Discogs - Late to the game - FYI

[par4ken]

I saw a canadian seller saying shipping is 1000$ and when you go to his seller profile, the actual rates are mentioned there

Sometimes shipping rates are listed as a rough guide only. Listing a very high shipping rate will ensure that the customer realises that the cost will have to be calculated afterward. Another way is to put free local pickup. Those are ways that sellers are trying to work around the shipping policy.!

 

[humprof]

So as an admitted compulsive buyer, I have used (almost) exclusively eBay or Amazon for my used disc buying. I made my first Discog purchase of a hard to find Nektar disc in preparation for the Cruise to the Edge. Lo and behold they have an app where you simply scan the bar code of your discs, and voila! You have an inventory of your collection. Not only that it gives you an estimate of its value (ie how much you might have spent - gulp!). I won’t be sharing this app with my spouse. Eek!

Adventures in Discogs. I think it was your post that inspired me to check out this feature. (I was truly sold when I found out you could export to a spreadsheet or database, at least in principle. I haven't tried that part yet.) I just finished inputting my collection--I still have to create entries for maybe a couple dozen obscure releases that aren't in the dabatase--and I'm really pleased with how easy the whole process was. 3,534 items and counting, and it only two me about two weeks of extremely intermittent work. The hardest part was sorting through various pressings of popular LPs and squinting at runout matrix etchings, etc. (Which version of The Beatles for Sale do I have? Who could say?--I don't have the patience to figure it out. . . .)

Interesting to look over the results, though. I know Discogs price histories are just one relatively unreliable measure of current market value, and I'm not really a collector or a seller anyway. But going only by the Median selling price:

• The most expensive item in my collection is the Genesis 1970-1975 box, at $253.91 (followed closely by Tull's Songs From the Wood and the Mingus Jazz Workshop Concerts box on Mosaic). Time for a re-press. Or better yet: an Atmos remix. Just don't let Tony Banks be in charge again.
• The most expensive single item (i.e., not a box set), is a rare Jamaican mento 78 by Cecil Knott and his Joybell Orchestra (I've got a bunch of old 78s of Trinidadian and other Caribbean music) at $139.24, followed by a Francis Bebey LP on John Storm Roberts's "Original Music" label and an early MFSL pressing of Katy Lied.
• There are only about 40 items total with a median price over 75 bucks, but some of them are surprising. If I re-sort according to Max selling price, things move around a bit (who knew an original mono pressing of Mingus's Blues and Roots or Lightnin' Hopkins's Smokes Like Lightning could fetch so much?), but it's mainly the same cast of characters.

Now I think maybe I need to have a chat with my insurance agent.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Adventures in Discogs. I think it was your post that inspired me to check out this feature. (I was truly sold when I found out you could export to a spreadsheet or database, at least in principle. I haven't tried that part yet.) I just finished inputting my collection--I still have to create entries for maybe a couple dozen obscure releases that aren't in the dabatase--and I'm really pleased with how easy the whole process was. 3,534 items and counting, and it only two me about two weeks of extremely intermittent work. The hardest part was sorting through various pressings of popular LPs and squinting at runout matrix etchings, etc. (Which version of The Beatles for Sale do I have? Who could say?--I don't have the patience to figure it out. . . .)

Interesting to look over the results, though. I know Discogs price histories are just one relatively unreliable measure of current market value, and I'm not really a collector or a seller anyway. But going only by the Median selling price:

• The most expensive item in my collection is the Genesis 1970-1975 box, at $253.91 (followed closely by Tull's Songs From the Wood and the Mingus Jazz Workshop Concerts box on Mosaic). Time for a re-press. Or better yet: an Atmos remix. Just don't let Tony Banks be in charge again.
• The most expensive single item (i.e., not a box set), is a rare Jamaican mento 78 by Cecil Knott and his Joybell Orchestra (I've got a bunch of old 78s of Trinidadian and other Caribbean music) at $139.24, followed by a Francis Bebey LP on John Storm Roberts's "Original Music" label and an early MFSL pressing of Katy Lied.
• There are only about 40 items total with a median price over 75 bucks, but some of them are surprising. If I re-sort according to Max selling price, things move around a bit (who knew an original mono pressing of Mingus's Blues and Roots or Lightnin' Hopkins's Smokes Like Lightning could fetch so much?), but it's mainly the same cast of characters.

Now I think maybe I need to have a chat with my insurance agent.

oh, hell, yeah, Discogs is a great tool that way, I have been using it for about 4 years now..
the most expensive item I have is the ELP box set-- $400 as MEDIAN price !!!
https://www.discogs.com/release/9680297-Emerson-Lake-Palmer-Fanfare-1970-1997
as a marketplace, I find that the sellers are more knowledgeable and more professional and the prices are more "realistic" as opposed to fleabay..
and YES, talk to your insurance agent ASAP!

 

[Quad Linda]

Get pix of the collection, especially those $$ items.

Let's see, there's that MoFi Beatles LP box, Complete Miles on Columbia 70 CD/1 DVD, Fare thee well Dead, Supertramp German CD box...

 

[kap'n krunch]

Get pix of the collection, especially those $$ items.

Let's see, there's that MoFi Beatles LP box, Complete Miles on Columbia 70 CD/1 DVD, Fare thee well Dead, Supertramp German CD box...

I WAS going to mention that YOUR collection has got to be worth QUITE A BIT of change! Especially with all of thosePromo /First pressings you had from when you worked at the store...
Now, THAT would be a collection I'd like to see in Discogs!!!!

 

[Quad Linda]

Makes me sad I won't be here to bid on it.

 

[barfle]

So as an admitted compulsive buyer, I have used (almost) exclusively eBay or Amazon for my used disc buying. I made my first Discog purchase of a hard to find Nektar disc in preparation for the Cruise to the Edge. Lo and behold they have an app where you simply scan the bar code of your discs, and voila! You have an inventory of your collection. Not only that it gives you an estimate of its value (ie how much you might have spent - gulp!). I won’t be sharing this app with my spouse. Eek!

I tried that out earlier this week. The bar code scan thing worked about half the time. Sometimes it didn’t work because there was no bar code on the package, but remarkably often, I got a message to the effect that they couldn’t find that barcode. Somehow, I have a lot of BMG doscs, that are noted as “club releases.” Never been in that club, but I’ve been collecting CDs for quite a while and I didn’t bother to keep track of the sources.

When I could add a barcode to the release, I did. But I still have abour 30 CDs that weren’t in discogs, and putting in a new one seems like it’s a task I will have to make an effort to learn.

I haven’t yet bothered with my DVDs, blu-rays, or vinyl. I should live so long…

 

[humprof]

I tried that out earlier this week. The bar code scan thing worked about half the time. Sometimes it didn’t work because there was no bar code on the package, but remarkably often, I got a message to the effect that they couldn’t find that barcode. Somehow, I have a lot of BMG doscs, that are noted as “club releases.” Never been in that club, but I’ve been collecting CDs for quite a while and I didn’t bother to keep track of the sources.

When I could add a barcode to the release, I did. But I still have abour 30 CDs that weren’t in discogs, and putting in a new one seems like it’s a task I will have to make an effort to learn.

I haven’t yet bothered with my DVDs, blu-rays, or vinyl. I should live so long…

I had a similar experience to yours--although I found that a) the scanner would often actually find the release on a 2d or 3d scan and b) Discogs would often find the release when the scan failed and I went on to search by artist and title. (In many cases, it was just that no one had actually input the barcode.)

The scanner is definitely not reliable for distinguishing between different LP or CD pressings, though. You have to get into the weeds for that.

 

[gvl_guy]

I doubt any of my quad albums have a barcode.

 

[NYMo]

I put my 2310 in manually over 5 years ago !
( I use it to find what I'll play next via my iPad ....saves me squinting at the actual product )

 

[barfle]

I had a similar experience to yours--although I found that a) the scanner would often actually find the release on a 2d or 3d scan and b) Discogs would often find the release when the scan failed and I went on to search by artist and title. (In many cases, it was just that no one had actually input the barcode.)

The scanner is definitely not reliable for distinguishing between different LP or CD pressings, though. You have to get into the weeds for that.

As I noted, I added barcodes to several “releases.” I found one where everything matched up, including the “runout” data, matched up, but the barcode was different. The OP sent me a message that they checked their disc, and the barcode they put in was correct. Go figure. I clearly don’t understand how the disc manufacturing and distribution business works, assuming it does.

I wonder if it’s possible for them to get disc data from someone like whoever my OPPO gets its disc data from. I could look up who that is, but I’m not going to right now. And getting into adding a new “release” (disc issue) is going to take more effort than I can afford right noe.

 

[Quad Linda]

I doubt any of my quad albums have a barcode.

Actually, there are many Columbia represses that feature the SQ logo along with a bar code. To my knowledge, none of these are in fact SQ. All of them were originally available on SQ releases. These are 2ch LP's where someone in the art dept used the artwork for 2ch LP rerelease, instead of using proper 2ch artwork. Sly's High on You and EWF Way of the World are two of these which come to mind.

These represses are distinguishable from their genuine SQ cousins by both the barcode and LP sleeve. The REAL SQ's have cardboard sleeves w/paper glued on top. All the later ones have sleeves made from card stock, as referred to in the paper industry. Info is printed directly on the card stock. Many of this style are Digipak sleeves, such as Al Kooper's I Stand Alone. Again, if these titles have a bar code, they're not SQ, although the sleeves are marked as such. The LP labels on these wolves in sheep's clothing themselves are standard red Columbia labels.