VG often meant "whipped", so it's a bias that's hard to shake for me at least. Anyway, based on the feedback I've received, those detailed descriptions have proven to be a big hit with the customers who appreciated it.

And yes, I owe Mike some records to clean as well. I can't wait to use his service!

[interbellum]

I only buy from discogs and mostly it's stuff I can't find anywhere else.
My experiences are quite good, although it's not the most user-friendly way of ordering.
Like I wrote in another thread about discogs/ebay I had one bad experience, but discogs helped me with that and banned the seller.

[Pr33t]

Anybody else feel that this site is slowly losing credibility?

From pricing by people living in some type of alternate universe to the way it insists on often putting second LPs before first and so on ... it's really become a bit frustrating to navigate.

My latest "pet peeve" is the legions of Sellers who cannot list their vinyl under the proper grade, but add comments which make it not the grade they are using. So you'll get something like NM/NM and then it'll say "Vinyl VG+ with some hairlines and cover EX with some very light water damage." Now ... what's wrong with this picture?

Oh, pricing is generally insane. I probably buy 95% from eBay instead, though if you're diligent, you can find the occasional deal on discogs.

As a seller myself, I am sometimes guilty of listing an 'in-between' grade, but I try and choose the discogs grade that is lower (i.e. if the LP is EX, I will list it as VG+ and then say in the comments that it is E. The condition grading waters have been muddied so much, I find that I need to use grades like VG++ and an accurate description of what I mean by that to be clear. Unfortunately today's VG+ is generally a strict grader's G+ or VG. I'd be undercutting myself too much using the site definition of a VG+.

Another one you have to scratch your head at is the "VG to EX+!!" as if the parts of the record that aren't scratched get their own individual grade. It's fine to point out if one side is significantly different from another, but come on.

Well, as someone who owns an online record shop, I'll say this as far as Buying/Selling on Discogs:

eBay moves records. Discogs lets them sit on the shelf.

We sell some things on Discogs but have backed off it so much because stuff just sits there. Even if you price it reasonably. I think part of the problem is that so many Sellers are living in some type of "La La Land" about how much their vinyl is worth, so it just discredits the entire Buying/Selling process on the site to some extent. And it has impacted some of our purchasing where people selling collections are in a dream world about what their albums are worth, because they start looking them up on Discogs. I then have to point out that just because an album is listed for sale at $100 doesn't mean it will sell for $100.

I've discussed this with many people and agree with you. For me, Discogs is 'set it and forget it' - I put up albums that I don't need to make an immediate sale on, and it's much less time intensive than making an ebay listing. Sometimes it takes years to move something, but I often get the price I want. In your case, eBay definitely makes much more sense.

I buy on Discogs. In fact, I make some pretty good deals. I find it a very good resource overall, and often I'll buy VG+ albums and send them to Mike Prete for cleaning. The next thing you know, some of them are NM or close, they sound great, and I've saved quite a bit of money.

Thanks for the plug! I've always been a fanatical cleaner, and you'd be amazed at what it can do in some cases.

[Pr33t]

I do detailed written grading on most of our items, just to reinforce the rating I apply. Personally I'm a big proponent of the EX grade, and that's not there, so I have to determine if it's closer to NM or VG+, and I justify it with detail. I come from the old catalog days when VG often meant "whipped", so it's a bias that's hard to shake for me at least. Anyway, based on the feedback I've received, those detailed descriptions have proven to be a big hit with the customers who appreciated it.

I took too long to finish writing my last post, and you beat me to it I find that I have to message sellers who don't include a written description with the grade, essentially asking "so what is your definition of a VG+?" Traditionally, a VG+ should mean it's not too far off NM, and is a safe buy. 90% of the time, it means it's scratched and you're taking a gamble with it. This is why I include EX and VG++. I'll occasionally take the risk on a VG if I can get the seller to fully describe it, and tell me how it plays. I've gotten some rare albums at affordable prices this way, but that's an outlier to most experiences.

And yes, I owe Mike some records to clean as well. I can't wait to use his service!

[JeffCarney]

I agree with everything here. I do find Discogs convenient simply because I can have a "Record Store in the Cloud" as it were (referencing business meaning verse "lala land" pricing LOL) and it costs me nothing to have it sit there. "List it and Leave it" was the advice Mr. Prete gave me once, and it's spot on. We'll see an order come through every once in awhile. It just trickles in ever so slowly. I do have our shop down because I'm currently doing intermittent business travel, but once that settles down, I'll put it back up. But for moving things out quick we have other platforms like our semi-annual Purple Peak Records sale, and of course, ebay auctions. Both are better for high ticket LP items, whereas Discogs is better for the lower/mid range cost CDs for example

I do detailed written grading on most of our items, just to reinforce the rating I apply. Personally I'm a big proponent of the EX grade, and that's not there, so I have to determine if it's closer to NM or VG+, and I justify it with detail. I come from the old catalog days when VG often meant "whipped", so it's a bias that's hard to shake for me at least. Anyway, based on the feedback I've received, those detailed descriptions have proven to be a big hit with the customers who appreciated it.

And yes, I owe Mike some records to clean as well. I can't wait to use his service!

I absolutely agree on the "EX" grade. I find it entirely reasonable and helpful. Discogs attitude about this has only left them with gazillions of listings in either NM or VG+ where the record is stated to be EX in the comments.

[JeffCarney]

Oh, pricing is generally insane. I probably buy 95% from eBay instead, though if you're diligent, you can find the occasional deal on discogs.

As a seller myself, I am sometimes guilty of listing an 'in-between' grade, but I try and choose the discogs grade that is lower (i.e. if the LP is EX, I will list it as VG+ and then say in the comments that it is E. The condition grading waters have been muddied so much, I find that I need to use grades like VG++ and an accurate description of what I mean by that to be clear. Unfortunately today's VG+ is generally a strict grader's G+ or VG. I'd be undercutting myself too much using the site definition of a VG+.

Another one you have to scratch your head at is the "VG to EX+!!" as if the parts of the record that aren't scratched get their own individual grade. It's fine to point out if one side is significantly different from another, but come on.

The thing is that I absolutely understand the need for clarification in the comments on some occasions, but I think this has caused too many people to simply kid themselves about grading. That's why on eBay we rarely get into details because it's become largely BS and a way to basically admit that the record isn't the grade which you have given. A record graded "NM but with a large scuff Side A and a click lasting for a few rounds on B2" is not NM. Come up with a grade and live with it.

I've discussed this with many people and agree with you. For me, Discogs is 'set it and forget it' - I put up albums that I don't need to make an immediate sale on, and it's much less time intensive than making an ebay listing. Sometimes it takes years to move something, but I often get the price I want. In your case, eBay definitely makes much more sense.

I think this is how it best works. No question. And I do use it for selling once in a while. It's just that I think product could move more if people weren't so turned off by the pricing. Instead, I think it becomes habitual that they just use it for research (which we do on nearly every LP). In other words this aspect of its usefulness is being brought down by ridiculous pricing by its users. I'm not blaming the site itself for this aspect, EXCEPT that they do have a recommended pricing structure which is sometimes totally out of whack and a guide which many users probably use without checking how realistic it is.

[Pr33t]

I think this is how it best works. No question. And I do use it for selling once in a while. It's just that I think product could move more if people weren't so turned off by the pricing. Instead, I think it becomes habitual that they just use it for research (which we do on nearly every LP). In other words this aspect of its usefulness is being brought down by ridiculous pricing by its users. I'm not blaming the site itself for this aspect, EXCEPT that they do have a recommended pricing structure which is sometimes totally out of whack and a guide which many users probably use without checking how realistic it is.

Oh, the recommended price is a joke, and basically only works with brand new releases where there isn't much price fluctuation in their sales history. Try it on some album that has pirate editions that were sold as "RE" under the OG item, and it skews the data beyond the pale. And it doesn't take into account where the item is - my record might be a bit more expensive, but you only have to pay $4 in shipping rather than $20 from Europe.

[moecurlythanu]

My biggest problem with Discogs is their crap grading system. Like Tom, I favor the Ex grade greatly. (Imagine that.) I pretty much could have quoted his whole post.

I favor the further explanation under the grade, because of confusion around the grade. I've bought around 300 items off Discogs, and only had to return one item that was graded as NM and looked like it had been skated upon. I received a full refund.

I find their attention to minutiae aggravating and bewildering. For instance, different entries for an album on the same label, but with manufactured in the USA on different sides of the center hole. Really? Who gives a flying motherfuck?

As for the sellers who expect every sale to finance their retirement,..We probably know who they are, and a quick check of popsike will show how delusional they are. The annoying relists are part of the problem. I have a lot of items on my wantlist, but Discogs apparently caps notifications at 100. If one of the delusional relisters relists, and it is part of my 100, then items I may be interested in won't show up, and I'll miss out. Looking at most recent sales of some items has confirmed that this does happen.

As far as selling goes, haven't done it, but if a rich guy like me ever gets in a pinch, the real rarities will go on ebay, and the lesser items will probably go to Discogs.

If anyone wants to weigh in on the Discogs forum regarding the Ex grade, I'm currently having a discussion with someone who sees things differently. Feel free to chime in.

https://www.discogs.com/forum/thread...page=1#7209858

[JeffCarney]

Gotta link? I'm not buying right now but it'd be useful down the road.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/popshoprecordstop

[JeffCarney]

My biggest problem with Discogs is their crap grading system. Like Tom, I favor the Ex grade greatly. (Imagine that.) I pretty much could have quoted his whole post.

I favor the further explanation under the grade, because of confusion around the grade. I've bought around 300 items off Discogs, and only had to return one item that was graded as NM and looked like it had been skated upon. I received a full refund.

I find their attention to minutiae aggravating and bewildering. For instance, different entries for an album on the same label, but with manufactured in the USA on different sides of the center hole. Really? Who gives a flying motherfuck?

As for the sellers who expect every sale to finance their retirement,..We probably know who they are, and a quick check of popsike will show how delusional they are. The annoying relists are part of the problem. I have a lot of items on my wantlist, but Discogs apparently caps notifications at 100. If one of the delusional relisters relists, and it is part of my 100, then items I may be interested in won't show up, and I'll miss out. Looking at most recent sales of some items has confirmed that this does happen.

As far as selling goes, haven't done it, but if a rich guy like me ever gets in a pinch, the real rarities will go on ebay, and the lesser items will probably go to Discogs.

If anyone wants to weigh in on the Discogs forum regarding the Ex grade, I'm currently having a discussion with someone who sees things differently. Feel free to chime in.

https://www.discogs.com/forum/thread...page=1#7209858

Oh, man ... can I relate!

I once tried to update some of their CD listings with things like noting what CDs were from vinyl. People like Steve Freeman were none too pleased. "It doesn't say on the CD that it's from vinyl ... " "How can you prove that it's from vinyl?"

Er ... right. So ... have you actually put on some headphones and listened to it? Nah, that would be silly. Let's all look at matrix numbers instead and see if the CD was pressed twice.

[miamiscot]

I can't figure out how to buy anything on there. Way too complicated. I just go to eBay...

[Pr33t]

I once tried to update some of their CD listings with things like noting what CDs were from vinyl. People like Steve Freeman were none too pleased. "It doesn't say on the CD that it's from vinyl ... " "How can you prove that it's from vinyl?"

Steve Freeman is the reason I stopped adding things that weren't in the database. I had added maybe a dozen or so, and because I didn't get every mincing detail correct (against the rules of proper grammar, btw), or link each and every artist on the release to their own entry, he'd leave nasty notes in the history. So you'd rather the entry not be on Discogs AT ALL, because I wrote "of" instead of "Of"? I thought the whole point of an open source resource like that was that anyone could correct the information? I'd rather get the skeleton up and let others flesh it out than pretend like the album doesn't exist. I know Tom ran into the same thing recently.

I've also seen my attempts at correcting data voted down, despite having proof. I've heard worse things about RYM, but all it does is discourage participation.

[progholio]

Buying used vinyl off the internet is always a risky proposition, that said i've used discogs and have had mostly good luck, things that haven't been so good were either low enough cost it didn't matter or had a good return policy.