Discogs - Help, Tricks, Secrets And Tips

Oh yes! If you have a professional tax preparer, by all means they should be able to help you minimize the hit legally
I was audited once before and they wanted tax records back 5 years. That meant I was still in high school. My tax forms were saved on an old school zip drive disk because my dad could never let anything get thrown away from his office. Long story short he had to track down the zip disk and then track down a working unit as his office to even get the data off of it. It felt like trying to find a working betamax all to appease the IRS for like $1,500 of taxable income from serving at a local coffee joint for the summer.
 
Probably a good idea to hash this out with my accountant. I'm sure he could get creative.
Yeah. My wife's uncle does our taxes. I'm going to talk to him. It seems like the $600 is just a new threshold for reporting to the IRS. It seems that there's still some stipulations on what's taxable and what's not. But now that the IRS is involved you certainly want to make sure it's done right.
 
Yeah. My wife's uncle does our taxes. I'm going to talk to him. It seems like the $600 is just a new threshold for reporting to the IRS. It seems that there's still some stipulations on what's taxable and what's not. But now that the IRS is involved you certainly want to make sure it's done right.
Report back if you can - I'm curious to hear what your wife's uncle comes up with.

The drop from a $20k threshold to $600 is quite a hit.
 
Yeah. My wife's uncle does our taxes. I'm going to talk to him. It seems like the $600 is just a new threshold for reporting to the IRS. It seems that there's still some stipulations on what's taxable and what's not. But now that the IRS is involved you certainly want to make sure it's done right.
Well, your gross revenues are all income, so it's all taxable. But, if you're actually running a business, there are a load of ways to reduce the gross amount. However, that requires a lot of work to file as a business.

I did it an easier way. I had to figure this out a year early thanks to a new Missouri law, thanks lawmakers! I determined that my record collecting is a "hobby" under the tax code. I buy a lot of records, and sometimes I sell records, because I upgraded or I just don't want it anymore. The point is that I don't do it for profit, because I don't, it's just a part of the hobby and I usually lose money. Once you can make this good faith argument, then you are allowed to deduct the legitimate costs of selling - the sales tax paid by the buyer, the shipping, the packaging if you buy mailers, the selling fees, and the price you paid for the record originally. Then you simply report the net amount as "other income." There's no specific place for this on a 1040, and my tax program couldn't even help me, I had to do it all by hand. A tax professional would be able to do a much better job.
 
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Well, your gross revenues are all income, so it's all taxable. But, if you're actually running a business, there are a load of ways to reduce the gross amount. However, that requires a lot of work to file as a business.

I did it an easier way. I had to figure this out a year early thanks to a new Missouri law, thanks lawmakers! I determined that my record collecting is a "hobby" under the tax code. I buy a lot of records, and sometimes I sell records, because I upgraded or I just don't want it anymore. The point is that I don't do it for profit, because I don't, it's just a part of the hobby and I usually lose money. Once you can make this good faith argument, then you are allowed to deduct the legitimate costs of selling - the shipping, the packaging if you buy mailers, fees, and the price you paid for the record originally. Then you simply report the net amount as "other income." There's no specific place for this on a 1040, and my tax program couldn't even help me, I had to do it all by hand. A tax professional would be able to do an even better job with this.
That's really good info. I was always wondering how they could tax me twice on something. Once when I buy and once when I sell. If I sold at a loss, how in the hell can they tax a negative margin. Rude.
 
Anyone ever file a PayPal complaint for a Discogs order that wasn’t as described? Ordered an LP that was listed NM/VG+ and it’s at best a VG/VG. I almost laughed at how bad it was, and knew it when it showed up in a makeshift pizza box package. Went back and forth with the guy who says “VG+ is subjective” and that I should clean it first because he didn’t have time. He’s only offered a refund for the just the shipping price and doesn’t feel it warrants a refund because “I got a good deal bc someone is trying to sell it for triple the price at VG+.” A bunch of BS essentially.

It was above $50 so I’m pretty pissed. Wondering if anyone had luck using PayPal’s buyer protection through Discogs.
 
Anyone ever file a PayPal complaint for a Discogs order that wasn’t as described? Ordered an LP that was listed NM/VG+ and it’s at best a VG/VG. I almost laughed at how bad it was, and knew it when it showed up in a makeshift pizza box package. Went back and forth with the guy who says “VG+ is subjective” and that I should clean it first because he didn’t have time. He’s only offered a refund for the just the shipping price and doesn’t feel it warrants a refund because “I got a good deal bc someone is trying to sell it for triple the price at VG+.” A bunch of BS essentially.

It was above $50 so I’m pretty pissed. Wondering if anyone had luck using PayPal’s buyer protection through Discogs.
I'd say this is in the "You have nothing to lose" category. If he's giving you this BS, file it, see what happens. If nothing else it freezes those funds while they investigate.
 
Anyone ever file a PayPal complaint for a Discogs order that wasn’t as described? Ordered an LP that was listed NM/VG+ and it’s at best a VG/VG. I almost laughed at how bad it was, and knew it when it showed up in a makeshift pizza box package. Went back and forth with the guy who says “VG+ is subjective” and that I should clean it first because he didn’t have time. He’s only offered a refund for the just the shipping price and doesn’t feel it warrants a refund because “I got a good deal bc someone is trying to sell it for triple the price at VG+.” A bunch of BS essentially.

It was above $50 so I’m pretty pissed. Wondering if anyone had luck using PayPal’s buyer protection through Discogs.
Go for it. Worst that can happen is you lose and you get negative feedback on discogs. I'm sick of people ignoring discogs' grading standards.
 
Go for it. Worst that can happen is you lose and you get negative feedback on discogs. I'm sick of people ignoring discogs' grading standards.
I laughed out loud when it came. Dude has balls to tell me again that the cover looked NM to him when there is a massive rip on the back and ring wear on both sides when the cover is white.

Probably the last time I buy a used record on their, it’s not worth it. I’ll still to here and Reddit where I’ve had better experiences.
 
I don't understand how people looking to sell stuff can be such assholes? I am a pretty easy going guy for the most part but seriously...

So I placed an order for a $6.99 Thurston Moore record this morning and, as I do with all my Discogs orders; I left the following comment after sending payment...

"Please remove records from jackets/sleeves prior to shipping. Acknowledge that you have read this message by replying. Thanks!"

Just a polite request to avoid getting a jacket with a seam split. most sellers reply with a "Sure Thing!" or a "No Problem".

Their reply was:

"Please confirm that you have waived insurance and are assuming the risk of loss or damage in shipping. Acknowledge that you have read this message by replying. Thanks!"

Maybe I was being overly sensitive but his reply came off as incredibly smarmy. Maybe he sends a similar reply to all buyers but to basically reply to my polite request with a mocking tone, literally copy and pasting the last sentence in its entirety. Regardless it rubbed me the wrong way and I don't need this type of shit for a $6.99 record. So I replied with a cancellation request.

"I don't know if your reply was internationally smarmy but that is how it came off. I apologies if my comment offended you, my intent was to ensure $7 album I was purchasing avoided seam splits during the shipping process.

Please cancel this order and issue a refund. Thanks!"


This dude was pretty bold (stupidly so, IMO) and replied with:

"??? I do this for all my orders sir. Are you OK? Did I hurt your feelings? I am sorry if I came off that way.

I will take you response as acknowledgement of my shipping terms. Off to the post office! Enjoy the record. Thanks!"


So instead of cancelling, he decided to continue on with the sale. I replied less politely:

"I requested a cancellation. If you do not cancel the order I am going to file a dispute with paypal and dump all over your seller rating."

but dude ignored my second reply and marked the order as shipped.

I already contacted PayPal and was issued a refund from them and now ChillyB has this negative rating on his seller profile.

"Sellers was needlessly smarmy in his reply to my request to remove the record from the sleeve before shipping. I then requested that seller cancel the order and issue a refund. He refused and shipped the album anyways. PayPal dispute forthcoming."

All that for a $6.99 record. SMDH.
 
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I don't understand how people looking to sell stuff can be such assholes? I am a pretty easy going guy for the most part but seriously...

So I placed an order for a $6.99 Thurston Moore record this morning and, as I do with all my Discogs orders; I left the following comment after sending payment...

"Please remove records from jackets/sleeves prior to shipping. Acknowledge that you have read this message by replying. Thanks!"

Just a polite request to avoid getting a jacket with a seam split. most sellers reply with a "Sure Thing!" or a "No Problem".

Their reply was:

"Please confirm that you have waived insurance and are assuming the risk of loss or damage in shipping. Acknowledge that you have read this message by replying. Thanks!"

Maybe I was being overly sensitive but his reply came off as incredibly smarmy. Maybe he sends a similar reply to all buyers but to basically reply to my polite request with a mocking tone, literally copy and pasting the last sentence in its entirety. Regardless it rubbed me the wrong way and I don't need this type of shit for a $6.99 record. So I replied with a cancellation request.

"I don't know if your reply was internationally smarmy but that is how it came off. I apologies if my comment offended you, my intent was to ensure $7 album I was purchasing avoided seam splits during the shipping process.

Please cancel this order and issue a refund. Thanks!"


This dude was pretty bold (stupidly so, IMO) and replied with:

"??? I do this for all my orders sir. Are you OK? Did I hurt your feelings? I am sorry if I came off that way.

I will take you response as acknowledgement of my shipping terms. Off to the post office! Enjoy the record. Thanks!"


So instead of cancelling, he decided to continue on with the sale. I replied less politely:

"I requested a cancellation. If you do not cancel the order I am going to file a dispute with paypal and dump all over your seller rating."

but dude ignored my second reply and marked the order as shipped.

I already contacted PayPal and was issued a refund from them and now ChillyB has this negative rating on his seller profile.

"Sellers was needlessly smarmy in his reply to my request to remove the record from the sleeve before shipping. I then requested that seller cancel the order and issue a refund. He refused and shipped the album anyways. PayPal dispute forthcoming."

All that for a $6.99 record. SMDH.
Eh, the acknowledge part on your end seems a bit demanding IMO. I would probably just drop your request to have them removed and leave it at that. It comes off as more of a threat that if you do not acknowledge, and they come damaged, you'll come for blood. It starts off the transaction with a hostile energy. If a seller has good feedback I'll just drop something like "I'm sure you do this already, but if you wouldn't mind shipping the records outside of the jacket to prevent splits, I'd appreciate it".

It's almost as if good sellers get offended because "of course I do that already, why are you wasting my time even suggesting that I don't?"
 
Eh, the first time I read it I took it more as MFMD did. The more I read it, the more I see TLK's point. In response to a legitimate request, the seller used the exact same phrasing back asking about an insurance waiver and risk of damage which, well, seems not standard at all in this selling game (not many merchants require or even can require the buyer to take on risk of damage in shipping or require the buyer to purchase insurance for their sale). TLK expressly didn't assent to it, requested a refund, and the seller then ignored that and shipped the item.

His terms are all in his, well, terms. But not many people ever really go into those and I'm not sure how enforceable they are. Especially given he outright says he doesn't do refunds on sealed records, not acknowledging TLK's asks prior to shipping seem particularly bad.

Maybe the "acknowledge" request wasn't needed on TLK's part but a lot of people do ignore that little message section especially high volume sellers.

I'm not sure if it was intentionally smarmy on the seller's part but it was bad seller behavior which may be worse IMO. I was originally on team neutral feedback and not shop again but...yeah that's out of line.
 
Although TLK if you want the real kicker...this is buried in his terms

LP Shipping: All LPs are shipped in heavy duty, oversized mailers made specifically for vinyl. To prevent seam splits for non-sealed records, the vinyl in its inner sleeve will be placed outside of the cover

So the dude could've just said yes but I think the reply was snark because he assumed you didn't read his other less friendly terms in addition to this. I bet he saw that, said "TLK didn't read what I wrote, I'll snark write back my other terms", and then you noped out and he didn't want to lose the sale.
 
Eh, the acknowledge part on your end seems a bit demanding IMO. I would probably just drop your request to have them removed and leave it at that. It comes off as more of a threat that if you do not acknowledge, and they come damaged, you'll come for blood. It starts off the transaction with a hostile energy. If a seller has good feedback I'll just drop something like "I'm sure you do this already, but if you wouldn't mind shipping the records outside of the jacket to prevent splits, I'd appreciate it".

It's almost as if good sellers get offended because "of course I do that already, why are you wasting my time even suggesting that I don't?"
The “Acknowledge” portion comes from many sellers not replying back and just shipping the record without a reply. Most of the time they would do as requested but sometimes they wouldn’t and I figure this way at least I know. Because if they mark it “shipped” without replying then I am gonna send a follow up message and to confirm they read my initial message. This request has never had a negative reaction beyond, as you said; them stating slightly defensively that they always ship outside of the jacket and that doesn’t bother me.

I just don’t wanna deal with splits seams and this has worked for me in the past.
 
Although TLK if you want the real kicker...this is buried in his terms

LP Shipping: All LPs are shipped in heavy duty, oversized mailers made specifically for vinyl. To prevent seam splits for non-sealed records, the vinyl in its inner sleeve will be placed outside of the cover

So the dude could've just said yes but I think the reply was snark because he assumed you didn't read his other less friendly terms in addition to this. I bet he saw that, said "TLK didn't read what I wrote, I'll snark write back my other terms", and then you noped out and he didn't want to lose the sale.
Honestly, I saw this but the album is listed as NM/NM so I assumed it was likely still sealed and to that his terms state…

“Sealed Records: Upon request, I will open a sealed record for the buyer once payment has been made but before sending it.”

So that was me requesting he unseal and ship outside the sleeve.

TBH, I about just laughed it off but also fuck that guy.
 
Like...maybe I'm soft but if I were the seller and this happened I'd have just told you to keep the record and refunded you and chalked it up as a business loss. Not worth risking negative feedback or a refund for $8 + shipping especially in this spot.
Yeah, and I’ve never left negative feedback before either. I wouldn’t have pursued it had he just canceled even if he wanted to be a dick in subsequent comments. The fact that he chose to ignore my request was just a bridge too far.
 
I used to get so anxious when I received wild messages like that on eBay/Discogs/any site that has PMs. I was way too many years old when I realized the power of not replying and just instantly blocking/cutting off comms and walking away.
 
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