Ebay - Pirate DVD's!

[Kane D Williams]

Sorry if this has all been covered before, I rarely dwell in this section of the forum!


Anyone had any pirate DVD's from Ebay sellers? I just received 'Lost In Translation' and I'm 99.9% sure it is an illegal copy. It is definitely not the' standard' R1 retail edition in any case! I have also bought 'Underworld' from another Ebayer and I now suspect this too is a copy (not received it yet), as there seems to be a trend for the pirates to put a 'DTS' soundtrack banner across the top of the packaging, even when the official disc doesn't have a DTS track! I'm not sure if the fake an actual DTS track on the discs to match the inaccurate sleeve?

Anyway, if it does turn out that my Lost In Translation is legit, I must say that the transfer is very lacklustre and disappointing and the extras have a lot of compression artefacts.

I really do think that this is an illegal copy and what pisses me off is that the seller has 100% positive feedback (well with 2 neutral's) from 196 buyers!!! Even the couple who have noted that the discs were fake, give the guy a thumbs up for a good quality copy and fast delivery!! Nearly all refer to him as a credit to Ebay and comment on the super fast service and crap like that!! Some call him an honest Ebayer!! One buyer actually gave the guy credit for refunding his money after he complained that the film was counterfeit!!

I suspect that many of the buyers are aware that this guy sells illegal discs, but as the quality is decent they think it's all fine (I assume this due to the feedback and comments about the quality of the discs etc). I feel sorry for those that believe they are getting the real deal and are just not as savvy as someone like myself at identifying fakes. The quality is good enough to dupe your average Joe. I'm really angry and will be reporting this all to Ebay, just as soon as I get my money back. Unfortunately, I cannot claim from Ebay, as they take off the 1st £15 from every claim, and as my purchases were under £10, I may end up owing them!

Anyone else have any Pirate Ebay disc stories? Incidentally, anyone seen all those vendors on Greenwich market with stalls full of counterfeit discs? I can't believe they get away with it!

 

[Cheng]

A lot of pirate discs in general proudly display the DTS banner on the top - well most of the ones I've seen anyway. Usually in a gold-ish colour, and a lot of the copies have a DVD-9 logo emblazened about theme usually on the front cover.

 

[Indiana Jones]

A good way to tell mate is by putting it in a computer and seeing what the size is, if it is under 4.36Gb then its a DVD5 and denfelty not legit but then again it could be a DVD9 which is a 1:1 from the Retail and apart from the Disc Art and Cover Art there is no way to tell if its fake but alot of DVD9's have no Region Protection on them so thats a dead give away also.

 

[Herbal]

Yeah and some are factory pressed so it's very hard to notice, i've seen a few and the quality is frighting. Nothing like your guy from the pub, with a stuck on disk cover and printed off dvd cover.

The main way is the subtitles, they mainly have known subtitle all the rest are where they come from Japan Malaysia etc.

 

[shaunthedude]

I bought what I wa told is a genuine REG 1 of the Jungle Book. On playing it the picture kept going blocky etc. Anyway I have just looked at the box and it says DTS along the top. Got it on E Bay for £20.

 

[shaunthedude]

who do you contact about this. Trading Standards?? Only last time I dealt with TD it took nearly a year

 

[Indiana Jones]

Do you have any details about the seller, you could contact them ask for a refund or say you will contact trading standards about them, if they are selling bootleg dvds big time that will be the last thing they want and you may get your money back.

 

[shaunthedude]

he offered me a refund or replacement but thats not the point. These are FAKES and he should be dealt with

 

[chris110]

I'm waiting on delivery of a copy i ordered from ebay, well 2 copies actually from 2 different sellers. The one I'm almost certain is a genuine retail version but the other one was underworld. I will be very dissapointed if it turns out it is a fake and will be contacting the seller straight away.

I dunno if this is allowed or not but could you tell us his Ebay ID so that we can make sure not to buy from him, because I do look on ebay lots of times but usually get beaten on the price.

 

[shaunthedude]

his user name is

paulwike1971

cheers
shaun

 

[mjn]

could maybe start a "sticky" thread, with a list of ebay user ID's who sell pirate DVD's??

 

[Indiana Jones]

Just inform ebay, they should cancel all his auctions and warn him about selling copyrighted material, if he gets caught again he should get suspended.

 

[Herbal]

Here's another one naserehsan

 

[Dimmy]

This is why I never use E Bay .

 

[ifti_a]

yeah ive bought loads from one ebayer in singapore for about £6 to £7 each.

all have DTS banner and all are DVD9, but i must say the quality is very good.

 

[Dimmy]

Originally posted by ifti_a
yeah ive bought loads from one ebayer in singapore for about £6 to £7 each.

all have DTS banner and all are DVD9, but i must say the quality is very good.

i also knew they were fakes but at the price for the quality i wouldnt complain.

like me, if your just trying to save a few quid for each dvd that you arnt going to watch again and again then maybe these will do you fine.

i have bought loads but aint watched them alot, i might do every 6 to 7 months, for that they will do.

The wrong attitude really, IMHO.

 

[ifti_a]

if i bought them on retail at about 11.99 or so each it would be quite alot, for this reason i didnt mind paying 6.50 each.

i think its cool, but i must say if it was a good film i mean good like GODFATHER or FAST AND FURIOUS etc etc then i would buy the orignal liek i have done. it would be stupidity to buy LOTR on fakes.

films like mean machine and national security i think these 'DTS' one are fine.

Well for me anyway.

Another point if any of you paid more than 8 or so pounds for any of these 'DTS' films, your right to be angry, so would i, trust me, even if i have given them the thumbs up so far, it mainly becuase of the price i got them for.
if you can get the orignals for 11 or so pounds then this is a rip off.

good luck with you claims.

 

[mjn]

why not just rent the films?

Cheaper still!

 

[Dimmy]

Or use the AV Forums to buy DVDs from users - equally as cheap and perfectly legal.

I'm VERY anti-piracy.

 

[ifti_a]

true renting wouldnt be bad, @ £2 each from my local shop, if i rent more than 3 times then i would have been bettr off buying the DVD. so for this reason i buy many of them.

but if your gonna watch a film once then renting is good. but now days even 'they' have thier ways.

 

[ifti_a]

that is good buy used DVD's very worth it, i might just look at the section for used dvds.
i only sign up to avforums 2 days ago i didnt know they had a used trades section, but i must say the bargin section is very very good, that is y i sign up to avforums

later

 

[Herbal]

You should try those Monthly rental companys, most offer a Trail offer, and there are codes out there to get more days

You should be able to do a 6month with all the companies for free.

Done one for 3 weeks and had 12 dvd's so far

 

[shoestring25]

you can tell if they are a copy how can somone sell a new release dvd for £7 or £8 if it is a legitimate dvd? if i see one i just report it to ebay and they end the auction.

very against piracy and by the way its against the law too

 

[cybersoga]

Originally posted by miller25
you can tell if they are a copy how can somone sell a new release dvd for £7 or £8 if it is a legitimate dvd? if i see one i just report it to ebay and they end the auction.

very against piracy and by the way its against the law too

some people buy dvd's, watch them and are happy to sell them for a fiver... so I don't think that logic can be applied i'm afraid. There are easier ways of spotting a suspect bootleg - such as is the seller in an eastern country, has the dvd been released in the country of origin, what region is it (R0 is suspect but not always bootleg), does it have claims of dts when the genuine article doesn't, if it's a superbit it shouldn't have extras, does it have age ratings logos for the country of origin, etc.

 

[PaulaB]

They have The Return of the King on auction, so it sometime very easy to see if its a pirate.