Why the Fear Over Buying Used DVDs? (1 Viewer)

[Nick T Robot]

mine is the 330xi (all wheel drive) and his was a 740il.

See, now you've got me. If his was the 750il 12 Cyl model I'd be more impressed with it, but you had a newer AWD Bimmer vs. his regular,older 7 series.

You must live in a place where people have lots of money but don't appriciate the finer things in life, they just appriciate the larger price tag, It's sad...

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

The way this thread has gone, is a great interest to me, I’ve got a few comments to make reacting to what I’ve read. I’ll try to keep this short, but I was a debater in high school, so it can often be difficult for me.
My situation is that I am a college student that is currently unemployed. Yet, due to my disability does have a little money each month to play with, emphasize the little part. I live on campus but I chose to buy my own groceries and there are other expenses I have every month. I have one hobby, and that is DVD obviously or I probably wouldn’t be posting here. So, I am not your typical broke college student, though money is by no means rolling in either.
The amount of DVDs I buy in a month varies on how much extra cash I have, as well as how many are coming out that I want, and I try to budget everything out at the beginning of the month and rarely do I violate my budget. Now then, whether a DVD is new or not, I always go looking for the best deal. If I can get a DVD for 5 dollars cheeper than I previously believed either because its on sale, or because its used, then that’s what I’m going to do. A 5 dollar savings might not seem like much to some of you, but consider this. I have 6 DVDs I want to purchase. Now lets just say hypothetically I find all six used each costing me 5 dollars less than I budgeted to spend. So, I’ve saved $30 which I can then use to buy a new DVD that was also on my list, that I might have had to wait another month to buy. This works for me, because I don’t just look for sales on DVDs, I look for sales on everything from DVDs to coca-cola. Once you add up a $5 sale off a DVD, and $2 savings off a case of coke, or other groceries, all of a sudden that $5 is $50 which is nice to have in case of emergencies, or to put towards something else. I will grant that the mathematics found in this post are hypothetical and I only use them to make a point they are not necessarily reflective of my actual habbits, meaning I typically don’t buy 6 used DVDs in a month. But still, if you extrapolate the savings over a time period like a year, then you again still see that it does make a difference.
Having said all of that, I am a capitalist. I do not begrudge someone like Mark or Todd for the way they do things. They earn their money, and should be able to use it in what ever way they so choose. In fact, I agree with Mark on a lot of his points relevant to the topic of jealousy. If I were in his position regarding the BMW, I would probably have fealt the same way he did for that split second, reminded myself its not worth getting too excited over and moved on. I will also admit that if I were in such a position where it wasn’t imparative for me to look for the best deal on something, then I probably wouldn’t. I’m not always all that patient to wait for good deals, if I were than money would be even less of an issue with me.
Now briefly on to disc count. It really doesn’t matter, and I do not judge someone’s collection by the number of discs they have. I’ve got a friend that has had his player less time than I have that has 90 more DVD titles than I do. Yet, that fact does not bother me, and I wouldn’t even know it if we both didn’t have our collections up at DVD profiler. There is a lot of stuff I have to buy in a given month that he doesn’t, that if he did, his collection would not be growing as fast as it has been.
I didn’t write this to cause arguments. Just to give a little in site, it is definitely an interesting topic, and all because someone asked about used DVDs.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Actually I always take the third one down, then move the 2nd one to the top, so the next guy who grabs the second one down actually gets the filthy tainted one that was on top and *gulp* previously viewed!

Personally, I always buy new. Partly because I can afford it now, partly because I am afraid of faulty discs, and partly becuase of the psychological reaosn discusse.d New is just nice.

Plus the only place that I know of with a half-decent selection of used DVDs doesn't offer much of a discount. A $10(NZ) saving is not much on a $40 DVD. SO what's the point.

I would certainly never buy a previously viewed rental disc. With a pre-owned disc, I would feel comfortable assuming the possibility that it has only been viewed a few times. With a rental disc, it will have been viewed by many people, some of whom will probably not have taken good care of it. So purchasing a rental disc is a definite NEVER for me.

My only used DVD is the region 4 release of The Truth About Charlie. I found it within a week of the disc's release - so it was basically as good as new. I wanted it for the second disc (which had Charade on it), I had no interest in increasing sales for the remake. Used allowed me to get a good quality version of the original film without contributing to the sales figures for the remake.

But in general, my view is that, if a disc is worth buying, its worth buying new.

 

[Nick T Robot]

Re-Counted my discs:

176 Titles became 295 Discs, Not counting Demo Discs or other non retail DVD stuff (Death of Batman DVD, BMW Films DVD, Total Movie Magazine's DVDs, etc)

 

[mark alan]

this is one f'd up thread

 

[Mitch Stevens]

it is definitely an interesting topic, and all because someone asked about used DVDs.

I agree. I love this thread even though no one here agrees with what I have said and some people called me clinically insane.

I love hearing all the difference in opinions, after all, that's why we visit this site and share our stories with everyone.

 

[Nick T Robot]

some people called me clinically insane.

Could be worse, It could have been criminally insane :p) :p)

 

[Bryan X]

Could be worse, It could have been criminally insane

It could have even been worse than that. Someone could have somehow brought silica into the discussion.

 

[MarkHastings]

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[MartinTeller]

Totally. I do not respect a collection if it's full of garbage. My favorite example of a huge but terrible collection is here. This guy (a former HTF member, he quit for some reason) has about 2000 DVDs, but the vast majority of them are (IMO, of course) incredibly dumb movies. Yeah, there's some good ones in there, but they're overshadowed by the dreck. I have much more respect for someone with only 50-100 DVDs but excellent taste.

 

[TheLongshot]

Also, the savings to me are not worth it. These days, a new DVD on release week is what- $15? Give or take a few?

More like at the most, $18 for a typical $30 MSRP DVD. 40% is often the maximum discount that you will get at release, and it doesn't always happen.

Also, the comment that it is "only $5" is a bit short sighted. It adds up in the long run. I've probably have saved a good $5000 with some of my thrifty purchases. To be honest, it also hasn't taken more of my time to get these savings either, just paying attention.

Sure, some of you seem to have more money than you know what to do with, and have no worries. I wish you could tell my fiance not to worry about money. She worries about it all the time. I don't worry, because I prefer to live below my means in case something happens. It doesn't mean that I shouldn't engage in my hobbies, and I make a happy medium between the two...

Jason

 

[Zak Hepburn]

I having a great read with this thread(it reminds me of a Patrick Bateman monologue)

I have NEVER brought any kind of used product(including DVD,CD,action figures and Comics)I have an extreme mental block with such an issue.I have stood in a DVD store for an hour trying to figure out which NEW cardboard slipcase is in better condition ,eventually the security guard came over to give me the evil eye.Every time I look at my DVD collection my "Pulp Fiction" CS jumps out at me as it has a huge bend in the cardboard case

 

[Yee-Ming]

I haven't bought many used DVDs, but that's because the 2nd-hand market here isn't very good. Plus, I like having those "must have" sets ASAP, e.g. my Indy Jones is on the way (still in the air somewhere I guess) since I want it NOW and don't want to wait for a used set to show up somewhere.

When I first started buying DVDs in 1999, once in a while I'd count the collection, by number of titles and number of discs. I used DVD Profiler as well. I haven't done any of that in at least 2 years now, and am perfectly happy to simply estimate my collection at around 400 titles -- as Martin (IIRC) said, once you stop obsessing about it, you just enjoy the collection. Having said that, I don't think I'll properly enjoy any of my discs until I replace that good but too-small 29" Wega 4:3 TV with a 42" plasma...

As for my Profiler entry, let's just say it doesn't even have my Godfather set and SW:TPM entered into it, and I pre-ordered those before release date...

For cars, it's a bit different out here, with the funny tax regime and Certificate of Entitlement etc (don't ask), the depreciation hit on new cars isn't as steep as it appears to be elsewhere. Personally my reason for buying new was I didn't want the risk of buying something the previous owner abused etc, and with new you get the warranty anyway. To date (3 years now) the only thing that's ever gone wrong with my wheels is a faulty power window motor which needed replacing (ouch).

Having said that, one regret is that when the Certificate dropped steeply in price, a new model of my car wase almost S$15,000 cheaper than what I'd paid -- had I bought a 2nd hand, I could've sold it off without much thought and gotten a cheaper equivalent, or upgraded to something nicer. But no point worrying about such things, bottom line is I like my car, it runs nicely, and I can afford the monthly payments without worries.

 

[Todd Robertson]

Yeah, there's some good ones in there, but they're overshadowed by the dreck.

this could be said about any personal collection. dont look at mine....you might choke on the dreck. then again...you may just stumble over the classics and break yer neck.

hey....got a mini-rap goin' there.

 

[MartinTeller]

Yours is MUCH better than the one I posted. Obviously with a collection that large, there's going to be stuff I don't agree with (Caligula and Toxic Avenger are on my 20 worst list, and Captain Ron would probably be #21) but overall it's a pretty good collection.

 

[Nick T Robot]

Larry's original post:

...I don't understand the negative reaction some people have to buying used. Is it because you got burned with some bad discs?

So do the rest of you know something I don't? What's the supposed drawback to buying used?

Well, After all that I guess most who don't buy used do so because of bad selection of used DVDs or just prefer not to have to worry about any possible problems.

I am on the side of Bad selection. The only places that have a good selection have prices that are usually higher than Best Buy's "New Release" prices. I have lucked out twice and found a great deal on 2 excellent condition used movies that I didn't buy new when they first came out.

 

[MarkHastings]

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[MartinTeller]

Can't bear the thought of rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[MarkHastings]

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[Scott Leopold]

Out o0f my nearly 650 title collection, about 80 are used. If I'd have realized that the used CD place down the street was selling DVD's sooner, I'd probably have quite a few more. I generally buy instead of rent. I figure that if I like it, I only paid a few bucks more than a rental and it's now part of my collection. If I don't like it, I can resell it and end up only having spent about as much as a rental. Except for my kids' titles, every title in my collection is a movie I already enjoyed and wanted to own, or is something I was interested in seeing, bought, and then liked enough to keep. If I buy something and don't like it, it doesn't stay in my collection.

I have absolutely no problem buying used. The only place I won't buy used is rental stores. I purchased one DVD from Blockbuster (can't remember what it was), took it home, and it was in such awful shape it wouldn't play. It had numerous, massive scratches, and had what looked to be vaseline smeared on it. We took it back, and when they offered us an even exchange, I complained until they gave me my money back. After the awful shape the first one was in, I wasn't going to risk taking home another one.

That's not to say I haven't had other problems buying used. On one occasion I received the wrong disc in the case (easy exchange), a couple times I refused the purchase because the disc was damaged, and when I bought Y Tu Mama Tambien, the R-rated version was in the unrated case. I realized this after the 7 day exchange period had passed, and simply waited until the unrated version went on sale, bought it, and sold this one back to the same place.

About 1/3 of our Criterions have been bought used. They were all in great shape, and cost no more than $15 (this includes Robocop and Silence of the Lambs). A large portion of the silent films in my collection were bought used. While many of these are ones I intended to buy, several were ones I was simply curious about, and would not have bought at full price.

If money were no object, I'd buy everything new. In general, I'd prefer to buy something new. However, if I'm saving $5-15 per disc (sometimes more), I'll gladly buy used. If the difference in price between new and used is less than a couple dollars, I'll wait and buy it new.

The retail stores around here aren't the best when it comes to selection. The only store that carries a decent selection of obscure and foreign titles is Borders, but without a sale or a coupon I usually don't shop there (unless it's something I'm really eager to get). At the used shops, I can usually find something that interests me that I'd never find new.

Mitch, I can almost sympathize with your situation regarding the cousin who feels the need to compare collection sizes. Back in college, a couple friends began comparing the sizes of their cassette collections with me. We'd go to the used music shop (Second Time Around--which is where I buy most of my used DVD's now) all the time, and were constantly picking up new tapes. One guy made it his goal to own more than me, and started buying every oddball, 50-cent title in the place. For a while, this annoyed me since I only bought stuff I genuinely liked, or was curious about, while he bought dirt-cheap crap just to pad his numbers. The third guy who was part of the competition finally got sick of it, sold off his entire 200+ cassette collection, and reinvested it into CD's. While my other friend tried to keep the competition going, I simply didn't care anymore. I think it's extremely important to realize that someone else's collection should have absolutely no bearing on yours. I personally don't care how many DVD's someone owns. As long as you're pleased with your collection and can honestly enjoy everything in it, then what does it matter how much someone else has, or what they say about how many you own?

As for Mark's comments about what would you do if, after spending a great deal of time and effort building up the best HT you could afford, only to have a wealthier friend run out and buy the best system available--which just happens to blow yours away? I'd personally want to run over and watch Die Hard. My brother, who seldom buys movies, and has very little knowledge of HT or films (other than that he knows that Gladiator kicks ass on his system), has a much better setup than I do. I couldn't care less. I do, however, bring a DVD or two with me whenever we visit just to see how it looks and sounds on his system. The way I see it, it's mutually beneficial. I can take advantage of his good HT, and he can take advantage of my collection. I think it's silly to worry about what someone else owns. Just be happy with what you have.