Ebay v Discogs

What I like Ebay

1. Most items for sale have a photograph ot the actual item (some sellers though do use stock images)
2. You can bid on many items
3. You can make offers on many items
4. Its very competitve for new sealed items
5. There are bargains to be had
6. Sellers often sell bundles which allow for said bargains to be had
7. Ebay enforces postage limits
8. Competive postage from Ebay that allows sellers to send items tracked
9. Disputes are automated and sellers pay for returns

What I don’t like

1. Out of focus photos, incomplete photos one side of a LP cover etc, and listing where you have to look at the photos to see for what is actually for sale
2. Innacurate descriptions particularly around condition which is generally less well understood than Discogs.

What I like Discogs

1. The best database icluding information about overseas releases and different pressings, which means if the sellor has listed it as for example from a specific country that is what you should be buying
2. A greater variety of the obscure releases

What I don’t like

1. You do not see the photo of the item you are buying
2. Sellers Minimum orders
3. Postage limits are not set allowing another way of acheiving the above e.g. upto 6 7″ sngles for £4.70 postage, it means one is still £4.70
4. Overgrading of condition by sellers particualarly with Very Good to Excellent
5. Returns (from personal experience) usually involve “passive aggresive” e mails from the seller when you dispute condition, the clear implication being they are professional dealers and you are not.
6. Not good for box sets with many listings simply listing one item e.g. from a box of singles
7. Many single picture covers are listed as “generic”. Not possible to search for picture cover copies only

Which is better?

Fairly clearly from the above in my opinion Ebay. mostly because you can see a photo of the item you are buying if they say it is mint a photo clearly shows whether it is or isn’t and you can make allowances by making an offer or not buying or not bidding as high

It isn’t possible for sellers to upload photos of their item on Discogs, but it is a real problem that can lead to disputes involving condition that are less likely to happen on Ebay

So given the above caveat what can Discogs do? I get that some of Ebays advantages come form economies of scale but the two biggest things for me are scrap minmum orders and fix postage prices. Let the buyers buy what they want however little at a fair postage rate