questions about buying & listings dvds

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by forummember

I've never dabbled with tons of DVD's on eBay. I've always listed real ones and I've never had a problem (they always been used as well). I sell any DVD's I don't want anymore to get my DSR up from time to time.

From what I've read on this forum and elsewhere selling mass quantities of ⊗⊗⊗⊗ DVD's on an unestablished account is a NO-GO-AREA.

Even on an established account. If you get complaints of poor quality, bootlegs, etc. you will lose your account quicklly. Even if it is 5+ years old.

[forummember]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

Even on an established account. If you get complaints of poor quality, bootlegs, etc. you will lose your account quicklly. Even if it is 5+ years old.

Yeah sure, no doubt about it. When selling DVD's they need to be as near to the real thing as possible. The covers cant be faded or too bright etc.

[jeffweico]

Misspellings, Mis spac ings, wrong UPC codes, dirty discs, scratched discs, wrong cover art, wrong disc art, wrong subtitle languages, additional subtitle languages, discs that start with Chinese subtitles turned on and you have to turn them off manually, missing special features, box sets that bear no resemblance to legitimate releases, box sets that look real on the outside but not on the inside, defective discs, cracked discs, customs seizures, buyer complaints, refunds, negative feedbacks, lost accounts, burned addresses, VERO problems, letters from Attorneys, undercover buyers working for the studios, threats from competitors, threats from customers - did I miss anything?

Oh, yes, and all of the Chinese imports are region ZERO discs. The packaging may SAY region 1, but they are encoded as region 0. ALL OF THEM. Savvy customers WILL know the difference.

[jeffweico]

Please don't take the above post the wrong way. I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade.

But a lot of people discover DHgate and see the DVD's and think "Wow, all I have to do is buy some stuff, list it on eBay and TRIPLE MY MONEY!" what could be better than that?

They reason that the customers will get a good deal and won't know the difference, so nobody gets hurt. The movie studios are already rich enough, so it won't make a difference to them. Besides, others may have gotten into trouble, but *I* am going to be SMART about it!

So they put their plan into action.

After a couple of weeks, their eBay account is shut down. A week later, they get a letter in the mail from an attorney demanding that they stop selling counterfeit items and threatening a lawsuit unlerss $xxxx is paid immediately.

Next, this person panics and posts "OMG, PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME! I'M DESPERATE!"

If anyone is thinking of getting into this, I strongly urge you to THINK about it CAREFULLY. Can you deal with all of the problems? Can you afford to lose money if your packages are seized by customs? Can you afford to hire an attorney if things go south?

There is no such thing as easy money.

[rsot]

Well said jeffweico.

Simply put: Dabbling in the VeRo business = gambling. All the same principles come into effect.

You do have some control so be aware.

[kozij]

Agreed, I was one such person hit with a nice attorney letter from microsoft a few years back selling software on my legit account. Wasn't very pleasant to say the least. However, with stealth accounts wouldn't it just be a suspension, and any letters would just be sent to bogus addresses, and a call would just go to a virtual voip/landline which doesn't really exist, putting them off the scent? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding. Perhaps change ideas, dvd's/cd's are dangerous.

Originally Posted by jeffweico

Please don't take the above post the wrong way. I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade.

But a lot of people discover DHgate and see the DVD's and think "Wow, all I have to do is buy some stuff, list it on eBay and TRIPLE MY MONEY!" what could be better than that?

They reason that the customers will get a good deal and won't know the difference, so nobody gets hurt. The movie studios are already rich enough, so it won't make a difference to them. Besides, others may have gotten into trouble, but *I* am going to be SMART about it!

So they put their plan into action.

After a couple of weeks, their eBay account is shut down. A week later, they get a letter in the mail from an attorney demanding that they stop selling counterfeit items and threatening a lawsuit unlerss $xxxx is paid immediately.

Next, this person panics and posts "OMG, PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME! I'M DESPERATE!"

If anyone is thinking of getting into this, I strongly urge you to THINK about it CAREFULLY. Can you deal with all of the problems? Can you afford to lose money if your packages are seized by customs? Can you afford to hire an attorney if things go south?

There is no such thing as easy money.

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by kozij

Agreed, I was one such person hit with a nice attorney letter from microsoft a few years back selling software on my legit account. Wasn't very pleasant to say the least. However, with stealth accounts wouldn't it just be a suspension, and any letters would just be sent to bogus addresses, and a call would just go to a virtual voip/landline which doesn't really exist, putting them off the scent? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding. Perhaps change ideas, dvd's/cd's are dangerous.

Stealth accounts will hide you from eBay/PayPal but NOT from law enforcement.

At some point, money will need to go into a bank account. And THAT has to be in your real name.

Law enforcement can get this information with a phone call. Lawyers would most likely have to subpoena the information, which means a judge would have to sign off on the request. Would the judge sign? I don't know.

I posted this because I see a lot of people who get in trouble in one way or another and they originally thought it was easy, risk-free money. That is simply NOT THE CASE!

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by OfficialGenius

I believe the DVDs are way easier to sell on Amazon.

Dont be kidding yourself. Amazon is just as troublesome with DVDs and the more so when they are foo-foo

[kozij]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

Stealth accounts will hide you from eBay/PayPal but NOT from law enforcement.

At some point, money will need to go into a bank account. And THAT has to be in your real name.

Law enforcement can get this information with a phone call. Lawyers would most likely have to subpoena the information, which means a judge would have to sign off on the request. Would the judge sign? I don't know.

I posted this because I see a lot of people who get in trouble in one way or another and they originally thought it was easy, risk-free money. That is simply NOT THE CASE!

True, I agree, If you are smart, you may be able to get away with it, but your best bet it to stay away. Risk free selling is definitely not the case, and selling many of the same item on one account is just asking for trouble. If things are done correctly and you are changing accounts, perhaps 10 items, then change item/account, a subpeona would be a drastic measure for an account who has sold 10 items. Bottom line, want to be trouble free? Don't do it.

[jamblix]

Are you guys talkin' about that girl in Chicago who got caught with the 6500 DVD box sets in her apartment? If so, that was a very rare case. She was having way too many shipments to one location and there were numerous seizures but, she just kept on sending the shipments to the same location like an idiot. It wasn't the VeRO that got her it was ICE and an undercover sting operation. She was deported back to Nigeria last I heard.

Another woman that got nailed by Disney faced major consequences as well. She got a cease and desist order before anything major, but was stupid enough to keep selling after the cease and desist. Just don't be stupid or greedy is what I'm trying to say.

It's gonna take some really bad luck and recklessness to be in really deep trouble. However, it's still not a good idea, even if you don't have to worry about jail time it's nearly impossible to sell ⊗⊗⊗⊗ DVD consistently. Unless you're an expert there is absolutely no way you'll succeed in selling DVDs on eBay plain and simple.