Discogs

I've been a Discogs user for many years. I buy more than I sell. Many of the sellers I've done business with range from private sellers to dealers to small businesses who also operate brick and mortar shops. I find that Discogs does a very poor job regulating shipping practices. Many sellers gouge the cheapest and most economical domestic shipping method, Media Mail. Lots of sellers tack on a few more bucks to make-up for fees they incur. Discogs should set the threshold for fair and honest shipping so that this unfair and unethical practice stops. If sellers really want to get back fees just increase the cost of your item... not shipping. There's also serious issues with sellers of all kinds poorly grading records. You wonder if they even checked the condition before listing. These sellers with countless negatives and neutral feedback marks should just be banned. Why is it ok to let a poor seller like that continue to do bad business? Consumers are honestly too naive or just hope to be the one out the bunch to have an acceptable experience. I find that several sellers I've bought from though are nice, fair, and honest people. I also find it most cumbersome to add releases to Discogs. There should be a way to scan the media so that all of the data gets entered in accurately and efficiently. Discogs needs to do a better job at regulating scalpers. If the media is 2 years old or less they should require it only be sold for the suggested retail value. Any account attempting to sell 3 or more copies after 2 years for 50% more than the original retail price should be suspended. All sellers should be required to provide clear terms. Discogs should really have a standardized template that all sellers must agree to. It's disappointing that Discogs offers a "make offer", but if a seller declines they are unable to counter offer. Sellers should also have option to initiate a bundle discount for customers buying multiple items. It's ridiculous Discogs hits sellers with this high fees when there's so much room for improvement. I'm grateful for the vast knowledge base that is Discogs. I do like how fairly easy it is to find all the different pressings, versions, and more.

I've been using Discogs to buy and sell for 7 years with very very few issues. I'm careful to check sellers have a good feedback ratio, an established sales history, and always use Paypal so I'm covered by their buyer guarantee if not happy with the grading and the seller doesn't co-operate. Out of 150 purchases I've been unhappy with 2, and returned only 1 as the other was borderline and no big deal. There are bad sellers out there, on any site, but it does surprise me when as a seller I have 1700+ positive feedback, 3 negatives from people who had a problem with the postal service not the record, and were provided with a full refund at my expense (as directed by Paypal seller agreement it is my responsibility to make sure the record is delivered, or refund) just how many people are super suspicious when buying from me purely because I sell on Discogs purely because they have had bad experiences with others. How on earth would/could I have a 99.8% positive over 7 years if I was a rip off merchant? Buyers need to remember Discogs is an open market for 3rd party sellers so if you use your due diligence (read: you NEED to) you should have few problems.

Aside from the buying and selling aspect their database is really annoying! Open for anyone to come and sabotage a release, so you list a copy of a certain record for sale, or purchase a copy and then find some fool had gone and changed the entry from CD to LP, or original to reissue, nobody spotted the edit was b/s and you now sold/bought something you didn't want. That really annoys the cr*p out of me hence the 3 star rating.

Good resource for basic public domain information from a private site. Marketplace sales are billed at 8%. Some information has been revised in accordance to Discogs guidelines and Discogs community expectations. It is difficult to add new information due to the complexity of the system, guidelines and community expectations. Free membership is required to add, edit or use many custom features of the site. There is some trolling in the forums.