Ebay Deals on DVD Pre-Orders (Buy It Now Prices Only)

thelaughingmann said:

I don't know if it will be a good idea to start a thread for upcoming releases being pre-ordered on eBay, but I figure some of us have done this before. As of late, certain pre-orders of upcoming DVD releases have been offered for far cheaper prices (Buy It Now, at that; no auctioning, but they do have Offer Pricing where you can barter for a lower price than currently offered) than B&M stores. I have done this a few times myself and it's a great way to build up your TV on DVD collection if you don't want to jump to Blu-Ray.

If anyone is interested, let me post some things I found that are trending at cheap prices on eBay's US site (and some of these sellers seem to have plenty of stock currently):

Once Upon a Time: Season 3 (8/19 Release): Average BIN price: $19-23 + FREE Shipping ($40 at Best Buy currently, $35 at Amazon currently)

Boardwalk Empire: Season 4 (8/19 Release): Average BIN price: $20-22 + FREE Shipping ($50 at Best Buy, $35 at Amazon)

Sons of Anarchy: Season 6 (8/26 Release): Average BIN price: $23-25 + FREE Shipping ($38 at Best Buy, $35 at Amazon)

The prices above are subject to change, but it gives you an idea of what you can get for a deal. If anyone spots any other deals on TV on DVD box sets coming up, please contribute accordingly. Just because it's eBay doesn't mean it isn't a good deal.

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rcerboss said:

I'd be interested in some of these that come from legitimate shops (for instance, doesn't Toys R Us and Target both maintain Ebay accounts? I know less reputable sellers like GoHastings do as well) I wouldn't be nearly as quick to trust these if some lone guy was claiming to sell these at reduced prices..... not unless you are into bootlegs or gravel wrapped in newspaper.

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thelaughingmann said:

I've ordered through eBay many times myself. I did Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy, Season 4 of Downton Abbey (hey, I appreciate classical drama), Season 4 of Justified, and Season 1 of Da Vinci's Demons...all were legitimate copies, Region 1, with official artwork and the disks were genuine. How the resellers get these...I do not know. All I know is the resellers that handle these sales have long-standing reputations that are marked quite high. To answer your question, some companies do have eBay accounts (Best Buy and Newegg, for sure).

What you also have to understand is that the price companies buy these shows at is always much lower than the price they sell it at. These resellers on eBay sell their copies at an initial price, and as the orders come in, they adjust the price lower to offer a better deal, but they keep their markup and shipping costs as reasonable as possible so they can still make a profit (places like Amazon and Best Buy sometimes offer a release date deal that still makes them a sizable profit, though). In the case of DVDs, with how cheap many new releases on film hit as of late ($10-15 vs $15-30 on Blu), its a trend that shows that while Blu-Ray is becoming the eventual standard for entertainment on the market, DVDs are still strong enough in popularity to sell.

Basically, go for the resellers that offer returns and have real solid reputations on eBay. When the product comes, compare it to what is online (aesthetically) and check the barcode number on the back with the official release. A bootleg is easy to spot (generic DVDs with shoddy artwork and possible 'burn' hints on the bottom; the artwork on the outside of the case is cheap and the packaging is cheap and flimsy). Boardwalk Empire, for example, has some of the most solid packaging for any TV box set I've ever seen that isn't a special edition (this is true of all of HBO's recent releases); Justified and Sons have been solid too for standard sized packaging; Once Upon a Time, sadly...I went through Amazon for Season 1 and Season 2 when Season 2 released, and I've had two shipments come with the plastic damaged; it felt cheap in my hands and they used plastic tabs (the * style where the lil arrow tabs push in toward the center), and I am sure it'll be the same with Season 3.

I am sure there are others on CAG that have done what I did and can vouch for the legitimacy of it.

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rcerboss said:

I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone here that this varies on a case by case basis. I myself have never had problems with bootlegs on ebay (that I know of..... every movie I've bought appears legit) however I've had multiple problems with classifications, in that something listed as "Like New" comes with a destroyed box, and scratched to the point that it barely functions (skipping, freezing, ect). Or something that is "New" has been opened with the UV code redeemed already. I guess that's not such an issue with preorders but I've dealt with this issue multiple times on very highly ranked sellers. Frankly I am starting to learn that reputation doesn't seem to mean anything on ebay.....

I've had friends who use ebay more than I do and have had issues with forgeries, bootlegs, and the ol' bag of gravel scam. Most recently, I had a friend try to order some new collector's edition Batman disc set. What he got was several baggies of gravel and a single disc of some poor quality homemade XXX movies. Of course the guy had perfect feedback spanning over a year.

Naturally the seller denied sending any of this, and I got to hear a couple of horror stories about some very shitty ebay customer service. I know that crap like that keeps me from ever spending over $20 or so on the site.....

Anyways, like I said, I know I'd be interested if any semi-official seller has these, but I'm not interested in buying from some Joe shmoe flipper. IIRC the latter isn't even supposed to be posted in this part of the forum.

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Mr_hat said:

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thelaughingmann said:

I know what to look for

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rcerboss said:

Maybe you could PM me with some tips or something? Not trying to be sarcastic or a wiseass or anything, oor go off topic, but like I said I have had trouble purchasing something where the description of the condition clearly isn't what I've gotten and I'm getting sick of the tedium of dealing with customer service for refunds. If there are certain things I should look out for beyond reputation, the age of the account, and the sales price I would love to hear what you would do so I can try to avoid these situations in the future.

It really is such a shame. I've found ebay incredibly useful in getting normally overpriced crap at a half decent price (artwork, Nintendo games, Disney films, ect). It just seems like half the time I get something the condition is far less than was advertised.

At any rate, any advice would be appreciated, if not in picking up legitimate sellers then at least in dealing with customer service when I do have to return a beat up, barely functioning movie that's been classified as "Like New".

As for thread location, I know there's an ebay thread in the Shopping section I've visited on occasion. I don't know, I'm not an admin lol. I just recall other threads like this getting shot down in the gaming section.

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