EBAY FAKES! How To Spot Counterfeit DVDs

Scam alert! Many physical media sellers on eBay are offering counterfeit DVDs. You may have even purchased one without knowing! In this episode, we'll discuss how to spot a fake, what you can do to avoid being the victim of scammers!
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[@RevyTwoHands]

One other tip in regard to checking if a disc is dual layer, in case someone doesn't have an optical drive or PC to check discs. If you flip the disc over, around the hole in the center, there's a silver ring on the bottom (shiny side) of the disc. In that silver ring, there are barcodes (these can be a little difficult to see, just put the disc under a light). Each layer for a disc has its own barcode. So just look for 2 barcodes within that ring. They can either be stacked on top of one another, or on opposite sides. One barcode = single layer disc. 2 barcodes = dual layer disc.

[@theragingdolphinsmaniac4696]

Great tip!

[@RevyTwoHands]

@film fan No problem. Checking disc size or the number of layers isn't a sure fire way to tell if something is bootleg or not, but it can be, if you know something is supposed to be dual-layer, but is only single.

[@craigwinans1948]

An exception to this is discs recorded on both sides. No barcodes.

[@boogerman908]

And this is why I'm sad brick and mortar is getting harder to shop

[@jimroscovius]

Walmart is expanding their movie section. They even have steelbooks and 4Ks.

[@dirtnastyish]

The thing that bums me out is that there's so much releases that you can only get bootlegs of, nobody is putting out a legit release. I used to be totally clueless about it and I never wondered why a seller would have dozens of copies of a hard to find DVD.

[@bencool5823]

At least those kind of copies have a nice box and look almost the same as the real DVDs 📀I buy DVD copies on eBay that not only have no box and no artwork on disc but didn't even play normal 📺

[@VanessaButtino]

The cut and paste printing job on the outer packaging of the fake was a dead giveaway for me. Looks like someone just printed the graphic on a laser jet printer and then glued the sheet of paper to a cardboard box. But you know what? I don't think I would have been able to tell that easily if the two weren't held up side by side.

[@michaeljago4869]

I was the same Vanessa, I knew straight of by looking at them side by side which one was the wrong one the scam one.

[@brianashmorestudio]

Thanks so much for this video. I just now realized that my WKRP, Three’s Company, and Welcome Back Kotter sets are fake. I was never happy with the quality and had chalked it up to a poor original source. I also bought cheap off eBay but had just assumed that these sets had been overproduced and were finding their way down the chain to individual sellers. The computer drive tests affirms that I have fakes. Thanks again!

[@ebinrock]

Even with Amazon, particularly w/third-party sellers, you have to be careful. If there's a way to get something from the source (e.g., Shout Factory), that's the safest way to go.

[@rayhuntermusic]

Not necessarily the case. I have a Shout Factory dvd that’s clearly a bootleg.

[@ebinrock]

@@rayhuntermusic Shout Factory DVD from Shout Factory (*their* own online shop), or from a third party shop?

[@Zhuge1]

What's bizarre about this is you have to wonder how much profit the counterfeiters are actually making. With the decline in physical media sales coupled with the fact that these are pressed discs (which seemingly should cost more to mass produce than the burned discs in bootlegs from decades ago), it seems like the overall sales potential would be pretty low on some of these things.

[@nathanmiller2626]

That's what I was thinking too. The market for WKRP and Mr. Ed while large enough, isn't exactly huge. It's hard to believe that it would be worth the bootleggers time to put these together and make much of a profit. Then again, I'm not a bootlegger and don't realize how lucrative this business is.

[@excitebike64]

I believe it justs proves how cheap DVDs actually are. These are single layered, and the facilities being used have probably been built since the early 2000s.

[@killaken2000]

It's possible these are made in the exact same factory in china. Most places in china have two shifts but there's the so called 'third shift' that uses the machines to make counterfeits. Or discs/boxes that have errors are sold instead of being destroyed.

[@aironenise]

A lot lol

[@quack34]

Great video Heath, I ran into this problem 3 times with The Jeffersons set, ended up having to order it from Amazon to get a legitimate copy.

[@theragingdolphinsmaniac4696]

Fakes are sold on Amazon too. When I went to buy the WKRP set, I read reviews that ome were fake. I researched ones being sold until I found one that I was certain was real.

[@joshua2814]

This is one of those few instances in which my reluctance to buy online helps. Online shopping is a small percentage of my shopping and 95% of that is through Amazon's main site. When I have gotten something from eBay (which I think hasn't been in at least two years) it's always been a grey-market item anyway (because it wasn't available on disc or not on disc in the US) or an out-of-print item that I know I'm going to pay extra for (and which usually include detailed pictures of the packaging and discs). As far as I know, I've never been burnt in this way. I do appreciate the tips, though.

[@excitebike64]

I can see fakes being everywhere, online and offline. I'm sure many buy fakes and never know it, then try to resell new or used.

[@Helgol]

As someone who is trying to resell some stuff online this a big help. It will allow me to weed out fakes so my customers won't get the short end of the stick

[@LukeDodge916]

Another great video, Heath. What a debacle this is. Ive got to stop purchasing from eBay at this point and just shop with the manufacturers and labels directly, savings be damned. Pathetic.

[@djthunderfunk2090]

I've been burned a few times too, and yeah, the only way to tell the difference for sure has been identifying single layer discs where I know they should be dual layer. Sometimes the packaging is a little off but usually not enough to say for sure.

[@davidcantrell6536]

Thanks, so much, Heath, for this alert and information. I occasionally do go to ebay, especially as a last resort, and I never thought about possible fakes. Now, I certainly will! You have provided a real public service.

[@ryangies4798]

Be careful with music box sets as well. Especially Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, etc. EBay is the worst. Aiding and abetting these crooks.

[@HucksPopCultureCafe]

I got a fake of Gravity Falls off eBay. The funny thing is when I told them that I had a counterfeit on my hands they actually said oh we will credit you and you don’t have to send it back so I thought that was cool because I’m sure they didn’t want to get busted. The sad part is the episodes are very pixelated.

[@elusivegluejeff4980]

WOW....I really appreciate this information, thank you Heath. It's got me thinking about very rare obscure releases on dvd. If a counterfeiter had a copy of one such latter release they could make huge profits. It's a scary scenario.

[@HorrorMovieSyllabus]

Thanks, Heath--these are some great tips. I'm a little afraid to try the DVD-ROM test as I'm almost certain I've got a few fakes in the collection and I'm kinda of the opinion that if I can't tell when I watch them then I should just not pick at that scab... (alas, at least one of them I could totally tell when I watched it).

[@h0laPlaneta]

Got a fake The Nanny DVD set from Mercari, man the packaging and discs look so authentic!! But yeah, pop them in a DVD rom tray and check if they have security, if they do, they probably are original.

[@bencool5823]

I got Longmire the complete series and the last two seasons of better call Saul on DVD 📀 and they look horrible I know the second I see the picture it's a copy 😵‍💫

[@Daniel_B_23]

I ran into this with some looney tunes golden collection sets here a while back. I sent them back reported seller nothing was done. He insisted they were my fakes but side by side comparison pictures, proved otherwise and he stopped messaging me.

[@JxT1957]

i bought that mr. ed dvd set "shout factory" on ebay for $40 and its a great set. watched every episode and they came in crystal clear. i bought about $2000 in dvd and blu ray box sets mostly from ebay throughout the years and never had any problem watching any of them in my blu ray player, all nice clean pictures. many companies sell on ebay not just private sellers. i went on the ed sullivan website and clicked on the ed sullivan rock and roll classics 12 dvd collection with over 200 performances and amazingly it took me directly to ebay.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

That Ebay listing is from Sofa Entertainment, who owns the rights to the Ed Sullivan Show. Not everything on Ebay is a fake, but discretion is important, as rights holders don't make any money at all from pirated material. The Sofa page is legit! If you'd like to hear more about how Sofa Entertainment acquired The Ed Sullivan Show and brought those episodes to disc, check out my interview with one of the men who made it happen! His platinum award for The Beatles on Ed Sullivan release hangs beside him: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d57WaXRqpb55nrc Mr. Ed is exactly 50% of the quality of the official release, since they used single layer discs instead of double.

[@Cody-Bear]

As soon as you opened up the cases, I knew which one was legitimate because I have several seasons of Power Rangers from Shout Factory

[@bumpyjonas584]

Great video Heath. I got fooled once on a Shout set. Before I checked the capacity of the discs, I realized it didn’t have the bonus disc that was supposed to be in the set. That seems to happen with a lot of Shout bootlegs.

[@popretro1]

Great vid & info. I've had my own Ebay-purchased WKRP set in my watch stack for quite a while. Afraid to even check it now lol

[@kkplayrush]

Good video...one of the big fakes out there is that Dark Shadows Complete Series that comes in that coffin-shaped box. Given that it is a $500 plus set, the original manufacturer had to put a page on their site to let people know how to spot the difference..

[@carolynscadern6787]

Thanks for the information. I have purchased some box sets from eBay, and now I am going to have to check the discs. Appreciate the great content!

[@Ermwhothefart]

I was just watching this series in the waiting room for my doctor's office. I didn't expect to see it in my recommendations.

[@michaelelsy2209]

There's still bad quality DVD's from the real studios.

[@barrymurphy1337]

Great information Heath - those boxes are crazy, totally plausible. At least with the Asian/Russian boots an expierenced eye can normally spot they're dodgy, but what chance have you with these until you play the discs? As you speculate, these sets must be being manufactured a lot closer to home. Another good reason to not purchase these fakes would be to not fund organised crime, which this obviously is. Excellent video!

[@brandonandcharlene9527]

Thank you for this. I almost got burned on Garfield animated series box sets a while back. Saw some super cheap on eBay, seller had lots of them. I passed And tracked down the volumes individually. Another problem is most laptops now don't have disc drives. In fact I only have one left and I don't know how much longer it will continue to function.

[@damianp564]

Good info. As you mentioned, the dual layer check is generally the tell. Only time it's not is when the original source was single layer like the first 3 to 4 seasons of King of the Hill which were on single layer dual-sided discs. Speaking of, we did buy a complete set of King of the Hill from an ebay seller (about $60) and as expected they were bootlegs but I'll give them this they did a good job. Printing was still off but way better than most. They even printed the 2-sided ad cards inside (a first for me). And picture quality on the later seasons is surprisingly fine, though clearly not as good as it should be but the Olive released seasons are very hard to find and expensive. Also, a lot of sellers don't know the difference. So you can spend years chasing affordable legit King of the Hill sets. I did buy a lot of six Modern Family sets from an ebay seller that did not sell many movies. Only half were legit. When I told her about the bootlegs she refunded me. Said she bought them from various sellers on ebay and Amazon. I genuinely think she didn't know. The most bootlegged show I've run into is Dexter. You mention quantity, a definite tell but mega media sellers like blowitoutahere are legit and they have high quantities.

[@brandonandcharlene9527]

Also some older DVD that have mayo 90 minutes or less of total content. I have some Garfield specials released almost 20 years ago. The contents are just a little over 1 hour on each DVD. But they are legit and advertise as single layer.

[@Futuredynamo]

All good tips in this video. This is becoming a major problem. Something else to look out for... While not fool proof (because as stated in the video, some of these sellers have 100% feedback), if a seller does not have a perfect feedback score.... even if they have 99.9% positive feedback, ALWAYS check the 0.1% negative reviews to specifically see what the issues were with those transactions. Often times there will be at least a complaint or two about the buyer receiving a bootleg. Shout Factory actually has a page on their website warning about this. Something that I've noticed over time with Shout Factory in particular is that on occasion, with some of their boxsets, they've changed up the packaging to some extent or another over time, which in part could be for cost savings, but also in part could be to somewhat help combat this (at least temporarily until when/if the bootleggers change things up on their end). For example, the WKRP set. The official set seen in this video is the earlier release, with each of the 4 seasons being in it's own case. That is the version that I have (I got it at Costco around the time when it first came out). I've seen newer copies at Walmart in which the outer box has pretty much the same artwork, but all of the discs are split between 2 larger cases instead of the 4 individual season cases. They did the same thing with Welcome Back Kotter (in which I bought my copy later and have the version with the 2 larger cases). With Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, at one point when they went to print more copies, they gave it completely different outer box art, and the box break down of the seasons was different. The first release had 5 cases for the seasons (Season 1 Part 1, Season 1 Part 2, Season 2 Part 1, Season 2 Part 2, and one for all of Season 3 including the Alien Rangers episodes.... plus the bonus disc in it's own separate case). The later version had Season 1 all in one bigger case, Season 2 also all in one case, most of season 3 in it's own case, the a separate case for the Alien Rangers episodes (and also still the bonus disc in it's own case).

[@rickspencer6573]

Loved your video and, man, you are so right. In the past, I have bought many TV show DVD Box Sets, and, overall, I was impressed. Mind you, I had recently bought a "Green Acres", Season 1 DVD from Wal-mart, here in Canada. I began watching it and was surprised at the poor picture quality. Fast forward a few years, I was looking for an "I Spy" TV show DVDs. I checked Amazon and felt their price was a little too high. I next went to EBay and found this set much cheaper. I bought it, thinking I got a good deal. Once I began watching the DVDs, I realized I got ripped off. The picture quality was horrible. Last, but not least, I was searching for the old series, "One Step Beyond" (similar to The Twilight Zone). I bought it on Amazon (from a 3rd Party Seller) and man, did I get suckered. I could barely watch the DVDs, poor picture quality. Well, I did some research on the series (too little too late). I found out that no studio had ever released it because no one owns the rights to this series.......public domain, don't you know. There's $25.00 I'll never get back. I contacted Amazon and the rep informed me they would contact the seller, however, since it's a 3rd party seller, why have this person selling on Amazon??? Bottom line, there was nothing they could do. Thanks, Amazon, great doing business with you. Anyway, thanks to you, I will certainly do my homework before ordering another box set.....many thanks.

[@MOTU1978cl]

I want the Fat Albert Complete Series but I know it'll probably be a fake. It's not just a problem on EBay. You need to watch out for some Amazon sellers to.

[@TurboVolcano1988]

Ebay has thousands of bootleg dvd and blu-ray titles listed, the sad thing is they just don't care. I've tried reporting bootlegs to ebay before since anything of value ends up getting copied and put up for sale as a bootleg which in turn drives down the price of legitimate copies hurting sellers. Ebay never takes any of these bootleg listings down as every "report" you send is anonymous, which basically means they never look at them nor care. Another thing i've noticed is Amazon is now starting to re shrink-wrap blu-ray returns and sell them as "new". I've had 2 separate movies where they were clearly re shrink-wrapped and when I checked the digital copy for redemption on movies anywhere the digital copies would be redeemed months before, very shady practice.

[@GlenHallstrom]

Thanks for the heads-up. I've been pretty lucky on eBay but I've mostly bought Mill Creek 50-100+ movie box sets (yeah, you could counterfeit them but why would you WANT to?).

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Good point! Those seem scam proof because the counterfeiters would have to spend too much money on materials.

[@kkplayrush]

Yeah these are the only ones I've ever bought on ebay myself...

[@GlenHallstrom]

@@SumDumGy beg to disagree but point taken.

[@GlenHallstrom]

@@SumDumGy True. Don'cha love it? It's like having a grindhouse theater in my home. :)

[@CinemaDaveMedia]

Hi Heath. Great video as always. This is a hot topic especially when thinking about picking up old TV series. Thanks for sharing what to watch out for in this area. I don't typically buy anything on eBay. I mostly order from specific label websites or Amazon though I know I need to watch out for this on Amazon as well. This video is also a reminder that I need to get the WKRP set too if it's still around. Hope you and your family are doing well.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Hey Dave! Thanks for the comment and I hope you and yours are great as well.

[@CinemaDaveMedia]

@@CerealAtMidnight Side note, I still think about your thoughts on when TV shows go past their peak. I may have found a TV show that gets even better after the fifth season, M*A*S*H. I’m rewatching after many years and enjoying it. 😀

[@boca3105]

I just saw this today and then went on EBay to see if I could find any. There were so many. 104 sold! 55 sold! Etc etc. I now know they are all counterfeit

[@Terry.W]

Yes I have a couple of these they run ok on my DVD player even though they are on DVDRW discs.. ...and I ordered a Tom and Jerry set..and the discs had got mixed up and I had a history of Steam Trains....I love Steam Trains..

[@mitch89014]

Box sets seem fall into this problem, Especially TV shows, I have seen them and some are pretty easy to spot, different packaging and label art work, examples to beware of, Xfiles, Sopranos, Alfred Hitchcock sets, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, The Little Rascals, Blondie, King of Queens, Raymond, Taxi, Happy Days, Dr Who, The Prisoner, Land of the Giants, Time Tunnel, The Avengers, just some I have come across

[@prado00oo008]

This copyright thing for DVDs is only working in USA: Outside USA buying second hand DVDs is quite normal thing: Both seller and buyer know about that: Not a big deal 🤷‍♀: For example you can't expect someone in relatively poor country buy a DVD for 100$ if he can buy it for 5$

[@justinturley7071]

So, for the last few years I have been watching different videos from Nathan Butler, his KZbin channel covers every single Star Wars Home Video Releases, from The original 8 millimeter release of the Original STAR WARS (1977) to the recent releases of the Disney 4K, Blu-Ray, and DVD Releases of the films. Back in 2011 20th Century Fox released a Blu-Ray box set of Star Wars The Complete Saga, (Now in 2013 they re-released those same versions sold as prequel trilogy 6 disc set, 3 Blu-Ray discs of the films and a DVD transfer of the Blu-Ray version and the original trilogy 6 disc set which had again, 3 Blu-Ray discs and 3 DVDs of that same transfer) in 2015 they re-released the same discs on a different box set, Star Wars The Complete Saga and they released steel book which are again re-releases of the 2011 discs. But what I'm talking about is the 2015 release of The Complete Saga, that set was only released on Blu-Ray, no DVD. So, on Amazon there was a DVD version sold, which is false because it never existed, but from the naked eye it would look real, but one problem, since 1997 there have been changes to the films, first in 1997 we got the original Special Edition, then in 2004 (which the same disc would be re-released 3 different times) we got more changes for the DVD Release, then in 2011 we got more changes for the Blu-Ray release. What do you think they released? They released the wrong version, they released the 2004 Special Edition, with the 2006 disc (which is a Laserdisc transfer onto a DVD disc), one person had uploaded a video to talk about it, a person commented on his post, saying how this guy got swindled and providing good evidence, while the owner of the bootleg was ignorant and didn't want to be wrong. The bar code on the bootleg doesn't even match a Star Wars release.

[@reddawn5297]

Fakes scratch extremely easily and crack really easily. Besides being 4 gigs they are often region free and no encryption. eBay is notorious for fakes. I am sure Amazon is no different. I buy complete series box sets directly from Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.

[@PacoVJ]

This got me once, I bought the tales of the crypt collection and I should have realized right from the start with the price (if the price is too good to be true, then is fake!), but i was just starting into dvd collecting and i was so happy to save some extra bucks on my purchase. Once i got the package and started to watch them, i noticed the quality was not good (even for a dvd) and what really give it away was that some of the episodes will not play. I was sucked punched by an counterfeiter lol. It also took me some time to get to watch them so i could not even ask for refund or at least complaint with ebay. I learned my lesson so now I'm more cautious, as soon as i get it i inspect the disk, i test it and make sure it works and that is a real one and not a fake. I know people would not even care is not original but at that point, why bother buying something is fake, just find where to get it online and you will get better quality anyways. If you want a hard copy invest on it, find or wait for a sale if you like but don't cheap on it, you will be ahead of the game in your collection this way.

[@vanceshepherd1618]

I'm so bummed, dude! THIS is the show that made me want to be on the radio, from the tender age of 8. Ordered this earlier this year, as it was cheaper than other retailers at ONLY $46. Was just checking the quality and was a little disappointed. Then I found your video on this exact set. Popped it into the computer, & sure enough, 4.7gb. The same retailer is now selling for $26!!!! Fired off a message to eBay, but since it's out of the return window, I'm sure they'll just ignore it.

[@retromediaguy]

Most TV sets on ebay are fake...

[@bilbarrett]

My wife accidentally bought me fakes of All In The Family and The Jeffersons. The video quality was horrible. We managed to return The Jeffersons. I bought them both direct from Shout! and will NEVER buy off eBay again.

[@g.p.ryecroft]

Aargh! I just checked my WKRP set and it's a fake! Yeah, bought on eBay a couple years ago for $44.99. I found out the hard way I have a fake NEWHART set and now WKRP. When I was going to shell out hundreds of dollars for a DARK SHADOWS complete series set I played it safe and bought from Amazon direct (not a marketplace seller) and confirmed I got the real deal. That's a heavily bootlegged set. Thank you for the info, and yeah, better to pay a little more for a legit release.

[@markschatzberg9991]

That happened to me with Welcome Back Kotter. I could tell the art on the discs were wrong, and the booklet art was softer and even blurry. Sent it back for a refund, got the real one.

[@meowza3k]

I got burned on a Harry Potter 8 movie set. There was a typo on the bottom of the box that flagged it. Then, like you said, the discs were single layer.

[@derrickmcleod9549]

I recently purchased a blu ray of Hitchcock’s Easy Virtue off Ebay and realized after it arrived it was a fake. For Hitchcock films, the Brenton Film website is invaluable for identifying Hitchcock bootlegs, especially his early films.

[@tomutz6719]

Thanks for this video! Unfortunately the seller on ebay that I purchased (ironically enough) WKRP (counterfeit!) is no longer on ebay. Never again!!! Thank you so much for this video!!!

[@adrianjames3815]

Loved this show back on the eighties.

[@ravenelektra]

Unfortunately one of my first purchases on eBay was a fake. It was a Mondo Macabro dvd of Alucarda and didn't realise until about a year later when I bought another Mondo Macabro dvd to compare it to 🙄

[@thetoythief8940]

This helped me determine that my recent purchase of Garfield and friends DVDs they looked real and sadly they are not

[@11382002thx]

I don't buy much online I like to shop locally and have bought most everything in store or have had it sent for review so I can understand for sure. Great video!

[@bergunx]

Ha!! Funny that you mentioned the Soul Train box set of DVDs on eBay since I bought a counterfeit set. As soon as it showed up, I knew it since everything was simply poor quality from the box, plastic cases, cover art and yes, quality of the video transfer onto the disc was very poor. I learned my lesson and that was the last box set off of eBay. Unfortunately, it’s easier, after being screwed, to accept it and learn from it.

[@bencool5823]

I buy DVD copies on eBay 📀 because that's the only way to get some titles but the ones you're talking about are bad quality I got some better call Saul DVDs that were hard to watch 😵‍💫

[@SeanAustinCarey]

Yeah I stopped buying on EBay because after 2 DVD series purchases, which were both fake, I just straight gave up.

[@efuntron]

I’ve had to be careful buying video games online too. So many fake Pokémon games out there and just retro games in general.

[@cwillism]

I bought a Harry Potter Blu-ray set on eBay and found that they were on burned discs. The quality seems ok (the only thing I have to compare it to is what's streaming) but it does bug me because I'd rather have the real thing.

[@devonbrooks246]

Heath great discussion., I bought a few things on Ebay and from Amazon Warehouse that I thought was a great deal. I try to be careful with my purchases because of these fakes. They are getting really good at duplicating and it is getting harder to spot by looking at the packaging. I wish my computer had a DVD Rom so I can check but I do not. Thanks for your videos.

[@jessicageralde4399]

We do Mr Ed

[@anthonypidone4453]

Purchased mine over a year ago on Ebay. When you held them up I could spot the fake easy. So I went and grabbed mine and yep mine is a fake. Live and learn

[@GeeVanderplas]

Thought I got a good deal on The Nanny boxset but turned out to be a bootleg as well. The box and art and everything looked pretty good actually. Unfortunately everything was squeezed on single layer dvds, so the image quality is garbage...

[@mikkibubble4711]

There are dual layer pirate DVDs also on ebay! Lots of them. At least from one power seller I found recently (ebay UK). That guy sells for example FRIENDS complete 10 series, with most discs pirates intermingled with a few originals. I reported it to ebay but it appears they do not do anything. Of course not, they earn a lot from those power sellers, too! Utterly criminal and despicable. I’m trying to find out, where to better report them all, to finally make a difference.

[@zacharyrhein5607]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated Heath.

[@sf-dn8rh]

Brick stores not a guarentee either. Bought a dragnet sample disk from a Walmart, as well as a Looney tunes golden collection volume 5, both poorly made and had errors.

[@cabellero1120]

Thank you for this. I'd noticed that eBay offers movies from streaming services which are not currently available on Blu Ray or DVD. They're probably fake or pirated..... ( Red Flag......Spirited is offered on disc, Apple TV Did Not authorize a DVD release ( as of yet, anyway)

[@DaveMcConn1]

Sadly, I've bought fake sets of Mister Ed ($55 Ebay), The Jeffersons ($50 Mercari) Leave it to Beaver ($86 Ebay) and Maude ($45 Ebay). Lesson learned. I've replaced all of my sets directly from Shout Factory. If I buy anything from Amazon, I open it right away and check the disc size on my computer.

[@kylebookout1789]

Great video! Thanks Heath. Good to know.

[@HotshotMC]

Great video!

[@drummmmerfish]

my mom got burned twice and she didn't even know. i found a counterfeit nstar wars box set and a indiana jones boxset. the SW set was easy to spot (i buy alot of media) but the indy set was so good that it was hard to tell w/o checking the discs.

[@calzonemaniacsvideocorner0804]

I think the only legit TV show DVD set made single layer was that Monty Python set A&E put out, and that was all the way in 2000.

[@christophermosca4547]

Hi Heath..... "long time listener / first time caller".... love your You Tube site, and have been watching for the past year ! just saw this topic. How can you test the discs to determine the bit rate you mention ? I have an external drive, and it doesn't give the disc info (that I can see.) Where should I see the info ? Additionally.....with dvd's, and older shows like this, the picture quality is not going to seem too good to begin with. How can you even tell that it's worse than normal, and a fake ? I purchased a WKRP box in the past 4 weeks, and am now highly suspicious. arghhh. Where should a external drive display the disc info ? And.... thanks for your work ! Love your channel !!

[@christophermosca4547]

I checked the discs on a cd hard drive, on a desk top (I first checked on an external drive I had attached to my Apple Mac mini)... the optical drive on the desk top , shows "single layer"..... I double checked with an older dvd and found that disc (Battle of Britain, MGM dvd), showed 2 layers. I can''t find the disc size, specifically, but the listing of layers, is clear. I ordered , and received a fake box set. It takes time to get through tv series, with multiple seasons.... and just finished the series. older tv series (70's and back, or early 80's and back??) in many cases were filmed on video if I remember correctly.... and the quality was pretty bad to begin with. Those tv series are perhaps even harder to tell if they're fake, because the quality / remastering is going to be limited to begin with. in my case, I didn't seem "too good to be true", as well, as with a lot of my collecting (film, music, books, comics) , many sellers seem to buy up lots of stock, and then sell off inexpensively. At least that's been my experience. I had another Shout Factory tv series I bought.... Barney Miller. I got that from Amazon, brand new. The box, began deteriorating almost immediately (the box, along the corners began to crack and tear, almost as soon as I bought and put on my shelf.) I think quality, even from the major labels (or perhaps better said, some boutique labels) , can sometimes not be the best. Heath..... your info is good to know.... and it's unfortunately a "live and learn" type of thing. I have a few more questions for you: 1) do fake dvd's deteriorate faster ?? I'm asking, as I asked for a refund and don't know if I'll get it (I'm just outside the refund window.) 2) who is a good seller, to buy from (WKRP in particular....I really wanted the series.) Any suggestions ? 3) does the fake stuff happen with blu ray, 4k, or music cd's too , on eBay ? what about other mediums.... comics, magazines, books ? just asking. Not sure if you or anyone else came across "mass produced" fake collectables in other mediums. I'd imagine it's tougher to do that with other formats. 4) does Ebay have a special fraud unit , or do you just contact a generic "customer service " group or tab ?

[@CerealAtMidnight]

1) I don't know if counterfeit DVDs that have been factory pressed and have the standard glass coating finish deteriorate any faster than their dual layer legitimate pressings, the concerns are mostly that buyers are only getting half of what they paid for. 2) As discussed toward the end of this episode, I would suggest always buying directly from major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, etc, and never from third parties or individuals. Amazon has WKRP for $58 which is a great price and as long as you buy from them and not their third-party marketplace, you know you're getting the real deal. 3) I've seen lots of counterfeit CDs on eBay too, but I've never seen counterfeit Blu-rays or 4Ks, presumably because the costs are higher and the audience buying those is smaller. It really seems limited to DVD and CD box sets, for the most part. 4) Ebay has purchase protection and will almost always get your money back if you're not happy, but I don't think they have a unit to crack down on fraud. In fact, I don't think they care about the issue at all because they never shut these sellers down. Ebay has become the equivalent of a flea market: there are some great bargains to be found, but you have to wade through mountains of imported knockoffs first.

[@christophermosca4547]

@@CerealAtMidnight Heath ..... it's funny you mention Amazon.... at the time I ordered from the 3rd party via Ebay, Amazon was showing the WKRP , looking like it was top at that time (which is why I ordered.) it looks like the 3rd party is going to refund me (I was 2 weeks past the normal cut off)... thank you sooo much for this topic and for answering my questions ! I didn't realize it was such a major problem. Now I'm aware ! thanks again !!!!

[@mob9672]

Huh. I am going to have to check my KL Kolchak blu-ray when it arrives.

[@westonayersart]

I'm a new a collector and have mostly have gotten some steelbooks so far but want to get some blu ray tv series. I had no idea this was even a problem out there with counterfeits, thanks shedding some light. Are people making counterfeit steelbooks and blu rays? Or primarily is this a DVD problem?

[@coyotemontana4558]

I have one that's fake and it's Green Acres DVD. I'm getting rid of it and get the real one.

[@glyn420]

Great video. Good information. Thank you very much.

[@ZulcanPrime]

I bought a fake movie from eBay. The movie was advertised as a remastered edition but it was just a copy of the 16mm print. A few years ago I bought a poor quality ( It wasn't advertised as a Chinese) copy of Forbidden Planet on ebay and it arrived late plus the fact the movie was copied from a television broadcast and it had the watermark channel on the top right-hand corner.

[@Retrokaiser]

Wow. Fakes have come a long way. I remember when they used to be a bit obvious to spot. Especially for when it came to the anime sets. There's also a few sellers down here in Australia selling bootleg sets of Green Acres for whatever reason. Those sets look terrible. Just the old American sets with the Aussie rating slapped on to them. The art isn't even the correct size. It looks squished a little.

[@johnadair4693]

Just found your channel, great stuff.

[@karlleibfacher5367]

I had someone from eBay sell a counterfeit copy of scream factory's Vincent Price collection 1. I called them out on it and they refunded me.

[@Carnage6X]

I ran into this when trying to complete my Community DVD set. One season I couldn't find so I resorted to Ebay. From the outside it looked fine and even had the proper stickers on the outside that a sealed copy should have. When I opened it I noticed the case had a huge DVD logo molded on the inside. I know legit companies don't do this. Then tried sticking it in my computer and sure enough it was single layer discs. Argued with the seller and he kept insisting all his DVDs he sells are legit. Never got my money back from Ebay.

[@spo0kyxspice]

My Captain Planet Collection DVD set from a store retailer looks bootlegged as all hell. The packaging and disc cases, the at-home-printer quality art on the cases and image quality itself is horrible. Not worth the $60 it's selling for at big retailers (again where I bought it from). Fascinating stuff, thanks Heath!

[@AP101083]

Thats not true that counterfeits never use DVD9 in your video. Also counterfeits using sometimes Dual layers discs, like the Batman Animated Series exist counterfeit in DVD9 and some other series as well and they are 1:1 image quality but most are indeed lower DVD5 quality.

[@FilmGamerX]

Thanks for being so informative. Any chance you have the Tales from the crypt sets to do a real/bootleg comparison??? I’m looking to purchase but I’ve been very confused on what to keep an eye out for with differences.

[@jillbluerei4806]

It's not just eBay - I bought season 3 of Elementary from Best Buy... counterfeit. I contacted Best Buy corporate about it & they coudn't have cared less. All they wanted to do was give me a refund and forget about it.

[@cheri3000]

Love my new bootleg of the walking dead complete series dvd. What really ticked me off was that the ebay seller was in the same state as me. But instead of being shipped from my state it shipped from New York. Thats a red flag.

[@dannypoo3281]

Bootleg ebay sellers tend to have somewhere between 50 to 3,000 reviews before they are caught and taken down. Legitimate ones will often have tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands because they've been operating legitimately for many years. Never a guarantee, but this tip can be helpful.

[@Havok1718]

That's why I use PayPal when I buy. Payal will back your purchase so if it's a problem you can get your money back. Most of this stuff now is local bootleggers DVD, pokemon cards, funko pops all kinds of bootlegs now a days.

[@SnakeNel]

Good video. Lots of information in the comments, too!

[@jjgems6732]

There are some great shout boot online without the original its hard to tell BUT if you can boot up the disc on a computer the disc file size is significantly snaller = lesser quality

[@jjgems6732]

Lol what you said -

[@alexerhz]

I've been eyeing this complete sets of Modern Family on Ebay for about $45 but have been reluctant to buy cause it seems to cheap to be an original... Some of the points made in the video and others I saw in the comments are basically what made mi think they are fakes. Guess I'll try to get the seasons I can find on legit retailers even if I have to spend more cause I really like to rewatch that show and don't plan to resubscribe to the streamer that has it any time soon.

[@waynewilson2365]

Great video. Now I've got a few box sets I need to check. Pretty sure I've been burned on some of them 😡.

[@RandyScribner]

I used to run into this problem probably a decade ago with anime we used to call them the Hong Kong bootlegs didn't know the bootlegs were coming from America. I have kept my bootlegs because to be honest to get the real thing is a little expensive on a lot of these sets nowadays as matter of fact it was expensive back then.

[@killaken2000]

8:02 The Chinese got wise to that so many of the counterfeiters have a point of contact in the states so the item is from China but shipped from somewhere in the US

[@KrazyJoesConcessionStand]

Very informative video!!

[@TheRealWonWon]

Hey that's when I eat cereal.

[@KayceeMonroe990]

I bought the complete series of pretty little liars for 30 dollars. I thought it was too good to be true. It was a counterfeit 🤦🏻‍♀️ the disk skipped I take a DVD out to watch it it's cracked in the center hole 🤦🏻‍♀️ lol

[@bountyhunterFett76]

Holly hell... I thought I was the only Heath in this world😁