dx23

Although this is not completely DVD related, I hope is the start of a trend, so ebay gets rid of bootlegs and counterfeits.


http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/n...r_counterfeits


I'm really tired of bootlegs and fakes for many items, including DVDs. I hope that some other companies like Warner or Universal follow the trend so ebay clean the place a little bit.

Chrisedge

Good news. I collect live recordings (and tape them as well) and it pisses me off to no end to see my recordings on eBay.

They should use some type of database, and allow people to only sell DVD's and CD's from the Database. Then if you end up with a "copy", you can file a claim against the seller. (or something like that)

chemosh6969

It's about time a company with some cash can finally teach eBay to clean up their act.

Sanitarium

It's real sicking to buy a DVD that is advertised as legit and receive a piece of shit bootleg. This just happened to me last week. Of course ebay does nothing. I hope someone sues the pants of them.

Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.

I got stuck with a few fake Versace ties from ebay a couple years back

unbeeleebable

That is very good news. Will have to follow this closely as any counterfeit goods or pirated products sold as openly as they do on e-bay is detrimental to all of us who are genuine purchasers of products and I know we don't always see eye to eye with some studios in particular but does hurt them financially where DVD is specifically concerned.

calhoun07

I hope they lose, and lose big time. I have stopped using Ebay for a lot of things a long time ago (with rare occasions), especially for selling. They rake in the money hand over fist on the fees when they do not need to be charging as much as they do. I hope this results in lower fees and also results in a BIG clean up on their site of fake and bootleg items, and also results in better protection for buyers who get screwed over, even on smaller items.

Groucho

This is one of my big gripes with eBay, their whole "Buyer beware" philosophy and lack of any real integrity or responsibility about the items up for sale on their site.

The downside of this: expect seller fees to rise.

Jeremy517

Good. Bootleg DVDs, video games, watches, etc are ridiculously out of control.

Funk

What about people that sell their own albums that aren't otherwise available? What about people that sell old vinyl that's so out there that it doesn't show up in their database?

renaldow

Then it would entered into the database.

ernestrp

I think they should shut Ebay down. Looks like a fence to me and then they cry about PTO. Glad, I was never an Ebay member.

Fincher Fan

Unfortunately, this is why I never used eBay. Too many risks.

ShallowHal

It sucks, but it's like complaining that The NY Times didn't do anything about the digital camera you bought from a classified ad. They're paid to list an item, they don't guarantee or inspect anything. If they did, they'd have to sell their own inventory, so they'd be Amazon.

If you have a problem, you can file a complaint with PayPal or your credit card company. They can give you the seller's info, but they don't have any obligation to do any more. You're not paying them for anything, so you're really not their customer.

You're never stuck with fake merchandise. You can file a complaint with PayPal or your credit card, or take the seller to small claims court. It's obviously not cost effective to do so when the seller is in another state, but it is something you can do.

matome

GIjon213

When I first started out on Ebay, I was looking for a James Bond DVD. This was before the recent OOP boxsets came out. All the DVD's were expensive. But one was really cheap, and I couldn't believe the deal I got. Until I got it. I couldn't believe how bad this copy was. So from then on, I started looking for things. I have bought (and sold) many DVD's on Ebay with no problem whatsoever since that learning experiance. You just have to know what to look for.
If it is from China, Hong Kong, etc... Unless you are getting that region's DVD, you are, 99% of the time, getting a fake.
The buyers feedback. I don't buy from anyone with a 95% or less. I don't care how many people you have gotten good reviews from, you still have 5% of your customers pissed. Also, look at the number of reviews, and look at the reviewers number of reviews. People would have their friends and family give them fake reviews, fake them themselves, etc... Just look for some one who has a decent # of reviews from other reviewers with a fairly large # of good reviews also.
Read every bit of the Auction. I have friends who get pissed it they get a PV DVD, but didn't read the auction that said it was a PV DVD.
correct me if I am wrong, but Ebay has netted some good deals for many of us. If you are careful, then there is a good chance you will get a good item.
If Ebay gets in trouble, that would mean that I won't be able to sell my DVD's for an amount that would turn a profit, if at all. They should go after the sellers, sue them, and make an example out of them. You can also report bootleg stuff. I don't know how much it helps, but I do it constantly.

Michael T Hudson

Real Sports had a story this week about counterfeit signed sports items on eBay.

The Bus

This is a much more realistic and economically feasible solution. "Creating a database with all the releases" is impossible. How many mistakes and missing items have I seen on Gracenote/CDDB? And this is a company who does this as their business. It is simply not feasible and horribly impractical.

slop101

Ebay's the last place you should go to for small-ticket items like CDs and DVDs.

But if you do a little research, you can hit some major pay-dirt on bigger-ticket items.

I'm sort of a musician, and I got 3 of my favorite pieces of gear from ebay, at great prices:

I have 5 guitars, but my favorite is a 1969 Gibson 370 hollow-body in perfect condition that I got from ebay 5 years ago for only $800 - if you were to find that in a music store, it'd be $5,000 easy.

Another great find was a 1978 Marshall combo tube amp - they don't make these anymore, because they don't break, and they're very easy to service (newer amps are DEAD if the smallest thing goes wrong). I forgot how much I paid, but it was less than half of what it would have been in a vintage store.
(this amp was actually a replecement of another I bought on ebay that was "lost" in shipping - but I got fully re-embursed)

Then there's my beloved Fender Rhodes electric piano...

cultshock

Unfortunately, that's what it kind of boils down to. Even if ebay wanted to verify the authenticity of every item that people sell there, how could they possibly have the manpower to do that. We are talking about millions of auctions every day. They have their VERO program set up, but that means rights holders have to do the work of checking for copies of their products. That's not really fair, but it's something. I'm sure that others will be watching this lawsuit very closely. If ebay does lose, I can't see how they could start policing everything. They would have to change their whole business model tremendously or shut down. I'm not trying to defend ebay, because believe me, I have issues with them as well, but it's really a case of buyer beware. Educate yourself about the products you are interested in, and read EVERYTHING in an auction listing. If you do that and still get hosed, try to take it up with your cc company or Paypal (yeah, I know that they aren't always very helpful) If you are worried about getting ripped off and aren't prepared to be a really careful shopper, shop elsewhere.