[Minn Mark]

Pardon my ignorance but can anyone clarify for me the following:

May sellers of used/open LPs on Audiogon, etc use the Goldmine or other grading systems. My confusion is that when both the LP and the cover are graded, is there a convention for which is first? I mean if you see:

Holst The Planets  NM/VG+     is the LP near mint, or is it the cover??   Do I have to ask sellers on a case-by-case basis?


Thanks in advance for the help.

Mark

[Wayner]

I believe the first code is for the LP itself. Most don't even use the dual code, rather just coding just the LP, which is fine by me.

If the album art is important to you, then by all means the grading of the cover is important.

It is noteworthy that one fellow's NM is another's VG.

Wayner

[Minn Mark]

Thanks Wayner. Its a small thing if sellers would just be a little more specific. I care more about the LP and have been glad to see so many old favorites still for sale as unopened or very gently used albums.  I agree one has to be careful about the grading, so as always the buyer beware.

M

[Wayner]

I bought a record from a guy on eBay and it was rated at NM, but when I got it, it was warped. There are many factors to be concerned with when properly grading an LP for a customer, and being warped removes it from the NM category.

Scratches and abrasions are the easy thing to grade, but there is also the warp, off-concentric spindle hole, flashing around the spindle hole, over-heated pressing (which is next to impossible to see visually), and a whole bunch of other things I can't even think of right now. Near Mint means it is damn close to perfect, in my books.

So, perhaps the moral to the story is that one persons treasure is another persons junk. Grading of used LPs is purely subjective and the real story is "buyer, beware".

Wayner

[e.man]

I bought a record from a guy on eBay and it was rated at NM, but when I got it, it was warped. ...

Wayner

Just had this.  Bought 2 X NM but were bent and dirty.  Paypal claim as 'not as described' should be used.
Instead i started a low key discussion with the seller to work it out and have ended up reported to the ebay thought police.  It's just cost me $30 to send $20 worth of records back.   

[Delacroix]

Been there, done that. While I cannot comment on what the dual rating listing means, I concur that there are really no meaningful standards here when it comes to listing LP condition. When I get noisy (even after cleaning) LPs that were listed as Exc/VG+ I no longer complain to e-bay or even the seller but just remark in the feedback section that seller's grading is inflated or questionable. Saves me having to spend $30 to undo a $20 mistake of the kind you mention. When I see such in other seller's feedback, I take it seriously. That said, we need a lot more of us to provide that feedback, I get the sense that most ebay (and Amazon) seller feedback is completed by folks who are just grateful the item arrived. I'd like to think the A'gon sellers are more clued in to the values that matter for folks like us but I am not longer sure this is the case. IF you can, give accurate feedback, but A'gon is actually a tough place to leave a critical review given the need to have the other party agree to it (I assume this is still true, it certainly prevented me listing my real feedback on one 'well-regarded' seller there)

[rab1234]

I've found if its seems to good to be true it probably is. It's my luck and its hard to say but I seem to do better with Amazon, pick a good seller and pay the few bucks extra (best open one i got said "this is the one" in the description) $11.00 early Genesis 1972 / 73?. Haven't had much luck with collections.