Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

With DVDs, my policy is that I only part with a title if I've upgraded editions. In those instances, I just check that the bonus features have been ported over to the new edition. In the cases where this isn't the case, it's a judgment call based on whether I've already watched those bonus features, whether I liked them, etc. For the most part I'm a bonus features junkie so I'll justify keeping two editions of a movie for one ten minute featurette. I've still got my Full Frame edition of Wild Things because it has bonus content not listed on the Unrated Widescreen edition.

One regret: The interview segments on the Special Edition of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are far more brutal than the sanitized edits on the Ultimate Edition. I keep thinking about paying the $5.00 to buy a replacement every time I pass it at Walmart.

As for blind buys/changing tastes/etc., I'm a very forgiving viewer. I can generally find at least one element in any given movie to enjoy. Even if I struggle with that, I try to rewatch stuff to see what I might have missed or I might play it with the commentary track (if there is one). Plus, I'm married; even if I hated the movie my wife might have liked it so it doesn't matter what I thought!

I do, however, replay CDs before purging them. For years, Steve Wariner's Burnin' the Roadhouse Down has been on the chopping block. Then I give it a spin and declare it one of my favorite albums ever and wonder what I was thinking. To expand this further, I have no real rhyme or reason to keeping books because I have rarely re-read a book. I might reference a book to quote it, but not to read the entire book a second time. If it's something that I don't think any of my friends might wish to borrow (or, at least, it's not something I feel strongly about pushing on one of them), then it may go.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

Slightly off-topic, where do you unload unwanted DVD's? I've tried using the Half.com route, but don't typically get that much or don't end up selling them. and then have the added inconvenience of packing and mailing. I hate the idea of throwing them out and don't really have anyone that is interested in taking them off my hands. Oh well, I should pray for these types of problems.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

This is where typically someone inserts the standard lecture about how DVDs are a horrible item to collect or consider an "investment." I'll spare ya, though, and just say that as a rule you're not going to come out farther ahead with one venue than another these days. The Internet has really established a much more consistent "market price" for used media, and most local places anymore will consult eBay or Amazon for guidance when pricing items.

I personally trade in my stuff to Half Price Books. They don't pay any better than anyone else (which is to say, very little), but every now and again they surprise me. More importantly, they take all kinds of media, from LPs and cassettes to VHS and comic books, so I don't have to visit different places to unload an aggregate of stuff each time I purge. Plus, I buy there a lot and I figure even when I get "shorted" on the stuff I trade in, I come out ahead when I find something like the Rolling Stone: Cover to Cover DVD-ROM box set factory sealed for $7.98 (cover price is $125.00).

If you can't accept the paltry re-sale value of your stuff, you can always donate it. Your public library, I'm sure, will appreciate any additions to its DVD selection.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

Went through that myself so I do not dump any more DVD's that I buy! I keep them all-

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

I'm dumping seasons 1-4 of NYPD Blue. I haven't even watched season 3/4 yet, but I decided that because they aren't releasing the entire series, I don't want to own only 4 seasons. i'll find others ways to have the whole series.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

^
This

Though the only times I've sold or given DVD's to friends, are when I went through a period of buying TV on DVD, then not watching it.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

If I didn't like it, I don't own it... I've dumped it right after watching.

If I do like it, I don't dump it.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

Other alternatives to getting rid of DVDs (or CDs or whatever) that don't fetch much online or at places like Half Price include: Stockpile them for a garage sale; give em to friends/realtives; the library may take them, or donate them to Goodwill, Salvation Army or some local charity (we have one in Minneapolis called ARC that picks up every month or two) and take a little tax deduction.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

This.

I haven't dumped anything yet but space concerns are making it apparent that at some point I will have to and will just liquidate horrible blind buys.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

If I like it, I don't dump it.
If I don't like it, I take a dump on it.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

I actually have a bad habit of dumping movies before watching them because I figure if I haven't watched them yet, I probably won't.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

I did the same thing with my Dead Zone seasons. before the show ended, I had acquired seasons 1-4, but only watched 1 & 2. When the show ended/was canceled (I recall season 6 didn't wrap anything up), I pretty much lost my motivation to watch the other two seasons and buy 5 & 6. They sat on my shelf for about a year before I traded them in to fye. Luckily I didn't pay much for them; I think I got two of the seasons in B1G1 sales fye had.

I think in the last two years I dumped a little over 100 titles, most of which were anime. I realized that a lot of what I bought during my early days of DVD collecting (blind buys and anime) really wasn't very good.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

Thanks for the input/suggestions. I may end up giving away what I can to friends and giving others to charities. Tossing something in the trash that others could find a use for just rubs me the wrong way.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

Every now and then I'll go through my collection and purge a couple titles that I havent' watched. If it's been x years, I probably won't watch them. Of course I don't "dump" them for crap value, I only get rid of them if I can not lose too much on them.
Alternately, immediately after watching some titles I'll attempt to sell them - knowing that I watched it once, enjoyed it, but would probably never watch them again.
Some I'll gift to friends/family.
I need to purge some out to other sources, some that aren't worth anything in sale/trade but aren't worth keeping for me - I know there are hospitals that will take them, and organizations that take them and send them to the troops.

I definitely don't literally throw them away, unless it's damaged beyond repair.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

over the last couple months I have realized I have no need for thousands of DVDs, I've sold 400 titles on Amazon marketplace this year and over the next 2 weeks plan on getting rid of 200 or so more. I'm mainly just keeping/buying TV Shows and blu-rays now. I don't re-watch everything as I sell, just pack it up and send it off.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

Has anyone noticed an increase in used movie & game "exchange" shops? Maybe my city is an exception, I've noticed in the past 6 months there have been at least 3 that have popped up. I'm just surprised that in this economy someone would invest money in a store to buy/sell DVDs.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

there has been a lot popping up here, Game Swaps and Buy Backs, and two older stores have even moved to new bigger buildings.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

The wife and I have been on a tear lately, we're dumping all kinds of stuff (watched and unwatched) on half.com and ebay. Stuff that we maybe watched once and never re-watched, or things we thought we would want to see and never did for years and years.

It's feeling great to get this deadweight out of our house, and we're getting a little cashflow before the holidays.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

couldn't agree more.

Re: Dumping DVDs: Do you watch them before you get rid of them?
 

I don't rewatch them. If I don't like it I pull it right away. Every few months I try to cut back on titles I no longer need. If I can get anything for them individually I sell them if not I wait til I have a decent amount and then sell them as a lot.