EBay Question

[Cdnbob]

Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong section. If so, please feel free to move it to the correct spot.

I've been thinking of perusing Ebay.ca to see if I can pick up some 12" singles and albums and was wondering if any of you have purchased vinyl this way? Are there any tips you can give a newbie? My main concern is shipping vinyl in the mail and whether the material actually shows up once you've passed the $$$$ on to the seller.

[RetroRuss]

I have bought quite a bit of vinyl off Ebay. The easiest way of seeing if a seller is 'kosher' is by looking at the feedback - I would begin to worry if it was less than 90% & only buy from a seller who has sold less than 20 items with a 100% feedback rating. Check out some of the 'shops' - some good sellers - although quite expensive!

[DISCODISK]

Originally Posted by RetroRuss

& only buy from a seller who has sold less than 20 items with a 100% feedback

retroruss i dont understand why you are saying that why only a seller that has sold less than 20 items

even good sellers can get a small amount of bad feedback as the world is full of assholes i prided myself on having 100% positive feedback then a girl never paid me,i neged her and she neged me back russ is right about the 90 percent i wouldnt let it go that far if it was below 96/97 id be studying the feedback, its about using your brain and instinct we get all these scare stories on t.v here with stupid people crying and saying i paid this man £1.500 for this flat screen and it never arrived, i say more fool them
i have had a record not turn up its 3 weeks late now but i do believe it was sent its the post office thats lost it,i wont even leabve a negative because i believe him,if you want to start buying a lot of things i say you have to expect a little loss once in a while as there are so many bargains to be had there it all balances out.
one problem is when a seller has a few negatives and you really want to read them they can be so hard to find as you have to go through pages of feedback to find them which is difficult when the seller has sold thousands of items so ill leave you with 'DISCODISKS EBAY TIP OF THE DAY' follow this link
Toolhaus.org
type in their user i.d then hit feeback left for them or feeback theyve left for others and all the dirt will come up [no positives included] then make up your mind

[Cdnbob]

Thanks for the tips guys. Much appreciated. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind.

[DISCODISK]

Originally Posted by Cdnbob

Thanks for the tips guys. Much appreciated. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind.

no probs
the lost record i mentioned earlier has arrived i went to check my mail and it was there, 3 weeks to come from england thats 90 miles, next time ill swim there and collect it and swim back its gotta be quicker, jeez ive had records from l.a in 2 days

[RetroRuss]

Originally Posted by DISCODISK

retroruss i dont understand why you are saying that why only a seller that has sold less than 20 items

It's really from my own experience and perhaps not to buy is a bit strong - just be very wary.

[eddie]

Check the comments in the negative feedback. If its a cracked jewel case for a CD, dismiss it. If someone is drop-shipping new albums/cds and promises for weeks its in the mail and then refunds money, be prepared to have your time wasted if item is a current rare import. Both Amazon (which sells some vinyl through private sellers) and ebay guarantee your satisfaction with a money back guarantee. I for one find the grading can be abit liberal. I only deal with top notch sellers and buy mostly Cds on Amazon through third parties. I have problems less than 1% of the time.

[KoolChris]

I've been buying records for years off eBay, easily several hundred up to now. Now living in France, I used to go back to L.A. every summer for about a month, bringing a wish list I'd concocted over the rest of the year (I mainly search for US pressings, when available). I'd go back to France with from 50 to 100+ records every summer, often without some of the records on my want list. I've spent the past 2 summers on the Riviera instead, so I had to find a different means to get records, quicker.

Ebay has filled that need in a great way. Not only can I access sellers from anywhere in the world, but I can also have eBay point out when a record I want is up for sale, via the "Save this Search" function. The Euro/Dollar ratio being what it currently is, paying for a record+shipping is actually cheaper than finding it here, anyday.

The only downsides I can think of are:
-having to trust a dealer to appraise the condition of a record for you
-having to wait for the record to be shipped, and to arrive (sometimes up to 10 days for the guy to make it to the Post Office, then another 10-day average to get here)
-having to trust a dealer, period. I once bought a 45 from an Italian seller, who sent the record in an envelope!! Of course, it was cracked upon arrival. The guy claimed he'd sent thousands of records that way, that they'd all arrived in one piece, and that I was trying to scam him!!
Of course, the listing showed only 1 pic of the record, in its sleeve! No way to blow up a hi-res pic to check for signs of cracking. Believing the guy had sent out an already cracked record, I filed a complaint with eBay, and got my money back, minus cost of shipping back. I now buy mostly from specialized dealers I trust, and that have good communication skills (they answer right away, and don't hesitate to post samples or extra pics upon demand), or from new sellers with good feedback ratings, and pictures.

I personally don't do business with people who have repeat negs (feedback counts over 400 with 98% positives don't smell good to me), abusive shipping charges (billing $14-17 for 1 Lp overseas, when USPS charges around $10), or can't spell or just write English correctly (I find that foreign and/or uneducated people don't understand the terms "Mint" and "decent business conduct" the way I do. I also usually keep away from Italian & French sellers (because of the low esteem for, and knowledge of vinyl in both cultures ("excellent" can mean "has many extra grooves created by our cat, but is still somewhat black & shiny"), and the high density of scammers within the sellers thereof), or people who obviously know nothing about caring for, or grading a record (people who usually sell toys, clothing, or tools, not records).

The final encouragement I can give you, is by telling you that if you pay through PayPal, as a buyer, you can very easily be reimbursed if you don't recieve your item, or if it's not as described. The policy is so biased towards buyers, that it's actually a hazard to sellers, and many only accept to ship registered . So you do have a kind of guarantee.