dvd's on ebay?

[Christopher Pine]

Just was browsing on ebay and there is a plethera of dvd's including harry potter ones of which I was looking for. They claim they ship from the Philippinnes?? Hmmmm??? Makes me leary! Prices are very good but what is up? Copies or what?
Anyone have an idea what gives?
Chris

[Bart Leetch]

I'd be a little afraid too just because its Harry Potter & witchcraft. :)

[Dan Mages]

Caveat Emptor! They are most likely illegal copies or worse... camcorder jobs from the movie theatres.

Dan

[Tim Morton]

Fake...Fake and Fake!!! :D

[John Weber]

Chris,

There are a couple of sources. One being a DVD just like you bought in the store, others include old movie rentals, asian imports, and copys. I always like it when the seller shows a pic of the actual DVD and not just the stock photo. I also avoid the asian sellers (like the original but without the hard case - yea right). I look for the description to include stuff like: mint, personal collection, viewed once, I bought it at Best-Buy, etc... If you have questions ask the seller, otherwise move on to another seller. I think most of the fraud is with the OOP (Out Of Print) movies. There is generally more demand for these since ebay is one of the few sources, so prices are higher thus more fraud. I've bought several without any problems, however, I did unknowingly buy a bootleg copy of one DVD. That seller is now gone, however. In general prices have really droped, you can often buy brand new DVD's at Target, WalMart, etc for less. We have really been stocking up the last month of so. Good DVD's are generally on sale for $7.50 and $10 at many retailers. ebay is best for harder to find titles, but you need to ask questions if it looks to good to be true. Best Buy on-line is also a good source for harder to find DVD's, although I think they are always the most expensive. We've also bought DVD's from Amazon's secondary sellers (new and used from...) without and problems.

Just keep a keen eye - John

[Matt Allan]

I would guess at least 90% of DVDs on ebay are bootleg copies.. If they do not come with a case or an insert.. Its bootleg. I have a friend who was in Hong Kong and Malaysia, you can buy the movies for around a buck with no case. Just cover and disc, then they buy the case and sell them. If you don't care about being a bootleg 99% of the time you will never know. Lets just say I have seen a lot of these DVDs and if you played it next to one you bought at best buy you would never know. Just know there is a decent chance no matter that that movies you buy on ebay or any used market place like amazon, etc are copies.

[Mike Mortenson]

I would make sure his feedback is good. If he has really good feedback there shouldn't be alot to worry about. Just watch out for who you deal with. I have never got burned on ebay but i make sure they have several feedbacks and that they are good.

[Jim Becker]

Join Netflix and watch as many movies as often as you want for a fixed cost. No bootlegs and nothing to collect dust on the shelf.

As to buying these things on EBAY...not I, even with "good feedback".

[Rich Konopka]

I would have to caution you on the DVD's from the Phillipines. DVD's are recored using an encoding format based on geographical zones. Where a DVD from Zone 1 - North America is incompatible with a Zone 2 DVD - Europe-Japan. This applies to DVD players recognizing the encoded DVD as a specific zone.

I would second Mr. Beckers advise and get Netflix. I have Netflix service for 5 years and I cannot say enought about it. The only negative I could find with Netflix is that they don't have any Woodworking DVD's.:(

[Christopher Pine]

the dvds I was looking fro were a gift item.. I own I think 2 dvd's... I usually watch movies on cable or rent them as you indicate.
Thanks
Chris