If you are ever questioning the credibility of a DVD, wondering if its real or a bootleg version, especially while shopping on eBay, I have some tips here that may help. The other day I was scrolling around on eBay searching through some of the Disney DVD's that are available and stumbled upon many listings for the new Aladdin DVD from Disney. I saw one auctioning for $5.00 with a $6.00 buy-it-now price. I was amazed and thought, "Wow! Disney really must have flooded the market with these." But, I remembered that once I bid on a Snow White for $6.00 after it was OOP and as days went on, I was not being outbid. This was peculiar to me as copies were selling for at least $26.00 at the time. Winning an auction for $6.00 for a hot item made me suspicious, so I had to re-read the auction page to see what I was actually biding on. And so, as with the new Aladdin DVD auction, my suspicions were correct, which I will share with you. I thought it would be a good idea to go through an auction page where these sellers are indeed selling bootlegs.


Here we shall look at the first part of the page, the heading:


As we can see, everything looks ok, initially. But upon inspection, we will read "Item Location: KLIA, Malaysia". I don't know about you, but I do not usually shop for my DVD's in Malaysia. This is further supported by the seller location which also states "Malaysia". For me, this is the second red flag. (The first being the buy-it-now price).


In the next section there is the description of the DVD. As you read, everything looks pretty much on par with the official Disney release of the movie Aladdin. If you own an Aladdin DVD, check out the special features on your copy with whats here.

Now, here is where the fun happens. I highlighted the area of particular interest.

Is it a dumb question to ask what the one-disc edition is? I did not know Disney was releasing a single and 2-disc versions of this film. So, this is why I suggested that you check out the special features on your DVD. I cannot seem to locate anyone who describes what is on Disc 1 and what is on Disc 2. I think they offer alot of features on this 1-disc edition, that is to say, in addition to the movie itself. What is left for the second disc? On top of this, they add:

Should you even be inclined to buy this item, they are nice enough to take it out of the case for you and put it into a plain sleeve to "cut down high shipping costs". DVD's usually are not too costly to ship, but the way most sellers on eBay work, its hard to say what a standard price is. Some will ship as little as $1.29, some will charge as much as $17.50 (yes, I have seen it!). A DVD that has only one disc, with case and art will cost about $1.29, maybe $1.52 (not including package costs). A DVD without the casing, just the DVD itself is between .37 and .60 cents. The point being, is that these friendly Malaysian people are willing to help save you on the shipping costs.


By charging you a measly $5.00 to ship!! I would like to know what costs they are cutting out? I would also like to point out another interesting aspect of their auction page; I refer you to their "shipping" information.

If I am reading this correctly, there is a large assumption that they are shipping only internationally (perhaps because they are on an island). At any rate, they are obviously selling to a market that uses Region 1 DVD's (i.e. America and Canada). And there is a nice little section that says "will not combine shipping". This also helps to "cut down on high shipping costs".

Basically they justify much of their process. They take the DVD's out of the cases for the protection in their "long journey to get to you". Secondly, the sleeves are at their expense ($8.00 for 50, or .16 cents each). I don't believe what they say and I think its a load of crap. They are just providing a rationale (however horrible it may be) for those that don't get the whole bootleg scene and wonder why they got a plastic sleeve in the mail. I do wonder what they do with the original cases once they remove the DVD's from them.

With all of this, it might be obvious that there is a good possibility you are getting a bootleg copy (or at least that is what they are selling). But I leave with this final question. If these fellas are in Malaysia, and this is a real copy that Disney felt sad for selling high end items and wanted to accomodate those who could not afford the $22.00 version and came up with a single-disc edition for $6.00, then, (I ask, oh-so-humbly) what is a Region 1 DVD doing in Malaysia, an area of the world that uses Region 3?




Now, I understand business is business. And these people know what they are doing. They want to make a buck like anyone else. And they are not misrepresenting their product because all of the information is here on the page. They are misleading the buyer, which is a different artform than misrepresentation. But I want you to know how to examine the auction page so you know exactly what you are getting. Making sure there is no split between the subject heading and the text in the body, such as the case with this item. This particular item will cost you about $11.00 for a DVD estranged from its original packaging from another country. If you want 2 items, it will cost double the price. I don't particularly want these kinds of DVD's in my collection. I like the packaging. It makes it "oh-so-official." But there are those that are not attached to packages, so long as it works. The point being is there are many people who scan auction pages so quickly that they do not take the time to read what they are getting; and I could imagine the disappointment when they receive a little package with no case. That is why this particular seller has an 88% feedback rating. The full URL for this item is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=617&item=6357379451&rd=1

Well, I hope this anatomy lesson was as interesting to read as it is to write. I get infuriated with these kinds of sellers. I would rather they advertise "Fake Cheap Version!". At any rate, without losing my grip, thats all for now. Email me at ant@rareoopdvds.com with any questions, thoughts, or comments. Or you can go to our new Forum that is up and running and post your thoughts or comments there. Ciao fer now. Oh! In case you were wondering, I did not win the Snow White auction. I was eventually outbid and it sold around $20.00. What a rip!