Bootleg?

[jdw89]

How can you tell if a BD you have is a bootleg? I've bought a few from eBay and was curious if there are any known bootleg's for Terminator 3 or Transporter?

[Steve Lilley]

If you bought it from eBay, there's a solid chance it's a bootleg. I'm not talking specifically from those, but just in general terms.

I got hit with two HIGH QUALITY TV show bootlegs last year at the same time. One was an MST3K set, one was a COMMUNITY set. I contacted Shout! Factory because my MST3K mini posters were bent (and one of the four was missing), and they told me it was counterfeit and I was shocked. Not necessarily because it was bootleg, but because of how astoundingly good it was. Seriously, had my posters not been screwed up, I never would have known.

The COMMUNITY set was slightly less high quality, but still pretty respectable looking. No misspelled words or anything like that.

For DVDs, you can usually tell by putting the disc in a computer and seeing what it's called. Also, if it should be a DVD-9 and it's a regular DVD or something.

So no, I don't know if what you just bought was a bootleg. But going by what I've seen personally, if you have any type of question, that's what I default to out of that personal experience/unending paranoia.

[Corner Camping Noob]

Originally Posted by jdw89

How can you tell if a BD you have is a bootleg? I've bought a few from eBay and was curious if there are any known bootleg's for Terminator 3 or Transporter?

Does the bottom of a BD-R look the same as a normal BD? Either that or the artwork label I would guess.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Steve Lilley

If you bought it from eBay, there's a solid chance it's a bootleg.

I got hit with two HIGH QUALITY TV show bootlegs last year at the same time. One was an MST3K set, one was a COMMUNITY set. I contacted Shout! Factory because my MST3K mini posters were bent (and one of the four was missing), and they told me it was counterfeit and I was shocked. Not necessarily because it was bootleg, but because of how astoundingly good it was. Seriously, had my posters not been screwed up, I never would have known.

The COMMUNITY set was slightly less high quality, but still pretty respectable looking. No misspelled words or anything like that.

For DVDs, you can usually tell by putting the disc in a computer and seeing what it's called. Also, if it should be a DVD-9 and it's a regular DVD or something.

This is complete BS. I have bought hundreds of DVDs and BDs off eBay and not once have I ever received a bootleg copy. You just have to employ some common sense and order from a reputable seller.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by jdw89

How can you tell if a BD you have is a bootleg? I've bought a few from eBay and was curious if there are any known bootleg's for Terminator 3 or Transporter?

Bought a few BDs or a few bootlegs?

You can always check the seller's FB for any neg comments about stuff appearing to be fake, where is the seller located (I avoid anyone selling from China, etc.), do they give detailed descriptions on the items with regards to condition, whether it's brand new, etc.

Are you purchasing from an online company (importCDs, blowitouttahere, etc.) or private seller?

[jdw89]

I also bought a lot of newer releases recently too, such as Way Way Back, Internship, Scenic Route and Place Beyond the Pines, the prices were about normal though so I don't think these would be bootlegs, plus Way Way and Internship had Walmart stickers on them.

As far as Terminator 3 and Transporter they look fine to me expect the artwork on T3 looks kind of weird though that could be normal I suppose, the BD looks like all the others I have, what is the disc art supposed to look like?

[jdw89]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

Bought a few BDs or a few bootlegs?

You can always check the seller's FB for any neg comments about stuff appearing to be fake, where is the seller located (I avoid anyone selling from China, etc.), do they give detailed descriptions on the items with regards to condition, whether it's brand new, etc.

Are you purchasing from an online company (importCDs, blowitouttahere, etc.) or private seller?

Bought a few BDs, sorry for not clarifying. I do not buy from sellers unless they have at least 99% feedback and the descriptions I always check, just sometimes the artwork on some items looks funny.

For example I had bought the Harry Potter 8 film DVD collection for like $20 awhile back, it looks fake (the artwork looked horrendous like it was printed from a crappy printer, yet I went to BBY and it looks like same) so there are sometimes exceptions I guess.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

This is complete BS. I have bought hundreds of DVDs and BDs off eBay and not once have I ever received a bootleg copy. You just have to employ some common sense and order from a reputable seller.

Agreed... I've been buying and selling for ten years... never once been burned with a bootleg.

[djgeneral]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

This is complete BS. I have bought hundreds of DVDs and BDs off eBay and not once have I ever received a bootleg copy. You just have to employ some common sense and order from a reputable seller.

As others have said, sometimes it is VERY hard to tell. If you really have bought hundreds on eBay, chances are, you do have a bootleg. I have been on ebay for almost 10 years but I've been screwed by many people, including those were 100% feedback or almost 100% feedback. Sometimes they claim they didn't know, etc.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by djgeneral

As others have said, sometimes it is VERY hard to tell. If you really have bought hundreds on eBay, chances are, you do have a bootleg. I have been on ebay for almost 10 years but I've been screwed by many people, including those were 100% feedback or almost 100% feedback. Sometimes they claim they didn't know, etc.

Actually, I don't have any bootlegs. I am simply too obsessive with quality to have something like that.

[Steve Lilley]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

This is complete BS. I have bought hundreds of DVDs and BDs off eBay and not once have I ever received a bootleg copy. You just have to employ some common sense and order from a reputable seller.

1. You've never bought a bootleg that you know of. Like I said, had it not been for ONE e-mail to Shout! Factory that I almost didn't make, I still wouldn't know.

I wish I still had it to show you, but I gave it away. The Shout! guy said that they had been getting better since Volume 20 (this was like 22 or something) and that they were pretty much identical to the real thing at this point. You couldn't tell by looking at it, but how we were able to confirm was that each disc should have been DVD-9, and they were all squeezed onto smaller discs. They were even professionally pressed.

TV on DVD ran a story about six months ago about a similar ring of high quality bootleggers getting busted by the cops. Look it up.

Want to know the crazy part? THE SELLER also had no idea it was a bootleg (or so he says). He was a guy with an eBay component of his actual retail store. Somewhere along his distribution line, he got saddled with a box of them that made their way onto the Internet. He claimed to be as shocked as I was. I researched him and he was, at the very least, someone who also had a retail video store.

2. I'm not an idiot, but thanks.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by jdw89

Bought a few BDs, sorry for not clarifying. I do not buy from sellers unless they have at least 99% feedback and the descriptions I always check, just sometimes the artwork on some items looks funny.

For example I had bought the Harry Potter 8 film DVD collection for like $20 awhile back, it looks fake (the artwork looked horrendous like it was printed from a crappy printer, yet I went to BBY and it looks like same) so there are sometimes exceptions I guess.

So are you mainly concerned because of the artwork? What about it looks "funny?" Like it's from a copier?

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

This is complete BS. I have bought hundreds of DVDs and BDs off eBay and not once have I ever received a bootleg copy. You just have to employ some common sense and order from a reputable seller.

I avoid buying from ebay because of this. Bought Star Wars way back before it was commercially available to I knew it wasn't real but looked at others and have avoided it because so may actually have feedback saying they are bootleg. Would rather buy used from Amazon instead.

[benricci]

Most bootlegs nowadays are surprisingly well-done, and have become increasingly difficult to detect for the average consumer.

How about you just buy from a reputable retailer (read: NOT eBay) and avoid supporting these thieves (both the counterfeiters and eBay, who does next to nothing to stop piracy on their site). Just a thought...

If eBay refuses to clean up their site, then I refuse to give them my business. This has been going on for far too long and they simply ignore it.

[chris_sc77]

if you buy a TV series on DVD off ebay and tit seems to be a suspiciously good price there is a very good chance its a bootleg.
You can tell right away. Packaging art is usually just a bit unclear and unfocused, it comes wrapped in thicker stranger plastic, cardboard packaging is noticeable different.
The average buyer wouldnt notice these things but when you buy a lot its noticeable.
Never got a Blu off ebay that was a bootleg but I havnt got many Blus off ebay in general.

[jdw89]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

So are you mainly concerned because of the artwork? What about it looks "funny?" Like it's from a copier?

Sort of yeah, that's really the only issue I've noticed, the transfers look fine.

[Jett Rink]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

This is complete BS. I have bought hundreds of DVDs and BDs off eBay and not once have I ever received a bootleg copy. You just have to employ some common sense and order from a reputable seller.

This is complete truth, I have employed these tactics and have received almost all bootlegs from ebay.

[kidglov3s]

On the issue of Bootlegs/eBay:

I think this is (was?) a big issue, specifically with TV box sets. In Summer 2011 I went through 2 bootlegs of the Twilight Zone Complete Definitive Collection DVD set. In researching the problem I actually found websites where you could buy the bootlegs in bulk.

This is from a post I made back then on DVDtalk:

"On the site sell123 I've found at least one of the sources of this bootleg "BLAZERS International Trade Co., Ltd.", here's their description of it:

US $122.00 - 184.00/ lot
5 pieces / lot, $24.40 - 36.80 / piece
Min. Order: 1lot
Wholesale Price:
Quantity (lot) Price (Per lot) Processing Time
1 - 2 $184.00 3 Days
3 - 5 $174.00 3 Days
6 - 10 $169.00 3 Days
11 - 50 $165.00 3 Days
51 - 100 $122.00 3 Days
Place of Origin:: Tianjin China (Mainland)
Brand Name:: HX
Model Number:: HX-465
DVD:: movies
Unit Type:: lot (5 pieces/lot)
Package Weight:: 6.0kg
Package Size:: 20cm x 40cm x 30cm

They've got lots of other professional quality bootlegs of other titles that I suppose are also flooding reseller markets. Their sales pitch has some fairly glorious engrish:

"We will provide you with range of high and affordable dvds. at the same time we will regularly provide you with the latest and hot of the DVDs! We have been convinced that your smile for our job is the greatest way for payback! Of course, if you think that our is good, we also hope to become your supplier! If you do and like to have cooperation with us for long time, we will give you the best price and better service""

The creepiest part was that like they had pictures of stacks and stacks of bootleg dvd sets on the listing.

EDIT: I found one on an active bootleg listing on AliExpress, who I guess are now back in the business of hosting bootlegs.



Anyone talking about the color of the underside of the discs doesn't really understand how sophisticated an operation these guys are running.

[Lizard King]

Always look at the ring of the BD/DVD if the ring has the name of the Tv show or Movie Its A bootleg, There Should Only Be Numbers And UPC Bar Codes Around The Ring

[Jett Rink]

Is it safe to assume that anything bought from Amazon LLC is 100% real, and not a bootleg?