Tiberius

"99% of records, no, 100% of records I sell are for the A side of a popular Northern Soul record, not for the B side. Half the people wouldn't care if it didn't even have a b side." Maybe this isn't clear then. The suggestion here is you do not grade the B side as a; 100% of the time the B side is of no interest. b;the half of people that do care don't matter as you only consider the half that don't.

So double standards then. As a buyer I would expect a sellers grading to be consistent. But as it stands I have to use my powers of ESP to decide if you, the seller, deem the B side to be of interest to me. Sorry, Pete but it's your answer that's daft not my question.

I'd be interested how anyone who only grades a 45's supposed "play" side would grade something like BILLY HAMBRIC on DRUM, or any of the other multitude of well known "2 siders". Different set of rules? What about LP's ? How does the seller know which track I want the LP for?

I have here 2 stock copies of 1973 released Wand WND 11262 - ULTRA HIGH FREQUENCY - INCOMPATIBLE / SADDEST SMILE IN TOWN (with different mix B sides on each).* S 51259-1B mix is a styrene press whilst S 51259-1D mix is a vinyl press. I had a few Demo copies over time but not for a while now so can't say if that 45 is styrene or vinyl, or both! No doubt someone will be able too add this info. *Edit: Having just played these 2 45's they are in fact the same mix (Major Harris? version) The other mix is S 51259-2E .

Notes on sleeves reminded me of the time I bought a few 45's from a seller in Texas amongst which was a copy of That Girl - Royal Jesters on Optimum 104. On the sleeve someone had written their name along with "Joe Jama" & "Optimum 102". I contacted the seller but sadly he "didn't have that one".

At least sellers currently have a choice. Having said that, in the case of one of my purchases, the seller wasn't flexible around the shipping method, insisting on the "Global" option..........I consoled myself with the thought that at least there would be no £8 "handling fee" to find on arrival.

That's a big "if". All packages have never had "Value $5" on them, and never will have (in the case of those not sent via "Global Shipping Program"). This program is very new, these threads regarding customs charges are not. In the UK it's all down to what some on here have termed a "crackdown".....call it what you like. The bodies responsible for collecting these duties have been far more alert over the last 12 months than they ever were, all of this prior to "Global Shipping Program", and this situation seems to be increasing. Hence, your 45 with $25* on the CN22 now gets picked up in the UK where once it most likely did not. (Edit: *$25 where not marked as "gift".) As I am of a naturally slightly nervous disposition I will add the following statement "Dear HMRC I hearby declare that all of my overseas purchases have had import duty/vat paid in full where applicable." What is clear is that with "Global Shipping Program" you pay the full import fees at the same time as you pay for the item....one upfront transaction. So, as you indicated, they're based on exact final value.....no room for manoeuvre .

I agree with your sentiment but the reason is not strictly true. In the UK the "problems" are almost entirely due to HMRC and Royal Mail stepping up collection of import duty, vat etc., from a position of apparent virtual non collection in the fairly recent past, at least for vinyl. Sad to say we had it too good.......I'll no doubt nostalgically tell the grandkids about it one day. When you factor in Royal Mails £8 "handling charge" you can understand why folks on here are grumbling. This has then coincided with USPS postal rates dramatic increase which has exacerbated the situation to meltdown point......ie. a couple of similar threads on here each week. In most cases the "Global Shipping Program" will clearly add further cost to any purchase, thus it makes some sense for the US vendor, with international sales in mind, to steer clear of the service in order to make any potential purchase more attractive. Strangely, it could possibly save a little money for the UK buyer in some circumstances. As the duty/vat is paid up front, there should be no £8 "handling" fee to pay from Royal Mail (the couple of packages I have received were delivered by courier). The actual cost savings still need to be worked out however, as ebay charges more than "actual" shipping cost for the service, + there may also be discrepancies in the duty/vat between "actual" payable and what ebay & partners levy during the payment stage. In the 2 cases I have experienced I paid circa $4 more for shipping than actual, so $16 odd before adding duty. Suffice to say any overall saving would be pretty small & for locations other than UK would most likely be nil, in fact just making the deal cost more.........not good. I expect the "Global Shipping Program" will be the subject of threads of it's own in the very near future.

No, in response to Toads post earlier in the thread. In the case of a coat of $600 value there will be import duty as well as vat to consider. The import duty is dependent upon the style of the coat and the material it is made of. It's a bloody mine field.

OK, update: This 45 arrived today, delivered safe and sound by courier, Yodel. So in this case sent by the seller in Austin, Texas, to Pitney Bowes Inc, Erlanger, Kentucky, who then stick on a commercial invoice &, I assume sort out import vat, and then add another address label - Citipost, South Normanton, GB, who then use Yodel to deliver. It had to be signed for, so luckily I was in. Not sure what the procedure is if no one is home to sign, if they try again later or where I'd have to go to collect if not. Doesn't look like the mailer has been tampered with in any way, although has got a little bit bashed. There is no sign of a CN22 customs form, the value ($11.99) is given on the Commercial Invoice but no mention anywhere of the actual import vat I paid ($4.37). Looks like they've overcharged me on the import duty, after the seller reduced the original cost of the item, so I might follow that up with ebay when I've checked the figures properly.

Play their game. Attach a photo of a piece of paper with your email address on it.

I'm not sure he meant UK records, I just used George Peckhams work as a good example of what was possible. There are tons of examples of his handy work......I guess you'll have seen more than most. Edit - Not sure the artists were involved in most cases. I think it was usually his own words sometimes taken from the songs/albums title or subject matter, or relating to the artist in some way......but not always. The man himself -

Most likely the buyer simply had a change of heart in the case of your £1500 record. I've got a small quantity of a particular record here, all new old stock, so technically M-. However, they all look & play different due to the crap 70's vinyl having varying degrees of pimples & dimples. Add to this the odd couple having scuffs, one has more obvious marks, although have never been previously handled outside the distributor. This particular 45 always plays with varying degrees of light background noise, worse on some than others. This is evident inconsistently across the entire batch on my equipment & would be noticeable on a different system irrespective of stylus etc. Obviously some records are consistently good so this isn't a problem, but a lot of the stuff we are interested in is lo-fi in the extreme whatever you play it on. Then there's the pile of old 50's pop hand me downs in a box at my parents. Played to death for 30 odd years by the various young members of the family on an old Bush (Dansette type) record player. Stacked 8 45's high, one record dropping onto the next for repeated plays. Then the process repeated with the whole stack of 8 lifted off and turned over. The tone arm at some ridiculous angle when the last one is playing. Those same 45's often played at 33rpm, or 78rpm, depending on mood. I think dad bought a new "needle"........once. I've played these records on my current system and they play unbelievably great.....it's very hard to quantify how a record will last. (Admittedly there is no styrene among them!!)

I guess the best known examples here in the UK are the work of George "Porky" Peckham - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Peckham How many times have we picked up a record and thought "another "Porky Prime Cut""......!

Is the Grandland 45 considered "rare"? Used to be cheap and although prices have gone up nowadays is still relatively easy to find.

As long as the stylus is in good condition I wouldn't be overly concerned. Many of the profiles mentioned in the article (forum) in your second link are for very "high end" styli, hence not really applicable to your average dj or collector of vinyl, although obviously the points raised are valid. There's so much info on the net it's easy to get bogged down with it all. The fundamentals are condition of the stylus & the turntable set dead level. If the turntable isn't level then any settings applied ie tracking force etc are flawed. As for grading, it's a very subjective matter as we all know, everyone's hearing is different, & eyesight too! Clearly the materials used in manufacture, (vinyl/styrene,) and their quality, will typically have a greater bearing for the average guy in the street than the choice/type of stylus used. Bearing in mind we are normally talking about the evidence of crackles/pops/surface noise etc when grading rather than frequency response/fidelity. Naturally if someone has graded a used records audio quality on their old Dansette and you get the record home and play it on your Linn Sondek you might feel it plays at a lesser grade than stated....can't imagine this happens much in practice. Finally, (mono) records graded for audio quality either in the mono setting, or with a cartridge wired for mono, will generally sound worse when listened to in stereo. I've had records where one channel has been wiped out (constant distortion) to the point of being unbearable when played in stereo but much better & listenable when played in mono.

Dear Concerned of Bishop's Stortford, Relax, I've waited over 3 weeks on a number of occasions for them to safely arrive before now. I admit I start to get a bit twitchy towards the end of the 2nd week, & pretty stressed into the 3rd. Mostly fearing damage, rather than loss, after being in transit for that length of time. Sit tight a while & keep checking the tracking number......although that's not an absolute guarantee, as, from experience, it could land on the mat tomorrow and still be showing in Miami! Worth just remembering that if the item did actually fail to arrive, & was paid for via paypal, you have 45 days in which to register a "dispute". Best of luck, Deirdre

Add the Humphrey Stomp to the list if not already mentioned.

Not true. You can use a copy of the paypal receipt or ebay finished listing as evidence in the event of a claim/

I'm sure I won't be the only one storing them this way - 45's in a new paper sleeve, which is then slid into a card sleeve, that's then placed inside a poly/plastic sleeve. I slide any original sleeve that the record came with into the poly bag in front of the card sleeve. A touch more bulky perhaps but this way everything is protected, and your original sleeve is kept with the record and remains flat. Looks nice too.

Some US sellers are cheesed off about the price rise. One example recently was I'd bought a cheap 45 from the USA just before the postal cost increase, when they came to post it, a day or 2 later, the cost had risen from what I paid. The seller posted the 45 but then got back in touch asking me to pay the difference as it would leave him out of pocket. I sympathised but politely refused as I had no control over when he posted the thing. This was $6.50 s&h originally so the guy had had to find an extra $6.25 postage on my 45 and on however many more he was posting internationally that day.

By A side I take it you mean preferred "play" side (for want of a better term)? Seems to me to only grade one side of a disc would be potentially problematic, but, as a record dealer, you clearly know what you're doing. Myself I like the grading to be overall rather than just the "play" side.....saves any confusion &, unbeknown to the seller, I might even like that side and want it to play well.

Just noticed the figures don't add up in my previous post. $16.89 + $4.37 doesn't equal the $18.01 total from "Purchase 2". I can only assume they've correctly deducted the $3.25 domestic shipping charge, already paid in "Purchase 1", to arrive at the "Purchase 2" total. When a seller is using this new "Global Shipping Program" you will notice the phrase "Customs services and international tracking provided" underneath the respective item title when scrolling down through the listings.

Just bought a 45 and seller is shipping through eBays new "Global Shipping Program". I guess this will be the start of a new thread in the future but thought, I'd add my experience here. For a $14.99 buy it now 45 the seller was quoting $3.25 domestic shipping. Ebay listing stated $16.89 International Priority + $4.37 Import Charges. When I asked if seller would ship direct, rather than via a 3rd party, he declined but offered to discount the 45 to $11.99 buy it now, to which I agreed. Strangely, despite this reduction, import duty quoted by eBay remained at $4.37 throughout the transaction. After paying for the 45 I noted the paypal receipt stated payment for multiple items, which, upon checking, were "Purchase 1" the record + domestic shipping ($11.99 + $3.25 to the sellers paypal account), then "Purchase 2" to Pitney Bowes, Inc for "International Delivery", total $18.01. So my original $14.99 disc has so far cost $33.25, no doubt with the potential to incur further fees in the UK due to a cock up of some sort. Any way, the seller will now send my 45 from Texas to Kentucky as I understand it, and from there it will be sent on to me. What the f**k else they'll do with it in Kentucky I don't know. I've told the seller to take some pics as insurance in case it gets mishandled. Time will tell how well it works.

You are unlucky, to a point at least, but not alone. The "crackdown" has been ongoing for a while now, as has been mentioned in other, older threads. I've had similar experience with items just a few pence over the limit. At least for higher value items it's possible to factor in the potential charges to your max bid, or on top of any buy it now price. Low value items are a virtual no go unless you can add a few together, but many sellers still want to add $1 per extra 45 when, in fact, probably 3 will cost just the same as 1 to ship worldwide.