buying dvds on Ebay

[melancholymecha]

so I want to see the rest of True Blood season 1, like right NOW. I netflixed the first 3 discs & I want to see the rest and then rewatch again b/c I love the show. So Im thinking of buying the dvd. Ive found it on Ebay BIN for about 20 bucks from various sellers in the US. Thats pretty cheap when you consider that its about $35 on Amazon & over $50 in some places like Best Buy. Most of the sellers have pretty good feedback but I notice that they sell a lot of the same dvds (True Blood.) What are the chances that most of these are burned or just used Hong Kong bootlegs?

 

[Mr. B]

If you're going to buy DVDs or games on eBay, I think it's best to stick to auctions listed by people who don't make a living selling just DVDs. A picture of the actual item is always nice.

Then again, if I wanted to watch something "now" and wasn't willing to pay retail, I wouldn't be looking to buy anything... per se. I find eBay is most useful when I have several days to find a bargain.

 

[Joshua Howard]

I think that Ebay usually winds up being pretty reliable; you're probably safe.

Personally, however, I dislike the idea of buying things online altogether. It's mostly just personal psychology, but I tend to be willing to pay somewhat more for something if I can go down to the store and buy it in person.

I did, however, buy a rare coin from someone on Ebay once, and was very happy to recieve it exactly as described and in record time.

Theoretically, it wouldn't make dollar sense to try to sell privately burned DVD's on Ebay; the first customer would complain, and publicity is the last thing that a DVD hacker is looking for. Besides, most hackers are nerds, not profiteers.

 

[Amaris]

I despise Ebay because of their ownership of and relationship with Paypal.
That, and the fact that Ebay's mostly get rich quick people now, and I'm better off buying through Amazon.com's Marketplace.

J.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I've never bought anything on Ebay, and I never will. I'll also never use Paypal.

 

[Amaris]

I've never bought anything on Ebay, and I never will. I'll also never use Paypal.

I was a seller. Usually just small stuff, but Ebay and Paypal nickel and dimed me to death. I swear their fees get more outrageous every year, and since you have to use Paypal with Ebay, they get you at both ends.

J.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I bought a box set of LOST off Australian eBay and it turned out to be a Hong Kong bootlegged copy. The seller tried to claim she didn't know they were bootlegged and said that I got them for less then half price after all. As if the smell of paste on the box, the really poor subtitling, the desciption on the back of the box that was in such poor English that it didn't make sense, the TV channel's watermark on the screen didn't make it obvious that the were illegal copies! She even removed the Chinese writing from the photo of the DVDs and when I questioned her about this she said that she did it to make the photo look better.

I complained to eBay and she had to take down ther copies of LOST and one other TV show. She didn't want to give me a refund unless I sent the DVDs back. I said that if she didn't give me a refund I would contact the anti-privacy people. She gave me my refund and I kept the DVDs (the only pirated DVDs I have in my house).

However I have bought many other DVDs off eBay and they have always been the real thing. All the DVDs I have bought from American eBay have been fine.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I've never bought anything on Ebay, and I never will. I'll also never use Paypal.

I was a seller. Usually just small stuff, but Ebay and Paypal nickel and dimed me to death. I swear their fees get more outrageous every year, and since you have to use Paypal with Ebay, they get you at both ends.

J.

I sold stuff on Australian eBay. Many Australians prefer to pay by direct deposit rather than PayPal so eBay tried to change it that only PayPal could be used. Australians complained to the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC) and the ACCC told eBay they had to allow other payment methods. Now seller have to offer Paypal but ar4e allowed to offer other methods of payment as well.

Before this decision was made I started selling on OZtion, another Australian auction site. Unlike eBay they do not have listing fees only final transaction fees.

 

[RandyS]

I despise Ebay because of their ownership of and relationship with Paypal.
That, and the fact that Ebay's mostly get rich quick people now, and I'm better off buying through Amazon.com's Marketplace.

J.

I knew I wasn't the only one who loves Amazon, but I did think I was the only one who hates both eBay and Paypal.

We reach.

 

[RandyS]

I've never bought anything on Ebay, and I never will. I'll also never use Paypal.

Smart boy.

 

[Aragorn]

PayPal is horrible. If someone rips you off, PayPal will "investigate," tell you that you did get ripped off, but then say that there's nothing they can do about it.

 

[melancholymecha]

^ Ive had 2 times where someone didnt send me an item after I paid them and Ebay/paypal refunded my money back. Ebay is pretty good for buyers but pretty lousy for sellers especially after their recent revisions for selling.

another thing I worry about is that the sellers with a lot of copies of the same dvd are actually selling very used copied from some place like Blockbuster.

 

[Rii]

I've bought a few DVDs off eBay, either because I can't find the title anywhere else or it's significantly cheaper there. Mostly second-hand from private sellers rather than from stores.

 

[Trekker4747]

Considering the likelyhood of getting bootlegs or Asian DVDs from sellers on EBay, I'd just say get it from Amazon.

 

[Amaris]

I despise Ebay because of their ownership of and relationship with Paypal.
That, and the fact that Ebay's mostly get rich quick people now, and I'm better off buying through Amazon.com's Marketplace.

J.

I knew I wasn't the only one who loves Amazon, but I did think I was the only one who hates both eBay and Paypal.

We reach.

Indeed.

The day my anger with Paypal reached it's zenith was when they held money I had just made in a sale. Instead of that money going to my account from Ebay, Paypal tells me to send the merchandise to the buyer but the money has to be checked for fraud, since it was a certain amount in such a short time. I was just incredulous at the level of cognitive dissonance it takes to say "We know you just sold a large item on Ebay, now send it to them while we check to see why so much money hit your account so fast."

As for Amazon Marketplace, I fell in love with it the day I picked up a "Used-Like New" The Simpsons Season 1 DVD set for $4.88, including shipping and handling.

J.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I must admit I buy a lot more from Amazon that I do from eBay. I have only bought books, DVDs and CDs from Amazon. I would like to buy other things but often the sellers won't do international sales.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Just another reminder to all, as it's a pet peeve of mine, that any "Chosen Collection" Trek DVD sets are Chinese crime ring bootlegs that both Ebay and Paramount could care less about.
Sets like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Star-Trek-The-N..._ray?hash=item5ad3b2d5cf&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
are bootleg, supporting who-knows-what.