Sell DVDs to get BDs?

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Buddycuffs

CAG Veteran
I've got a lot of DVDs. A bunch of them are box sets including shows that I absolutely love, such as LOST and Band of Brothers. Thing is, I got them both when the BD version wasn't out and I'm wondering whether you guys think it's worth it to attempt to sell the DVDs on eBay or something and conjour up some money in order to buy them back on Blu Ray.

The one's I'm interested in getting on Blu Ray are all four seasons of LOST (4th season is unopened) and Band of Brothers. Everything is in perfect condition and I figure I'd get pretty good money for them.
 
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I'm in the same boat as you. Good news is there are plenty of ways you can get rid of old DVDs. Bad news is you're going to be horribly disappointed by what you get for them. If you have a MovieStop in your area, this is your best bet, especially if you want to buy Blu-Rays. They often have deals where if you trade a certain amount of DVDs, you can get half-off new BD releases.

If you're like me and don't have a MovieStop around, then chances of getting good money for your DVDs is very slim. Something like Lost and Band of Brothers might net you some decent money on eBay or Amazon, but you'll lose a lot of that money in shipping and fees. Trading them in elsewhere (like CD Exchange, which is where I've been trading in my DVDs) will get you some hard cash, but don't expect to make nearly enough to buy the BD versions of what you just traded in.

For example, I traded 20 DVDs in today and got $35 bucks total. That actually isn't bad considering what I was expecting ($1 a movie or less), but within that trade was the Kingdom of Heaven 4-Disc Director's Cut and the 3-Disc Hellboy Director's cut and I still only managed about $1.75 a movie.

Oh, and only seasons 3 and 4 of Lost are on BD. I would hang on to the first two seasons if I were you.
 
Thanks for the help. I haven't heard of either of those stores though, so I guess if I was going to - eBay would be my best bet.

As for LOST on BD, 3 + 4 are the only ones currently out, but it was just announced at CES that 1 + 2 will be coming to BD in 09.

Here's link:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Lost-Seasons-1-and-2-on-Blu/11129

Another reason I kind of don't want to do it is because perhaps they'll release a complete series BD with extra shit on it in 2010 when it's over.
Do you think it's worth it?
 
Try listing them on craigslist as well. It's free, and the only downside is you occasionally get scammers asking you to ship to West Africa :lol:
 
I am also on this boat. But you have to think how this transition will hurt your pocket. Is that 20+ year old movie or TV show worth getting on BR and paying the extra cash? Put some of these factors before you buy.

-Has this movie been well preserved by the release studio over the years?

-Has there been any type of restoration to the audio and video to make it worth the purchase?

-Are there any new features (like interviews and bts footage) that wasn't present in the old release (if there was one on SD-DVD)?

-What do major review sites say about them? Remember they scrutinize every part of the disc down to it's compression codec and give you an upfront answer if it's worth buying the BR version over your SD-DVD version.

I say this, if it was made before studios got into the digital era of filming (before 2000 or so), then stick with the SD-DVD version. Having volume 1 of Thundercats won't make the show look better, but just allow for more episodes on one disc and less discs to worry about.
 
DVD Planet used to be good for getting decent credits on a lot of titles, and then you could sit on that credit until their twice-a-year sales and go on a binge. But now their trade-in values suck.

You could see what your new or used titles are going for on Half.com and if the lowest prices you find on there are acceptable, list them. The percentage Half.com takes is a bit more than Ebay, but at least you can sell it for the price you set it at.

Otherwise, I'd try listing them on Craig's List.
 
[quote name='metallicoholic']I'm in the same boat as you. Good news is there are plenty of ways you can get rid of old DVDs. Bad news is you're going to be horribly disappointed by what you get for them. If you have a MovieStop in your area, this is your best bet, especially if you want to buy Blu-Rays. They often have deals where if you trade a certain amount of DVDs, you can get half-off new BD releases.

If you're like me and don't have a MovieStop around, then chances of getting good money for your DVDs is very slim. Something like Lost and Band of Brothers might net you some decent money on eBay or Amazon, but you'll lose a lot of that money in shipping and fees. Trading them in elsewhere (like CD Exchange, which is where I've been trading in my DVDs) will get you some hard cash, but don't expect to make nearly enough to buy the BD versions of what you just traded in.

For example, I traded 20 DVDs in today and got $35 bucks total. That actually isn't bad considering what I was expecting ($1 a movie or less), but within that trade was the Kingdom of Heaven 4-Disc Director's Cut and the 3-Disc Hellboy Director's cut and I still only managed about $1.75 a movie.

Oh, and only seasons 3 and 4 of Lost are on BD. I would hang on to the first two seasons if I were you.[/quote]

That's just stupid. I would have slapped the person who you were selling it to since those 2 sets are shockingly expensive when you buy them new. It's so unfair when you sell DVDs these days...
 
Fight the urge to trade in your SD-DVD's. I only buy blu-rays on new releases (and even then I wait until they hit the magic $19.99 or less price point) and I don't re-buy existing movies I have on SD-DVD. Financially you are getting killed when you originally spend $20 on a a SD-DVD, then only get $2 for a trade in, and then spend another $30 for the same movie on blu-ray. Even worse on a box set. Plus a lot of times, the blu-ray release is bare bones and doesn't include any of the extras that are on the SD-DVD version.

I don't question that most newer release movies on blu-ray will look better than the same movie on SD-DVD, but its really not worth the premium you're going to pay for the slight upgrade in picture quality (assuming you have a decent upconverting player to play your already purchased SD-DVD's). This is especially true if you have a small TV (say 40" or less) or your TV can't handle 1080p.

I've been holding off on buying Lost on Blu-Ray as I'm sure in a couple of years when the complete series box set comes out, blu-rays will lose or reduce their premium pricing over SD-DVD and the box set will be much cheaper than the individual seasons, plus more extras, etc.
 
[quote name='mick16']Fight the urge to trade in your SD-DVD's. I only buy blu-rays on new releases (and even then I wait until they hit the magic $19.99 or less price point) and I don't re-buy existing movies I have on SD-DVD. Financially you are getting killed when you originally spend $20 on a a SD-DVD, then only get $2 for a trade in, and then spend another $30 for the same movie on blu-ray. Even worse on a box set. Plus a lot of times, the blu-ray release is bare bones and doesn't include any of the extras that are on the SD-DVD version.

I don't question that most newer release movies on blu-ray will look better than the same movie on SD-DVD, but its really not worth the premium you're going to pay for the slight upgrade in picture quality (assuming you have a decent upconverting player to play your already purchased SD-DVD's). This is especially true if you have a small TV (say 40" or less) or your TV can't handle 1080p.

I've been holding off on buying Lost on Blu-Ray as I'm sure in a couple of years when the complete series box set comes out, blu-rays will lose or reduce their premium pricing over SD-DVD and the box set will be much cheaper than the individual seasons, plus more extras, etc.[/QUOTE]

This is why I think blu ray is dead meat in the retail scene. 30 Dollars a movie is extremely laughable when you can buy DVDS for 5 dollars here or there. Learn how to be thriftier with your money and enjoy more out of life.
 
[quote name='Buddycuffs']I've got a lot of DVDs. A bunch of them are box sets including shows that I absolutely love, such as LOST and Band of Brothers. Thing is, I got them both when the BD version wasn't out and I'm wondering whether you guys think it's worth it to attempt to sell the DVDs on eBay or something and conjour up some money in order to buy them back on Blu Ray.

The one's I'm interested in getting on Blu Ray are all four seasons of LOST (4th season is unopened) and Band of Brothers. Everything is in perfect condition and I figure I'd get pretty good money for them.[/QUOTE]


Well just for to warn u, u will not get what u paid for ....If your are going to do, just backup all those movies and convert them to divx...Then when u trade them, u wont regret the little money , u will get.IMHO.
 
Another strong consideration (not previously mentioned) is how many times are you actually going to watch the movie in Blu-Ray, given that you have already watched the DVD? Though it's tempting to rebuy Band of Brothers in Blu-Ray, I'm probably going to watch it once, maybe twice. For that, I may as well Netflix it, and send it back when I'm done. For my repurchases, I'm going to make sure that it's something that I'll watch at least 3-4 times on Blu-Ray if I replace it.

Also, if you switch to Blu-Ray, you're probably restricting the number of TVs that you can play it back on (without moving you Blu-Ray player). I only have 1 Blu-Ray player, but 2 TVs that get watched a lot. You're also going to be unable to take it over to friend's and family member's that don't have a Blu-Ray player.
 
Not sure if it has been said already, but I'd recommend DVD Planet. They will give you store credit (usually more than you can sell them for on half.com), and you can get rid of all your titles at once without having to sell and list them individually.
 
If you have a Movie Stop in your area I'd check them out when they are running a promotion. I've heard about some great deals they have had in the past but they are only in the southeast as far as I know.
 
What are you doing?

Do not sell your DVD's! Keep Them....

Just continue buying newer movies on BD

I have only replaced about 10 movies to BD because I really wanted to. I would never replace all of them.
 
I sold most of my DVDs a little over a year ago. Got a couple hundred bucks for about 60 movies on Ebay in 1 auction. Sold a bunch of others in separate auctions too. Not the best decision from a financial standpoint but I much prefer HD to SD.

I kept a few TV on DVD sets, not much else. As I build my Blu-Ray collection I'm being careful to only buy (or keep) movies that I really enjoy. There a lot of great movies out there but not every one needs to be in my collection. I've been patient too -- I've definitely paid less than $15 per BD so far.
 
[quote name='thingsfallnapart']This is why I think blu ray is dead meat in the retail scene. 30 Dollars a movie is extremely laughable when you can buy DVDS for 5 dollars here or there. Learn how to be thriftier with your money and enjoy more out of life.[/quote]You can also find many Blu-rays for $10 here and there. New releases on DVD are often around $22, so let's not talk about stupid shit you find in a Wal-Mart bin. If there's only an $8 difference for the Blu-ray version, I know which one I'm buying. And if it's gotten shitty reviews and the DVD is ridiculously cheaper I'll go with the DVD. The only thing extremely laughable here is you.
 
i sold half of my collection of DVDs on craigslist coz if i sold em on ebay they would come very cheap. I rebuy the movies i sold on blu-ray.
 
I sold a lot of DVDs to Secondspin[dot]com. They give pretty good money depending on the title. You can choose to receive online store credit, and then buy Blu-Rays on their website.

It is definitely worth taking a look at.
 
[quote name='jambajuice']Not sure if it has been said already, but I'd recommend DVD Planet. They will give you store credit (usually more than you can sell them for on half.com), and you can get rid of all your titles at once without having to sell and list them individually.[/quote]

im on dvdplanet.com using their trade-in price quoter. they actually offer pretty decent prices for my used discs... im thinking about using them for trading in my discs. has anybody had experience with using their online trade-in system? do they ever have any decent sales on blu's? most of my discs and cases are in pretty good condition, but are they going to jack me around on the price or anything when i send them in claiming that they arent in top dollar condition or some BS like that? --- also, how often do they do trade-in promotions--e.g. get 20% more on used trade-ins, etc?
 
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I've never seen any trade-in promotions at DVD Planet. Usually their quote machine will go offline for a while, and when it comes back the offering price is significantly smaller.

They don't jack you around on price. What they offer is what they offer. Either they'll accept your used discs or they won't.

You can always use your store credit during their twice-a-year 20% off sale (last time was 25% but I don't know if that was a one-time thing or the new standard).

Though I have to wonder what they're doing with all these used titles. They haven't sold anything used on their site in a long time.
 
A few questions before I can throw in any advice:

1) Are you primarily watching DVDs on your PS3 or another piece of equipment that upscales? The upscaling does wonders (not to all material, but most)

2) Is your primary TV 720p? If it is (or SD) then it's not worth it to trade up. If it's not 1080 then you won't experience the full benefit of BD (IMO).

3) Do you have a receiver with HDMI pass through? The PS3 will output HD sound through some receivers even if they don't decode it internally. If you're using last gen sound equipment, you won't experience the full effect of HD sound that BD feature.

I'm not an expert, but this has been my conclusion based on my own casual research. Blu-ray is pretty damn awesome if you're setup for it (and it's not *too* bank breaking to throw a low budget HT together). But if not, DVD still has plenty to offer (especially upscaled).
 
A lot of these first gen. HD discs don't have much (if any) improvement vs. the SD version. I've been really disappointed with a lot of discs. So I've stopped buying any HD disc until it's got a few reviews. For the most part I won't be double-dipping in HD.

Plus with Netflix & Xbox downloading HD content, I've found that there is less desire to own many films. I'll keep the DVDs but probably won't watch them considering the ease of click/play of the Netflix.
 
I don't plan on upgrading much, and a few I have upgraded so far I just gave the DVDs away to friends and families.

Not worth the effort to sell them since DVDs generally don't go for much when I'm not hurting for money and can just give them to a friend or familiy member who will enjoy them.
 
I sell them online at a different forum and than put the money toward the Blu-Ray. It usually drops the price down to $10-15 per disc.
 
I just want to get rid of my DVD and CDs. As for BRs, I only buy dynamic new movies I know will look good in HD and deserve to be in HD. I am also really hesitant to buy old movies in BR because some won't look any better IMO.
 
I've only been buying movies in BD that I already currently own on DVD if I deem it necessary. I re-buy only movies that are my absolute favorites, and I always check highdefdigest.com for rating on the picture, because frankly, I don't need a movie like Clerks 2 in high-def if I already own the DVD...

new movies I want I always buy now in blu.

I'll also upgrade to blu on something I already own if I can get a deal on it.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']I just want to get rid of my DVD and CDs. As for BRs, I only buy dynamic new movies I know will look good in HD and deserve to be in HD. I am also really hesitant to buy old movies in BR because some won't look any better IMO.[/quote]


You'd be shocked at how some old movies look.


I watched Wall Street on BD and it looked like dogshit, I honestly think it would have looked better over broadcast television.


2001: A Space Odyssey, on the other hand, is one of the best Blu-Rays I've seen picture quality wise, period. And look how old that movie is. 41 years old.



It all depends on how well the film is preserved and if they want to put any work into making it look as best as they can.
 
[quote name='DestroVega']It all depends on how well the film is preserved and if they want to put any work into making it look as best as they can.[/quote]

Yeah, that's why I'm really hesitant. BTW, If I'm paying for the newest medium that claims a certain standard they fucking better put work into making it look the best it can fucking be.
 
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