"Discogs’ vibrant vinyl community is shattering"

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  • halv
    halv Posts: 713
    edited October 2023
    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.
    Post edited by halv on
  • mookieblalock
    mookieblalock Posts: 3,564
    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
    pjl44 Posts: 10,521
    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
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,661
    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!  :lol:
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Zod
    Zod Posts: 10,889
    edited October 2023
    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 :(
    Post edited by Zod on
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,345
    I won't use discogs as I see the asking prices as silly.  I do ebay or person to person/record store.
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,661
    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.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,661
    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.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,345
    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
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,450
    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. 
    Hugh Freaking Dillon is currently out of the office, returning sometime in the fall




  • pjl44
    pjl44 Posts: 10,521
    I've only made a couple buys on there for random stuff but each went well. I always found it a little janky and buying high value stuff would make me nervous. With eBay I at least have confidence in the buyer protections.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,661
    PJ_Soul said:
    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.

    Good points all around.

    Re. the $80 Benny, as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not true. 

    Scamming and internet blackmail in the era of COVID has really become a thing.  Some of the stories I've heard are quite sad- a little old lady selling her car to pay for "legal protection" against being sued for something she didn't do... all kinds of crazy stuff.  Sometimes it's a matter of people being too naive, sometimes is trickier than that.  It's always good to be at least a little skeptical and always be cautious.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Zod
    Zod Posts: 10,889
    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 mean, I check both ebay and discogs.   Generally it's for OOP stuff you won't find in a record store (or not easily find in a record store).  If it's widely accessible vinyl, it makes no sense to buy from there.  Buy it off amazon or your local store :)
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,345
    Zod 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 mean, I check both ebay and discogs.   Generally it's for OOP stuff you won't find in a record store (or not easily find in a record store).  If it's widely accessible vinyl, it makes no sense to buy from there.  Buy it off amazon or your local store :)
    exactly.  I find everything I need on here or ebay.  Speaking of which...

    Anybody have any Slant 6 Records?

  • Abe Froman
    Abe Froman Posts: 5,379
    I’ve luckily had no issues on Discogs. Just bought the Verve A Storm in Heaven on vinyl. Arrived yesterday. No issues. 
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,661
    A while back, friend of mine asked:  "Hey Brian, where do you find some the usual records you're interested in?"
    I told him, "I scour the internet for good deals."
    The friend replied, "Well that's great, somebody needs to clean up that place!"
    We both laughed, haha!


    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • JeBurkhardt
    JeBurkhardt Posts: 5,321
    I have probably bought around 10 records on Discogs, including 2 from overseas. I didn't have any issues, but I also paid a lot of attention to the profile of the seller to see how long they had been there, how many sales they had and what their reviews were like. If they are questionable, I pass.  
  • mookieblalock
    mookieblalock Posts: 3,564
    JeBurkhardt said:
    I have probably bought around 10 records on Discogs, including 2 from overseas. I didn't have any issues, but I also paid a lot of attention to the profile of the seller to see how long they had been there, how many sales they had and what their reviews were like. If they are questionable, I pass.  
    Same. Never had a bad experience, but the recent rise of scammers is alarming. More so, now it is almost impossible for me to sell if I want to, due to limited feedback (less than 30 sales). I wouldn’t buy from me if I were someone else, when I can have peace of mind purchasing from an actually record store seller with over 1,000 sales.
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,345
    mookieblalock said:
    JeBurkhardt said:
    I have probably bought around 10 records on Discogs, including 2 from overseas. I didn't have any issues, but I also paid a lot of attention to the profile of the seller to see how long they had been there, how many sales they had and what their reviews were like. If they are questionable, I pass.  
    Same. Never had a bad experience, but the recent rise of scammers is alarming. More so, now it is almost impossible for me to sell if I want to, due to limited feedback (less than 30 sales). I wouldn’t buy from me if I were someone else, when I can have peace of mind purchasing from an actually record store seller with over 1,000 sales.
    Is there a way to post pics of what you have if u wanted to sell? To show u have it?
  • mookieblalock
    mookieblalock Posts: 3,564
    edited October 2023
    tempo_n_groove said:
    mookieblalock said:
    JeBurkhardt said:
    I have probably bought around 10 records on Discogs, including 2 from overseas. I didn't have any issues, but I also paid a lot of attention to the profile of the seller to see how long they had been there, how many sales they had and what their reviews were like. If they are questionable, I pass.  
    Same. Never had a bad experience, but the recent rise of scammers is alarming. More so, now it is almost impossible for me to sell if I want to, due to limited feedback (less than 30 sales). I wouldn’t buy from me if I were someone else, when I can have peace of mind purchasing from an actually record store seller with over 1,000 sales.
    Is there a way to post pics of what you have if u wanted to sell? To show u have it?
    No, you can only include a description of “pictures available upon request,” and even then, the potential buyer has to send you their email address to be able to send pictures. 

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