Something to Complain About?
Here’s a pet peeve of ours at Jazz Collector. Look at this eBay listing: Johnny Hodges, Duke’s In Bed, Verve 8203. Now anyone can see that this is not an original pressing — which would have the trumpeter logo — but is a later MGM pressing. Yet the dealer states with dogmatic certainty: “This is the absolute 1957 original pressing.” And, for emphasis, he states it in all capital letters. What bothers us is that the dealer either doesn’t know what he’s talking about, so he shouldn’t put it out there, or he’s deliberately misleading potential customers, who, really, should know better before bidding. This record is now at $31, which is not ridiculous, but is generally more than an MGM pressing would sell for. Anyway, we’ll put it out there and see if we can get some responses: What are some of the things that bother you these days? And we’ll make one other point: If you have any questions about whether something is an original pressing, come to Jazzcollector.com. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll try to find someone who does.
I’ve seen such behavior a couple of times on ebay now. Sometime there are lexington blue notes on ebay and the seller says that it is an original first pressing, but when you ask if the Record has a flat edge, you get the response “no” sometimes, so this record is clearly not a first Pressing, right? I have even bought Jimmy Smith’s house party off of ebay, an it was described with “Original Deep Groove Pressing” (no photo of the record itself was in this description) but as I got it I saw that it didn’t have any deep groove at all. I finally kept it as it was still an original pressing and I got it for 9,99$ in really good condition. But this is what I hate about buying over the Internet. You can’t really be shure what you get until you have it…
“Mundus vult decepi, decipiatur” the Romans said, meaning something like “the world wants to be cheated, let it be cheated”.
When buying over the internet, one should be as alert as buying in a souk. There the vendors will tell you everything you want to hear, on internet it is the same. Some sellers may cheat you by purpose, others by sheer ignorance.
In dubio, abstine! In case of doubt, hands off. The only way to avoid deception.
A knowledgeable buyer will not be trapped, unless the seller is a crook. It happened to me once with a Swiss seller who sold a Spanish re-issue as an original. Of course no photos provided.
For me the lesson was: require photos, only pictures allow to buy according to one’s own judgment.
I add following when seeing the picture above, the sleeve with a bit of label popping out. This seller saves 40 to 50 cts on picture fees. But this is a bad calculation: nice detailed pictures are good selling tools. On the contrary, when there is something to hide, or nothing particular to show, seller may prefer to give as few details as possible.
Again, a good presentation is a key. It is up to knowledgeable buyers to judge and make bids accordingly.
I bought a Larry Williams lp on ebay once. It was billed as an original. As soon as I pulled it out of the box I knew it was a reissue by the weight of the vinyl alone (and it had a bight yellow and black label as opposed to black and gold). Fortunately, the dealer was kind enough to refund my money.
I ran into something similar at the WFMU fair this weekend. Some dealers had the ‘shrink-wrapped’ lps or they were sealed in mylar. Why would I buy an lp if I can’t see it or I’m not familiar with the seller?