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How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:20 pm
by Folan
Hello, I’m looking for (The Office: Complete Series Blu-Ray), Amazon sells it for around 120$ and Walmart for 106$.

I found an Ebay listing from a 5 star seller (resalekollective) selling it for 72$, almost half the price of Amazon. But when checking the images, the printed box looks low resolution and edited (see image attached below) so I became skeptical, I’m still somewhat new to physical media, so is there something such as fake Blu-Rays? And how to check if it’s legit or not?

Image

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:28 pm
by MartyMcNuts
Folan wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:20 pm
Hello, I’m looking for (The Office: Complete Series Blu-Ray), Amazon sells it for around 120$ and Walmart for 106$.

I found an Ebay listing from a 5 star seller (resalekollective) selling it for 72$, almost half the price of Amazon. But when checking the images, the printed box looks low resolution and edited (see image attached below) so I became skeptical, I’m still somewhat new to physical media, so is there something such as fake Blu-Rays? And how to check if it’s legit or not?

Image
If you want to avoid fakes, only purchase from a brick and mortar store.

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:41 pm
by Folan
I’m not in the US, and there’s no physical media market where I live at all. So the only way to buy Blu-Rays are mainly from Amazon US and UK international shipping. It’s great since it offers a full international refund. So
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:28 pm
brick and mortar store.
isn’t really an easy option, any other suggestions?

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2024 12:50 am
by MartyMcNuts
Folan wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:41 pm
I’m not in the US, and there’s no physical media market where I live at all. So the only way to buy Blu-Rays are mainly from Amazon US and UK international shipping. It’s great since it offers a full international refund. So
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:28 pm
brick and mortar store.
isn’t really an easy option, any other suggestions?
What about the website of a brick and mortar store or other legit online stores? That's the risk you take when purchasing from ebay and Amazon.

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2024 6:35 am
by Folan
I could buy from Walmart or Bestbuy, but then I’ll have to use an international shipping service like MyUS or BoxIt4Me to ship it to my country.
The downside other than it being expensive, If it arrived faulty and/or I wish to return it for any reason, I’ll have to pay again to ship it back to the US Store.

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2024 9:26 pm
by Folan
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:28 pm
brick and mortar store.


Can you please suggest some stores? Is Walmart a good source? I found a deal (Not even available on the Blu-Ray.com site) and the seller is a 3rd party and not walmart, so how is that different from Amazon or ebay?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Attack-on-Ti ... om=/search

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2024 9:34 pm
by Unwound1
Folan wrote:
Sun Oct 06, 2024 9:26 pm
and the seller is a 3rd party and not walmart, so how is that different from Amazon or ebay?
"sold by amazon" and "sold on amazon" aren't the same. Ordering from amazon should be safe, and you're protected by their return policy anyways.

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 7:02 am
by Folan
Unwound1 wrote:
Sun Oct 06, 2024 9:34 pm
Ordering from amazon should be safe, and you're protected by their return policy anyways.
Yes I know, I have already bought all of my Blu-Rays from Amazon US & UK (Only when it’s covered by international return) most of them were “Sold by Amazon”.

But I’m asking about Walmart, since I’ll have to use a parcel forwarding service, and if it turns out to be a bootleg, I’ll either have to deal with it or return it and pay to ship it back to the US my self. So in short does Walmart allow random 3d party sellers on their website similar to Amazon? Or are they quality sellers verified by Walmart?

Re: How not to buy fake Blu-Rays?

Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 7:11 am
by segfaulted
Folan wrote:
Sun Oct 06, 2024 9:26 pm
Can you please suggest some stores? Is Walmart a good source? I found a deal (Not even available on the Blu-Ray.com site) and the seller is a 3rd party and not walmart, so how is that different from Amazon or ebay?
A few reddit posts like this and this will mention stores that sell movies. There's a mix of online and physical stores.

Now that AoT collection seems like a bootleg to me for a couple reasons.

1) A legitimate boxset for a popular show like AoT should have a page on blu-ray.com and, as you've stated, there is no such page.
2) The English publisher for the AoT blurays is Crunchyroll, and a quick visit of their online store show no results for a complete series box, only individual season sets.
3) Look at the product photo which indicates its barcode UPC is 704400109669. Searching for that number gives results for a different show also published from Crunchyroll. That's a giant red flag to me.
4) If a series boxset is only available only from a third-party seller, and for a price that feels too good to be true? Probably is.

Folan wrote:
Mon Oct 07, 2024 7:02 am
So in short does Walmart allow random 3d party sellers on their website similar to Amazon? Or are they quality sellers verified by Walmart?
According to Walmart's own website, they require third-party sellers to have a valid business license and some proof of past business success. Seems slightly more strict than Amazon, but I have no experience on the matter. It doesn't really guarantee that a few bootlegs will slip through.