Discogs - Help, Tricks, Secrets And Tips

GentleSenator said:
nothing more to add other than stuff gets more out of hand when labels use hype language like "repress" when what they really mean is "reissue".
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I actually made a forum thread about this 2 years ago.

Discogs Forum - Repress clarification needed - prior master or marketing?

www.discogs.com www.discogs.com

For Discogs, the guideline is that it "must" come from a prior master, so if they call it a repress and it's a new cut, then it's not a repress - even if they call it one.
 
Alrighty y'all - I'm a fairly new Discogs seller and I just sold a record for a couple hundred to a brand new user with no buying and selling history.

Are there any scams that I should be aware of with new users buying high priced items?

How exactly does insurance work - is that something I foot myself or something I negotiate with the buyer?
 
Djxfactor511 said:
Alrighty y'all - I'm a fairly new Discogs seller and I just sold a record for a couple hundred to a brand new user with no buying and selling history.

Are there any scams that I should be aware of with new users buying high priced items?

How exactly does insurance work - is that something I foot myself or something I negotiate with the buyer?
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If you want insurance, that is on you.

I did sell a Daft Punk box set to a newbie buyer recently and it went well and they left great feedback.
 
Djxfactor511 said:
Alrighty y'all - I'm a fairly new Discogs seller and I just sold a record for a couple hundred to a brand new user with no buying and selling history.

Are there any scams that I should be aware of with new users buying high priced items?

How exactly does insurance work - is that something I foot myself or something I negotiate with the buyer?
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Grade well, pack safely, and, if you want peace of mind, get insurance. After that, it’s out of your hands. Possible hiccups would be a lost package, damage during transit, or grading dispute. Resolutions would be a refund without a return or refund upon return of record. IMO, someone doing a “scam” would be unlikely but you can always trust your instincts and let this forum, Discogs, and PayPal seller protection help you through a peculiar situation.
 
Question for sellers out there. I received a question on an item I have listed asking if I would offer priority mail instead of media mail. I'm perfectly happy to do that if the buyer covers cost, but I can't figure out the best way to add that charge. They have not placed the order yet. Is that something I can edit before they send payment once they put in the order? Just trying to figure out the easiest method for us both, without me having to mess with my overall shipping policies.
 
Pergo said:
Question for sellers out there. I received a question on an item I have listed asking if I would offer priority mail instead of media mail. I'm perfectly happy to do that if the buyer covers cost, but I can't figure out the best way to add that charge. They have not placed the order yet. Is that something I can edit before they send payment once they put in the order? Just trying to figure out the easiest method for us both, without me having to mess with my overall shipping policies.
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Have them checkout but stop before completing the invoice. It should alert you that an order was placed and create the sale page, where you can then edit the shipping charge manually as you've assumed.
 
Need a bit of advice from discogs sellers. I have a customer on discogs who bought a $25 album. In the mail (from USA to Poland) it got the beginning of a seam split (see photo) -- the buyer never asked me to open it and ship it outside the cover. She is demanding a $25 refund. I offered her a $10 partial refund or that she return it and I will pay 1/2 the postage and then give her a full refund. She refused. I wrote to discogs but they replied with a very generic message about how they don't get involved in disputes over "grading." What's the best course of action from here? Thanks in advance for any advice.

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mingerton said:
Need a bit of advice from discogs sellers. I have a customer on discogs who bought a $25 album. In the mail (from USA to Poland) it got the beginning of a seam split (see photo) -- the buyer never asked me to open it and ship it outside the cover. She is demanding a $25 refund. I offered her a $10 partial refund or that she return it and I will pay 1/2 the postage and then give her a full refund. She refused. I wrote to discogs but they replied with a very generic message about how they don't get involved in disputes over "grading." What's the best course of action from here? Thanks in advance for any advice.

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Seam splits are 90% the fault of packing. If its not tight enough and the record can move in the sleeve this will happen.

They verified it with a picture, I would probably take the hit and refund.
 
Ethos99 said:
Seam splits are 90% the fault of packing. If its not tight enough and the record can move in the sleeve this will happen.

They verified it with a picture, I would probably take the hit and refund.
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Right, that's why buyers should request that the seller open and ship it separate in a poly-sleeve. Thanks for the advice and I suppose that's what I should do since $25 is not a big hit.

But what I didn't write in my initial post is that I suspect this buyer planned this outcome all along. She messaged me so many times about the condition before buying it that I blocked her. But then she ordered the LP anyway, and regrettably, I didn't cancel it because I assumed something was lost in translation from Polish to English. In a broader sense, what's to prevent a foreign buyer from doing this again and again?

Last, I'm disappointed in discogs CS. I love discogs in every way. But it took four days for them to get back to me and the message is clearly a cut/paste form email rather than an actual response to my query. I understand why they don't want to intervene, but I really expected more help/support, especially given how every month I pay them commissions on my sales.
 
mingerton said:
Right, that's why buyers should request that the seller open and ship it separate in a poly-sleeve. Thanks for the advice and I suppose that's what I should do since $25 is not a big hit.

But what I didn't write in my initial post is that I suspect this buyer planned this outcome all along. She messaged me so many times about the condition before buying it that I blocked her. But then she ordered the LP anyway, and regrettably, I didn't cancel it because I assumed something was lost in translation from Polish to English. In a broader sense, what's to prevent a foreign buyer from doing this again and again?

Last, I'm disappointed in discogs CS. I love discogs in every way. But it took four days for them to get back to me and the message is clearly a cut/paste form email rather than an actual response to my query. I understand why they don't want to intervene, but I really expected more help/support, especially given how every month I pay them commissions on my sales.
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I had a buyer who didn't pay and after a couple of days I poked them with a gentle reminder that I was going to post office and if he still wanted it I could get it out that day. He snapped back with "Christ man, its only been 2 days" and then when he finally paid mentioned something about the condition and asked if it was really mint... anyway, I just knew this guys was going to be an issue so I took pictures before it went in the box, etc. Turns out it got there with a seam split and he wanted a replacement. He sent a picture and i just told him to give it away and sent him another one.

I figured he didn't do it on purpose and I didn't want to spend more time on one record for a 7$ profit.

So now I changed my packing, called it a customer service charge, lesson learned and just moved on.

--

My only interaction with them was positive. They removed bad feedback after review because a record, during Covid shutdown, didnt get to them fast enough. However, I can see where that was a frustrating response. Again sometimes you have to cut your losses.
 
So they want a full refund and to keep the record? That doesn't seem right to me. I always offer a full refund when requested but only if the record is returned. Maybe I'm way off base here but I don't think you owe them a free record. This is also why I only ship to the US, to avoid headaches like this since the return shipping is so much more.
 
I also only accept full refunds upon return of the record. Dealt with too much nonsense over time with partial refund people. Not saying they all are insidious or anything, but definitely feel like there's too much bullshit there. I am always happy to accept the return and give the full refund if someone is unhappy and I think that is MORE than enough.
 
Pergo said:
So they want a full refund and to keep the record? That doesn't seem right to me. I always offer a full refund when requested but only if the record is returned. Maybe I'm way off base here but I don't think you owe them a free record. This is also why I only ship to the US, to avoid headaches like this since the return shipping is so much more.
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I hope this experience doesn't lead me to block all foreign buyers since I've had nothing but positive experiences until now. But it seems like an opportunity for exploitation on the part of buyers since they know that return shipping is costly and therefore it's easier for me to just give in to their demands. And given this is a minor seam split, I thought a partial refund of $10 off a $25 LP was somewhat generous? Record is mint, she admitted she opened it and played it, which convinces me even more she set out to do this from the start and that I shouldn't back down but I also think @Ethos99 is probably right that I should just take the hit.

And I thought people on this thread might be interested in the message from discogs. Again, I love discogs in every way. But I thought this message didn't really apply to my situation and seemed generic. Is this really a "grading" issue? Not in my opinion. And note that they will not remove negative feedback on a "grading issue" so if I don't give in I'm sure to get negative feedback that will stay on my account.

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mingerton said:
Right, that's why buyers should request that the seller open and ship it separate in a poly-sleeve. Thanks for the advice and I suppose that's what I should do since $25 is not a big hit.

But what I didn't write in my initial post is that I suspect this buyer planned this outcome all along. She messaged me so many times about the condition before buying it that I blocked her. But then she ordered the LP anyway, and regrettably, I didn't cancel it because I assumed something was lost in translation from Polish to English. In a broader sense, what's to prevent a foreign buyer from doing this again and again?

Last, I'm disappointed in discogs CS. I love discogs in every way. But it took four days for them to get back to me and the message is clearly a cut/paste form email rather than an actual response to my query. I understand why they don't want to intervene, but I really expected more help/support, especially given how every month I pay them commissions on my sales.
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Although I haven't sold anything on Discogs, I have sold things for over twenty years on half, ebay and amazon. The VAST majority of my sales have gone smoothly. It's easy to focus on a negative experience, and even to suspect bad will on the part of the buyer, but that's seldom the case. You have to view this in the long term, accept the occasional negative experience as a part of the cost of doing business, and protect your seller rating. And, like @Ethos99 suggested, control what you can control and adjust your practices to try to avoid this situation in the future.

As for Discogs' response, they are only an intermediary and serve both the buyer and the seller in the transaction. Although you pay them a commission, there wouldn't be any commission without a purchase by a buyer. In light of the photo of the damage, which, absent evidence to the contrary, has to be assumed to have occurred in transit, it's unclear what additional help/support Discogs could have provided. And technically, this is a grading issue, as the item arrived with a sleeve condition worse than you described.

I do agree with those who have said a full refund without a return is unreasonable. But, I also think the cost to return the item should be the seller's responsibility when an item arrives damaged. In light of that, I wonder whether simply issuing a refund and moving past this is the better choice. If it's returned, you will still be out both the initial and return shipping costs, but could relist the item. Is that worth it?
 
Yeah, as a matter of principle, I can't imagine that I'd offer a full refund and to keep the record. With that said, for a $25 record, I can't imagine that any solution (partial refund + keeping the record, paying for return of the now damaged record/sleeve) is going to be dramatically cheaper. At some point your time isn't gonna be worth the money saved on this if you "win".

Granted, I'm super risk averse so I really wouldn't enjoy shipping international on cheaper records anyway except in one-off situations - between shipping costs to return and timeframes feels like the likelihood of an unhappy customer is gonna be higher. That's just me though.
 
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I’d ignore any speculation about “signs” of a bad buyer. Great buyers also ask questions that can seem annoying before hand. Nervous buyers who ask for clarification can end up being some extra work but they can also be great, smooth buyers who just had a few questions.

All that really matters is knowing what your actual obligations are as a seller and what your actual risks are, so you can offer a fair resolution for both parties and, if needed, put your foot down in a way that is appropriate. Where some sellers get into trouble is when they have personal ideas of what’s fair or makes sense to them and those don’t align with the reality of what their obligations and risks are.

Shipping internationally complicates things* but, essentially, all you need to do is offer a return upon refund or a partial refund, as you have. If the buyer refuses both, your job is technically done, as far as obligations go. If they go to Discogs or PayPal, they’ll give the buyer the exact same options. There is no manner**
in which the buyer can use PayPal or Discogs to force a refund while keeping the record.

*If the buyer is, in deed, refusing to return, it could be because they know it’ll cost them a bit of money to ship back internationally. And they either don’t want to ask you to cover return shipping (or they have and you refused?).

**Sometimes PayPal will refund a buyer on their own dime and you keep the money and the buyer keeps the record. It’s rare but happens.

Now, as far as risk, you are not obligated to help the customer beyond offering those two resolutions BUT you run the risk of getting negative feedback and nasty messages. The former can hurt your shop and the latter can hurt your head/emotions, if you’re a softie like me who hates confrontation and getting angry emails. If the record is $25, it’s possible that it makes sense*** for you to fully refund them and let them keep the record in hopes they don’t leave a negative feedback comment. It’s not easy to quantify but having a lower seller rating and a feedback remark about how you were not easy to work with on an issue caused by your own packing could cost you more than $25 in future sales.

***For some people, the idea that a buyer “gets away” with being unreasonable is hard to swallow but IMO it’s not about them. It’s about what makes sense for you. Going back to the international return shipping note, it could cost you “$25 + original costly shipping + an extra costly return shipping fee + bad feedback + possible further damage to record on return voyage” to receive the item back and keep the buyer “honest”. You have to decide whether losing money and feedback is worth that. That’s a personal question that will have different answers for each person. For me, I’d save my own time and money and refund the person outright. I also don’t sell internationally because of the shipping costs, so I avoid the possibility of these scenarios altogether.
 
All of these responses are really thoughtful. You all have approached this from angles I had not anticipated and have helped me think about it in a more cohesive way.

I don't think I'll block international buyers in the future but I will provide them more information up front. For example, a message that says: "This item is sealed. If sent 7000KM to you overseas, it will shift no matter how will packaged and this may cause a seam split. Do you want me to open this item and ship the LP outside of the cover or ship it sealed? If the latter, you assume the risk of minor cosmetic damage."

I won't post any more on this issue except one more time with an update on how it was ultimately resolved.

Cheers and thanks!
 
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