Frequently Asked Questions

Why don't I need a password to log in?

Vizcogs uses OAuth authentication through Discogs, which means you log in using your existing Discogs account. When you click "Connect with Discogs," you're redirected to Discogs to authorize Vizcogs—we never see or store your Discogs password.

This is both more secure (no password to leak) and more convenient (one less password to remember). Your session is maintained through secure tokens, and you can revoke Vizcogs' access anytime from your Discogs Applications settings.

What's the difference between Connected, Public, and Demo mode?

Connected Mode

Uses OAuth to authenticate with your Discogs account. This is the full-featured experience:

Access to your complete vinyl collection
Automatic loading of master release data (original release years, aggregate pricing)
Ability to load marketplace data (current prices, rarity scores, community stats)
Condition-based price suggestions (if you have Discogs seller settings configured)
Access to your custom folders and notes
Full Value page with collection valuation

Public Mode

Lets you view any public Discogs collection by username without logging in. This mode has limitations:

View-only access to the collection owner's albums
Cannot load marketplace or master release data (no pricing, rarity, or valuation features)
No access to custom folders or notes
Limited to browsing covers, timeline, and basic visualizations

Why the limitations? Loading marketplace data requires API calls on behalf of a connected user. Public mode is designed for quick browsing, not full analysis. To access pricing and rarity data, connect with your own Discogs account.

Demo Mode

A pre-loaded sample collection that showcases all Vizcogs features without requiring a Discogs account:

Includes ~700 albums with full marketplace and master data pre-loaded
All features available: visualizations, value analysis, rarity scores
Great for exploring what Vizcogs can do before connecting your own collection

Note that demo marketplace data is a snapshot and may not reflect current prices. For accurate valuations, connect your own collection.

Why is Vizcogs designed for desktop?

Vizcogs is built around dynamic, complex visualizations—interactive treemaps, chord diagrams, flow charts, and detailed data tables. These visualizations require screen real estate and precise interactions (hover states, zooming, panning) that don't translate well to touch interfaces.

We made a deliberate choice to optimize for the desktop experience rather than compromise the visualizations for mobile compatibility. Think of Vizcogs as a power tool for exploring your collection, not a quick-glance app.

That said, basic browsing and some simpler pages do work on tablets in landscape mode.

Why are some pages not available on mobile?

Certain pages are restricted on mobile devices because they contain visualizations or interactions that require a larger screen:

Visualize pages: Treemaps, chord diagrams, sunbursts, and flow charts need space to be readable and interactive
Value heatmaps and pack charts: Dense data displays that become unusable at small sizes
Complex data tables: Multi-column tables with sorting and filtering need horizontal space

When you try to access these pages on mobile, you'll see a message suggesting you switch to a desktop browser. This isn't a limitation we plan to "fix"—it's an intentional design decision to ensure quality over compromise.

Why isn't there an iOS or Android app?

Building native apps for iOS and Android would limit who can use Vizcogs. App stores require developer accounts, approval processes, and ongoing maintenance for each platform. A web app is accessible to everyone with a browser—no downloads, no app store gatekeeping, no waiting for update approvals.

Vizcogs is designed as a Progressive Web App (PWA), which means you can add it to your home screen for an app-like experience. On iOS, open Vizcogs in Safari, tap the Share button, and select "Add to Home Screen."

This approach also means Vizcogs stays up-to-date automatically—you always get the latest features without needing to update an app.

Why am I only seeing X records when my Discogs collection is larger?

Vizcogs is designed specifically for vinyl collectors. We automatically filter your collection and wantlist to show only vinyl records (LPs, 12", 10", 7", etc.), excluding CDs, cassettes, and other formats.

This keeps the visualizations focused on what matters most to vinyl enthusiasts—your physical record collection. If you have a mixed-format Discogs collection, you'll see a smaller count in Vizcogs than on Discogs.

Look for the "filtered formats" indicator on the Covers and Wantlist pages to see exactly how many CDs, tapes, and other formats were excluded from your view.

Why is some demo data not accurate?

The demo collection showcases Vizcogs features without requiring you to connect your Discogs account. However, the marketplace data (prices, number for sale, community stats) in demo mode is a snapshot from when we created the demo collection and may be outdated.

Real collections fetch live marketplace data from Discogs, which is updated in real-time. The demo is meant to show you what Vizcogs can do, not to provide accurate current pricing for those specific albums.

Note: If you're evaluating whether Vizcogs is right for you, we recommend connecting with your own collection or using Public mode to view a real collection for accurate marketplace data.

How accurate are the value estimates?

Vizcogs uses Discogs' own price suggestion data, which is based on actual completed sales on the Discogs marketplace. However, keep in mind:

Values reflect the Discogs marketplace, which may differ from eBay, local shops, or private sales
Condition matters significantly - a VG copy can be worth 50% less than a NM copy
We default to VG (Very Good) condition as a conservative baseline
Rare items with few sales may have less reliable price suggestions
Market conditions change - prices can fluctuate based on demand

Why can't I see condition-based pricing?

To see condition-based valuations (VG, VG+, NM, Mint), you need to configure your Discogs seller settings. This is a Discogs API requirement for accessing price suggestions data.

Without seller settings configured, Vizcogs can only show "floor prices" based on the lowest current listing for each release.

How to configure your Discogs seller settings

Visit your Discogs Seller Settings page and complete the following:

Select whether you're a hobby or business seller
Provide your full name and shipping address
Connect your PayPal account
Select a listing currency
Add seller terms (you can copy/paste their boilerplate example)
Accept the Seller Policy Agreement
Wait a few minutes for Discogs to update, then refresh Vizcogs

Note: You don't need to actually verify your identity or sell any items. Discogs requires these settings to calculate price suggestions based on your region. It's annoying, we get it, but if you want the extra pricing data you have to do the dance.

Why does loading marketplace data take so long?

Discogs imposes strict API rate limits of 60 requests per minute. Vizcogs uses a conservative 48 requests per minute to avoid hitting these limits.

For each album in your collection, we make 3 API calls to fetch:

Marketplace statistics (number for sale, lowest price)
Price suggestions by condition (requires seller settings)
Community data (have/want counts, ratings)

This means we can process about 16 albums per minute. A collection of 500 albums will take approximately 30 minutes to fully load.

The good news: marketplace data is cached locally, so subsequent visits load instantly.

How is the rarity score calculated?

We use a Market Scarcity Index (MSI) that measures how difficult a record is to acquire at fair market value. Rather than guessing at pressing quantities, it evaluates real marketplace behavior.

The score (0-100) combines four factors:

Scarcity (0-40 pts): How many collectors own the release - records with fewer than 100 owners score high, while 1000+ owners indicates common pressings
Liquidity (0-22 pts): How often copies appear for sale relative to ownership - records rarely listed score higher
Demand (0-20 pts): The want/have ratio - when more people want a record than own it, demand is high
Price (0-12 pts): Higher market prices confirm scarcity but don't define it

Labels: Common (0-24), Uncommon (25-44), Scarce (45-59), Rare (60-74), Very Rare (75-89), Exceptional (90-100).

Casual vs Collector Mode

You can choose between two scoring modes in Settings:

Casual Mode: More generous scoring designed for exploring and storytelling. About 25-30% of a typical collection will show rarity badges (Scarce and above).
Collector Mode: Conservative scoring that matches dealer intuition. Only 4-10% of records show badges, minimizing false positives. Hard caps prevent records with 1,500+ owners from scoring above Scarce.

Why do the album counts differ between Master Data and Marketplace Data?

On the Value page, you may notice different counts for "Load Master Data" and "Load Marketplace Data." This is intentional:

Master Data counts unique master releases. A master release is the canonical version of an album - multiple pressings or variants (different countries, reissues, etc.) link to the same master. Some releases (singles, promos, bootlegs) don't have an associated master ID and aren't counted.
Marketplace Data counts total releases in your collection. Each physical pressing is a separate release with its own marketplace pricing and availability data.

For example, if you have 174 releases but only 163 unique masters, it means you either have multiple pressings of the same album, or some releases don't have master IDs in Discogs.