Should I Stop Buying and Start Selling?
#1
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Should I Stop Buying and Start Selling?
I now admit to people that I have dvd addiction. Dvds are my hobby. I love collecting, buying, watching, and selling too. I get so excited whenever there is a big sale like many on this forum.
However, I have gone beyond a saturation point. I have more dvds than I could hope to watch. Many are still in the wrapper that I bought years ago. And here I just bought the X-files complete collection on sale, all four seasons of Lost, and five seasons of Baylon 5 last Sunday.
When I had to move recently, I almost cringed at the flood of dvds, and knowing how much money I've invested on them. I ended up with over 30 boxes of dvds, not including my mega sets like complete Stargate, Mash, Andy Griffith, Twilight Zone etc... I took a full inventory, and my whole collection is worth about 9K on Amazon marketplace.
Now I have the challenge of finding aplace to store them in my tiny 575 sq ft. apartment. And with the rise of Blu-ray, decreasing value of dvds, and lack of storage place, I have to wonder if it is time to just sell it all, and rebuild from stratch.
What do you guys think>? Does dvd still have a long future? Will the prices of tv on dvd drop like a rock? If I sell now, I will be taking a loss, and I rather keep em for entertainment worth than lose out.
However, I have gone beyond a saturation point. I have more dvds than I could hope to watch. Many are still in the wrapper that I bought years ago. And here I just bought the X-files complete collection on sale, all four seasons of Lost, and five seasons of Baylon 5 last Sunday.
When I had to move recently, I almost cringed at the flood of dvds, and knowing how much money I've invested on them. I ended up with over 30 boxes of dvds, not including my mega sets like complete Stargate, Mash, Andy Griffith, Twilight Zone etc... I took a full inventory, and my whole collection is worth about 9K on Amazon marketplace.
Now I have the challenge of finding aplace to store them in my tiny 575 sq ft. apartment. And with the rise of Blu-ray, decreasing value of dvds, and lack of storage place, I have to wonder if it is time to just sell it all, and rebuild from stratch.
What do you guys think>? Does dvd still have a long future? Will the prices of tv on dvd drop like a rock? If I sell now, I will be taking a loss, and I rather keep em for entertainment worth than lose out.
#2
According to the therapy provided here, why not? (< that's a link.)
I'm sure there are plenty on this site that could be dug out ....
edit to add: I'm no expert on TV on DVD, but I've tried to sell a few sets about a month ago (Weeds S 1&2, Newsradio S 1-6) all of which I purchased for $15 a set. And that purchase price was considered pretty good about six months ago. When I was looking around on pricing these were all going for $8 or so. Ridiculous. But I think the economy is having a fairly significant impact on the current pricing environment (though Newsradio was just released as a complete set recently). I just don't people have been buying and the aftermarket and resellers are taking a big hit right now on catalog titles.
On the flip side, it's probably not a good time to get into the market unless you have a lot of OOP or obscure titles unless you plan on getting $2-3 per title, if that.
I'm sure there are plenty on this site that could be dug out ....
edit to add: I'm no expert on TV on DVD, but I've tried to sell a few sets about a month ago (Weeds S 1&2, Newsradio S 1-6) all of which I purchased for $15 a set. And that purchase price was considered pretty good about six months ago. When I was looking around on pricing these were all going for $8 or so. Ridiculous. But I think the economy is having a fairly significant impact on the current pricing environment (though Newsradio was just released as a complete set recently). I just don't people have been buying and the aftermarket and resellers are taking a big hit right now on catalog titles.
On the flip side, it's probably not a good time to get into the market unless you have a lot of OOP or obscure titles unless you plan on getting $2-3 per title, if that.
Last edited by visitor Q; 12-23-08 at 06:20 PM.
#3
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Here's my advice, and feel free to disregard any and all parts of it:
1) Stop buying new titles
2) Determine current sale price for titles that are still sealed and list those (if the prices are satisfactory to you). You haven't watched them, so it should be easier to part with them.
3) Watch your current library, beginning with titles that are opened that you haven't watched yet. As you finish a title, determine if it's something you want to keep on DVD or part ways with (including titles you want to eventually upgrade to Blu-ray). List said titles for sale, keep the remainder. This would also be a great opportunity to post online reviews of both film and DVD release, if you're into doing that kind of thing.
4) Before purchasing new titles, consider checking them out from your local library or renting from Redbox. Use this as a free (or cheap) chance to preview discs prior to purchasing them.
5) Only allow yourself to purchase new discs from the money you've made from selling your older glut of titles. For one, it helps restrict your future purchasing. Secondly, it will make you feel better to be spending money from selling DVD's, rather than simply throwing more money at your library.
I started doing this with CD's years ago when I realized I had a music-buying addiction, and it has served me well. I can get a new title during its first week of release for about $10 (sometimes less), and if it doesn't work out for me, it goes on Half.com and I frequently break even.
1) Stop buying new titles
2) Determine current sale price for titles that are still sealed and list those (if the prices are satisfactory to you). You haven't watched them, so it should be easier to part with them.
3) Watch your current library, beginning with titles that are opened that you haven't watched yet. As you finish a title, determine if it's something you want to keep on DVD or part ways with (including titles you want to eventually upgrade to Blu-ray). List said titles for sale, keep the remainder. This would also be a great opportunity to post online reviews of both film and DVD release, if you're into doing that kind of thing.
4) Before purchasing new titles, consider checking them out from your local library or renting from Redbox. Use this as a free (or cheap) chance to preview discs prior to purchasing them.
5) Only allow yourself to purchase new discs from the money you've made from selling your older glut of titles. For one, it helps restrict your future purchasing. Secondly, it will make you feel better to be spending money from selling DVD's, rather than simply throwing more money at your library.
I started doing this with CD's years ago when I realized I had a music-buying addiction, and it has served me well. I can get a new title during its first week of release for about $10 (sometimes less), and if it doesn't work out for me, it goes on Half.com and I frequently break even.
#4
DVD Talk Special Edition
I've said it before, but the best thing you could do for maintaining the addition is buying, watching, and then buying more. If you pick up five DVDs, that should hold you from buying too many more. For example, in the last month, I've picked up about 10 DVDs, and now I've been spending most of my spare time trying to watch them (unless you have a LOT of spare time).
#5
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I've been a collector since DVD was released. In the early days, before rental, I would buy anything I wanted to watch on DVD. They weren't priced badly, internet sites frequently sold them at 50% off msrp during the first couple years. While some purchases were great films that I'm glad I have (Contact, Gattaca) there are others I now question owning (U.S. Marshals, Twister.)
There are honestly only so many times I can watch a movie or TV set and I have slowed to a complete crawl on purchasing. I just can't justify spending $16-20 on a DVD anymore that I know I might watch twice and shelve for years. For me, it's got to be more in the $10-under range and a movie I know I will want to possess for the future (Dark Knight, Iron Man.) So I wait until I can get it used for 10 bucks or so.
I frequently find myself using Netflix as my video collection.
I find selling on Amazon the easiest, they take care of the entire monetary transaction for you and you simply fulfill the order. I collected over $1000 selling tapes, cds and DVDs on Amazon last year.
There are honestly only so many times I can watch a movie or TV set and I have slowed to a complete crawl on purchasing. I just can't justify spending $16-20 on a DVD anymore that I know I might watch twice and shelve for years. For me, it's got to be more in the $10-under range and a movie I know I will want to possess for the future (Dark Knight, Iron Man.) So I wait until I can get it used for 10 bucks or so.
I frequently find myself using Netflix as my video collection.
I find selling on Amazon the easiest, they take care of the entire monetary transaction for you and you simply fulfill the order. I collected over $1000 selling tapes, cds and DVDs on Amazon last year.
Last edited by chriscooling; 12-25-08 at 04:31 PM.
#6
I now admit to people that I have dvd addiction. Dvds are my hobby. I love collecting, buying, watching, and selling too. I get so excited whenever there is a big sale like many on this forum.
However, I have gone beyond a saturation point. I have more dvds than I could hope to watch. Many are still in the wrapper that I bought years ago. And here I just bought the X-files complete collection on sale, all four seasons of Lost, and five seasons of Baylon 5 last Sunday.
When I had to move recently, I almost cringed at the flood of dvds, and knowing how much money I've invested on them. I ended up with over 30 boxes of dvds, not including my mega sets like complete Stargate, Mash, Andy Griffith, Twilight Zone etc... I took a full inventory, and my whole collection is worth about 9K on Amazon marketplace.
Now I have the challenge of finding aplace to store them in my tiny 575 sq ft. apartment. And with the rise of Blu-ray, decreasing value of dvds, and lack of storage place, I have to wonder if it is time to just sell it all, and rebuild from stratch.
What do you guys think>? Does dvd still have a long future? Will the prices of tv on dvd drop like a rock? If I sell now, I will be taking a loss, and I rather keep em for entertainment worth than lose out.
However, I have gone beyond a saturation point. I have more dvds than I could hope to watch. Many are still in the wrapper that I bought years ago. And here I just bought the X-files complete collection on sale, all four seasons of Lost, and five seasons of Baylon 5 last Sunday.
When I had to move recently, I almost cringed at the flood of dvds, and knowing how much money I've invested on them. I ended up with over 30 boxes of dvds, not including my mega sets like complete Stargate, Mash, Andy Griffith, Twilight Zone etc... I took a full inventory, and my whole collection is worth about 9K on Amazon marketplace.
Now I have the challenge of finding aplace to store them in my tiny 575 sq ft. apartment. And with the rise of Blu-ray, decreasing value of dvds, and lack of storage place, I have to wonder if it is time to just sell it all, and rebuild from stratch.
What do you guys think>? Does dvd still have a long future? Will the prices of tv on dvd drop like a rock? If I sell now, I will be taking a loss, and I rather keep em for entertainment worth than lose out.
#8
Senior Member
I'm only buying tv shows and music dvds. Any movie now, is released on bd, so when I eventually get the hd equipment, I'll pick up the films. TV shows on bd, like Mad Men, the same rules apply.