Crosslist Discogs records to Amazon | FLUF Connect

On this page

• Why a Discogs seller looks at Amazon at all
• Which records can go, and which never will
• Music is a partly gated category
• A barcode is not a pressing
• Goldmine grades against Amazon’s condition ladder
• What transfers, field by field
• Discogs fees against Amazon fees for music
• Postage: shipping credits and what they really cover
• What syncs between Discogs and Amazon, honestly
• How to crosslist from Discogs to Amazon, step by step
• What FLUF Connect costs for this pair
• Sources and verification
• Related guides

Why a Discogs seller looks at Amazon at all

You put records on Amazon to reach a different buyer. The Discogs buyer hunts one pressing and compares every copy by grade. The Amazon buyer searches for an album, often wants a clean playable copy, and cares little which matrix is scratched into the runout groove. You earn that reach with higher fees, a stricter catalogue and less control over how your copy is shown.

That difference decides which part of your inventory belongs where. A 2011 remaster on CD, a sealed modern LP, or a chart album from the 1990s with the barcode on the back sells to people who never open Discogs. They type the title into a search bar they already use for everything else. A first UK pressing with a laminated flipback sleeve is the opposite. Its value lives in details Amazon’s product page has no way to show, and its buyer is already on Discogs.

So treat Amazon as a second outlet for the barcoded, mid-market part of the crate. Do not treat it as a mirror of your whole Discogs shop. Sellers who push everything spend their first month reading rejections. Sellers who filter first spend it shipping orders.

The route also works best with more than two channels. Records that Amazon refuses often suit eBay, where you write the page yourself, or Depop, where a strong sleeve photographed well can sell to a buyer who was not looking for it. With FLUF Connect one imported Discogs record can go to whichever of the 51 supported marketplaces suits it, from the same product.

Which records can go, and which never will

A record can go to Amazon through FLUF when it has an ASIN or a valid barcode, it is an official release, and it plays. Amazon’s UK condition guidelines will not accept “music that is in any way unplayable or recorded, recordings not manufactured by the copyright holder, including recopied media in any form”. The same document says that “promotional media is prohibited for sale through Amazon.co.uk Marketplace”.

Read that against a typical Discogs inventory and three groups appear.

The third group is bigger than most record sellers expect. Discogs lists unofficial releases in its database and lets you sell them there. Look at a release’s format line and you will often see “Unofficial Release” or “Promo” next to the format. Either word means Amazon is the wrong home. Pre-barcode vintage is the other large block. A 1960s or 1970s original never had a barcode printed on it, so FLUF has nothing to match it to Amazon’s catalogue. A reissue’s barcode is not a way round this; the next sections explain why.

Represses need care in the other direction. A modern repress usually carries its own barcode and can go to Amazon. That barcode identifies the repress, though, not the original you might be tempted to pair it with.

Music is a partly gated category

Amazon does not open every music listing to every seller. Its Music & DVD help page says it applies selling qualifications to products “that might have a higher risk of authenticity issues”. Some are restricted outright and some need an application.

You find out the practical way. You try to list a title and Seller Central tells you approval is needed. The application asks for invoices from your suppliers. That suits a shop buying new stock from a distributor and suits a record dealer badly. A crate bought at a house clearance comes with no distributor invoice. If a title or label is gated for your account, a used copy of it may be unsellable on Amazon for you however good its grade.

Two habits save time. Try one record from each label you stock before a bulk push, and read what comes back. And do not build a buying strategy around Amazon until you know which of your labels open for your account. FLUF shows you when Amazon refuses a listing. It cannot win approval on your behalf.

A barcode is not a pressing

An Amazon product page stands for one product, and every seller of that product shares it. When you attach an offer, you are promising your copy matches that page. That includes its format, its edition and, for the buyer who reads it, its tracklist and artwork.

Record sellers get caught here. One barcode can sit on several different objects. Labels reuse numbers across represses. A CD and its LP counterpart are sometimes catalogued loosely. Discogs’ own database often shows many releases for one barcode, including bootlegs that copied it. Discogs separates those pressings for you. Amazon does not, and a buyer who orders the 180-gram audiophile repress and receives a thin 1990s pressing on the same product page has a fair not-as-described claim.

Three rules follow.

1. Use the barcode on the copy in your hand, not one copied from the Discogs release page. If the release page lists several barcodes, the one on your sleeve is the only one that counts.
2. Where the edition matters, find the ASIN yourself. Open the Amazon page, check the format, the label and the release year, and record that ten-character ASIN on the product. That way you choose the exact page instead of trusting a match.
3. Never attach an original pressing to a reissue’s page. It may feel like extra reach. For the buyer it is a misdescription, and for you it is a returns problem.

If FLUF finds neither an ASIN nor a valid barcode on a product, it holds the record back from Amazon and tells you what to add. It does not guess. You can also list a record in Seller Central by hand first, and FLUF keeps it in sync from then on.

Goldmine grades against Amazon’s condition ladder

Discogs grades on the Goldmine standard. It runs Mint, Near Mint, Very Good Plus, Very Good, Good Plus, Good, Fair and Poor, and you grade media and sleeve separately. Amazon has New, four used grades and Collectible, and one condition per offer. Its UK music definitions are written around playback and packaging, not groove wear.

This crosswalk is our reading of the two published standards. It is not an Amazon rule. Grade down where you are unsure.

Amazon’s wording was written for CDs, and vinyl sellers should read it that way. Amazon’s Good and Acceptable both still require a copy that plays perfectly. On vinyl, audible crackle through quiet passages breaks that promise even if the sleeve is beautiful.

Where the sleeve grade goes

Amazon has no sleeve field. The place for it is the condition note, the free text a buyer reads when comparing offers on one page. Write it the way a Discogs buyer would: “Media VG+, sleeve VG, light ring wear, original inner, hype sticker present.” Amazon asks sellers to note remainder marks, cut-outs and missing inserts there too. Any Amazon buyer who knows records will trust you more for it.

FLUF sends your product’s condition with each offer, and it fills the condition note from your description. On an imported record that description is your Discogs comments. Before a push, check the condition on the product and set it to the Amazon grade you would defend in a dispute.

What transfers, field by field

FLUF imports your Discogs inventory as products. Each record brings a title assembled from the release, your comments, the release cover art, your price in your own currency, the artist as the brand, the catalogue number as the SKU, the format family and your media grade. Here is what reaches Amazon, depending on which route the record takes.

The last row matters most. The Discogs import does not bring a barcode onto the product, so every record needs one added before it can go to Amazon. For a shelf of barcoded CDs that is a scanning session. For vinyl it means turning each sleeve over.

Watch the catalogue number too. It arrives as the SKU, and Amazon identifies each of your offers by SKU. Two copies of the same pressing arrive with the same catalogue number. Give the second copy its own SKU before you push it, so the two copies stay separate offers on Amazon.

Currency needs checking before the first push. Discogs prices come across in the currency you list in, and Amazon takes the price in your Amazon store’s currency. A seller listing in euros on Discogs and selling on Amazon.co.uk should confirm the figures before going live.

Discogs fees against Amazon fees for music

On a typical record, Amazon costs more to sell through than Discogs. On a cheap one it costs a great deal more. Discogs charges a percentage with a floor and a ceiling. Amazon charges a percentage plus a fixed closing fee on every media sale, and a monthly plan fee on top.

Discogs’ rate rose from 8% to 9% on 22 May 2023 and applies to the postage you charge as well as the item. The PayPal checkout became compulsory for Discogs sellers on 1 February 2022, when Discogs’ own payments service was retired. Your Discogs cost is therefore 9% plus whatever PayPal takes for that transaction, and PayPal publishes that, not Discogs.

Amazon’s structure punishes low prices. Take an $8 used CD in the US. The 15% referral fee is $1.20, and the $1.80 closing fee lifts Amazon’s take to $3.00 before postage. That is 37.5% of the item price. The same CD on Discogs with $5 postage costs 9% of $13, which is $1.17, plus PayPal. At the top of the market the picture flips on the cap. A $2,000 rarity costs $150 on Discogs and $301.80 on Amazon. That rarity is usually the pre-barcode original that cannot go to Amazon anyway.

The practical conclusion is a price floor. Below roughly $15 or £12 the fixed fee eats the margin, and many dealers keep those titles on Discogs only. That threshold is our judgement from the published fees, not a number Amazon publishes. Run your own postage and packaging costs through it.

Pricing on a shared page is its own discipline. On Discogs your copy competes with other copies graded against the same release. On Amazon your offer sits beside every other offer on the page. Amazon features one offer and tucks the rest into a list most shoppers never open. FLUF pushes your price changes to Amazon, but it does not reprice automatically on Amazon. Smart pricing is not available on this channel, so watch the page’s other offers yourself.

Postage: shipping credits and what they really cover

On Discogs you write your own shipping policy by region and weight. On Amazon, media postage runs on a fixed schedule unless you change it. Individual sellers, and Professional sellers who have not moved to Amazon’s newer shipping settings, get the standard media rate. Professional sellers on the newer settings can set their own rates for books, music, video and DVD.

In the US the standard shipping credit sellers receive on a seller-fulfilled media order is $3.99, a figure long discussed on Amazon’s seller forums. In the UK, Amazon’s shipping rates for BMVD put domestic standard delivery for music at £2.80 per delivery plus £0.40 per kilogram.

A CD in a padded envelope usually fits inside those numbers. An LP rarely does. Once you add a proper mailer and stiffeners, a 12-inch record often costs more to send than the credit covers. Vinyl sellers on the default schedule should work the difference into the item price, or move to Professional shipping settings and charge what the parcel really costs. Discogs charges its 9% on your postage, while the Amazon credit never grows with the parcel. Model postage on both channels before you decide which records go to Amazon.

What syncs between Discogs and Amazon, honestly

A record is one physical copy, so selling it twice means cancelling on a buyer. Here is how far FLUF’s protection reaches on this pair today, stated precisely.

Neither marketplace’s own sale clears the other automatically on this pair today. That is uncomfortable to write, and it is the thing to plan around. Until it changes, add one habit: when an order lands on Discogs or Amazon, mark that record sold in FLUF straight away. That single action takes it down everywhere else you have it listed.

If you also sell the same crate on a channel where FLUF does detect sales, such as eBay or Depop, those sales clear Amazon and Discogs on their own. Relisting, offer management and smart pricing are not available on Discogs or Amazon. They come with the plans above Starter and work on channels that support them, but they have nothing to act on for this pair.

How to crosslist from Discogs to Amazon, step by step

1. Open a Professional Amazon seller account. FLUF needs the Professional selling plan. It connects to Amazon stores in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, India, Japan, Australia and Singapore.
2. Connect Discogs in FLUF Connect and import your inventory. No browser extension is needed.
3. Connect Amazon. You approve the connection on Amazon’s own page, again with no extension.
4. Filter the crate. Set aside unofficial releases, promos, unplayable copies and pre-barcode originals first. That is the cheap cut.
5. Add a barcode or ASIN to each remaining record, taken from the copy in your hand or from the exact Amazon page you have checked.
6. Set the condition and fix the SKUs. Choose the Amazon grade you would defend. Put the sleeve grade into your comments. Give duplicate copies their own SKU.
7. Push one record per label first. Read what Amazon says, especially any approval request, before you crosslist the rest in bulk.
8. Adopt the mark-sold habit for every Discogs and Amazon order.

Amazon support in FLUF Connect is new. Test a small batch, check each submission’s result, and tell us what Amazon returned if a record is refused for a reason this page does not explain.

What FLUF Connect costs for this pair

7 days for £1, then from £9/month, then plans from £9/month. Starter includes unlimited listings.

Crosslisting, inventory sync, order sync and bulk operations are on every plan. Relisting, offer management and smart pricing come with the plans above Starter. For a seller whose whole business is Discogs and Amazon, Starter does everything this pair supports. The higher plans pay off once you add a channel such as eBay or Depop, where those features work. See the pricing page for current plans.

Sources and verification

Each fee, rule and quotation was checked against the source below where it could be opened. Where a page would not load for us, we say so.

• Discogs Support: What are the fees for selling on Discogs? and Understanding the Discogs selling fee — 9% on item and shipping, $0.10 minimum, $150 maximum, what the fee excludes.
• Discogs selling fee FAQ (2023) — the 8% to 9% change on 22 May 2023.
• Discogs: the PayPal payments solution — mandatory for sellers from 1 February 2022, replacing Discogs Payments.
• Discogs: How to grade items — the Goldmine scale, separate media and sleeve grading, definitions of NM, VG+ and VG.
• Amazon US selling fees — $39.99 Professional plan, $0.99 per item on Individual, 15% media referral fee and $1.80 closing fee per item.
• Amazon UK selling fees — £25 excl. VAT Professional plan, £0.75 excl. VAT per item on Individual, 15% referral fee for Music, Video and DVD, and the existence of a fixed closing fee on media.
• Amazon UK Condition Guidelines (PDF) — the New, Like New, Very Good, Good, Acceptable and Collectible definitions for music, and the refusal of unplayable, recopied, non-copyright-holder and promotional media.
• Amazon Seller Central: Music & DVD — selling qualifications for higher-risk products, restricted titles and the invoice-based application.
• Amazon Seller Central UK: Shipping rates for BMVD — £2.80 per delivery plus £0.40 per kg for domestic standard music delivery, and which sellers the fixed schedule applies to.
• Amazon Seller Forums: the $3.99 shipping credit — the US standard media shipping credit as discussed by sellers.

What we could not verify. The exact Amazon UK closing fee for music. Amazon’s UK pricing page confirms that a fixed fee applies to media but did not show the amount to us, so we have left the figure out of the table rather than repeat secondary sources. Amazon’s Seller Central help pages for Music & DVD, UK shipping rates and US shipping credits would not render outside a Seller Central login. Their details here come from Amazon’s own indexed page text and its seller forums, not a full read. We also could not open Amazon’s US condition guidelines page, so the grade definitions quoted are the UK wording. Which music labels and titles are gated varies by account and is not published. The price floor and the grade crosswalk are our own reading of the published fees and standards, not Amazon rules.

Related guides

• Sell on Discogs — fees, grading and the database model
• Sell on Amazon — the complete seller guide
• Crosslist from Discogs to eBay
• Crosslist from Discogs to Depop
• Crosslist from eBay to Amazon
• Discogs vs eBay
• All marketplace guides
• All crosslisting routes