Proper rating of used albums

One would actually have to hear a used LP to rate it accurately. I think most sellers rate LP's based on visual inspection. My experience is that visual is a good indicator but no guarantee of quality. I have bought LP's that looked good and sounded poor and LP's that look suspect but sounded good. Having said all that I much prefer examining them myself before buying. I have had pretty good luck with used LP's bought locally and on audiogon. Never bought LP's on Audiogon.

I "won" an auction where I purchased 38 albums. All albums were over rated. I contacted the seller by e-mail, but he refused to give me a refund saying that I should have asked more questions before buying. As I said, they were rated on the Goldmine scale, but the albums shipped didn't match the rating given - not even close. I appealed to the staff @ Audiogon and they forced the seller to give me a refund.