Record sellers

captainsalty

captainsalty

Ikon Class
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
perhaps it's only me, but i experienced a steady decline of grading standards in recent years with different kinds of sellers. the months of november and december really had me reeling, almost all of my purchases were CRAP, condition wise, and some of them were bought from reliable sources.

just a couple:

SHAN DELS - please stay (ebay): description <vg>: realitly: BIG FUCKING ticking scratch, unplayable.

ROMANS - i'll find a way: touted <vg>: reality: had three cracks!

(widely known bronx seller): (rare NETS disc): ok, was rated <g+> but it looks as if people fought battles with this.

(widely known uk soul seller): two M- records: BOTH looked <ex> but played like <vg->.

it's really frustrating. grading is not rocket science.
 
it's really frustrating. grading is not rocket science.

It is if you reside anywhere outside of the USA. I'll get hammered for my non-PC view, but the VAST majority of sellers who grade records like sh*t are non USA residents.

I can help you out:
Any seller who is not of or well-known and highly regarded by the G45 family:

If the grade is below VG+ EXPECT a G grade - noisy, with scratches of varying depth that pop as loud as a jackhammer breaking up concrete.

If the EX grade is used expect the REAL grade of VG, even if EX+ is applied.

And, there are some folks even from G45 who are so far left / liberal with their application of a VG grade that the true definition of VG is not a worthy purchase anymore.
 
If the grading standards of individual sellers - as opposed to the industry as a whole - is declining, then that's worrying. The picture painted by Mike regards non-USA graders and users of EX grade is not quite as doom and gloom as he suggests (I've had some reasonable graded EX's from the continent), but point taken.

I've been keeping a database of eBay sellers over the last 15 odd years, and it might be a good idea to have a feedback system here: kind of like a Trip Advisor for garage record buyers. Anyway, I'm happy to share whatever info I have.
 
something that really irks me is "visual grading". why would i grade a product that creates sound based on visual criteria? only reason i can think of (besides selling too many records to grade individually) is deliberately fooling buyers. knowing that a record plays like shit but it has "lots of gloss" and no scuffs or scratches, well, grade it <m->!
 
Agreed that Euro grading can be very suspect. VG+ has a whole different meaning when it is 4 grades below NM instead of 1. My least favorite grade: EX-, which is often equal to what I'd call VG.
 
captainsalty said:
something that really irks me is "visual grading". why would i grade a product that creates sound based on visual criteria? only reason i can think of (besides selling too many records to grade individually) is deliberately fooling buyers. knowing that a record plays like shit but it has "lots of gloss" and no scuffs or scratches, well, grade it <m->!
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A couple of years ago I bought a 45 from an Australian seller who grades with precise numbers like 8.3, 7.9 etc. Mine was graded about 8.7 out of 10 but was in reality a G+. I immediately sent it back to him demanding a refund and asking how he could give a high grade to a record that played with so much noise and he replied that he only did visual grading. What a laugh! That he can give such a pseudo precise grade based merely on looking at it. He also had a whinge about how buyers have all the power on ebay these days so the poor old sellers don't get a fair go.
 
GRT used that 1 to 10 point system when they had their auctions. They would grade a record "Near Mint 3", and a buyer would assume they were getting a weak Near Mint record, but the record would actually grade out around a strong VG. A cleaver marketing method to make records sound better than they are.
 
Certain ebay sellers are very reliable in their grading. Besides the ones who are on this forum, Audiofixation and Living Eye come to mind. There are a number of others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Bad experiences are too many to list.
 
My favorite thing is getting cheap something visually unappealing but that sounds great. Also, that way I'm not tempted to sell it as I know it will be unfairly looked down upon by most 'serious' collectors. :kool:
 
chas_kit said:
Certain ebay sellers are very reliable in their grading. Besides the ones who are on this forum, Audiofixation and Living Eye come to mind. There are a number of others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Bad experiences are too many to list.
Click to expand...

I rarely buy records from eBay these days, but other sellers I've rated highly in the past (keeping in mind, of course, that some of these have been based on a single transaction):

brainfromwheaton
brucey211
deej57
funkbayou2 (Jarratt Rolfe)
hardmod93
Ionmark (Mark Weber)
jopop16
littlegypt
natetheskate68
nemo23
rockabil101
rocksteady
speedlimit45 (Ray Peters)
the-vinyl-underground
twistandshoutlps
u.p.sledder
vintageareus
vinyl!
vox_raven
ahpook
dave_stimson
gradysrecordrefuge
lightofdayvintage
livingeye
mackari
mojocools
rarejerks45s
royal punkness
stardust_records
tedshu17
up!pig!
515dans
adams.records
anky.panky
armyn62
auraleffects
beccadan951
cdwolf
chez_loulou76
chikira
colnel
escape-ism
flibberty-floog
funkyousounds
givemeshelter
happyjaque
jtv5
kahvas_jute
kwayrbo
lcharm7
lilcricket09
lindaandkarl
luchchuck
magmamusic
market-tavern (Raye Biffin)
motorcitymusic
mrfairytale
nambulphil
nickdvyne
petsounds
plattenrillehamburg
rare45s1
rockvillejunction
roost_66
sasham66
scrambln (Greg Frey)
see-these
surfinmw (Gail Andersen)
syfur (Robert Simpson)
tefteller (John Tefteller)
the_plastic_factory
thenon
timsrecord
traxonwaxrecords
vins
wccrfm
west-coast-pop-exper
(This is obviously not a complete list, but others are free to fill the gaps)

I don't like to name the bad ones, but I think a few of the very worst I've dealt with deserve a mention:

spheres_music
sugar-bush-records
rushden8
evetrek
r_rcollectibles
maximumrecords
 
Michael W said:
He also had a whinge about how buyers have all the power on ebay these days so the poor old sellers don't get a fair go.
Click to expand...

The way it should be. In my (non-record, wholesale) business, customers have all the power. As long as they pay the bill, we bend over backwards for them. Merchandising assistance, free delivery into store, full credits for unsold stock, discounts for bulk purchases and further discount for paying on time, 60 days to pay after receipt of goods, online and personal assistance at every level.
 
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