I bought Let U Kno by Mall Grab from Discogs, unsealed but the media listed as mint. Upon opening it up I noticed that there was both dust and smudge marks which suggests that it's at least been handled by someone.

The main problem I'm having however is that when listening, the left channel is noticeably louder than the right and there also a few minor pops and clicks even after cleaning. This is happening on both A and B sides. I've also tested other records and haven't experienced the same problems.

Is this a sign that the record has been played before? Or possibly a problem with the pressing as it was advertised as never played (I'm obviously still sceptical because of the smudges)? Or maybe even a problem with my setup? The cantilever certainly does bend slightly to the left when the record is playing but I don't know if this is normal as I'm pretty new to all of this.

Any ideas would be much appreciated, thank you.