How do I know if a dvd I want to buy from ebay is copied?

[Mum2Ela]

Is there any way of telling? Want to buy this for my dad for Fathers day:

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42845&item=6405097935&rd=1

What do you rekon?

i would recon it is original sent the seller an email asking and keep it saved if it turns out to be a copy then he can get done for false advertising

The seller has got a fairly good record (though have a look at the comments - a high number of non-deliveries!). As he allows himself a long time to post you might not have it for Sunday. But would go with starshakers suggestion as well.

It looks okay, but on his feedback there is one person accusing him of selling a copy of Band of Brothers - he replies that it comes directly from the manufacturer in Hong Kong (hence the slow delivery times) but is deffo not a copy. I don't know - if it is a copy (whatever that is) it'll probably be a good quality one. His feedback is pretty good all in all, and that would be convincing enough for me.

It does state on the description that the film is sealed, so it would be a blatant lie if it weren't.

I looked at the previous buyers comments bit - a lot say "delivered as described" or "arrived fully sealed" - there seem to be quite a few that say "lost in post but refunded quickly".

I would say that it is as safe as you are likely to get through ebay but there is always a small risk. He does have a 98.5% positive feedback rating though and you don't get that by ripping people off. Plus over a 1000 previous sales.

I think getting people for false advertising is pretty tricky on ebay.

Several of the comments say the DVD is posted from Hong Kong, which is where lots and lots pirate DVDS come from. It's strange that the DVD is Region 2 + 4 only, though - I'd expect pirate DVDs to be regionless, IYSWIM. Also, it says: "PACKAGED IN A SINGLE AMARAY CASE. NOT A DIGIPAK OR TIN BOX ." It does say 100% original, but I'd expect this to be a copy.

I agree. Would doubt it would be a copy from somebody that has such high feedback. My personal experience though is that sometimes the people with massive feedback can get a bit 'over-run' with orders and can take a while to deliver - even sometimes not sending items (probably genuinely forgetting), but always apologising and resending when queried.

Seems a bit strange that so many of his items 'go missing in the post'.

Miaou, sealed just means he's got a machine to seal boxes.

I've realised what really sets of my "copy" alert on this - there's no photo of the box. Is that Band of Brothers image meant to be the DVD box? It's unclear.

It's possible it's an original, I would be skeptical, though.

Oh, and it's ropey that the item description says it's in Leeds or something, but several people on feedback say it came from HK.

On 2nd look I think this may be dodgy too now - I was done on a Gameboy Advance game that came 'direct' from Hong Kong. It was the best copy I had ever seen, but was without doubt a copy.

Suspicious that it says based in Leeds?

Also, it doesn't say "UK product" or "not an Asian copy" which is what a lot of other sellers say.

There are lots of very popular sellers out there selling copies - many people don't care at all about whether they're buying originals or pirates.

I do suspect he's selling good quality pirates, though, not shaky-cam. For what it's worth.

Thanks for the advice girls.

I wasn't sure about that seller after some of your comments, so I bought it from a different seller (probably just as dodgy!).

This one:

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42845&item=6405520861&rd=1

If its a copy I guess you live and learn, but I thought it would be easier than this to spot them!

Hmm, that one looks less dodgy, but still a bit odd - some of the comments talk about HK and Asia. Some say the DVDs are fine. Providing RRP and so on is a good sign.