I agree with your guidelines when you want to buy an expensive item. But if you go for cheap, easy to get items, then do give new sellers a chance as well. All sellers have to start somewhere.
I second your professional way of speaking & communicating. Professional and with class! There's a guy here on RU-vid with an audio channel who comes on camera in his bare feet, and sometimes rubs his toes while talking, and scratches himself. It looks like some kind of gimmick. He does live broadcasts, is often asking for money; telling people you don't get this kind of philosophy anywhere else....I'll say. I've gotten audiophile lps on ebay that look mint but sound like they were played with a nail. Super Disk, older Mofi etc.were very quiet pressings. You don't get that kind of continual cruching surface noise even if you played the lp 100 times over; over time. Hard to imagine people paying premium prices for lps like that, and then not getting a stylus change for 30 years. Or maybe they even played it with their old mono cartridge, with its 80 year old stylus. You avoid ridiculous scenarios like that with cd. Still, if I was on oxygen, with tubes in me, & had an hour to live and I could play a cd of the same music on a great cd player or an lp on a great turntable; I'd go lp & turntable. What's a few ticks or pops right before you expire! As long as the stylus isn't older than I am. With vinyl, appearances can be deceiving by a country mile. I'm sure shopping in places that sell records have yielded too many diappointments to count, over the years; once we got home & actually played them. Now that record prices are so high, there's bigger money, and the criminal element will inevitably creep in. Some of the opportunistic companies who price their lps in orbit, I'm sure we can at least partially thank for that. Where there's big money, the unscrupulous element creeps in, and discovers a new playground.
It is too gimmicky for me, coming on with no shoes etc. AND he asks for money way too often; which supports my contention. Maybe someone will start a RU-vid channel, where they are standing on their head. It won't be him; he'd lose too much change (money). I must admit I do get a kick out of him sometimes though. I just can't figure out one thing that he ever says that I didn't think of beforehand myself, or something which is a real revelation, or something truly helpful, as he claims; in order to get donations that he frequently asks for. I do like colorful people as the world has enough boring ones. I try to be colorful myself in what I say and the way I say it. There is such a thing as being TOO REAL though Or pretending to be TOO REAL as a gimmick for profit. Anyone that colorful is welcome though. It's something different I guess. I tune in occasionally. Maybe some day he will say something useful to me. I don't personally think I'd buy something based on his recommendation. But if I pass by something he recommends I might take a listen.
It is unfortunate and not surprising given the prices we are seeing. Where's there's money there will be those ready and willing to take advantage of the buyer - especially when emotions or impulse buying is involved. And thank you for the compliments!
Hi Rick, Lesson learned. I am very careful when buying online, but me too fell in a record scam last Christmas. The scammer even setup a https website so all looked legit but still I was kind of suspicious and never closed that page until I got a tracking number. They ended up sending a package/letter to some address in another in a different State and then close the site as soon as the package was delivered. Thanks my bank dealt with it and I were reimbursed. Small quantity, but still bad experience. Now I now better... and still buying at the local store and trusted eBay sellers that I had have business with.
Thanks for sharing that. My wife was heartbroken when she realized we'd fallen for it. Still breaks my heart at how upset she was. It ended well with us getting our money back, and hard lesson learned - but at least we learned it!
It''s that old saying "if it's too good to be true, than it is". Thank goodness you didn't get scammed. Excellent video for anyone who is into records.
I think that's smart. Walmart has an amazing amount of LP's on their website, and usually have some great sales. I have even seen MoFi Original Master Recording albums there and they were even a buck less than Music Direct.
Hey Rick, great topic. You have to be extremely careful when purchasing anything online. Scammers are everywhere and they are getting more sophisticated and more difficult to detect. Like you said, "if it sounds too good to be true it probably is", a phrase coined by the BBB years ago is a wise guideline. Be patient when you are shopping and check things out thoroughly. Use a pay service that offers buyer protection and buy from well vetted sellers. Great job on this topic!
Works like a charm: have the seller take a photo with the album and a piece of paper with their name and the date. In Amateur Radio buy/sells, this is what we do, although it also adds some security that they can also look up our Federal FCC call sign and find out our address and more. Any seller that I feel any amount of discomfort with, this is what I do. I also found one of my favorite sellers this way, he only had a dozen albums in his selling collection.
I love this. I’ve often thought about diving into ham radio. One of the audio dramas I scripted that did well focused on ham radio. Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s ham radio you’re referencing right?
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords yes, Amateur Radio and Ham radio, one and the same. It's a 35 question test and I'll promise you already know half the answers. Amateur Radio and HiFI is like a Ven diagram, there's a lot of crossover.
I’m just starting to buy albums again. My first purchase was from Rare Vinyl out of the UK. I purchased Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father”. I was very pleased with the album, it was in great shape. No flaws, scratches, near perfect to me. The sound was so sweet. So this company is on my trusted list. I’m going to be checking out some of the local record shops to find my gems. So I’ll see how that pans out.
I love the variety of topics on your channel. It’s like meeting a buddy for a chat and not knowing what will come up. This video highlights a frustration I have had for the last few years. I have 3 higher ticket items in my small collection that I feel I would like to move on to a more appreciating owner. But…being a newbie with no Discogs history (or history on any other selling site) I get nothing but pushback and headaches. So I stop trying. The items I have specifically are: original UK pressing of Pink Floyd Pulse box set unplayed. Original Frank Zappa Japanese Lather box set unopened. Original Frank Zappa Beat The Boots unplayed with the t-shirt and the popups, etc. All fairly pricey. Very hard for a person with no exposure to move anything like this. That said, from the BUYER side I totally agree with all your rules! But as a wanna-be SELLER….I’m a nice guy! I can be trusted! But I get rejected like at a high school dance. :). Thanks for the videos!! Your in-site is appreciated.
I'm sorry about the pushback on Discogs. I do give some new sellers a chance depending on the item, and I hope your able to make a go of it. If your store is still active send me the link and I'll watch for anything I might be interested in to help out. Cheers!
I fell into a record scam in the 70’s. Saw a Bee Gee’s album I hadn’t seen (this would have been about 1975, I was 14) checked out the song titles, thought wow this has a lot of hits. Bought it, took it home for a spin only to find out it was a choir of singers (don’t remember the name) not the Bee Gee’s!! I then looked closer at the record cover and it said Bla bla singing the Bee Gee’s. I threw it in the burn barrel out back in disgust! 😵💫
These are all good guidelines, but I have mixed feelings about only buying from those with a lot of reviews or a large inventory. Many of my best purchases came from regular individuals like me, just looking to unload a record or two, not from stores or dealers. Of course, if I were to spend a few hundred bucks, that may be different, so maybe it's just my experience buying more obscure, less desirable ones. But being diligent and paying attention to the warning signs is always solid advice...for any online purchase.
My only beef is with the people who sell records on eBay. Most of them 'have heard' that records can be valuable. They spend little or no time acquainting themselves with how records are generally graded. eBay keeps really good records now of your conversations with sellers. Ask a LOT of questions about the condition. I'd say 80% of the time with lots of questions, I get what I paid for....sometimes even better than described. The other 20%....even from 'dealers', I've had troubles. But I either got a full refund or the record was refunded down to thrift store prices. But it was only because of the eBay dialogue I had with the seller before I bought. Honestly, some people are just clueless about record grading. I even had one guy try to tell me that the condition of the record was irrelevant to him, it was all about the jacket's condition! And when you are pleasantly surprised, save the seller for future business. When you are thinking of buying again, compliment them on your last purchase. That gives them some incentive to 'do right' again. And there was one dealer I remember who said it was 'pointless' to grade records. He would play a record and if it played without skipping it was 'excellent' to him. Needless to say, I gave him a wide berth. Another time I bought three original Herb Alpert records "in shrink". When I got them, there was shrink alright, but the jackets had been opened decades ago and the records were thrift store abused. Turns out the lady just got some bad advice from friends on condition grading....she refunded me a lot on those gems. 'Be careful out there'.
Great advice, Kevin. Especially about the eBay dialogue. I'll have to remember that. I also like the bit about complimenting the seller - I have done that on occasion but I should make it a point to do it more. Especially for those sellers I trust and who actually know how to grade. There's one seller who sells Japanese pressing which are flawless and always graded NM. - unless of course it's not. He's so good, he's the only one I'll buy VG+ from as his VG+ is pretty much NM.
Also, watch out for non-original-label LPs. They use original artwork that has the original label! When a copyright expires, several off label copies show up. They may cut using a CD or even a recording from a LP. If the price is too good and you aren't using a trusted label or store, look further to see what the label is and search the Internet to determine if it is legitimate and good sound quality. I unknowingly bought a few and some were quiet as far as the vinyl went but just sounded dull and lacked dynamics. Look beyond the artwork to discover the actual brand/label.
This is great advice and one I hadn't thought of! When you run across these are they trying to pass themselves off as being legit (as in counterfeit) or do they display their label's name along with the original artwork? I ask because I think I have one of these.
Are these companies/labels being deceitful? I think so. If the label is prominently displayed at the point of sale, perhaps not, but in my case, their label was not prominent. Once I saw the original label on the cover being displayed I thought it was original. Sometimes the artwork shown at the point of sale is the original showing the original label but, on the back, will likely be the actual or knock-off label at the bottom. Others had their label on the lower front usually in a corner but had nearly original artwork and may have removed the original label from the artwork they show. In this case, it was my fault for not looking. Now that I know about it, I look. So, when I was looking around various websites for a good original pressing or a new release, I got confused and bought the knock-off label when I didn't want to -- more to the point, I didn't even realize there were knock-off labels at that time. Consider this: a ceramic car coating: I was looking around, reading reviews and did that with Cerakote and Carkalote ceramic spray coatings -- the latter turned out to be an OK car coating, but it had the same box colors, similar box label and even similar website advertising, so as I was reading on various products, I went back and bought the wrong product. I didn't even know it until later, after I started applying it! As for LPs, they use nearly original artwork so you recognize it. If the copyright has expired is there anything wrong with that? Yes, unless the label is prominently shown and their recording method is disclosed. If the LP was cut using a CD or an LP or someone's taped copy then the quality is suspect, yet the price is not always low. They may even be 180g, capitalizing on that marketing hype making you think quality. My feeling is of being ripped off as I didn't even know that was going on until I looked at the jacket and saw that I didn't get a re-release from the original label as expected. I looked at the jacket because the recording was horrible -- like playing a 78! What if the original masters are released to another label? I think that is fine as long as I know it -- such as Quality Record Pressings or Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. -- in such cases, I know what I'm getting because their label is prominent. They often state what they did to record it. And, I have many great recordings from both but none from the knock-off labels I unintentionally purchased.
If I’m feeling unsure about the seller, I always message them a specific set of questions and see how willing they are to answer, how they answer, etc. usually, scammers don’t respond or if they do, you get a weird feeling.
That’s really good advice. If you have time I’d love to know some of the questions if you’re ok sharing. If not here then feel free to email me at my site. Cheers!
The questions usually pertain to the quality of the item, or how they package for shipping. For example, sealed records: “do you notice any storage warp?” “May I ask how you obtained this record”? (This can be invasive so I only reserve this for the really sketchy sellers). For used records: “do you notice any warping?” “What is your definition of VG+” And then I just evaluate their response. Usually they don’t respond, or they don’t answer the question exactly. I only buy if they answer the questions thoroughly, kindly, and don’t make me feel bad for asking. Usually, the good sellers are happy to send photos and you can just tell they are real people. I bought from Discogs recently and the seller only had 10 reviews, but he was very nice and offered to send pictures. Answered all my questions. And sure enough, record was exactly as described. I’ve been buying online for a while now, so I’m kind of well tuned to the probably of risk just from their response. After reading responses for years and probably over 80-100 sellers, you notice a pattern.
Hi Rick. Very good video and great advice. I am always very cautious when buying used vinyl on eBay. I ALWAYS check seller feedback, and if less than 99% positive, I pass. I have been burnt too many times in the past. I also ALWAYS use PayPal for such purposes, for the reasons you mentioned. But even doing this, I still occasionally get burned. Just recently, I was looking for a copy of the soundtrack to Every Which Way But Loose, and I found one for a decent price. Seller had good feedback, so I took the plunge and bought it. Record arrived, and the surface of the record looked great. I cleaned it and put it on the turntable, and it was virtually unplayable. The surface noise was so horrible I couldn't bear to listen to it. Only thing I can think is that the seller played it on a turntable with a bad stylus. Needless to say, I did end up getting a refund for it, but it's just such a hassle going through that, especially anticipating the records arrival, and then getting that. I found a second copy last week, that I again purchased and it arrived on Saturday. Again, I cleaned it and put it on the turntable, and the entire title track skips. The rest of the album plays just great. No surface noise and no more skips.. Just started going through email with this seller so we'll see what happens there.
@@TheJoyofVinylRecordsYes, he did, and it was a very good movie. The entire soundtrack is great, with tracks from Charlie Rich and Mel Tillis. Sondra Locke even had a track on it. Who knew she could sing? :-) Right turn Clyde!
Great video (as always) and guidelines. I follow the same guidelines as you. I have only purchased two items from discogs and that went fine. But I have purchased many items from ebay. And with those guidelines in my pocket all my purchases has gone smooth as silk 😁 Enjoy your evening and all the best from Kristiansand 👍😁
I was surprised (maybe I shouldn't have been) to find, after I'd placed an order, that the seller didn't actually have the record they listed and were scrambling around to find a copy they could pass off on me. I've sometimes encountered this when trying to take a seller up on a "combined shipping" charge for multiple items. Turns out, they don't necessarily have an inventory of the albums they're "selling." Nothing is really "in stock." So, how could buyers trust the grading of records the sellers don't even have, or know if they can get, in the condition listed? I now look for a detailed description of the particular copy the seller has in their hot little hands, not just an estimate of a hypothetical LP they might someday obtain and want to (re-)sell. In such scenarios, I might be better off buying from individuals (not posing as retail merchants) who don't have a large number of records they're trying to sell. I'd rather buy from folks who are basically just treating Discogs like a garage sale or a Craigslist listing. It's the ones whose stats indicate they might be running a scam of a certain scale that make me suspicious...
I had the same thing happen! The seller replied they couldn't find the record. They reimbursed me but it was somewhat suspicious. They have great reviews and a lot of them so I figured it was a one off occurrence but I jotted their name down. A few months later they had a record (inexpensive) that I liked the price on so I took another chance with them. Happened again 😂
Anything less than the recommended retail or overpriced , I will not buy no matter how much i would like to have that album. or pay pal is a great option. I saw a lp selling for ten times more than what its priced at what idiots are these people get a job robbers.
You never buy from anyone with a 100 percent positive rating and their neutral rating is not bad. Mostly people using feedback as a message, or newbie buyers or the seller responded and makes the feedback seem ok. That how I buy, Ive bought from lesser before and paid for it.
Your patience on holding off on buying the record worked for you on this If a price is way too low that should send a red flag!! You were smart in not buying it although it was probably hard not to go for it at that price
I don't see why peopld pay $40 and $50 for a record when you can usûally get the same tiltle CD for $15 and cassettr fot $20 brand new. It absoutely blows my mind😢
Sound quality on vinyl is the best quality you can find. For example.. Listening to a song in 1992 buick and listening to that same song in a 2024 Tesla are completely different listening experiences.
Awesome you're a Phish fan. I have that record - the reissue 😊. A few others too. You made my day 😊. I'm gonna show my spouse this so she 'maybe' 😆 give me some respect. Good on your intuition. I never buy a pig in a poke. Greg
Hi! The KLH Model 5s. My wife redesigned the "Vinyl Room" to give it a 'jazzy' feel so while we are painting and ripping out baseboards I had to move all of my equipment (and tons of records) out.
I got one back for us - placed an order for currensy/harry fraud cigarette boats they took the money sent tracking then said it was out of stock, I cancelled em on PayPal with the dispute that they said the record was in stock and ready to ship, and SV never disputed it, 2 months later the record shows up - if the customer service would’ve had any kind of back n forth with me this wouldn’t have happened, just a heads up I can’t say they’re legit or not but customer service had no response to me or PayPal
