I don't have people over to my house because first I like a clean place & second people don't always treat your stuff as nice as they treat there stuff.
I borrowed someone a DVD once and i learned my lession, Naturally there were fingerprints on the case which is stupid, wash your fucking hands before you touch the case. & the disc was scratched and there were fingerprints on both sides of the disc.
When people ask (like Hawaii five-O-the first season for ex.) to borrow it because they really liked the show back then and they want to see it again, I simply say NO.
If you want to see it again BUY it for god sake its only 39 bucks or if your a real cheap ass rent it. This is why some TV shows don't get all the seasons put out is because to many people borrow. I know that sounds rude but why should my stuff be ruined. I don't understand how some people don't know how to take care of DVD's properly.
It falls under the 'I don't care about scratches or fingerprints on the case or Disc i just want to see the Movie...Yuk, Yuk, Yuk. -I can't stand that!

To a select few (those who have borrowed and returned them in the condition that the DVDs left my house) and not to others (those who have returned them with the case/cover beat to #$% and/or fingerprints and other unknown substances on the discs).

To the latter, I suggest Netflix. I find it amazing how some people treat your property as if it's their own and don't blink when they return it in horrible shape....in some cases, I've just told them to keep the discs.

I commend the patience you have. If someone said that while taking anything of mine, I would have immediately thrown them out of my apartment regardless of who was there. Thats just ridiculously disrespectful. How do you know this girl?

I still stand by my assessment that it was stealing. I wouldn't have thrown her out, I would have said "if you walk out of my door with those DVD's, I'm calling the police."

Petty? Maybe. But anyone showing me that level of disrespect in my own home deserves it.

I don't let anyone borrow anything. I used to swap titles with a co-worker but my discs kept coming back in rough shape. All the headaches involved just aren't worth it for me.

The bigger your collection, the more money you are wasting having all those movies sit on the shelf, collecting dust. Movies are meant to be watched, not made into a pseudo-shrine of holy purity.

So what if a couple of discs get scratched all to hell or totally lost? Unless all your friends are total scumbags, those cases will be the exception and in the meantime you've made the world a better place by sharing with everyone else.

One totally unexpected benefit I've experienced with freely sharing my collection is that people are often so grateful that they will just randomly give me DVDs to add to my collection. Sometimes they are crappy fool-screen, direct to video titles that aren't woth the polycarbonate they are stamped in, but sometimes they are top-quality releases. Maybe that's just karma.

There is some truth to that. Back when I used to loan out movie to my circle of friends (my FIRST collection ) I was regularly gifted with DVDs. Some were crappy but one time I was given the Band of Brothers set. That was more than worth a few headaches.

Now? Never anymore. It's funny I just noticed this thread. About an hour ago I used a work printer to print up my updated DVD list in Excel. As I was on DVD spot one of my co-workers (who I hardly know and don't really get along with) looked over my shoulder and made a comment about the quantity. Being a proud poppa I pulled the list (11 pages ) off the printer ad showed it to him. His exact words: "Why the fuck do I go to Blockbuster when I can just borrow them from you?"

I gave him the whole spiel about not loaning out DVDs and he seemed genuinely surprised. Later I asked him where my list was and he told me it was in HIS bag. I asked why and he tells me, "So I can see if there's anything I want to see." Again I told him I don't loan out DVDs and he tells me not to worry, that I know where he works (Yuk, yuk).

I stared him in the eye and told him there was no way he was getting his hands on any of my movies.

Now that I think of it, I do sometimes lend movies out. Never a movie someone asks for though. If it's something that I reallly enjoy and think that people would otherwise not watch, I'll shove it down their throat, lol. Ideally I'd try to make copies and just ask for them back but thats a pain in the ass.

My sentiments exactly. I used to never let anybody borrow anything. Then I realized I was spending so much money to watch something once or twice. It makes me feel better about the purchase if more people watch the disks, like it validates the cash spent on them. Also, for the most part if you loan to your inner circle I find that they are very respectful of your items and take rather good care of them.

Wow, that's a load of condescending bullshit, isn't it? We're not insulting you for believing movies should be loaned out, so hey... try returning the favor.

It's all about respect. Most people are not "total scumbags," but they also do not know the first thing about respecting another person's property. These DVD's are my collection. Why should I loan my collection out to people that will not respect it, and in the process are not respecting me?

Just because I have a large library of movies does not mean I should just be handing them out. If people want that, they can go to the public library.

My movies are watched. By me. By the people that come over to my house to watch them. By the few people I loan them to because I know these people will respect me and my property.

Me and a friend of mine have a symbiotic relationship. We borrow each others movies, games, and comics. Parents will borrow movies sometimes. If my Dad asks for one I dont own, I hang my head in shame, after he picks on me for having so many, but not the one he wants to see

Each person who asks to borrow a DVD gets ONE chance. If that disk comes back in any lesser shape than it was lent out, they do not get to borrow a movie again.

Each DVD leaves my house with a library card system. The pocket is stuck to the inside of the case and the card stays with me. Both are stamped with the date they took it from my house, not when it is "due" back.

If the DVD comes back in good shape and in a reasonable amount of time, they get to borrow one again.

One strike and you are out though.

Yeah the rest are just scumbags.

Yeah, I'm with you. It's not so much about it being a DVD, as it is about it being my property. I wouldn't lend someone one of my DVDs for the same reason I wouldn't lend them, say, my lawnmower. I don't want to have to ask for it back, don't know how they're going to take care of it, and don't want to have to worry about replacing it or harping on them to replace it if they fuck it up.

If I can go rent a movie I want to see, why can't they? I'd say people want to borrow movies more because they feel they can keep them however long they want than they're trying to save themselves the $3. If that's too much money and the 5 days Hollywood Video allows you to keep the movie isn't enough time, then I don't want to lend you anything. If you don't want to spend the $3, how the hell am I going to get my $20 from you when you ruin my disc? No thanks. Not worth it. In a way, people who borrow your DVDs are taking advantage of you.

That part doesn't concern me as much. I have two friends that I loan movies to, and it doesn't bother me if they have one of my DVDs for a month or more. I know that if I need it back, I just have to let them know and they'll get it back to me. For me it's all about taking good care of my property and not loaning it out to other people without asking me first.

If I had a fleet of 500 lawn mowers that only cost about ~$15 each, I would loan them out to just anybody who asked. It's not like I ever use more than 2 or 3 a week anyway. If a few people wreck them or sit on them for 6 months, it's not like I would really be put out so much and in the meantime the town would be a much nicer place with all the well-groomed lawns.

Property has no value if it isn't being used. That's just about the fundamental basis for private ownership of property in any capitalist society. Hoarding is aberrant behaviour.

Riiiiiight. Whatever.

I'm glad that you feel so superior to the rest of us because you freely hand your stuff out and we don't. Whatever. We get the point. You're a great saint, we're hopeless greedy aberrant fucks. With such a great attitude, I can't understand why none of us are converting to your point of view.

Hey, you want to know what the fundamental basis is for ownership of private property? It's my property, and I can do whatever I want with it. That means lending it out if I want to, or not lending it out if I don't want to. It means protecting it from people that will damage / destroy it.

Unused property > damaged property

Sounds like you could do with a little education there. Try starting with Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations the first document that really lays out the basis for capitalism. You may be surprised to find that, "It's my property and I can do whatever I want with it." is not one of his arguments.

As for your visceral, expletive-laden defensive reactions to my posts, seems more like I touched a nerve of defensiveness there more than anything else. You might want to look inward on that one a bit.

If every single person you loan your property to damages it, then your equation would be appropos. But then the question must be asked, just what kind of people do you associate with such that all of them break your stuff? Maybe you need a new circle of friends?

You said it very well and kept your cool. Saved me from typing the same thing. I use to be like Jah-Wren Ryel once. I had this great vinyl LP music collection and I would lend my records out to friends and co-workers. After a few years of doing this, my collection was decimated. Half the records were returned scratched to the point of being unplayable or the jackets were so battered the art work adorning many of the record jackets were ruined. The only things I loan to anyone now are those that I don't care about getting back. Yes, I was able to eventually replace many of the records with CD's, but that isn't the point. Sadly, Jah-Wren Ryel will never understand where we are coming from and what ever you say, he'll twist until it fits his own viewpoint of how the world should be. So I would do your blood pressure a favor and not waste anymore time arguing with him.

I'm sorry, but I can't help but laugh at your analogy. You act like you're making the world a better place by loaning your DVDs to people. And, to paraphrase yourself, if you owned 500 copies of the same movie your equation would be apropos.

Again, the issue is not the value of the property. Yes, I could probably replace most of the DVDs in my collection if they were to become damaged. But by not loaning them out, I don't even have to worry about replacing or keeping track of them because I know where they are and I know they're not going to get damaged. You can't say the same, for certain, if you lend them out freely, no matter how much you trust your friends. Obviously, it's no skin off your ass if something happens to any of your movies. But other people are more particular about their personal belongings. What you call hoarding, I'd call pride of ownership. Anything I own, I take pride in its condition. I don't expect anyone else to care as much about it because they didn't pay for it.

You seem to be expanding the issue in an attempt to prove that you're right and we're wrong. "Aberrant behavior"? "The Wealth of Nations"? Is this a message board discussion about loaning out movies, or a dissertation?

I loan out my DVDs on an occasional basis. But it's more because I'm the one who wants somebody to see a particular movie, rather than a request to borrow. Also, I never loan out the original DVD, I burn a copy for them. That way if they never return it or if it is damaged, it's no big deal.

I'm in agreement with micorico here. A lawnmower is just a lawnmower while DVD contain different movies. But I also agree with Jah-Wren Ryel that DVDs meant to be watched, not sitting on the rack collecting dust. That's why I don't lent my DVDs, but I always welcomed people to have a movie night in my place.

Or a new family.

The lawnmower comparison isn't really good. A lawnmower can take a hell of a beating and still work just fine. That's not the same with a fragile DVD. Sure, it can withstand pretty rough handling too, but speaking personally, I don't like to see a single tiny scratch on my DVDs but I don't care if there are a million rusty scratches on my lawnmower. So I never lend out my DVDs. Ever. But my neighbours use my lawnmower.