Bootlegs in retail stores

[Neon Rabbit]

I was at Target earlier today, and I noticed a copy of Disney & Pixar's Brave sitting on the shelf that was an unmistakable bootleg. It was a DVD mind you, but this could happen with anything so I felt it was still relevant to post here and I figured more people would see it.

It had all of the tell tale signs of the cheap bootlegs that have been in wide circulation on ebay for years. Cheap quality case, low quality ink, no security stickers, and a poorly printed slipcover, which in the case of Brave, never had one for it's DVD only edition and it was shrink wrapped over the slipcover, which is not common for a Disney release. Still, it was obviously meant to mimic the appearance of the official release as much as possible, to the point that it would obviously have the same barcode. I can only surmise that someone had gotten a hold of this bootleg copy from somewhere and either knowing or unknowingly returned it to Target, who tend to be pretty lax about receipts as long as the item is unopened.

I must admit the thought of this happening had never even crossed my mind until today, but now that I've seen it in person it's something that obviously can happen. I wouldn't think it's very common, but it's still something to look out for.

[GasmaskAvenger]

Never bought a bootleg DVD or blu-ray at any of the major vendors (Did buy a DVD bootleg of Hardware at local record shop prior to the release of the OOP Severin DVD, but that's another story), but I did buy the Portuguese bootleg of Joy Division's unreleased Warsaw album at Best Buy a really long time ago.

[CrowKiller]

I work at a place that buys stuff in. People bring in bootlegs all the time and I got to watch for them. They don't do it on purpose I assume, just really clueless. "How can you tell it's a bootleg?" They ask me. If the blue/purple bottom or artwork so bad you can hardly tell what it is isn't enough, I don't know what is.

[Jobla]

I'm surprised to see Cheezy Flicks products in both retail stores and some online sellers. Many of Cheezy's "releases" appear to be films under copyright to other companies.

[cynatnite]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

Okay then. I was just giving another example of how counterfeit items get into retail stores.

You're right, though. Counterfeit items aren't that difficult to get into stores.

I bought Star Trek Voyager the complete series on Ebay. It was a good price and I had no reason to believe it was counterfeit. When I got it, I had gotten scammed. This was several years ago and despite my complaints to Ebay, I was stuck with it and I couldn't get my money back.

It's not a retail store, but still getting ripped off sucks no matter where it happens.

At least now it's easier to recover your money when stuff like this happens.

[RCRochester]

Boy, people sure love their drama.

[oildude]

Let me make this very clear. Anyone who advocates fraud in these forums will be given some time off and any posts associated with the discussion will be removed. Under no circumstances will the Blu-ray.com moderation team tolerate posts by someone describing what they did to scam a retailer or recommending it to others.

We also take a very dim view of those not involved in the fraudulent behavior who then post things like "it's no big deal" or "the amount was small, get over it".

I'd like to say thanks to those members who recognize fraud and theft advocacy and have a moral code and sense of decency to chastise the offending member. However, those posts have also had to be removed. In the future, please just report the offending posts and the mods will take care of it.

[thecalm_7]

Aside from the now defunct MovieStop, I’ve only had this problem at FYE. FYE in Ocala FL has had quite a few fake movies through the years. I’m very cautious of my purchases so I’ve not bought them, just seen them on the shelves.
Amazon has sent me a few bootleg CDs and it has been a nightmare to deal with.
Target has randomly had used FYE blu-rays on their shelves back when Cadillac Records was in the $5 section.

I guess the only advice is to be vigilant and don’t just grab off the shelf in a hurry.

[Ray_Rogers]

I thought I saw some bootlegs at both Rasputin Records in Campbell and Amoeba Music and Records in San Francisco. Turns out they were Twilight Time releases and I'm purposefully unfamiliar with their designs even though I don't keep track of what the company releases.
Weirdly threw me off.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

I thought I saw some bootlegs at both Rasputin Records in Campbell and Amoeba Music and Records in San Francisco. Turns out they were Twilight Time releases and I'm purposefully unfamiliar with their designs even though I don't keep track of what the company releases.
Weirdly threw me off.

I have also been to Rasputin in Campbell and they also have some straight up bootlegs and they probably know they are bootlegs since they are normally marked at a lower average price in their stores. Idk if they would fix it if I pointed out those bootlegs but it is rather annoying to see them selling them. and it makes me more wary of their products since they obviously either don't care or don't know any better.

[Freeza]

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

I thought I saw some bootlegs at both Rasputin Records in Campbell and Amoeba Music and Records in San Francisco. Turns out they were Twilight Time releases and I'm purposefully unfamiliar with their designs even though I don't keep track of what the company releases.
Weirdly threw me off.

Back in the DVD days, Amoeba and the east coast chain, Newbury Comics were filthy with bootlegs.

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by Freeza

Back in the DVD days, Amoeba and the east coast chain, Newbury Comics were filthy with bootlegs.

Not an issue with Newbury anymore since they pretty much got rid of all movies, at least the stores that I go to no longer have a DVD/blu-ray section. Shame too, I could sometimes find some good used 3D Blu-ray deals.

[losabio]

Bought what turned out to be a bootleg boxset of anime DVDs from a weeb store back in the day and paid a pretty penny. I was mad as hell when there were email addresses and shout outs in the English subs! Didn't finish watching the set, never went back to that store. Counterfeiters suck.

[F13BluRay]

Originally Posted by deltatauhobbit

Not an issue with Newbury anymore since they pretty much got rid of all movies, at least the stores that I go to no longer have a DVD/blu-ray section. Shame too, I could sometimes find some good used 3D Blu-ray deals.

Newbury Comics in Northampton, MA has thousands of DVDs and Blurays. I thought they would start to downsize them at some point years ago but it hasnt happened yet

[Jonny Powers]

Being an avid Spaghetti Western collector, I've come into contact with plenty of "grey-market" releases of films from Echo Bridge, Timeless Media, and VideoAsia in those multi-pack sets of DVDs. The prints are often taken from European releases, public domain releases, fanedits/dubs (such as FrancoCleef's) and old Wild East releases.

[dorothyv]

Funny story: More than a decade ago (I think when bootlegs first started to become prevalent), I bought (what I didn't know at the time was) a bootleg cd from a local used cd store - it was a live cd from Radiohead's OK Computer tour.

After listening to it a bunch of times over several months, I decided I no longer needed it in my permanent cd collection. So, I went to trade it in to the same store I had previously purchased it from only to get shot down because it was a bootleg.

[DouglasRobert]

The only retail store I ever saw bootlegs at was at Goodwill.

[shinobipopcorn]

I've bought "bootleg" purses in retail stores, but that means something a little different- obviously fake bags that resemble the real thing but aren't marketed as such. Like the last one I bought had a bunch of critters all over it to resemble a Tokidoki bag but just had a Target label. Not the same as the ones you buy on a NY back alley that say they're Vitton but are fake.

As for fake discs, never saw them myself but I imagine resale shops like FYE are danger zones. I don't like to shop there to begin with because you get someone else's junk.

[Cheap_Trick]

Saw the "Fright Night II" DVD bootleg (made from the widescreen HD broadcast) at a CD Tradepost. I notified the manager just to let her know and she flew into a rage. 'THAT'S NOT A BOOTLEG! WE DON'T SELL BOOTLEGS HERE!" I'll admit it looked really good. It had a printed on label and all.

[Clark Kent]

It has become more and more difficult to recognize DVD bootlegs unless you run a scan on the disc itself.

Counterfeit CDs are easier to spot if you know what to look for.