Angry messages and PMs from sellers/buyers

[youspinmeround]

This has become an issue with me and discogs selling. I have sold over 500 records but of late have issues

 

People that are new to vinyl dont understand the playback process. These are not cds...Sounds varies greatly, some include surface noise and the capacity of your syste etc. I grade accordingly

 

I do ask this question...if you buy a record sealed and play it one time and it has some surface noise..how do you grade it?

[One Hundred Fifty-Two]

Ugh everyone over grades records.

That's why I never grade them.

[jhulud]

THE HOBBY!!!

[ExtraFox]

Yeah, that refund came out of the sellers pocket for certain. eBay never covers the cost of a refund in any event. They automatically deduct it from the sellers PayPal account (much like a PayPal claim you file against someone) even if it takes their account into the negative. I'd be pretty pissed if I were the seller as well.

 

Refunds that cost the seller nothing do happen. The situation I got involved in wasn't for a record, but the buyer was obviously a scammer. He admitted in our conversation that the item that he said had gone missing wasn't the item he'd bought from me. He then changed his claim to say that the item he had bought from me had gone missing too. My feeling was that Paypal didn't have the balls to call him out on it and refuse the refund.

 

Oddly, part of the conversation I had with him disappeared from the Paypal server. It made no sense as there was obviously one message from me missing. I got a bit conspiracy theory about it for a while, but it didn't cost me money or feedback (after I told Ebay that his comment was libellous they removed it almost instantly), so in the end so I let it slide.

[just a normal guy kevin]

Some of y'all are silly.

No one is out there plotting a scheme to destroy your eBay or Discogs side business. There is no magic computer glitch that allows eBay to take your money and leave you hanging. Returns happen. Neutral feedback happens. It's part of running a business. An adult should be able to process a return without being emotionally wounded and instantly developing an elaborate theory that he or she is being scammed.

Now, if we're talking the Illumaniti, yes, they are OUT THERE and they WILL try and mind control us through images of bull horns in Rihanna music videos. But a majority of buyers are normal people who want the thing that was described in the listing and see it as normal and not a personal attack to file a refund request when it isn't. And sellers want to sell and only deal with cases where they made a mistake or error.

Thanks for the fellow stories of being blasted for being a buyer/seller. It can be a jungle out there every so often and it's nice to hear from cool ladies and dudes who are not into the tribal warfare method of record buying/selling.

The hobby is alive!

[TFP]

Just curious though, was it a partial refund or a full refund.....?  

[mac1]

As a seller, I just went through the same crap with a buyer who consistently uses this condition trick for "Free" records.  I should have checked his "feedback left for others" and just cancelled the transaction.  Lesson learned.   The jerk, known as "musiccollectors" from Oregon, should have just been happy when I offered half the cost of the $12 Thin Lizzy record, listed a VG, as a refund.   Instead he gets ebay to pay for the record, but I kept his $14, and THEN he goes and leaves Negative Feedback.  What a dick. I call this technique, "playing the condition card".   All this crap (on both ends) for a f-ing $10 Thin Lizzy record.  Gimme a break. 

 

As a buyer, I have never left negative feedback.  Yea, I have felt like I got ripped off a few bucks but, so what, I don't buy from that seller again.  Or by leaving negative feedback do you feel you will "save the world" from this evil, awful seller who sent you a VG record that was listed as EX.  What about the sleeve?  Does that condition count or not?  Feedback should not be allowed for "throwaway" items that cost under $20.    A $100 record will be handled much better, with higher expectations, than a "lightly used" record.  

 

What is your ebay name (original post)?   I noticed you never mentioned the record condition (G, VG, EX, NM)  or if you actually played the record to tell us about the sound, just that his grading did not match your grading system.   You should have just walked away and NOT left any feedback.  

[kannibal]

It's pretty obvious who in this thread overgrades their records to sell on Ebay and Discogs. There will always be a few scammers or bad people out there, but the best way to avoid problems and have Ebay back you up on it is to properly grade your records. Some people buy the product because its NM, or as it's advertised. That doesn't mean i want a VG copy for half price. 

This has become an issue with me and discogs selling. I have sold over 500 records but of late have issues

 

People that are new to vinyl dont understand the playback process. These are not cds...Sounds varies greatly, some include surface noise and the capacity of your syste etc. I grade accordingly

 

I do ask this question...if you buy a record sealed and play it one time and it has some surface noise..how do you grade it?

Just because you just opened it, doesn't mean it plays NM, period. If you got a noisy copy, and are selling it, grade it appropriately.

 

A few years ago, I bought a record from Discogs that was trashed. Listed as NM, of course. I took pics and returned it for a refund of the selling price. Now all you crappy sellers out there think I should leave positive feedback because I got a refund, right? Please tell me how spending $9 to ship an LP to me only to see and hear that its trashed and ship it back, deserves positive feedback. I wasted time and money to let this dude know he was selling trashed merch. 

[pizza face]

Well I just bought a record that was $51 with free shipping. Listed as NM, never played. It came all banged up, the seller however was not a record collector and it was her sons who died in Afghanistan about three years ago. She shipped it in an envelope and paid about $7.50 to ship it. She offered $10 and I took $7 as a refund because I felt bad. She said it was the first record of her sons that she sold and it broke her heart to see it arrive in the condition it did. I gave her advice on how to package records and to use media mail as it comes with tracking for free for $3.17. I was upset how it arrived but the record still played fine, a few pops but no surface noise at all so I was content.

[suchashorttime]

So what was the record in question?

:-p

[cfrancese5]

I once bought a record on Ebay (a fairly rare record at the time) that the seller said was NM.. when it came it looked like it had been through a no holds bared match with Stone Cold Steve Austin... I messaged the guy and asked him to give me some money back and we could call it even.. he said no send it back and I'll refund you.. I ended up keeping it and leaving bad feedback.. left a bad taste in my mouth... 

 

I don't sell records but if I did I don't think I would sell them on Ebay and if I had to I'd under grade them.

[jerseydave77]

I always under grade records. I've had people write mms shocked they've gotten a mint record. I've also only one time had an issue of condition where the buyer found and photographed a reasonable side B scratch I missed - sent them a refund and told them to keep the lp. So much can happen in shipping that I use undergrading as a safe guard. I'd rather get 2 bucks less than deal with a return.

[sacredheart]

As a seller, I just went through the same crap with a buyer who consistently uses this condition trick for "Free" records.  I should have checked his "feedback left for others" and just cancelled the transaction.  Lesson learned.   The jerk, known as "musiccollectors" from Oregon, should have just been happy when I offered half the cost of the $12 Thin Lizzy record, listed a VG, as a refund.   Instead he gets ebay to pay for the record, but I kept his $14, and THEN he goes and leaves Negative Feedback.  What a dick. I call this technique, "playing the condition card".   All this crap (on both ends) for a f-ing $10 Thin Lizzy record.  Gimme a break. 

 

As a buyer, I have never left negative feedback.  Yea, I have felt like I got ripped off a few bucks but, so what, I don't buy from that seller again.  Or by leaving negative feedback do you feel you will "save the world" from this evil, awful seller who sent you a VG record that was listed as EX.  What about the sleeve?  Does that condition count or not?  Feedback should not be allowed for "throwaway" items that cost under $20.    A $100 record will be handled much better, with higher expectations, than a "lightly used" record.  

 

What is your ebay name (original post)?   I noticed you never mentioned the record condition (G, VG, EX, NM)  or if you actually played the record to tell us about the sound, just that his grading did not match your grading system.   You should have just walked away and NOT left any feedback.  

 

 

Take the money out of the equation, especially since the owner didnt lose any money. What is the harm in leaving neutral feedback that says the item was not in the condition it was graded at? It is just a heads up to other potential buyers that it might not be NM as everyone on ebay claims there records are. Don't want the hassle of neutral of bad feedback? Spend 10 minutes learning how to grade properly and this wont be an issue.

[the6nightmares]

As a buyer, seller, and collector- I certainly cannot subscribe to the theory of  "buy it and play it." I am incredibly meticulous with record grading, whether for resale, or for consideration in my own collection. As a couple other users have mentioned, audio equipment definitely plays a role in the quality of playback. With that in mind, I will not subject any of my equipment to poorly handled records including both dirt/ grime and damage I.E. scratches, etc are hard on the stylus and the grime doesn't help either. As a meticulous side note, when purchasing records, (especially used) even if they look decent, typically receive a complete cleaning before ever meeting the platter and needle in my house.

 

Obviously there are scammers out there, but typically the feedback of both sellers and buyers can illustrate this quite clearly. The record grading system though a subject of debate, really should not be a subjective method. It either is, or it isn't that particular grade. As a previous user mentioned it is better to over grade than under grade. Whether selling records as a primary source of income, secondary, or hobby, sellers should consider what they would think of a record if they were on the purchasing end. Again, as mentioned before, a pleased customer/ enthusiast can gain you repeat business, there is no reason to over grade and create a hostile situation.

[dreamover]

Some of y'all are silly.

No one is out there plotting a scheme to destroy your eBay or Discogs side business. There is no magic computer glitch that allows eBay to take your money and leave you hanging. Returns happen. Neutral feedback happens. It's part of running a business. An adult should be able to process a return without being emotionally wounded and instantly developing an elaborate theory that he or she is being scammed.

 

 

 

A few months ago, I sold a poster on eBay. The bidding went up extremely higher than I was expecting. I was paid right away and shipped the item. USPS lost it for a week, but it ended up getting there (100 miles away) within 12 days. (tracking proves it was dropped off at the post office the day after the auction ended). The day before he got it, he asked for a refund and said he didn't want to wait any longer and accused me of never sending it out. After he got it, I thought the story was over.

 

Now that it's been several weeks, a few more of the same posters start popping up on ebay. They sell for about half what this one sold for. A week later, he emails me and says he's going to send it back and he'd like a refund because there's a scratch on it. I told him there was no scratch. 

 

Then he opened a case with ebay. I called ebay, told them the whole story. They said I didn't do anything wrong and they would back me. I kept answering his emails for two weeks and we argued about it. I offered him a partial refund. 

 

Then he escalates the claim and says he's done arguing. eBay gives him a "courtesy refund". I get an email from paypal saying there is a $250 hold on my account and that I have two weeks to pay before they send it to collections. Any money that comes into my paypal account during this time automatically goes to ebay. I try to appeal. The poster shows up on my doorstep. eBay tells me there's nothing I can do. I can either pay or not pay. If I choose to not pay... collections yada yada yada.

 

So yeah. They can take the money out of your pocket. At least the guy sent the poster back.

 

Which by the way, there was nothing wrong with.

 

Fuck that guy.

[itsWetWilly]

Tell us, bake! Who wrote on the grooves with a Sharpie?!

[thebunk]

Kind of surprised at people accusing the buyers in this situation. Overgrading happens too often on eBay and I have to avoid it (unless I am buying new and sealed). I find most people (even record nerds) have no idea how to grade or taking the time to distinguish sound vs. visual grading.

I find discogs is much better for this sort of thing and I always ask detailed condition and photos sometimes if I am going to spend more then $40

[mindovermatter]

Threads like this make me never want to sell records again. Between folks who would lose their shit over a VG- record being graded as a VG+ and people who log into their accounts online minutes after making a purchase and being incredulous that "IT HASNT SHIPPED YET" we are getting a little out of hand.

Let's dial back the entitlement and just clean a record before we play it. Meanwhile, stop checking your tracking every hour and wait for it to show up. Add a little spice into your life.

Unless, of course, you're talking about extraordinarily rare records that are setting you back $1K+ (but I suspect most in this thread are looking for a Title Fight record or something...)

[jhulud]

^^ And this sums up THE HOBBY!!!

[GradedOnACurve]

Haven't sold on ebay in over a year and a half. Guess I'm probably not going to anytime soon seeing how this thread has unraveled. Oof.

[itsgoodtobefree]

Sorry but if you don't feel like selling records anymore because you don't want to deal with people that complain about overgraded records, maybe you should learn how to grade them properly. Yeah, a few honest mistakes happen here and there but there are plenty of sellers who continue to get away with overgrading.

[mindovermatter]

Sorry but if you don't feel like selling records anymore because you don't want to deal with people that complain about overgraded records, maybe you should learn how to grade them properly.

I grade properly. I want everyone to untwist their panties and just fucking relax.

[psus2h]

How many of you ship outside of the sleeve but in the poly sleeve? Curious as to if I'm the only one who requests it from sellers and shops to prevent further sleeve damage.

[jerseydave77]

I haven't sold in a year - been taking photos today for a purge. This thread is a great reminder of all the bullshit I scaled back on. People are way uptight about nothing.

[psus2h]

I haven't sold in a year - been taking photos today for a purge. This thread is a great reminder of all the bullshit I scaled back on. People are way uptight about nothing.

Try slinging a Paramore LP.....