“They’re under the impression that they’re the only game in town. The fees were relatively low, but now that they’re higher, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to use that anymore.”Indeed, one seller based in Europe says that he does 80% of his business on Discogs, and makes around €20,000 a month on the site. However, his sales have halved over the past year, and he’s in the process of ditching the site and building his own.
Issues first began when Discogs raised its fee from 8% to 9% in May, and began charging the same fee on shipping costs too – making international transactions, often popular on the site, more difficult.
Discogs suggested that sellers use a tool it had created to raise the prices of all of their products by the same percentage, or offer free shipping. Doug Martin, another Discogs seller, says of their communication with sellers, “It’s like, ‘I said what I said, and we’re done.’ Well, you’re really not, because we all have to live with this and so do you.”
