Why are so many ebay sellers now taking pics of discs sitting on the floor?

[boog]

It's a stupid idea that has caught on very quickly... a lot of pics on ebay now show game discs/DVDs sitting on the floor or counter outside of the case. I'm overly gentle with my discs, always putting them back in the cases. Annoys me to see any disc left out and now discs that are being put up for sale are plopped on the floor to take a picture. Sometimes with the case flipped over and stretched flat. If it wasn't scratched before, it probably is now. Cases are probably creased and warped too. Why are sellers doing this? Do they think buyers are worried they're going to receive an empty case?

 

I'm avoiding any of these sellers. Anyone else annoyed by this?

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mario-Party-4-Game-Cub...id=p3286.c0.m14

[nathanallan]

We can blame the new fees, can't afford a table to display them on

[Albert]

Is that really the floor?

 

..Al

[boog]

Is that really the floor?

 

..Al

 

I think this one might be on a countertop or shelf, hard to tell. The thing that set me off about this one was that it's listed as being MINT. (A - IN MINT/LIKE NEW CONDITION) I think it's likely that after putting the disc out like that for the photo, then sliding or prying it up to put it back in the case it has already become a B - MINOR SCRATCHED ~ GREAT CONDITION or worse.

[Artlover]

Is that really the floor?

My thoughts exactly. Looks more like a countertop.

[moycon]

So if you remove a disk from it's case it gets scratched?

I did not know this.

It's amazing we gamers can play anything.

[Rybags]

Looks like a container lid to me... too narrow to be a benchtop.

 

I sometimes take pictures of stuff sitting on my lounge - it's got a patterned grey background and makes most items stand out well.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Rybags

[HammR25]

Buying used disc based games is always a gamble whether they show them pictured on a counter top or the floor or not.

[lemoncurry]

Looks like a linen tablecloth to me.

 

Any time you're buying optical media, you have to trust the seller's feedback/ratings. If they are too new to have much, bid accordingly.

[Lord Helmet]

I don't see any issue with this. Its not like the disk is gonna burst into flames if placed face down on a table, or even the floor. It would be different if the seller were sweeping the floor with it.

[iswitt]

I don't think it's THAT big of a deal. I mean, I have my quirks with discs as well. I prefer them in their cases. But I don't think the one time is going to ruin them. Now, i have received discs that were advertised as new and when I got them they looked like they had been used to sand concrete with! I have a big problem with false advertising. Rest easy my friend, the disc will see another day.

[kevincal]

I hate to say it boog, but I think you may be a bit obsessive / compulsive about the condition of your videogames. Just because you lay a disc gently on the ground doesn't mean it's going to get scratched... You must have had a bad experience buying a disc on eBay that was listed as great condition and when you got it, it was scratched. And they used a picture of the disc laying on the ground. Or maybe not LOL.

Edited October 8, 2008 by kevincal

[shadow460]

Maybe I'll start taking pictures of mine on the Frisbee Football court.

[AtariLeaf]

What they should be doing is putting the disc label-down and doing a close up to show what, if any scratches are on a disc. Not sure if this would show up in a picture but I've seen some discs you'd swear were dragged behind someone's car.

[Trade-N-Games]

This is how I show every one of my pictures on my site so you get a clear picture of the front and back of the case and can see the correct disk is included. i have never scratched a disk and have sold 1000's. It could be scratched if it we slid around.

[Captain Beard]

It's also worth pointing out that scratches don't generally make a game unplayable.

So unless you're a serious collector and condition matters, what difference does it make if the game is a little scratched?

 

I worked at a used-CD store for years and was always amazed about how picky some people were about condition. Most of those folks were older and still in a vinyl mindset, I always thought, since for LPs, condition does matter. But digital media are pretty robust -- scratches have to be pretty long and/or deep to have much affect on playback. (Heck, even laserdiscs can take a pretty huge beating without affecting playback much, and they're analog.) Unless you can see clear through the disc, you're probably not going to encounter any problems.

 

The only time I ever check to see what condition a disc is in (CD, CD-ROM, DVD, whatever) is when it won't play.

Why even look at the playside if everything's working?

I'm pretty anal about keeping CDs in their cases, so my collection is generally in nice shape, but I leave computer games lying around my computer desk out of their cases in big piles, often for months. Some of them look like I took a cheese-grater too'em but they still work just fine.

 

I agree that scratched discs should not be listed as "like new" or "mint", but as long as they work (and again, assuming you're not a hardcore collector), why all the undue concern over condition?

[Chickybaby]

games lying around my computer desk out of their cases in big piles, often for months. Some of them look like I took a cheese-grater too'em but they still work just fine.

 

I agree that scratched discs should not be listed as "like new" or "mint", but as long as they work (and again, assuming you're not a hardcore collector), why all the undue concern over condition?

 

For starters, it's good business practice to sell quality items. Because many times they don't discount something for scratches. And at least for me, if i am paying good money for something, I want it to look good. I also know that I do a good job putting a beating on discs or bean does, lol, so I want them to be in as good condition as possible to start with. Finally, I do have one CD player that is very finicky and won't play things with scratches.

For example I've bought discs from janken_the_great on CTCW and couldn't have been more pleased at their mintiness.

[Captain Beard]

For starters, it's good business practice to sell quality items...

Because many times they don't discount something for scratches...

Agreed 100%.

In fact, I used to argue about this with the owner at the CD store I managed.

But there's a difference between "beat up" and "scratched".

The finicky customers I referred to were the ones who rejected any disc with even a wisp of imperfection.

A single, short, hair-thin scratch does not warrant a price reduction.

 

But if I buy a game on eBay for a price that I think is reasonable, I really don't care what the disc looks like -- it just has to play. And yes, that means play on any picky devices I might have -- if the game won't work where I want to use it, then it's worthless to me.

 

All that said, as a seller, I always mention scratches -- no matter how small -- specifically because I've dealt with finicky customers for so many years and it takes so little effort to accommodate them in this regard (and trust me, sellers -- the only customers you'll "lose" by being honest in your description are the ones that will cause you grief after the sale if you don't mention imperfections.) But that still doesn't explain why people have the "scratched = damaged" mindset of LPs in the first place, which simply doesn't apply to digital media (or, honestly, LPs either... but that's a whole other can of worms.) I mean, I understand the whole "I like my things to look nice" deal, but we're not talking about a paint-job here. It's not like you invite people over to show off your pristine CD play-side collection. Art and cases I totally get, but as long as the thing works, I'll never understand why it matters what a disc looks like. Mind you, I'm not trying to insult anyone who does -- we're all finicky in our own ways. Me? I won't drink milk unless it's ice-cold and don't expect me to go anywhere near a room where a centipede has been spotted.

[Artlover]

But that still doesn't explain why people have the "scratched = damaged" mindset of LPs in the first place, which simply doesn't apply to digital media (or, honestly, LPs either... but that's a whole other can of worms.)

Scratches don't damage LP media?

 

Anywho, the problem with this is that scratches do effect digitial media. How much or little depends mostly on the playing device. Some players will play a disc with a gouge, some players won't play a disc with even the most minute singular spec of dust on it. My Gamecube can't load a disc with a small spec of dirt the size of a grain of salt on it, yet my PC CDRom could play a music CD that is cracked (oddly, it had a repeating pop noise simmilar to a scratched LP).

 

So scratched=damaged: Yes, No, Maybe, Depends.

 

Do I care about media quality. Depends on what I'm buying. Music CDs & Video DVD's. Not so much, I know I have many players that handle a lot of error. But when it comes to video games...Well, if we're talking GC & Dreamcast, if it's scratched, you can keep it.

 

I'm really interested to know how effective Blu-ray is at dealing with minor scratching?

[Captain Beard]

Scratches don't damage LP media?

 

To quote a wise source: "So scratched=damaged: Yes, No, Maybe, Depends."

 

I mean yes, it's generally fairly easy to gauge relative sound-quality just from examining the vinyl. But the fact is, records are graded visually simply because it's the only way that makes any sense. As a record dealer, I have thousands of records on hand and I couldn't possibly listen to them all. Even if I could, the exercise would be pointless anyway.

A) Sometimes nasty-looking scratches play just fine while other times minty-looking vinyl has tons of surface noise or some barely-perceptible flaw that causes a skip.

B) Every turntable/needle/tuner/speaker setup is different so surface noise and skipping vary greatly. Just a very slight adjustment to the tonearm weight can make a big difference. And someone who dusts their records before every use and regularly cleans their needle will surely have fewer playback issues that one who neglects to.

Of course, records are one of those rare products that, even when used properly, cause damage to themselves and some of the worst sounding records I've ever heard are ones that generally look pretty good, but have simply been worn down from repeated use. And so on...

 

But back to the matter at hand, let me reiterate that I'm not trying to judge anyone or be fighty, I'm just expressing confusion over my inability to understand why people care what the play surface looks like. It's because people do care that I take great pains in trying to accurately describe the things I sell, but I can respect someone's opinion without really understanding it (especially if failure to do so results in lost revenue.) Record nerds really do sit around ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over the relative quality of a particular slab of vinyl, but I've never seen nor heard of anyone saying, "check out this cool CD I scored -- it's totally scratch-free!" And since unlike vinyl, digital media can be counted on to work properly in the vast majority of instances, it just seems weird to me to place such importance on the physical condition.

 

Finally, it's worth noting that the "my CD player is finicky" argument cuts both ways: I've had a couple players in my time that skipped CDs -- often specific ones -- for no apparent reason at all. In other words, just because there are some marks on a disc that won't play doesn't mean the reason it won't play is the marks, dig?