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Re: [ARSCLIST] WOT plus?!--was: Collection for sale
I am increasingly steering more and more away,from records graded VG+,unless it's a nonclassical record I really want,or I have bought records from the seller before.I have found VG+ has become a big fat grey area,and have bought some truly unplayable records in this grade.Moreso now,than in 2001,when I first started on eBay.
Roger
"Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Per grading of used records...there are at least three inevitable truths
involved (if not more?!)...
1) It is TOTALLY objective...and as such, dependent on whether the dealer
involved wants to sell the record(s) for as much as possible...or whether
he/she/it wants to establish a reputation for honesty above all else...
INCLUDING income...!
2) There are several known systems competing...and more than a few
dealers use their own proprietary systems, to boot...!
3) Few, if any, dealers actually take (or have) the time to audition
every disc they sell all the way through..!
So...the first step in establishing a business relationship with ANY
record seller is to establish EXACTLY what/his/her/its grades mean in
actual practice...! I have dealt with dealers who were UNDERenthusiastic...
that is, I was safe in bidding on anything graded V upward (these were
78 dealers...). I have also dealt with dealers for whom E- and below
meant a WELL-worn copy of a disc. So...after receiving one or two
shipments from each dealer, I had a mental attitude as to what each
party's grades actually indicated in "real world" terms...!
As well, buying used microgroove discs...or, even worse, CD's...
exponentially increases the risk...since AUDIBLE faults are not
always VISIBLE damage...!
Finally, add in the further fact that most collectors of current or
recent formats want not only copies that play perfectly (or as near
as possible)...but copies with labels unmarred by writing, stamped
stuff, stickers...or even tears, scratches or fingerprints...!
Perhaps what we need is an entirely-automated "record grader"...
into which one inserts the disc he/she/it is planning to sell...
and a digital read-out pops up "V++" or whatever applies to
the disc...?! Of course, to work properly, this machine would
have to have access to (1) a mint copy, as a digital sound file,
of EVERY record ever made...and (2) likewise, as image files,
copies of every record label ever issued!
Hmm-m-m-m...
Steven C. Barr
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