Hello, again. I've been busy the last couple of weeks but tonight I have spare time and something I really want to write about.
Over the last year or so, I've put together a small but nice collection of vinyl records. All of them have been purchased from various sellers on Discogs. Almost all of the transactions have gone very smoothly. Most of the sellers I've dealt with have created invoices quickly, shipped items promptly once paid for, and have graded the records pretty accurately.
A lot of 45 R.P.M. singles can be had for less than what you'd spend on a cup of coffee. Last week I bought twelve singles from one seller, each of them for $1.50 apiece. Shipping was another $5, which is quite reasonable.
Of course, when you buy something sight unseen, you are taking a chance on it. One seller sent me the stereo mix of an album, when I bought the mono version. The shipping label had all of the information printed on it. So, someone somewhere made a conscious decision to just send me whatever they had laying around. I sent a very politely worded message informing the seller of this mistake.
His response was anything but polite. He stated that it was my fault for not reading the listing correctly and when I sent him a screen capture of the listing, that just made him even less pleasant to deal with. I offered to pay for the shipping cost to return the album but he said he didn't want to waste any more of his time. I won't ever buy from him again, that's for sure. He also said he'd refund the purchase price (but not the shipping fee), which he never did.
The really cool thing is that for a great many recordings, the mono mix is a dedicated mix, and is the version that was initially released so many years ago. Most of those mixes sound better than the stereo mix, which was quite often something done with less effort put into it. Also, there are a lot of promotional mixes and edits that were released only to radio stations, for air play. I've got a lot of those and they just sound so good. I have the radio only promo mix of "What'd I Say" that has never been released anywhere else. Was it expensive?
Yes, it was. But it's worth what I paid for it, to me, at least. As is the dedicated mono version of "Riders On The Storm" which had a very limited release as a Record Store Day exclusive in 2011.
It's the most expensive single in my collection at this time. It was listed as being in mint condition and that grading was accurate. I cleaned it very carefully and played it one time, to make a clean needle drop of it. The dynamics on the recording are just amazing.
In closing, I'd say that overall, about 90% of what I've bought has been worth the money I spent on it. I can live with that.
As always, dear reader, I wish you well.
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