minimum order requirement

How much were the records you were going to buy? You might try messaging them to make an exception.

Sonically-Challenged
I felt in the mood to do some shopping and returned to this site to browse. I found a couple of items from two different sellers at an affordable price. Went to the shopping cart to pay only to find both sellers had set a minimum order level. Thankfully it wasn't too late to hit the little garbage can to abort the sales.

I suppose the sellers feel they have a good reason to do this but I'm sure I'm not the only buyer that doesn't want to play the game.

£8 min spend is not much

Sonically-Challenged
I suppose the sellers feel they have a good reason to do this

Yes. My time is worth more to me than to you. I'm not taking 15 minutes to wrap your $5 item and then spend time and money going to the post office, standing in line, etc...

What's your hourly wage?

Not ready to flame the OP yet without knowing what the order minimum was that turned them off of the sale.
I stand at the ready...

Sonically-Challenged
I suppose the sellers feel they have a good reason to do this

I suppose so.

Sonically-Challenged
but I'm sure I'm not the only buyer that doesn't want to play the game.

I suppose so.

Rockosurf
Not ready to flame the OP yet without knowing what the order minimum was that turned them off of the sale.
I stand at the ready...

It's virtually their entire profile. Take a look.

Jarren
RockosurfNot ready to flame the OP yet without knowing what the order minimum was that turned them off of the sale.
I stand at the ready...

It's virtually their entire profile. Take a look.

Hahaha. That's a rich profile. :-)

Sounds like you are challenged in more ways than one.

Rebelrms
You might try messaging them to make an exception.

please DON'T ... sellers have a reason for setting a minimum order value ;-)

If a seller has a minimum, just add one or two more items. Record-collecting is an expensive hobby, but the OS seems to be unaware of this reality.

Jarren
RockosurfNot ready to flame the OP yet without knowing what the order minimum was that turned them off of the sale.
I stand at the ready...

It's virtually their entire profile. Take a look.

Oh I see. This was a joke...

Fail to see how sellers with a minimum order are 'Playing the game'. What game exactly would that be?

dimension7records
RebelrmsYou might try messaging them to make an exception.

please DON'T ... sellers have a reason for setting a minimum order value ;-)

I swear, the negativity in this place. Not surprised. So uptight.

wearyofwokewussies
Fail to see how sellers with a minimum order are 'Playing the game'. What game exactly would that be?

I suspect people think that these sellers are forcing buyers to spend more than they have to.

For the sellers here who complain that packing an order takes up their valuable time, you can have all that time to yourself if you either shut up shop or you sell out of everything. You choose which situation you prefer. The costs of packaging an order should have already been built into your prices anyway.

Refusing any sale by setting a minimum level is strange and lends itself to defining some form of exclusivity.

A similar situation for me recently was when I decided to take a bus home because my scheduled train was not for another hour. I was very happy to pay the extra cost to speed up my journey. So a Flixbus arrived and it is a relatively new company here in the UK with lime green buses implying they are magically friendly to the environment. As I boarded it to pay the driver with my less card he stopped me and said I cannot pay on-board; I had to book my ticket in advance online. So I left and headed back to the train station to wait, pondering that to be the exact reason why that bus was empty of any engers at 10:30pm.

Make your own business rules if you wish but do not complain when orders dry up.

obscurerap
9 times out of 10 there’s a really cheap item you can add to hit the minimum. Or better yet, they have items you didn’t yet add to your want list that you end up getting.

That's absolutely true.
Moreover, by doing so, most of the time the second item will be sent without further postal charges.

People who are complaining about this should sell records for a while before they start going off about "exclusivity". That might be the most entitled, out-of-bounds, BS type of argument I've ever seen on this site (and the bar is pretty damn high). How hard is it to think through why sellers might want to set minimums? What are you even complaining about? Find another seller! Any record that's hard to find/a collector's item is going to be expensive enough to meet a seller's minimum. Otherwise, cheap records are for sale all over this site because there are thousands of pressings of them! It's time, resources, and inventory management. Having a minimum keeps my prices LOW. It enables me, a hobbyist seller who is trying to free up some closet space, to offer great deals and unload inventory. I'm not going to try to sell Montovani's Greatest Hits for $10 because NO ONE WILL BUY IT.

estnyboer
People who are complaining about this should sell records for a while

I am a seller and don't like this option as it hurts business overall.
New buyers that come here to buy something to only find out there is a minimum order value after they add something to their cart and are ready to buy are less likely to ever return.

I do understand that sellers don't want to sell really cheap items and set a minimum order value. But it should not be too high. And when you do you should make it clear in your item description and seller

On this I just don't sell anything below 3 euro, so I made my own minimum order that way.
On my other I have higher shipping costs for orders below 2 euro

Selling cheap items is also part of doing business. On some orders you can make good money on others you make less.
I know stores don't make any money at all when you buy a cheap item and pay by card but none of them set a minimum order.

Haven't seen many websites/stores that have the option for a minimum order.

watidatga

I am a seller and don't like this option as it hurts business overall.
New buyers that come here to buy something to only find out there is a minimum order value after they add something to their cart and are ready to buy are less likely to ever return.

You show up, see some sellers, not even that many, with a min order value and you dumb the site as a result?

If someone is that sensitive of a buyer, then we're better off if they don't return as they are likely going to be a problem, in some way, in the future anyway. I come across min order levels sometimes. I still buy on here.

watidatga

Selling cheap items is also part of doing business. On some orders you can make good money on others you make less.

It only has to be if you want it to be part of your business.

watidatga

I know stores don't make any money at all when you buy a cheap item and pay by card but none of them set a minimum order.

Actually some do. I see signs in stores that say min $10 (or whatever) for card purchase or there will be an extra fee. Some are now adding a surcharge if you pay by credit card regardless of the amount.

Also, there's a difference between someone going into a store and buying something for a few dollars vs someone order something for a few dollars, which the seller has to pack up, bring it to the post office, etc.

eddiel
Some are now adding a surcharge if you pay by credit card regardless of the amount

something which has been illegal here in the UK for at least 6 years https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/payment-surcharges

Have OP considered that some sellers don't want to spend the time & money of going to the post office for a 2$ profit?

There is no game, just sellers trying to make the selling thing worthwhile.

When I come across such a scenario I try to find another item in order to reach the threshold, otherwise I look for another seller. what's the big deal?

vormloos
Have OP considered that some sellers don't want to spend the time & money of going to the post office for a 2$ profit?

Indeed. I'm lucky that I've got a post office within 2 minutes walk, several postboxes even closer and 4 or 5 drop off points for the likes of Evri and Yodel also within walking distance. Not every seller is that fortunate. Also I make a living selling online elsewhere so I'm dropping off parcels anyway, not every seller is set up like that. I wouldnt want to drive 10 miles to drop off a $2 parcel either.

Blackpapercrown
something which has been illegal here in the UK for at least 6 years https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/payment-surcharges

Absolutely. Report the living feck out of any seller with surcharges listed in their . And that includes BS "re-stocking" fees for returned items.

eddiel
I'll be the one to point out to you that not every one lives in the UK

luckily I did go to school so I do realise that there are other countries, but UK sellers are not permitted to add surcharges; which was what I actually said.

vormloos
Have OP considered that some sellers don't want to spend the time & money of going to the post office for a 2$ profit?

There is no game, just sellers trying to make the selling thing worthwhile.

When I come across such a scenario I try to find another item in order to reach the threshold, otherwise I look for another seller. what's the big deal?

x 1,000,000

estnyboer
Having a minimum keeps my prices LOW. It enables me, a hobbyist seller who is trying to free up some closet space, to offer great deals and unload inventory.

Yup. It's great to be able to sell items for £1 or less, but not by themselves or one at a time. I mean you can do that for a while but it gets wearying after a few years ;-) You also have to consider the impetus to even list low value items to begin with, it needs to be at least somewhat worth it.

Sonically-Challenged
Thankfully it wasn't too late to hit the little garbage can to abort the sales.

You do realise it was never going to be "too late" unless you added more items to the cart and placed the order. The ball was always in your court. Do you imagine you place the order and get charged at least the minimum amount?

What it boils down to for me is in the cost/profit analysis. BEFORE the fee hike to sale+shipping, I figured that selling an item under $5 by itself, would yield me somewhere between $1-2 profit to me, once the price of packaging and cost of good (which I very conservatively figure as $1 per item on average*) are factored in. I keep the cost of postage as close to cost as possible, factoring in the +\- for heavier or lighter “items” given differences in packaging. I use “all items” in shipping policies for simplicity, so I probably win a little on CD orders and lose a little on vinyl box sets but it generally evens out.
Then I ask myself is it worth the time I put in to make a couple bucks? To me, it is not. I clean and play test every record I list. It takes time, a lot of time. I don’t HAVE to do that but it’s my standard and I suppose I am charging a for it.
Setting an $8 minimum means if someone wants an item I’m selling for $4, then they are gonna need to buy something else for $4. What it means to me is more multi item orders, meaning less boxes, tape, and packing material I have to use (the cheapest, worst LP mailers are still like $.65 each in bulk, good ones can run $2+ each. Bubble wrap is stupid expensive even though I rarely buy it. Packing tape likewise), not to mention less time packing.
And for an $8 order I’m making $5, more than double what a $5 order yields me. Most of my orders fall between $9-15, so I’m happy with what I’m making per order.
Since I have set the $8 minimum I have significantly increased the number of multi-order items I get. I have occasionally lowered the minimum at a buyers request to sell a single item at $6-7 if they ask. Especially it the item has been for sale a long time. I try to keep a large inventory so folks can find SOMETHING they like to add to an order.
Bear in mind the minimum fee Discogs will take is $.10, so if I sell something for $1 thats a 10% fee, PayPal also has a minimum fee, so at the end of a dollar sale I am left with pennies, or considering the box could be $1 I am losing money.
The cost of everything has risen. People need to grapple with and accept the fact that the days of buying $1-2 items online by themselves are gone. It’s just not feasible unless you’re Amazon, who are also taking a loss on those kinds of sales but it doesn’t matter because they make so much and they’re also monetizing your data, which is honestly more valuable to them.

As a buyer whenever I order something I am always looking at what else the seller has that I’m interested in just to save a little on shipping, so I can’t understand the outrage at someone having a reasonable minimum order. If the minimum was say $50, yes that’s probably excessive, or annoying at the very least, but it’s that sellers decision to make as to what their time is worth. The order minimum shows at the top of the store page and typically right in the seller too, which honestly, smart buyers should be reading before wasting time browsing hundreds or thousands of items.

*some a little more, some a little less

Jayfive
being a dick

Seems to be this one’s stock in trade; maybe he’s mentally exhausted from managing his massive inventory

Rockosurf
What it boils down to for me is in the cost/profit analysis. BEFORE the fee hike to sale+shipping, I figured that selling an item under $5 by itself, would yield me somewhere between $1-2 profit to me, once the price of packaging and cost of good (which I very conservatively figure as $1 per item on average*) are factored in. I keep the cost of postage as close to cost as possible, factoring in the +\- for heavier or lighter “items” given differences in packaging. I use “all items” in shipping policies for simplicity, so I probably win a little on CD orders and lose a little on vinyl box sets but it generally evens out.
Then I ask myself is it worth the time I put in to make a couple bucks? To me, it is not. I clean and play test every record I list. It takes time, a lot of time. I don’t HAVE to do that but it’s my standard and I suppose I am charging a for it.
Setting an $8 minimum means if someone wants an item I’m selling for $4, then they are gonna need to buy something else for $4. What it means to me is more multi item orders, meaning less boxes, tape, and packing material I have to use (the cheapest, worst LP mailers are still like $.65 each in bulk, good ones can run $2+ each. Bubble wrap is stupid expensive even though I rarely buy it. Packing tape likewise), not to mention less time packing.
And for an $8 order I’m making $5, more than double what a $5 order yields me. Most of my orders fall between $9-15, so I’m happy with what I’m making per order.
Since I have set the $8 minimum I have significantly increased the number of multi-order items I get. I have occasionally lowered the minimum at a buyers request to sell a single item at $6-7 if they ask. Especially it the item has been for sale a long time. I try to keep a large inventory so folks can find SOMETHING they like to add to an order.
Bear in mind the minimum fee Discogs will take is $.10, so if I sell something for $1 thats a 10% fee, PayPal also has a minimum fee, so at the end of a dollar sale I am left with pennies, or considering the box could be $1 I am losing money.
The cost of everything has risen. People need to grapple with and accept the fact that the days of buying $1-2 items online by themselves are gone. It’s just not feasible unless you’re Amazon, who are also taking a loss on those kinds of sales but it doesn’t matter because they make so much and they’re also monetizing your data, which is honestly more valuable to them.

As a buyer whenever I order something I am always looking at what else the seller has that I’m interested in just to save a little on shipping, so I can’t understand the outrage at someone having a reasonable minimum order. If the minimum was say $50, yes that’s probably excessive, or annoying at the very least, but it’s that sellers decision to make as to what their time is worth. The order minimum shows at the top of the store page and typically right in the seller too, which honestly, smart buyers should be reading before wasting time browsing hundreds or thousands of items.

*some a little more, some a little less

THANK YOU!

SpareGrooves
vormloosHave OP considered that some sellers don't want to spend the time & money of going to the post office for a 2$ profit?

There is no game, just sellers trying to make the selling thing worthwhile.

When I come across such a scenario I try to find another item in order to reach the threshold, otherwise I look for another seller. what's the big deal?
x 1,000,000

+1,000 This is what I meant by, "How hard is it to think this through?"

obscurerap
It’s a business decision each seller evaluates for his or her own operations. No business is required to cater to any one buyer. Is it better for business to not have one? Each seller can evaluate that. That’s what makes it a free market. No one has to buy from anyone.

For whatever reason there’s this idea that all businesses should cater to everyone’s needs or wants. That’s not how it works. By the way businesses who don’t have minimum orders make up for it in other ways.

+1,000, not to mention that many, many, many sellers here such as myself are hobbyist sellers and not running a record business.

watidatga
estnyboerPeople who are complaining about this should sell records for a while

I am a seller and don't like this option as it hurts business overall.
New buyers that come here to buy something to only find out there is a minimum order value after they add something to their cart and are ready to buy are less likely to ever return.

I do understand that sellers don't want to sell really cheap items and set a minimum order value. But it should not be too high. And when you do you should make it clear in your item description and seller

On this I just don't sell anything below 3 euro, so I made my own minimum order that way.
On my other I have higher shipping costs for orders below 2 euro

Selling cheap items is also part of doing business. On some orders you can make good money on others you make less.
I know stores don't make any money at all when you buy a cheap item and pay by card but none of them set a minimum order.

Haven't seen many websites/stores that have the option for a minimum order.

Thank you for this reasonable input. You don't like this option for yourself, so you don't do it! Also, it sounds like you are running a business and not just a hobbyist seller, so you have different considerations.

Blackpapercrown
Make your own business rules if you wish but do not complain when orders dry up.

No one is complaining but you and the OP. I would never go back to packing 5.00 orders and losing on shipping that I keep low purposely to attract customers. When they hit the minimum value, the packing materials and postage even out and my customers are happy because if it. Don't be so short-sighted.

The only problem I see would be the buyer not being aware of the minimum, before adding an item to their cart. And as has already been suggested the best way to do that is to state that in the description. I set my minimums through item and shipping price. The lower value stuff I sell through direct sales, and people usually buy in volume.

You all seem to assume a "minimum order price" is allowed?

it all feels a bit like the "I don't refund uninsured lost packages, etc, in my and conditions"

You can't really state any conditions - they are, for the most part, set in stone - as much as you'd like to believe you can.

If I placed an order for 3 euros and then the seller says; "That's too low, you need to make a bigger order" (i.e. add something else) - I'm pretty sure I could leave a justified negative .

Surely the bottom line is that if you list something for sale - you have to honour that sale. Even if it's 1 cent.

If you don't want to sell cheap items because they're not worth your time - then the obvious solution would be don't bother listing them for sale in the first place. Am I missing something here?

Do the Discogs marketplace rules explicitly allow a vendor to set a minimum order price?

merlin99
Do the Discogs marketplace rules explicitly allow a vendor to set a minimum order price? (I haven't looked into it)

In the sellers settings there's an option to set a minimum order amount. It's impossible for buyers to place an order below that amount (except through the Make An Offer feature). So you wouldn't be able to place that 3 euro order, you would just get an error message.

EzraZebra
merlin99Do the Discogs marketplace rules explicitly allow a vendor to set a minimum order price? (I haven't looked into it)
In the sellers settings there's an option to set a minimum order amount. It's impossible for buyers to place an order below that amount (except through the Make An Offer feature). So you wouldn't be able to place that 3 euro order, you would just get an error message.

Thanks for the info and I stand partially corrected.

The point (kind of) remains then - if the seller hasn't set the minimum order in their settings then they should have to complete the order - even if it's 1 cent, etc. It's the seller's sloppiness at fault here, not the buyer looking for a cheap deal (or just a cheap item)

I personally wouldn't order a 2 or 3 euro record by itself - for most of the reasons cited above. I wouldn't want to hassle a vendor to go out of their way for so little. But I (99% of the time) bulk buy at least 5 or 6 records at a time if they're cheap.

The problem is what if there's that one record you really want and you don't want to add another lot of records to the order just to get that one item? I think this is where it can get annoying for some people if they're refused a sale and the vendor hasn't set that minimum order limit. In this case I would say the vendor is totally at fault - not the buyer - and should honour the sale.

merlin99
The point (kind of) remains then - if the seller hasn't set the minimum order in their settings then they should have to complete the order - even if it's 1 cent, etc. It's the seller's sloppiness at fault here, not the buyer looking for a cheap deal (or just a cheap item)

Absolutely, but I don't think anyone is saying otherwise. I think the main issue some people have is that the minimum amount isn't very transparent to buyers as it's only visible on the Shopping Cart page. I've had the experience myself of spending a good amount of time to find the best deal for something, to then notice I can't place the order unless I buy extra stuff I wouldn't otherwise buy. It can be a waste of time.

EzraZebra
merlin99The point (kind of) remains then - if the seller hasn't set the minimum order in their settings then they should have to complete the order - even if it's 1 cent, etc. It's the seller's sloppiness at fault here, not the buyer looking for a cheap deal (or just a cheap item)
Absolutely, but I don't think anyone is saying otherwise. I think the main issue some people have is that the minimum amount isn't very transparent to buyers as it's only visible on the Shopping Cart page. I've had the experience myself of spending a good amount of time to find the best deal for something, to then notice I can't place the order unless I buy extra stuff I wouldn't otherwise buy. It can be a waste of time.

I've been using Discogs for almost a decade and a half now - and I honestly didn't think a vendor could set a minimum limit until you replied and informed me otherwise.

I agree - it should be a lot clearer right from the get-go. (perhaps a min order+amount in brackets next to the item price from that vendor? It would seem the obvious choice)

merlin99
I've been using Discogs for almost a decade and a half now - and I honestly didn't think a vendor could set a minimum limit until you replied and informed me otherwise.

It wasn't always allowed. They changed this a while back. I think it was about 5 years ago or so when they started allowing sellers to set a minimum order amount.

ResearchProductsCorp
merlin99I've been using Discogs for almost a decade and a half now - and I honestly didn't think a vendor could set a minimum limit until you replied and informed me otherwise.

It wasn't always allowed. They changed this a while back. I think it was about 5 years ago or so when they started allowing sellers to set a minimum order amount.

Good move

I have a low minimum order amount set but that's because I sell a lot of 12" House singles. I'm shocked at how many buyers order an item and then pay double that for shipping. If I set a higher amount I would lose out on a lot of sales. Then again, I'm just a former bedroom DJ unloading my collection. Also, I have a huge benefit in that all my orders shipping out fit in my massive mailbox for pickup, the carrier is more than happy to collect them. Haven't stood in line at a post office in years.

merlin99
I've been using Discogs for almost a decade and a half now - and I honestly didn't think a vendor could set a minimum limit until you replied and informed me otherwise.

Yup, it's literally programmed into the ASP now. There was a time when stating a minimum amount in your was treated the same as "I take no responsibility blah blah blah" but it was in discogs interest to not only allow it but make it an official feature. No doubt due to demand from high-volume sellers. And given roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of everything in the marketplace is $5 or below it makes sense.

ResearchProductsCorp
Yes. My time is worth more to me than to you. I'm not taking 15 minutes to wrap your $5 item and then spend time and money going to the post office, standing in line, etc...

What's your hourly wage?

Don't forget the risk of having the package lost or damaged & a potential neg or neutral as a result. . .for small change to a buck or two? Nope.

So many people JUST BARELY BY PENNIES get past my LOW LOW LOW minimum order threshold of $15 to net the free shipping. . .after fees and a new box and covering the cost to ship I often clear $7 and change or so on those, which I try not to think about as compensation an hour of work (once you figure the pick, package and post time). I also clean and play through everything I sell, which of course takes a crazy amount of time (and sacrifice, depending upon what I am listening to lol)!

It's been some time since it happened, but for awhile I regularly responded to people who asked me to make an exception by politely asking them if they thought I should pay them to take the music off my hands -- b/c of free shipping -- or, if there was a slight profit, if they would work an hour for whatever paltry amount it added up to after fees. Nevermind the aforementioned inherent risk involved with all that can go wrong via Media Mail for either a loss or a dollar or two. Working for $7 bucks an hour is as low as I'll go for the love of the music lol :)

ScotDP1970
minimum spending amount is dishonest.

Oh No It Isn't!
Min spend is set up by sellers through the honest Discogs system :
"Set a Minimum Order Total to ensure you only accept orders you're willing to ship. The buyer's subtotal will have to meet this amount before they can place an order."

I can understand both buyers and sellers.
I don't have a minimum order value but on my second I charge more for shipping of cheap items.
This way I can keep my prices low, so buyers that buy a 100 items don't have to pay extra for every item. With just €0.50 extra on an item it will cost that buyer €50 extra.
A seller can raise their prices up to a price they are willing to ship an order for, but buyers will not buy it at that price. So the end result is the same for both buyer and seller, no sale with minimum order or high price.
But also no bigger sales for the buyer because the raised their prices.

So in the end it is better for buyers to have a minimum order than high prices

ScotDP1970
If you don't want to spend time packaging and sending off a record for the price stated then charge more for it in the first place.

Rather, if you have some low-value items that you don't simply want to throw into landfill, and that someone might want, list them for sale at low prices and then someone who's buying something more expensive can add it to their order – or buy 3 or 4 cheap CDs to make up the order. There's really nothing underhand about it.

It would probably be better if Discogs added a little label to items under a seller's minimum order to that effect, but that's a display issue, not something that sellers are at fault for.

I started to encounter a lot more minimums after discogs started taking fees from shipping. Fewer now really than right after that change.

It can be aggravating when your intended purchase is just shy of the minimum. If it is close enough I would rather just pay the minimum for the item instead of adding on something in which I'm not really interested.

I guess it might be possible to "make an offer" over the price to get to the minimum? In practice I would usually move on to a different seller where possible in order to save time.

I'm small potatoes and my opinion doesn't mean much on the subject.

What I noticed is that the minimum sellers use are getting higher.
There is a difference between a €2 or a €20 minimum
Can understand why someone sets a €2 but €20+ is too high
That €20 minimum was from a seller that had many items for sale at €19.99

Sonically-Challenged
minimum order requirement

Only £7.50 here

+ cheap flat rate postage rates for 1 - 8 records