What I learned on Craigslist

^^^ Interesting stuff here. I've yet to buy anything off of discogs, and have been wondering about others' experiences.
Mixed bag here. I've had some great transactions, and I've had some LPs graded "NM" that were VG at best. Lately I've been buying primarily sealed new old stock LPs and have mostly good luck. I cracked open one this morning that was sealed but had terrible inner groove distortion; strangely, I have a used copy with the exact same distortion. I am now thinking it's just a really bad pressing. The record is brand new--absolutely no marks on it, and only dirt on it from the pressing plant. It's just the luck of the draw with sealed records, and I can't blame a Discogs seller for that.

Today I learned what 'rare' means.
On eBay, everything is "rare"! :D And everything older than five years old is "vintage."
 
Another discogs find.
Seller sells sealed (supposedly brand new) LPs and his return policy is as such:
"No returns for sealed items as I have no way of verifying the condition within the sealed package."

I guess as a buyer I do not warrant the same problem.

Of course his prices are insane so who knows what his deal is. The LP I looked at is OOP and sells for $200+ sealed or M- open played once.
 
"No returns for sealed items as I have no way of verifying the condition within the sealed package."
I do have to agree with that--we're buying something blind, without inspection. It is up to the seller if they want to take back defective sealed items that are decades old. I suppose if I ordered enough from any one seller and had a relationship, they'd probably take it back with no problem. On the other hand, since many of these guys sell via PayPal, we can simply report that the item was defective, and get a refund. The only thing is we can't do is claim the item is "not as described"--the seller has told us it's sealed and we know there is no way to tell condition of a sealed product. (So I guess we'd be working a loophole there...yes, it was "sealed" as described, yet the item inside the sealed package was defective.)

Tricky call there. Knowing how some buyers are today, I'd probably refund it and be done with it.
 
I do have to agree with that--we're buying something blind, without inspection. It is up to the seller if they want to take back defective sealed items that are decades old. I suppose if I ordered enough from any one seller and had a relationship, they'd probably take it back with no problem. On the other hand, since many of these guys sell via PayPal, we can simply report that the item was defective, and get a refund. The only thing is we can't do is claim the item is "not as described"--the seller has told us it's sealed and we know there is no way to tell condition of a sealed product. (So I guess we'd be working a loophole there...yes, it was "sealed" as described, yet the item inside the sealed package was defective.)

Tricky call there. Knowing how some buyers are today, I'd probably refund it and be done with it.
Kind of why I almost never buy "used" sealed LPs. I have from known sellers only or if found in a pile I bought. I have never received an incorrect Lp but I have received noisy, dished LPs. I just think it is funny that the seller uses a reason for not taking returns that would easily apply for not buying them in first place. After I looked again there is only one sale. They may be FOS. Figure I will put a $200 record on discogs for $850 with no return and if someone is stupid enough to buy it.......
 
I've received about eight or nine sealed LPs in the past three days. Two or three really need a bath. One is just a bad pressing (on Polydor, so I kind of expected it--a bit noisy and slightly off-center). Two of them surprisingly had inner groove distortion, one of them alarmingly so, but I heard the exact same distortion on a used copy I owned, so I'll chalk that up to a bad pressing also. Overall though, just about all of these are keepers and none are worn down like about 60% of the used records I have bought in the past several years that I've dumped into my growing reject pile. Most were under $10, so, no big loss if something is bad. I don't pay crazy money for old stuff. ;)
 
Today I learned a TV can look an awful lot smaller than actual size...
:idea:

50 inch Element TV
00R0R_7cMokeEyQww_600x450.jpg


Maybe he thought you are supposed to add the height to the width. :dunno:
 
Mixed bag here. I've had some great transactions, and I've had some LPs graded "NM" that were VG at best. Lately I've been buying primarily sealed new old stock LPs and have mostly good luck. I cracked open one this morning that was sealed but had terrible inner groove distortion; strangely, I have a used copy with the exact same distortion. I am now thinking it's just a really bad pressing. The record is brand new--absolutely no marks on it, and only dirt on it from the pressing plant. It's just the luck of the draw with sealed records, and I can't blame a Discogs seller for that.


On eBay, everything is "rare"! :D And everything older than five years old is "vintage."

Well that might explain this royally priced Junior card... could be a misplaced decimal, maybe not... nearly 30 years old which makes me feel old...

https://columbus.craigslist.org/clt/d/1989-ken-griffey-jr-upper/6754128510.html
 
I like to shrink-wrap used vinyl, ...

JK, but it would be pretty simple to do.
The original Tower Records price sticker kind of gave away that it wasn't a reseal. One could arguably clone the price stickers, but that's a lot of work just to sell a $3.99 sealed LP.
 
Yep, pays to know what you're looking at. Too many predators out there who think that collectors are all suckers.
...and they also think that all records have some tremendous value because they're popular again. Even the estate sales are nuts these days, putting price tags on records that should be thrown in the dumpster. Who's going to pay $2-$3 for a record that is clearly beaten to snot and dirt from being returned to its jacket maybe once every year or two? Only a sucker. (These are copies that a record store would never take in.) I figure I'm safe because like our other fellow AK members, I know what I'm buying and know what it's really worth, and in my own case, I'm not afraid to wait a while for the right deal to come along, and I'm a cheapskate. :D
 
SO TIRED of "my loss is your gain". Really?

Yep. Also: "I don't really want to sell this, but..." or more generally, any reasons for selling. Divorce, moving, upgraded, too many of the same thing, I. don't. care. I just want to know that you're really willing to sell, at or around the price you're listing it for, and whether the item is in the shape I want it to be.
 
Buying a car on CL...collected wisdom throughout the years.

It's in perfect condition, practically showroom new! It has a few door dings here and there, and one of the trim pieces on the door is coming loose. It has some road rash on the front also, and a couple of nicks on the trunk, but you can't see these unless you are up close. Interior is immaculate! There's a little wear on the leather from getting in and out. Also, there's a rattle in the glove compartment door, and one of the seat belts has trouble retracting. The passenger's side visor is also a little loose. Everything works on it--runs perfectly, except there has been some rough shifting in the tranny lately, mechanic says it might just need a fluid change. The side marker light is burned out--easy fix! The fluids have been changed, but it is probably due for a timing belt change in about three months, and there is some sort of whine that we can't track down. It also clunks a little in the left rear going over bumps. Brakes are good. A little rubbing in the rear but my mechanic says it's normal. It has higher mileage but it is all highway miles. Tires are just a few months old, but one is newer since I had a blowout and is a different brand. It looks the same though. This car was babied its whole life, like your Aunt Millicent drove it to church and back every Sunday!​

(So yeah...CL seller has a running wreck. :D )
 
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