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Buying DVDs on Ebay (1 Viewer)

Grant B

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I just received a purchase and I my fears came true when I found it too be a crappy bootleg. That's 2 for 2. Am I the exception or is this common practice.
I even asked the seller if it was a bootleg and got assurances it was a proper release
 

Mark Hammon

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Jan 14, 2001
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So far I have not purchased a single bootleg that I was not aware of being one in the first place.

I have bought at least 50 discs via EBay. My biggest complaint is people selling previous rentals and stating the discs are in excellent shape and complete. When they arrive I get (what I call) a coaster that is scratched beyond playability and the insert will be missing or cut up.

Two of my bad purchases were returned with full refunds. Am I lucky then? :b
 

Geo Gabor

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Mar 29, 1999
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Did you check to see if the seller had any negative feedback? Are you planning to leave some? I occasionally sell used DVDs on eBay, and I have a spotless feedback record since I am on the up-and-up. The weasels need to get ferreted out. (That's actually a cool mixed metaphor!) Be sure to leave negative feedback to warn others.
 

Sean Campbell

Second Unit
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Dec 6, 2002
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If it says 'No Region Code' and lists Chinese subs are one of the special features then chances are it's a bootleg.
I've bought about 20 DVDs off Ebay over the past year. 4 of them turned out to be bootlegs ( A Hayao Miyazaki boxset ) but everything else was legit.
 

Michael Bailey

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Nov 20, 2001
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Could you post a link to the ebay page from which you bought the DVD? We may be able to give better information if we can see what the seller said and showed.
 

Grant B

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It was Orson Welles's "F fo Fake" ....ironic isn't it :D
I couldn't find any information on it.
The Criterion LD always goes for ~$40 on ebay, but this didn't say anything about Criterion so I thought it was reasonable.
I Just checked and his feedback was 83%
When I 1st saw the disc there was minutes left in the auction so I didn't look closely.
Oh well
 

MarcoBiscotti

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Sep 2, 2003
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Never had this problem I wasnt aware of and Ive purchased approx. 50 dvd's through Ebay as well. I only buy factory sealed now though, I've gone through the complications and hassle of returns one too many times.
 

Jason Adams

Supporting Actor
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Roger Jason Adams
Yeah Hank...I bought a DVD of A View To A Kill, and it turned out to be a Asian bootleg. I can't put that next to the rest of my collection! On the plus side...I did get two sealed copies of Thunderball and For Your Eyes Only.
 

RodneyT

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Nov 17, 2003
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i dont buy DVD's on ebay for this very reason. I prefer to buy a sealed, ligitimate, studio financed copy every single time. that way i dont have to worry about the quality of what i get.....

does that make sense..?
 

rich_d

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An alternative is Amazon Marketplace.

Often the items are brand new. If they are used, it could be a good deal from a seller who might have thousands of positive feedback comments or a wholesaler.

Also helpful for OOP as Amazon will still have the listing even when they no longer stock it.

They also limit shipping and handling costs to a fixed (reasonable) amout so you don't have to go through EBAY listing to check to see what the $$$$ shipping charge might be ...

Never had a problem and many of the sellers send shipping notifications.
 

MarcoBiscotti

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If you ask the right questions before bidding, and let the seller know that you take such matters seriously, 99.9% of the time they will be honest with you about the origins of the product they are selling. You just have to be thorough and efficient when inquiring about items. I never bid on anything through Ebay without sending at least 2 or 3 emails back and forth first, so that I know exactly what it is I will be recieving, and there aren't any unpleasant surprises.
 

larry mac

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larry mac
I have bought 4 DVD box sets in the last two weeks and all were in very good (or new) condition.

First off, I put the words U.S. and/or USA in my search titles. This narrows the list down considerably. Usually, an item with USA or U.S. in the title has assurances in the description asserting it to be genuine and not a Chinese bootleg.

So far, so good.
 

MartinTeller

Screenwriter
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Feb 26, 2002
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That's a rather poor rating. I wouldn't buy from someone with less than 98%.

I think I found the auction and the guy you're talking about -- you really should have read his feedback first. Also he's NOT a registered user. Sorry to sound unsympathetic, but you totally asked for it.
 

Paul James

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Jul 17, 1999
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If the seller is from an asian country than it is a 99% chance the DVD is a bootleg. Do you HOMEWORK first, check his rating, see where he is from, e-mail previous buyers and only buy from US sellers. It's not too hard if you use a little common sense :)
 

Dave H

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Aug 13, 2000
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I only sell DVDs on Ebay; I would never buy from there. If you do buy, definitely look for a 98%+ feedback rating.
 

larry mac

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larry mac
I don't only look at the rating, I read every neutral and negative feedback (within reason) to get a feel for this seller. Also, click on these bad feedback auction numbers to see if the items were similar to what you want, ie. if the problems associated with the bad feedback were due to say an electronic or mechanical nature, I might be more inclined to discount it. But if it was a dissatisfied DVD buyer, or if I see very much red at all, no matter how big the seller is, I'm out of there.

I've also noticed that sellers in Canada resell a lot of Chinese DVDs, at ridiculous markups!
 

Patrick Soucy

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Messages
277
Of all my DVD on eBay, one of them was a Bootleg DVD: A bond movie "GoldenEye". I was so pissed! I gived the DVD to one friend and I finally purchased the real deal at amazon.ca
 

Harminder

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Apr 24, 2003
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Harminder
I've only been screwed once on E-Bay with a DVD purchase.

It was The Godfather Collection. I was assured it was region 1 and when it came in it was region 0, with cracked plastic holders, poor print on the DVD and packaging and chinese writing everywhere. The person wouldn't issue a refund.

Wasted US$40. But overall, I've had good experiences on E-Bay.
 

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