poor vinyl

There are other fairly extensive threads on this topic on A'gon if you are looking for more information. At any rate,
I buy frequently from ebay / A'gon. Ebay is absolutely a "roll of the dice" as far as buying used vinyl. I have not received items, I have on at least 2 occasions received items rated "mint" or "Ex" and simply thrown them away after playing them because their condition rendered them unlistenable. I have also found some highly desireable l.p.s in mint shape for reasonable prices. My interests are rather "specialized" - that is,I buy traditional folk music (Ir., English, Scandanavian, etc.). In that respect, ebay is an invaluable resource.

Some sellers provide a great service by explaining their grading systems in fine detail. Other sellers just pick a grade. In either case, there is no guarantee unless the seller notes it on their auction. I use the Goldmine Grading system when I sell records. Any interested buyer can easily locate the details of that system on-line.

In general, when buying from either ebay or A'gon record sellers, I check feedback and once I have established that an individual grades accurately and is reliable, I peruse their offerings whenever possible. When buying on ebay I always look for sellers who specialize in music and who have limited interest / knpwledge and who may simply be trying to sell l.p.s they came across at a garage sale.

In the end, when you buy used vinly unseen, you pays your money and you takes your chances!

Best of luck,
Mike

I've had reasonably good experience on ebay. The shops that are honest and know how to rate LP quality are somewhat easy to spot. I had one or 2 buys that didn't meet the quality level rated, but the price in that case was about right so I didn't feel bad.
I had one case where I bought an LP from a guy selling his personal collection. He said it was "excellent condition" and I paid $22 for it. I received a really dirty, and somewhat worn LP. I immediately sent him an email telling him how disapointed I was. He offered to take it back for a full refund, or let me keep it and he'd give me a $20 refund. The LP was worth $2, and the guy was straight up honest.

I've given up buying vinyl via Ebay. The final straw was when I bought an original pressing of a Judy Collins LP that the seller describes as "near mint - excellent condition." When I received it, it was visually scuffed and obviously historically mishandled. Upon playing, the surface noise was louder than the recording itself.

I wrote back to the seller and described it. His only response was "what do you expect for a 35 year old record?"

Well, when a seller describes a 35 year old LP as "near mint," that's what I expect. Many of my LPs are that old, and many of them are mint or near mint.

I stick with Agon now...I've had much better luck here, especially with the regular sellers of LPs.

I have to agree with Coffe nudge. If somone says the record is near mint then it better be, just like if you sell a piece of gear on audiogon and rate it a 10/10 it better not have any scratches. I don't think it's too much to expect to get what was advertised and you paid for.

I've had pretty good luck on Ebay and a few instances where the record was stated as NM and was a piece of junk. Any record rated at VG+ or better should basically be pretty clean playing. If you buy any record rated VG, then in my opinion you are taking your chances and can't expect much. I stay away from anything below VG+. Also beware of sellers who offer records and call them excellent, that can mean just about anything. Just remember that as far as Goldmine is concerned a record at VG+ or better should play pretty darn good.

Ebay can have it's problems as stated, but without it you are minimizing your choices greatly.