How to buy your own postage for Discogs

Before you start

• The order open in My Orders, for the address and the items.
• A scale, because the band you pay for is the packed weight and not the record's weight.
• The mailer, stiffeners and tape you actually ship in, on the scale with the record.

Steps

1. Read the order page for what you are sending

   In My Orders, open the order and note the buyer's address and every item on the order.

   You should see the destination and the item count that set the service and the band.

2. Weigh the packed parcel

   Put the record in its mailer with the stiffeners and tape, then weigh the whole thing.

   You should see the shipped weight, usually well above the sleeve weight you guessed.

3. Buy the service for that weight and destination

   Buy tracked postage outside Discogs for the weight you measured. Media Mail is one of the USPS services Discogs itself offers on its own labels for records.

   You should see a label and a tracking number for the parcel in front of you.

4. Print the label and hand the parcel over

   Print the label, seal it to the mailer and drop the parcel with the carrier.

   You should see a carrier receipt showing the same tracking number.

5. Set the order to Shipped and paste the number

   On the order page, use the green button below the order table to set Shipped, then post the tracking number on the order page.

   You should see the order reading Shipped, with the number where you and the buyer can both read it.

If it goes wrong

Buying labels on Discogs is opt-in and US only

Discogs says that "sellers based in the US can buy postage from the USPS and print shipping labels directly through the Discogs website", through a registered ShipEngine account with a US card. Nothing pushes you into it, and nothing penalises you for skipping it.

A carrier adjustment can land after delivery

Discogs describes them plainly: adjustments "happen after the package has been shipped if the carrier finds a difference in the rate that was initially paid versus what should have been charged". Under-declared weight is the usual cause.

Nothing in the Seller Policy cares where the label came from

Discogs' seller requirements are about status, timing and communication. There is no label-source condition, and no protection that turns on buying postage from Discogs.

What happens next

Once the status is Shipped you are inside Discogs' timing rules rather than its shipping rules. With no timeframe in your Seller Terms, a buyer may request cancellation for "Item Unavailable" four calendar days after Payment Received, and order-page questions must be answered within 4 days. Discogs does not mediate shipment disputes, so the tracking number on the order page is the record you will be relying on.