Well, here is my latest guide and this one I am darn passionate about! And something I was CLEARLY unaware of! Here is my horror story as well as ways to avoid it happening again!!
I had purchased TWO Dvd's from a seller with a lot of feedback (in the 1000's) granted there were 30+ negatives, none recent and although I was a little leary, I had contacted the seller asking if in fact the two DVD sets were NEW 100% and FACTORY sealed. I was assured they were new and sealed. I had read the feedbacks of other members and I know how hard it is to please everyone and there was nothing in the feedback in regards to the items NOT being what was stated, new and sealed. Most were late shipping and no replies to emails. So, bought I did! When the DVD's arrived, they were in fact sealed...I was thrilled, jumped on and left feedback (posititve of course!) A week later, I finally had time to sit and view my NEW SEALED DVD's, when I unsealed them, the first thing I noticed was a BROKEN DVD...ok, possibly happened in route, not the sellers fault. BUT when I flipped ALL the discs over, they were not only used but badly scratched and a little post it note inside reading, ENJOY YOUR NEW MOVIES! Furious, I emailed the seller and was told, "I said they were sealed, not FACTORY sealed, and you did get them sealed, what is the problem? They may not be my definition of new, but when I sealed them in my home, they were in new condition!" and "Sorry, you got them pretty cheap, what exactly did you expect to get? Did you really think that a FACTORY sealed DVD would be half the price?" Well, YES, I did since that is what I thought I was paying for.
After that happened, I began looking on Ebay for ANY DVD seller without a large amount of negative feedback and you know what? They are very hard to find! So, my advice is this...avoid sellers who deal SOLEY in DVD's especially with LARGE AMOUNTS OF NEGATIVE feedbacks! There is a reason why there are many no matter what the reason is, there is a REASON why they have so many! Instead, I have found many sellers who occasionally sell new and used DVD's to be more creditable and reliable. I have learned and suggest to ask SPECIFIC questions when buying DVD's from larger sellers who specialize in DVD's. There are great larger sellers who only sell honestly, but they are hard to find! Stay away from DVD power house sellers who sell a huge amount with a lot of negatives, chances are, they are selling low cost because they are personally sealing the DVD's and passing them off to you, the HONEST buyer as FACTORY sealed and new, knowing FULL WELL They are not!
Bottom line, ask a lot of questions, ask the previous buyers questions if possible, I know I don't mind if I left a negative for a new potential buyer to contact me. Although I don't and won't trash talk, I will explain my feedback reasons. Look for sellers who really do sell FACTORY SEALED DVD's, smaller or occasional DVD sellers have the BEST track records and are usually NOT looking to scam you out of your hard earned money! Just please be aware that sealed DOES NOT mean it was sealed by Factory or store...it could mean I just sealed this up in my living room! If you a DVD seller if the DVD is FACTORY sealed and they DO NOT RESPOND, please save your money, move on and do not buy from them...In my case, they did reply but they said it was NEW AND SEALED..not factory sealed, they casually omitted that part...my next question should have been where was it sealed and believe me, now I ask every time!
Just a little food for thought and if you think it doesn't happen, look up your favorite DVD, check the power DVD sellers and you will see what I mean, very hard to locate one with less than 20 negatives...on your next DVD purchase, do your research FIRST and don't just jump in and buy it now either because the price is low, check out your sellers first! Good luck fellow ebayers and BE AWARE! >^..^<
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