What changed on Discogs

In May 2023, Discogs raised its selling fee from 8% to 9%, its first increase in a decade. More importantly, it started charging that fee on shipping as well as the record.

The backlash was immediate. Sellers told The Verge their sales had shrunk, and one European seller doing around €20,000 a month said he was building his own website to move away from the platform (Mixmag, MusicTech). Discogs' suggestion that sellers simply raise prices or offer free shipping didn't help.

The fee hasn't moved since. In 2026 it's still 9% on item plus postage, and once PayPal's cut is added, one seller's €75 sale this July came out almost 20% lighter (FLUF).

Shipping is where the fee bites

Because the fee applies to postage, a £10 record with £5 shipping is charged on £15. One seller worked out that the 2023 change took that order's fee from 80p to £1.35, a 68% rise once postage was counted (FLUF).

Collectors feel it too. They rarely buy one record at a time: a pre-order in spring, a colour variant a month later, a rare pressing when it surfaces. Each separate order means paying postage again, and on Discogs the seller pays 9% on every one of those shipping charges. For international orders, Discogs' guidance is one parcel per order, so separately paid orders shouldn't be combined at all.

The result is friction on both sides: collectors hesitate at checkout, and sellers lose margin on postage they don't even keep.

The shift we're seeing: Shopify, or both

From our observations, a clear pattern is emerging. Few are leaving Discogs entirely, but more are putting real effort into their own Shopify store and steering repeat buyers there.

The split usually looks like this:

  • Discogs for discovery. Its database and want-lists still bring in collectors hunting for a specific pressing.
  • Shopify for retention and margin. No 9% on every sale and shipping charge, full control over checkout, and a direct relationship with the customer.

Running both is allowed. Discogs' seller policy only bans listing the same item on your other Discogs accounts, not on your own site (FLUF). And once sellers own the checkout, they can fix the shipping problem rather than live with it.

What your own store unlocks: Buy Now Ship Later

One of the biggest advantages of owning the checkout is being able to let collectors combine orders on their terms. That's what Buy Now Ship Later does, and it's what we built Addora to offer on Shopify.

  1. At checkout, the collector chooses "ship later" instead of paying postage straight away.
  2. They come back whenever they like and keep buying across pre-orders, drops and restocks.
  3. When they're ready, they confirm from their own dashboard, and everything ships in one parcel.

Collectors finally get to shop the way they actually collect, without paying postage again and again. Sellers get fewer parcels to pack, no manual invoicing or tracking of separate orders, and fewer support tickets asking to merge orders or refund shipping.

Packaging pressure adds to the case

Fewer parcels also means less cardboard, fewer mailers and less filler, and regulation is moving the same way. The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has applied since 12 August 2026, with a duty to minimise packaging weight and volume (Latham & Watkins).

From 1 January 2030, e-commerce packaging can't exceed 50% empty space, and void fill like bubble wrap counts as empty space (nShift). For stores shipping records into the EU, combining orders into fewer, fuller parcels is an easy early step.

What this means for record sellers

The stores doing well aren't choosing between Discogs and Shopify. They're using Discogs to be found and their own store to keep customers, and they're treating shipping as a reason to buy from them directly rather than a cost to pass on.

If you already sell on both, the question is what your own store offers that Discogs can't. Letting collectors combine orders and ship when they're ready is one of the clearest answers.

Addora has a free plan and a demo store you can explore before installing - try it out now.

Sources