All things Discogs!

[J. PUPSTER]

A general purpose thread on "All things Discogs"

As many of us here buy and sell on Discogs; I felt a thread like this needed to be available for tips and other information on it's features and use.

Just saw this in my inbox today about seller fees going up to 9% (for both item and shipping costs on actual sales) as of May 22nd 2023.

 

[kap'n krunch]

as a buyer and seller, I find the fees are not that bad...I have a HUGE inventory of mostly classical titles which are slow sellers, but hey, most buyers are nice folks.. it seems that people are used to UPGRADING the condition of their stuff, while I tend to DOWNGRADE them to make sure the seller gets a good deal. I do not sell stuff that is less than VG+ unless it's a rare item, where I state clearly its condition

 

[GOS]

So, is this getting closer to what ebay charges? I don't even keep up with all that.

 

[cbmmm3]

So, is this getting closer to what ebay charges? I don't even keep up with all that.

I 'think' Ebay was around 11 percent for recorded media. Its been awhile since Ive read their contract

 

[Tres Discrete]

I 'think' Ebay was around 11 percent for recorded media. Its been awhile since Ive read their contract

I believe it is 15%…unfortunately

 

[hi-res_edition]

It bothers me that they are also including the 9% on shipping. That means another $0.45 if I charged $5 for shipping. One could easily loose money on that side if they are not careful.

 

[cbmmm3]

what is also odd on discogs is that they charge sales tax on shipping costs when you purchase goods

 

[ar surround]

what is also odd on discogs is that they charge sales tax on shipping costs when you purchase goods

I think that charging sales tax on shipping is typical. No? The last choo choo that I bought had sales tax charged on shipping.

 

[GOS]

I've never used Discogs to sell, but I've sure bought a lot from them. I prefer to try to sell stuff here first, then last resort, I go to ebay, even though the fees.

 

[par4ken]

I haven't sold anything on eBay for years since their ridiculous (listing of) shipping cost requirement. It is not possible to accurately calculate shipping until the order is placed, or query received from potential buyer! I've been thinking about workarounds but that would require listing much inflated shipping costs to prevent losing money. I have a lot of low priced items to sell, so can't afford to subsidize shipping cost on those.

I have never agreed with charging sales tax on shipping cost either but that is usually required by most government legislation.

So with uncertain shipping cost plus added tax plus added Discogs commision fees, what do you do!

That being said I have made a lot of Discogs purchases lastly, where else do you find this old long, long out of print stuff?
Sometimes items can found on eBay that are not found on Discogs or at better prices, so you should always check both. Also when purchasing from one seller browse his other offerings as shipping is usually more reasonable on larger orders.

 

[ar surround]

I haven't sold anything on eBay for years...

I haven't sold anything on eBay in years, either. They keep making selling more costly and difficult. They now ask for your bank account number because they are no longer tied to PayPal. Sure. Why don't I give out my bank account number to every organization that asks for it. How about I just post my bank account number on this forum?

Also government regulations have added another layer of complication: If your total sales in one calendar year is over $600, they will send you a 1099K. (It previously was 200 sales or $20,000.) So this new reporting requirement makes things even more complicated for the casual seller. More paperwork to file one's income tax returns. And the IRS won't let you group things together!!!

 

[par4ken]

I haven't been asked for a bank account number and damned if I would ever give them mine. That is the purpose of Paypal. They still take Paypal for purchases so they must still for sellers as well?

I would never report the pennies earned from selling an old LP or CD unless the Discogs system does it automatically.

What is needed is a new site in which the parties can make their own deals directly between individuals, cut out the middleman and the tax collectors! List on the site then purchase privately.

That might be far too risky for many but I've found that when making private deals there are very few scammers.

 

[GOS]

I haven't been asked for a bank account number and damned if I would ever give them mine. That is the purpose of Paypal. They still take Paypal for purchases so they must still for sellers as well?

I would never report the pennies earned from selling an old LP or CD unless the Discogs system does it automatically.

What is needed is a new site in which the parties can make their own deals directly between individuals, cut out the middleman and the tax collectors! List on the site then purchase privately.

That might be far too risky for many but I've found that when making private deals there are very few scammers, .

If you sell on ebay now, they will only direct deposit into your bank account. Not Paypal. It's a pain in the neck now.

 

[barfle]

I haven't sold anything on eBay for years since their ridiculous (listing of) shipping cost requirement. It is not possible to accurately calculate shipping until the order is placed, or query received from potential buyer! I've been thinking about workarounds but that would require listing much inflated shipping costs to prevent losing money. I have a lot of low priced items to sell, so can't afford to subsidize shipping cost on those.

I have never agreed with charging sales tax on shipping cost either but that is usually required by most government legislation.

So with uncertain shipping cost plus added tax plus added Discogs commision fees, what do you do!

That being said I have made a lot of Discogs purchases lastly, where else do you find this old long, long out of print stuff?
Sometimes items can found on eBay that are not found on Discogs or at better prices, so you should always check both. Also when purchasing from one seller browse his other offerings as shipping is usually more reasonable on larger orders.

I’ve recently sold a handful of my mother’s stuff on ebay, and I’ve taken the occasional bath on shipping, but that was due to my own laziness on weight and size. A lot of other stuff ends up being as much to ship as I’m charging. Sometimes it moves, sometimes it sits for a month and gets relisted. I check daily for sales. I believe they charge 13.5% including shipping (which they discount), which can certainly discourage use of their site.

I haven’t bought or sold on discogs, but I have noted all my CDs in my collection. I’ve put a dozen or so up there myself, and one thing that is ridiculous is their insistence that Every Word In The Title Be Capitalised, whether or not that is part of the artistic intent. I’ve had mods there correct my entries on Vol. II, but they leave the same errors on Vol I, even if prompted. I’ve complained on their forum, but all I get back is “it’s policy.”

 

[barfle]

What is needed is a new site in which the parties can make their own deals directly between individuals, cut out the middleman and the tax collectors! List on the site then purchase privately.

That might be far too risky for many but I've found that when making private deals there are very few scammers.

Well, someone has to pay for the site. I’m pretty confident QQ has asked you for financial support recently.

 

[cbmmm3]

since we are on an Ebay and Discogs talk, lets talk about Seller performance. How many times have I bought something and then wait and wait for shipment and then I am told . 'sorry out of stock" Yet few days later the same item is back up for sale !! and sometimes at a higher price !

I say to Ebay and Discogs you must have sellers with a 99.9 percent rating or they get the boot. Of course neither Ebay or Discogs would go for that idea. Its all about the revenue baby !!

 

[par4ken]

I’ve put a dozen or so up there myself, and one thing that is ridiculous is their insistence that Every Word In The Title Be Capitalised, whether or not that is part of the artistic intent. I’ve had mods there correct my entries on Vol. II, but they leave the same errors on Vol I, even if prompted. I’ve complained on their forum, but all I get back is “it’s policy.”

I agree, and I don't understand why they do that. It also bothers me that listings that start with "The" are filed alphabetically under T. For proper alphabetisation "The" should not be counted, i.e. file "The Beatles" under B not T!

Also annoying, but much less so is that artists should be listed alphabetically by their last name, not their first.

Those annoyances aside, Discogs is a great way to list/file your collection.

 

[par4ken]

since we are on an Ebay and Discogs talk, lets talk about Seller performance. How many times have I bought something and then wait and wait for shipment and then I am told . 'sorry out of stock" Yet few days later the same item is back up for sale !! and sometimes at a higher price !

I say to Ebay and Discogs you must have sellers with a 99.9 percent rating or they get the boot. Of course neither Ebay or Discogs would go for that idea. Its all about the revenue baby !!

I have very seldom ever had that happen to me. Not too long ago I had placed an order and a couple of weeks went by with no indication that the order had been shipped. The seller was ignoring my request for updates. Once Discogs was contacted he responded right away. He was having trouble finding one of my items, but eventually found it and shipped the order out. Better communication on the sellers part would have helped that situation a lot.

Get the boot because you don't score almost 100%, It would just take one asshole to screw that rating for you!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I’ve had several instances in the last couple of years; when the seller cancels my order claiming either couldn’t find it or wasn’t actually in the condition they advertised.

I suspect the real reason is that they realized they were selling it too cheap

 

[cbmmm3]

I have very seldom ever had that happen to me. Not too long ago I had placed an order and a couple of weeks went by with no indication that the order had been shipped. The seller was ignoring my request for updates. Once Discogs was contacted he responded right away. He was having trouble finding one of my items, but eventually found it and shipped the order out. Better communication on the sellers part would have helped that situation a lot.

Get the boot because you don't score almost 100%, It would just take one asshole to screw that rating for you!

it would be a failure rate of 1 per 1000. Now there is no penalty. I see very poor ratings for sellers ---low 90 percentile or less and are still in business. They are allowing a fail rate of 1 in 10 customers. If I performed with this rating in my business I would be toast. Out of business. So - Im belligerent on this - Ebay and Discogs need to step up the quality control