"Discogs’ vibrant vinyl community is shattering"

brianlux

https://www.theverge.com/23899461/discogs-sellers-vinyl-cds-community-fees

Good article about recent issues with Discogs.  If you like shopping with Discogs, this is well worth checking out.  I have been a fan of and buyer through Discogs for a number of years and find the issues presented in the article concerning.  I'm still much more likely to shop at Discogs than eBay (and even more, would shop brick and mortar record stores if there were good ones closer to home), but this does not bode well.  I hope Discogs is listening to the talk out there.

Zod

I didn't know about the seller side stuff, but the scammers, holy crap.  I remember the first time I fell for it.  Had a few too many drinks on a Friday, was playing around on the internet before I went to bed.  Saw a copy of GNR's live area posted for $80, and thought to myself, what an idiot, I'm going to buy that! lol.   I'm generally not the kind of person to get scammed, but holy crap it worked on me.

Discogs send an email out months go saying they changed the criteria for posting, but I'm seeing scammer activity pick up again.  You can't really trust buying something unless the seller has a really long track record of transactions (not the 1 or 2 random postives scammers put on their own accounts).

I hope it does go away.   I've generally used it to buy the odd out of print release I want, so I don't buy that much from it, but as a catalog for my collection, its invaluable.  Before I catalog'd, I'd accidentally buy dupes from time to time.

brianlux

Zod said:

I didn't know about the seller side stuff, but the scammers, holy crap.  I remember the first time I fell for it.  Had a few too many drinks on a Friday, was playing around on the internet before I went to bed.  Saw a copy of GNR's live area posted for $80, and thought to myself, what an idiot, I'm going to buy that! lol.   I'm generally not the kind of person to get scammed, but holy crap it worked on me.

Discogs send an email out months go saying they changed the criteria for posting, but I'm seeing scammer activity pick up again.  You can't really trust buying something unless the seller has a really long track record of transactions (not the 1 or 2 random postives scammers put on their own accounts).

I hope it does go away.   I've generally used it to buy the odd out of print release I want, so I don't buy that much from it, but as a catalog for my collection, its invaluable.  Before I catalog'd, I'd accidentally buy dupes from time to time.

I almost got scammed there some years ago while looking for something hard to find.  I don't remember now which LP it was, but something just looked fishy about the deal so I didn't some inquiring and found out the seller was a scammer.  Not much later after that I heard that seller had been given the boot from Discogs.  I haven't had any trouble since then but, like you, I only buy from sellers with a good track record.  I would hate to try being a new seller there.  I'm sure it must be difficult to gain trust and build a good reputation.

I too love the Discogs cataloging.  I asked my insurance if I ever needed to make a claim if my catalog there would be helpful  She said that it would, although of course photos are also important.  I just hope I never need it for that!

mookieblalock

I agree, that the scammers is by far the #1 thing that’s going to bring down Discogs if they cannot find a way to get it under control.

brianlux

mookieblalock said:

I agree, that the scammers is by far the #1 thing that’s going to bring down Discogs if they cannot find a way to get it under control.

Do you find there are or know if there are more scammers oneBay selling records.

I'm also curious about what the article says about sellers going to other platforms.  The only one that I've had experience with besides Discogs and eBay is MusicStack which I used to use but found a bit awkward to navigate.

mickeyrat

there was one seller with ample review feed back with a buying criteria that said the buyer had to have so many purchases and reviews before he'd even sell it to you..

mookieblalock

brianlux said:

mookieblalock said:

I agree, that the scammers is by far the #1 thing that’s going to bring down Discogs if they cannot find a way to get it under control.

Do you find there are or know if there are more scammers oneBay selling records.

I'm also curious about what the article says about sellers going to other platforms.  The only one that I've had experience with besides Discogs and eBay is MusicStack which I used to use but found a bit awkward to navigate.

I’ve never, ever had one issue with eBay as far as scammers. I’ve had a few legitimate  disagreements regarding damage occurring during shipping, etc., but all you see on Discogs every day is like 10 listing under every item in my want list with sellers with no feedback selling the record for 200% off. It’s old. They need to find a way to fix it. Make sellers have a credit card on file. It’s not hard. 

mookieblalock

Personally, I stopped selling on eBay because I’m not giving them my social security number and bank account information (which is required to be a seller). I find it hard to believe you would deliberately scam people when the site has that information. 

brianlux

mookieblalock said:

brianlux said:

mookieblalock said:

I agree, that the scammers is by far the #1 thing that’s going to bring down Discogs if they cannot find a way to get it under control.

Do you find there are or know if there are more scammers oneBay selling records.

I'm also curious about what the article says about sellers going to other platforms.  The only one that I've had experience with besides Discogs and eBay is MusicStack which I used to use but found a bit awkward to navigate.

I’ve never, ever had one issue with eBay as far as scammers. I’ve had a few legitimate  disagreements regarding damage occurring during shipping, etc., but all you see on Discogs every day is like 10 listing under every item in my want list with sellers with no feedback selling the record for 200% off. It’s old. They need to find a way to fix it. Make sellers have a credit card on file. It’s not hard. 

I can't say I've eve been exactly been scammed by eBay sellers because I've always worked out disagreements either by return (most often) or partial refund, but I suspect there are sellers who mis-grade items hoping the buy won't bother to hassle with returns.  I haven't seen as many no-feedback seller as you but I have noticed there seems to be a few more that I used to see.  Yeah, buying on line can be dicey!

mookieblalock said:

Personally, I stopped selling on eBay because I’m not giving them my social security number and bank account information (which is required to be a seller). I find it hard to believe you would deliberately scam people when the site has that information. 

I'm surprised about that.  I don't recall ever giving eBay my social security number.  I might have a some point.  Maybe too far back to remember?  

I've never been a big seller on eBay- very sporadic- but never had a single issue there as seller.  I'm lucky to have the local bookstore to sell LPs and CDs though.  Really lucky!  If that gave out, I'd probably sell of my modest inventory as a lot and be done with it.  The advantage: more time to listen to music, lol!

mookieblalock

The invasive information started being a requirement to sell about 1-2 years ago. That’s why I stopped selling. I’m not just giving my bank account and social security to a major corporation so it can be there for the taking when they inevitably get hacked. A credit card authorization would be a happy medium. 

pjl44

eBay started requiring that info when the government started cracking down on reporting sales as income. They need that to issue you a 1099 and report to the IRS that you sold 6 records.

mookieblalock

pjl44 said:

eBay started requiring that info when the government started cracking down on reporting sales as income. They need that to issue you a 1099 and report to the IRS that you sold 6 records.

Haha! True. They needed to issue a 1099. They didn’t need to require my bank account information. That they chose all on their own.

brianlux

mookieblalock said:

The invasive information started being a requirement to sell about 1-2 years ago. That’s why I stopped selling. I’m not just giving my bank account and social security to a major corporation so it can be there for the taking when they inevitably get hacked. A credit card authorization would be a happy medium. 

Yeow!  I don't blame you- better to side with caution on that kind of business.

pjl44 said:

eBay started requiring that info when the government started cracking down on reporting sales as income. They need that to issue you a 1099 and report to the IRS that you sold 6 records.

Thank goodness my wife and our excellent tax guy are both diligent and smart about handling that side of our businesses.  I do all aspect of procuring of inventory and dealing with the physical media, she works with her head.  Guess which one of us has back issues, haha!

pjl44

brianlux said:

mookieblalock said:

The invasive information started being a requirement to sell about 1-2 years ago. That’s why I stopped selling. I’m not just giving my bank account and social security to a major corporation so it can be there for the taking when they inevitably get hacked. A credit card authorization would be a happy medium. 

Yeow!  I don't blame you- better to side with caution on that kind of business.

pjl44 said:

eBay started requiring that info when the government started cracking down on reporting sales as income. They need that to issue you a 1099 and report to the IRS that you sold 6 records.

Thank goodness my wife and our excellent tax guy are both diligent and smart about handling that side of our businesses.  I do all aspect of procuring of inventory and dealing with the physical media, she works with her head.  Guess which one of us has back issues, haha!

It's such a crazy thing. On one hand I can understand it when someone is legit running a business and using eBay as a primary marketing and sales processing arm. But lowering the threshold for generating a 1099 to $600 in sales is insane.

Tim Simmons

Wasn’t that a government call not eBay? 

mookieblalock

Tim Simmons said:

Wasn’t that a government call not eBay? 

Yes. The government doesn’t require eBay to have your bank account # on file though. Next year they will be asking for a DNA sample and a naked picture of your wife.

pjl44

mookieblalock said:

Tim Simmons said:

Wasn’t that a government call not eBay? 

Yes. The government doesn’t require eBay to have your bank account # on file though. Next year they will be asking for a DNA sample and a naked picture of your wife.

*scrolls eBay job openings*

pjl44

The bank account thing was them wrestling payment processing away from PayPal. Why kick them the vig? It does create a weird scenario where now it's an additional company storing that info, but they're daring you to give up their marketing reach.

Of The Aggie

I love Discogs and depend on it to get a lot of records since I can often find cheaper prices even with shipping than Amazon. I agree that their website is terrible and there are tons of features that need to be added and bugs that need to be worked out. I have noticed an increase in scammers particularly around the RSD releases. I would be lost if they shut down.

brianlux

pjl44 said:

brianlux said:

mookieblalock said:

The invasive information started being a requirement to sell about 1-2 years ago. That’s why I stopped selling. I’m not just giving my bank account and social security to a major corporation so it can be there for the taking when they inevitably get hacked. A credit card authorization would be a happy medium. 

Yeow!  I don't blame you- better to side with caution on that kind of business.

pjl44 said:

eBay started requiring that info when the government started cracking down on reporting sales as income. They need that to issue you a 1099 and report to the IRS that you sold 6 records.

Thank goodness my wife and our excellent tax guy are both diligent and smart about handling that side of our businesses.  I do all aspect of procuring of inventory and dealing with the physical media, she works with her head.  Guess which one of us has back issues, haha!

It's such a crazy thing. On one hand I can understand it when someone is legit running a business and using eBay as a primary marketing and sales processing arm. But lowering the threshold for generating a 1099 to $600 in sales is insane.

Not too drag too much politics into the issue, but I do hate how bogged down in bureaucracy every day life is at times.  My wife and I joke about this guy we know (really good guy in many ways but...) who is writing a book about bureaucracy.  When the subject comes up, one of will say something like, "Isn't there enough of that in everyday life as it is?  Can you imagine writing a book about it?", and then we laugh, haha!

brianlux

Of The Aggie said:

I love Discogs and depend on it to get a lot of records since I can often find cheaper prices even with shipping than Amazon. I agree that their website is terrible and there are tons of features that need to be added and bugs that need to be worked out. I have noticed an increase in scammers particularly around the RSD releases. I would be lost if they shut down.

They are my go-to as well.  I've found sellers I trust and go back to from time to time, knowing if there are not likely going to be issues, but if there are, we can work it out. 

I like their site layout well enough except for one somewhat recent change which is that if a release has a lot of different pressings- more than the 40 or so that will fit on the first page- you have to click on "show all [number] variations" to see more, and then if you click on one of the variations in the added pages and don't find what you were looking for and hit the go-back button, you have to start all over again.  That could drive you nuts if, for example, you were looking for a particular release of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  There are 1,146 versions of that record!  Obviously an extreme example, but even with say just 100 variations, it's a big hassle! 

halv

Over the past week 4 or 5 Benny's have gone up for sale with prices between $50 to $100. Obvious scams. Getting hard to trust Discogs listings now sadly.

mookieblalock

pjl44 said:

mookieblalock said:

Tim Simmons said:

Wasn’t that a government call not eBay? 

Yes. The government doesn’t require eBay to have your bank account # on file though. Next year they will be asking for a DNA sample and a naked picture of your wife.

*scrolls eBay job openings*

🤣

pjl44

brianlux said:

pjl44 said:

brianlux said:

mookieblalock said:

The invasive information started being a requirement to sell about 1-2 years ago. That’s why I stopped selling. I’m not just giving my bank account and social security to a major corporation so it can be there for the taking when they inevitably get hacked. A credit card authorization would be a happy medium. 

Yeow!  I don't blame you- better to side with caution on that kind of business.

pjl44 said:

eBay started requiring that info when the government started cracking down on reporting sales as income. They need that to issue you a 1099 and report to the IRS that you sold 6 records.

Thank goodness my wife and our excellent tax guy are both diligent and smart about handling that side of our businesses.  I do all aspect of procuring of inventory and dealing with the physical media, she works with her head.  Guess which one of us has back issues, haha!

It's such a crazy thing. On one hand I can understand it when someone is legit running a business and using eBay as a primary marketing and sales processing arm. But lowering the threshold for generating a 1099 to $600 in sales is insane.

Not too drag too much politics into the issue, but I do hate how bogged down in bureaucracy every day life is at times.  My wife and I joke about this guy we know (really good guy in many ways but...) who is writing a book about bureaucracy.  When the subject comes up, one of will say something like, "Isn't there enough of that in everyday life as it is?  Can you imagine writing a book about it?", and then we laugh, haha!

How many editors does a book about bureaucracy need to be run through?

brianlux

pjl44 said:

brianlux said:

pjl44 said:

brianlux said:

mookieblalock said:

The invasive information started being a requirement to sell about 1-2 years ago. That’s why I stopped selling. I’m not just giving my bank account and social security to a major corporation so it can be there for the taking when they inevitably get hacked. A credit card authorization would be a happy medium. 

Yeow!  I don't blame you- better to side with caution on that kind of business.

pjl44 said:

eBay started requiring that info when the government started cracking down on reporting sales as income. They need that to issue you a 1099 and report to the IRS that you sold 6 records.

Thank goodness my wife and our excellent tax guy are both diligent and smart about handling that side of our businesses.  I do all aspect of procuring of inventory and dealing with the physical media, she works with her head.  Guess which one of us has back issues, haha!

It's such a crazy thing. On one hand I can understand it when someone is legit running a business and using eBay as a primary marketing and sales processing arm. But lowering the threshold for generating a 1099 to $600 in sales is insane.

Not too drag too much politics into the issue, but I do hate how bogged down in bureaucracy every day life is at times.  My wife and I joke about this guy we know (really good guy in many ways but...) who is writing a book about bureaucracy.  When the subject comes up, one of will say something like, "Isn't there enough of that in everyday life as it is?  Can you imagine writing a book about it?", and then we laugh, haha!

How many editors does a book about bureaucracy need to be run through?

I don't know the answer to that, but the question itself is a gem! 

Zod

halv said:

Over the past week 4 or 5 Benny's have gone up for sale with prices between $50 to $100. Obvious scams. Getting hard to trust Discogs listings now sadly.

Sort of.  Generally if you've added a rare record to your watchlist, and you see the daily notification and a $2000 record is being posted for $80 and the seller only has 1 or 2 items on their feedback, you know something's up (or you should, I mean I did fall for it once on a copy of GNR's Live Era).   Now it's pretty common place.

I did notice some scammers are getting bold.   I've got Tool's Aenima vinyl on my watch list.  And usually they would go for 700 to 100 usd, so sometimes I now see them for 300 to 400, so you don't have a flag saying what kind of person is selling that for 80.. it gets in the realm of.. maybe that's a good deal.

Discogs really needs to clean up the scammer thing.  They did something, and it improved a bit for a while but it's back with a vengeance.  I can't remember the changes they made (minimum account age to sell kind of thing?), but whatever it is, it stopped working again :(

tempo_n_groove

I won't use discogs as I see the asking prices as silly.  I do ebay or person to person/record store.

PJ_Soul

A timely thread, as I just noticed yesterday or the day before that a Benny sold on discogs for $80, lol, and I thought about how bummed that dumb-dumb buyer is going to be when they realize it's a scammer. I also noticed that the scammers now have a small number of 100% positive reviews instead of mostly being listed as new sellers. Anyway, it's still safe to buy from those with longer selling histories, so I'm not personally over-concerned about it, but I am pissed that Discogs isn't doing a lot more about it. That said, Discogs will also cancel the sale if contacted, so if you realize you're being scammed just contact discogs asap and you will likely not lose any money. Even if you do, PayPal should protect you.

PJ_Soul

tempo_n_groove said:

I won't use discogs as I see the asking prices as silly.  I do ebay or person to person/record store.

 I've found some really good deals on discogs.

tempo_n_groove

PJ_Soul said:

tempo_n_groove said:

I won't use discogs as I see the asking prices as silly.  I do ebay or person to person/record store.

 I've found some really good deals on discogs.

I'm sure there are but I'll stay away.

HughFreakingDillon

mickeyrat said:

there was one seller with ample review feed back with a buying criteria that said the buyer had to have so many purchases and reviews before he'd even sell it to you..

I recall people on ebay years ago started doing that as well. "100% buyer feedback or sale will be cancelled". I guess discogs is going the same direction.