( Most people who are looking for bargain prices for games and DVDs flock to eBay because of all the products it offers at prices less than bargain prices. Imagine what people would do if they see items that are cheaper than the average eBay prices with less than a day to buy it. You would think that they would buy it quick right? The answer is, yes, and the sad truth is that people already thought about this and started to sell things at less-than-average eBay prices. They can get these DVDs and games cheaply either by copying them or buying the bootlegged versions from other countries where the copyright laws aren't as strong. These are usually worst than the official version (read: not bootleg) and probably won't work on American DVD players or computers. Imagine you, crying because you bought a cheap game only to find out that it is in Chinese and won't work on your computer. You can't get a refund because the Seller never said it was the official thing. Fortunately, there are guides, like mine, that will help you avoid this situation.
Before we start:
--What is a bootleg?
A bootleg is usually a modified and copied version of a DVD movie or a PC game sold in places where the copyright laws permit them to do it. It is then imported to the U.S. and sold at cheap prices. Don't be fooled at the prices, they are still making a profit from you, as they probably payed around .10 - $2.00 for it and selling it at around $4-$10 minus shipping. The quality can range from unwatchable/playable to perfect condition
--Avoiding suspicious sellers
Honest sellers will do everything to make themselves available. They will answer questions and display full, detailed information about their product with pictures. If the seller is not revealing something, ask him a question. He should respond if he can; any honest seller should and would answer any questions regarding their product because they do not have any secrets to hide from you.
--Importing bootlegs
So you want to get into the illegal world of making money selling bootlegs on eBay? Just don't forget the fact that the FBI/Police/WhateverForce can legally confisticate it.
Avoiding Bootlegged DVDs
Before you start buying, it is useful to find pictures of all of the official DVDs. Bootlegs always have different cases and sometimes have different pictures. Most of the bootlegged DVDs have "more" content than the original. Don't be fooled, more content is the equivelent to less quality. This also applies to "movie packs", where there are a lot of movies packed into one DVD. Bootlegged DVDs usually have cases that are fold out and only comes with CDs and a case kind of like paper. If it is only one DVD then it probably comes in a paper case with the DVD in between them. A big tipoff is region free coding. Another big tipoff is the publisher. Most bootlegs will feature the alternative publisher's logo. FX, MAC, and ED are just some examples of high quality bootleg makers who can convince some of the less knowledgable (which won't be you after you read this).
Punishment for buying these
Well, it might be good, but it is going to be mostly bad. You get badly dubbed movies in DVDs that won't work on most DVD players, even though it is region free. "High quality" bootleg sellers are also "high quality" money stealers. They look great and official but you can usually buy it directly from the publisher for much less. But I dare you to go to Japan/China/WhereverAsia and try to get a high quality bootleg. Just don't cry to me after some people cracking down on copyright infringement confisticate it...
Avoiding CDVs
These are CDs that comes with videos. The minute you see CD instead of DVD, press back and look for another copy, no matter what the price the owner is offering. CDVs comes with no menu, no scene selection, and crappy quality or short timing. No official movie publisher will ever release their movie in a CD, unless they got hit by the head or just lost it.
Punishment for buying CDVs,
Unless you like getting ripped off, you won't find much here. Many movies or shows that never made it to DVDs can be found in CDVs but the you only get the advantage if you know the language of the country they originated from.
Avoiding bootlegged PC games
These are copied games that might or might not be modified. The easiest way to find out whether it is a bootleg or a genuine copy is look at the box. If it is legal, it should come with a standard sized cardboard box (or, more common these days, a plastic box) with all correct English in terms of grammar and spelling. Bootlegs feature either a foreign language or crappy english. Because the gaming scene is pretty bad in countries where copyright laws are pretty non-exisitent (you wouldn't sell stuff if they are just going to copy it and crush you with their cheaper prices would you?), they have pictures of things from a whole other show/game to appeal to the customers (Goku in a box for Condition Zero is one example. This actually happened!). For some reason, no bootlegged game box is alike, no matter how similar the content in them are. Many bootlegs also comes with so much other games and unofficial utilities that you know isn't legit (hacks and CD-key generators for examples). Another huge tipoff are games that only came out for consoles and arcade machines (such as King of Fighters 2003) being featured on the PC. These are usually CDs containing emulators and ROMs. Again, some high quality bootleg publishers can fool the less knowledgable. Know the official publisher of the games (such as Counter-Strike is published by VALVe, EA, and Sierra officially) .
Punishment for buying bootlegged PC games
You get a modified version of the game you want, probably modified so that their native language is featured in the game. Remember, this isn't an m3g4-h4xx3d version with new weapons and better graphics; it is the same game as the english version with modified files that are suppose to be tailored for the region. Often they are packed with useless stuff that hinder gameplay at best. If this sounds appealing, go to a country where they are found. eBay will NOT be a place to buy bootlegs no matter how cheap they are.
Before we start:
--What is a bootleg?
A bootleg is usually a modified and copied version of a DVD movie or a PC game sold in places where the copyright laws permit them to do it. It is then imported to the U.S. and sold at cheap prices. Don't be fooled at the prices, they are still making a profit from you, as they probably payed around .10 - $2.00 for it and selling it at around $4-$10 minus shipping. The quality can range from unwatchable/playable to perfect condition
--Avoiding suspicious sellers
Honest sellers will do everything to make themselves available. They will answer questions and display full, detailed information about their product with pictures. If the seller is not revealing something, ask him a question. He should respond if he can; any honest seller should and would answer any questions regarding their product because they do not have any secrets to hide from you.
--Importing bootlegs
So you want to get into the illegal world of making money selling bootlegs on eBay? Just don't forget the fact that the FBI/Police/WhateverForce can legally confisticate it.
Avoiding Bootlegged DVDs
Before you start buying, it is useful to find pictures of all of the official DVDs. Bootlegs always have different cases and sometimes have different pictures. Most of the bootlegged DVDs have "more" content than the original. Don't be fooled, more content is the equivelent to less quality. This also applies to "movie packs", where there are a lot of movies packed into one DVD. Bootlegged DVDs usually have cases that are fold out and only comes with CDs and a case kind of like paper. If it is only one DVD then it probably comes in a paper case with the DVD in between them. A big tipoff is region free coding. Another big tipoff is the publisher. Most bootlegs will feature the alternative publisher's logo. FX, MAC, and ED are just some examples of high quality bootleg makers who can convince some of the less knowledgable (which won't be you after you read this).
Punishment for buying these
Well, it might be good, but it is going to be mostly bad. You get badly dubbed movies in DVDs that won't work on most DVD players, even though it is region free. "High quality" bootleg sellers are also "high quality" money stealers. They look great and official but you can usually buy it directly from the publisher for much less. But I dare you to go to Japan/China/WhereverAsia and try to get a high quality bootleg. Just don't cry to me after some people cracking down on copyright infringement confisticate it...
Avoiding CDVs
These are CDs that comes with videos. The minute you see CD instead of DVD, press back and look for another copy, no matter what the price the owner is offering. CDVs comes with no menu, no scene selection, and crappy quality or short timing. No official movie publisher will ever release their movie in a CD, unless they got hit by the head or just lost it.
Punishment for buying CDVs,
Unless you like getting ripped off, you won't find much here. Many movies or shows that never made it to DVDs can be found in CDVs but the you only get the advantage if you know the language of the country they originated from.
Avoiding bootlegged PC games
These are copied games that might or might not be modified. The easiest way to find out whether it is a bootleg or a genuine copy is look at the box. If it is legal, it should come with a standard sized cardboard box (or, more common these days, a plastic box) with all correct English in terms of grammar and spelling. Bootlegs feature either a foreign language or crappy english. Because the gaming scene is pretty bad in countries where copyright laws are pretty non-exisitent (you wouldn't sell stuff if they are just going to copy it and crush you with their cheaper prices would you?), they have pictures of things from a whole other show/game to appeal to the customers (Goku in a box for Condition Zero is one example. This actually happened!). For some reason, no bootlegged game box is alike, no matter how similar the content in them are. Many bootlegs also comes with so much other games and unofficial utilities that you know isn't legit (hacks and CD-key generators for examples). Another huge tipoff are games that only came out for consoles and arcade machines (such as King of Fighters 2003) being featured on the PC. These are usually CDs containing emulators and ROMs. Again, some high quality bootleg publishers can fool the less knowledgable. Know the official publisher of the games (such as Counter-Strike is published by VALVe, EA, and Sierra officially) .
Punishment for buying bootlegged PC games
You get a modified version of the game you want, probably modified so that their native language is featured in the game. Remember, this isn't an m3g4-h4xx3d version with new weapons and better graphics; it is the same game as the english version with modified files that are suppose to be tailored for the region. Often they are packed with useless stuff that hinder gameplay at best. If this sounds appealing, go to a country where they are found. eBay will NOT be a place to buy bootlegs no matter how cheap they are.
Guide created: 08/19/06 (updated 06/26/08)
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