We are an auction company in the Netherlands, called “Derksen Veilingbedrijf.” And we might have something interesting for you coming Thursday.

At least 5000 books, mostly written in English, will be auctioned 11-26-2015. The day after tomorrow!!

It’s possible to bid online or by phone, after you created an account. If you need more information don’t hesitate to ask. Pictures of the books are at our website, http://www.derksen-veilingbedrijf.nl, and press on “catalogus > scroll down for books/boeken.”

With kind regards,
Met vriendelijke groet,

Bob Slotboom
http://www.derksen-veilingbedrijf.nl

Let me elaborate. Record grading is so subjective, it’s almost comical. As a simple example, I purchased two mint minus pressings of Charles Tolliver’s “Paper Man” on “Arista.” They are duplicates. Both are the same grade, same label and pressed in the same year. Here is why I bought the duplicate: The first record sounded terrible. It not only has audible clicks and pops but the music lacks bass and depth. There is virtually no sound stage.

I’ve recently learned that a record can be played out. In other words, if it was played often with a dull stylus, the groove walls will break down. The resulting sound is shallow. There is no way to see this condition. (That I’m aware of.) The record simply must be play graded. I have found played out records more often with rock. I imagine, or would like to believe, that jazz lovers are more careful about their record collections and equipment.

But from my years on the AudioKarma audiophile site, I’ve found that many vinyl users have no idea how to set up a turntable that won’t destroy their collection. And it doesn’t require expensive equipment. I bought my son an excellent used Technics turntable for about $120, complete with a dustcover. I immediately replaced the cartridge. I knew to do this because there is no way to tell the condition of a used stylus, no matter what the Ebay sellers with microscopes tell us. I’ve read numerous articles on the subject that were written by engineers. It not only takes a very powerful microscope to see a phono stylus, it also requires a trained eye to determine that a stylus is worn out or wearing unevenly. So I bought a new Shure cartridge that lists for $100. It was on sale for $40. (I have to thank my friend Steve for spotting that sale on the Amazon web site.)

Aligning the cartridge took some toil. This is because the Technics’ turntable and tonearm were made in 1978. It is an entry level machine that can’t be easily set up. It completely lacks the controls to make some adjustments, like vertical tracking angle. In those days, most people didn’t do much with their phono cartridges. If the record wore out, it was easily replaceable for a few dollars. (Don’t you just hate it when an Ebay record sells for $500 and has a $2.99 price sticker on it from a place like Korvettes?) With high end equipment, the dealer would set up the cartridge.

So, say you buy an expensive first pressing, that is graded M- , according to the seller, by using Goldmine standards. I can’t help but hold in a chuckle as I write this. Of course, Goldmine is only a guideline that works if or when the seller follows it. I can’t say how many times I’ve seen negative feedback about poor grading from so called Goldmine Standard sellers. One disgruntled buyer put it succinctly: “A mint minus record is supposed to be free of any clicks or pops.” This is also the “Goldmine” definition. Personally, I can count on my fingers the number of times a record really turned out to be close to what it was graded.

The only solution, I imagine, is to stick with a seller who has come through in the past. I am naturally suspicious of Ebay record sellers with less than 100% feedback. Sometimes, of course, one has to make allowances for some irrational buyers. But when I see a large amount of negative feedback, I stay away. It doesn’t matter whether the seller has thousands of buyers that left good feedback. I’ve found that buyers are naturally averse to leaving negative feedback. Sometimes I see complaints buried in the good feedback!

The first thing I do before buying a record is to look at the negative feedback. Ninety percent of the time, I believe it could have been avoided with honest dialogue. Then I look at the seller’s response to the negative feedback. I find that these comments give valuable insight into the seller’s true character. If the seller responds with a tirade of libelous profanity, I move far away. What I’m looking for is some humility, even if the seller believes he’s right. Unfortunately, I rarely find it.

The best record sellers not only have a money back guarantee, but also pay for return shipping. It’s not a mystery why most of these sellers have no negative feedback. We all know, that in many Ebay transactions, it isn’t worth the postage and trouble to send the record back for a refund. If the buyer is unhappy for almost any reason, the good vinyl sellers on AudioKarma just send an immediate refund. Sometimes they tell the buyer to keep the record. Now, I understand why this approach isn’t practical with expensive first pressings. And most AudioKarma record sales are not first pressings. But I gravitate to sellers with liberal return policies. After many years of Ebay adventures, I don’t think any record is worth the aggravation of a dispute.

My ideal seller play-grades the record on good equipment. (And they will sometimes state exactly what they use.) How can one be a vinyl dealer without an authentic interest in records? One definite red flag is a seller who states that he knows nothing about records. I’ve seen this statement on Ebay auctions where it’s obvious that the seller is a record dealer and has sold thousands of records. I don’t need to elaborate about this obvious form of duplicity.

So if one uses common sense, the buyer can push the odds in his (Or her) favor, that he will receive exactly what he paid for.

as soon as ebay and paypal let me, I’m making formal claims/escalations at both places and will be vigilant until my $ are returned.

I wonder what the $2800 auction winner is doing right now?

Get your money back and do not further pursue with chasing the seller on ebay.

Move on. No need to get further stress from ebay.

good luck!

I had plenty of photos to back up my claim. The seller used old cardboard boxes that were worn out. The amplifier was dropped and damaged. He could have purchased new boxes from the U-Haul web site for very very little money. After examining the boxes, UPS even refused his insurance claim. What Ebay does is try to get the seller and buyer to work something out. But after a short period of time, you can escalate the case. When it’s time, you will see a button that says, “Do you want to escalate the case?”

Something else I learned is to keep calling their claims department. There are some employees who know more than others. I was lucky enough to reach the manager for the whole claims department. If you escalate the case, the seller automatically gets a mark against his feedback. Any rational seller wouldn’t want that to happen. But this is the key: You cannot let the time elapse for you to escalate the case or you will be out in the cold.

After my seller agreed to refund the money, I was down to having three days left for escalation, and still had not received anything. I sent a terse letter to him and Ebay that I would escalate at the end of the day if the money wasn’t in my account. That afternoon, I received an email from Paypal that they had received the money back. I don’t know if the seller voluntarily refunded or it was pulled back by Paypal. In my case, they had my money segregated in an escrow account.

But I can’t emphasize this enough: Make sure you have the escalation cut off date written in stone. Keep calling customer service and write about every conversation. This is a form of warfare. The Ebay agreement is filled with small print that few people take time to read. Many sellers prey on the buyers’ ignorance of the Ebay claims system. I know this from experience. I once lost money because I trusted the word of a seller who seemed ethical. He was just stringing me along until the time elapsed.

While there are some ethical sellers, Ebay has,unfortunately, become a haven for con artists. What was done to you is an obvious breach of contract. In a court, a judge can order specific performance: the seller would have to let you have the record at the price that you both agreed upon. But eBay had you agree to abide by their arbitration system when you joined. Now, if you took this situation to small claims court, a judge could nullify the arbitration agreement in your particular case. Few people do this because of the inconvenience. Your case is so outrageous and unconscionable, that eBay should never have let the seller re-list the record. There was already a binding contract in place. I think they really dropped the ball on this one. But good luck and keep fighting. Don’t let the system wear you down. You know the saying about when good people stop fighting…?

– the relisted auction closed last night at $2800, meeting seller’s reserve apparently.

– this morning, through ebay I emailed seller to refund my money immediately. I also opened a PayPal case.

– did talk to ebay customer service yesterday and they won’t take action until the last possible date of shipping arrival, which is Aug 15. Paypal will wait 20d from now before stepping in.

So, assuming seller DOES have this disc (despite not taking any original photos), upshot appears to be that seller bought time away from my negative feedback by submitting electronic shipping info and lying to me about the disc shipping. Meanwhile, they listed the auction for a shorter run than it would take ebay to step in.

Seth: Agree with you; I’m sure I will get my money back because of the obvious problems here, but what a complete and total hassle AND there’s very little repercussion for this unscrupulous seller.

Sigh…another ebay ‘caveat emptor’ lesson 🙂

As long as the industry can still make money on CD’s and there are still retailers to sell them, CD’s won’t get phased out anytime soon. If we are seeing more and more CD’s go out of print, my guess is that the labels are gearing for reissues with new packaging/bonus tracks/DVD content etc. The labels surely see their CD’s are selling on that eBay or other resale sites for much more than the original price and they’ll want a piece of the pie.