DVD Obsession: How to afford and justify it

[Perkins Cobb]

Fortunately I cured myself of the compulsion to acquire DVDs about a year or so into the medium, after calculating the percentage of my disposable income that was going toward shelves and shelves worth of thingies that were getting watched once and then collecting a lot of dust.

The DVD library then got purged down to about 100 favorites, all from pre-2002 or so, and those get dumped as they become obsolete (or out of print and can command obscene amounts of cash). I no longer feel the need to buy anything that I can rent or Netflix. This has made me a much happier person, let me tell ya. (Although I try not to think about the fact that some of the discs I unloaded for $8 are now OOP and go for $50 or $100 on Ebay). I found that disentangling the fun of shopping from the appreciation of the movies made the latter a richer experience.

The exception to this is Region 2-5 stuff: after Nicheflix folded and Kim's Video stopped stocking new import rentals, and as the amount of interesting releases in R1 has dwindled, I have backslid into some minor binge-buying of import titles I can't see any other way. Most of these get resold after I watch them, but it means I've gone from having a kevyip of virtually 0 two or three years ago to a kevyip of 30 or 40 now.

[fiddlesticks]

How does one calculate one's keyvip?

Start at the bottom of your unwatched pile and keep counting until you get to the top (if you can reach it).

I hired an illegal alien to count mine, forced her to use the most energy-intensive tracking method she could find, and then underpaid her for the work, while at the same time I was out buying expensive imported consumer goods I haven't figured out how to use yet. I figure that way I get the whole kevyip effect. Maybe my KQ (94%) has gone to my head.

[Skritek]

What would be the best place to sell DVDs (from Europe)?

I think I should start doing that too...

[MichaelB]

What would be the best place to sell DVDs (from Europe)?

I think I should start doing that too...

I use Amazon Marketplace if they're in print and eBay if they're out of print.

[ptmd]

What would be the best place to sell DVDs (from Europe)?

There's also the fairly lively DVD Trade/Sale forum here, which is well worth trying if you have items that you think might be of interest.

[Cinetwist]

ebay is the best. I'd stay away from the amazon marketplace, as they charge a commission that is extortionate and supply you postage money that barely covers the packaging.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

ebay is the best. I'd stay away from the amazon marketplace, as they charge a commission that is extortionate and supply you postage money that barely covers the packaging.

I agree that e-bay is great for quick/ wholesale fat removal but don't underestimate Amazon too much. Yes they take a fair whack in commission but at least you can regulate the price if you have to time to wait. I have got staggeringly good prices for some items (£100 for a vhs of Parsifal for example) and is particularly good for higher priced art and film books where (I guess) people might just feel themselves a little more discerning than wading through the protean swamp of e-bay listings.

[Skritek]

I've also thought about amazon marketplace, especially because it seems like the R1 release of "Saragossa Manuscript" is getting nice prices. I've had an eBay account for ages, but never used it.

Thanks for the input.

[MichaelB]

ebay is the best. I'd stay away from the amazon marketplace, as they charge a commission that is extortionate and supply you postage money that barely covers the packaging.

That's not true at all - I sold ten items last week on Amazon, and in all cases the postage money was in excess of what I needed (in one case almost twice as much, because the book in question was very light!).

But the main reason I'm a fan is that it takes literally seconds to list an item, whereas eBay is far more involved. Which is fine if you're only selling a handful of items, but I'm clearing out literally hundreds if not thousands of books, CDs and DVDs that are currently using up valuable loft space.

As for commission, it's swings and roundabouts - the great advantage of Amazon is that if it doesn't sell, you don't pay anything at all.

[Cinetwist]

ebay is the best. I'd stay away from the amazon marketplace, as they charge a commission that is extortionate and supply you postage money that barely covers the packaging.

That's not true at all - I sold ten items last week on Amazon, and in all cases the postage money was in excess of what I needed (in one case almost twice as much, because the book in question was very light!).

But the main reason I'm a fan is that it takes literally seconds to list an item, whereas eBay is far more involved. Which is fine if you're only selling a handful of items, but I'm clearing out literally hundreds if not thousands of books, CDs and DVDs that are currently using up valuable loft space.

As for commission, it's swings and roundabouts - the great advantage of Amazon is that if it doesn't sell, you don't pay anything at all.

Yeah, I suppose you're right that it's swings and roundabouts. I think sometimes you can get more on amazon marketplace than ebay and getting a listing for 60 days is good value. But as an example, I sold a dvd on amazon the other day for £13.99 with a commission of £3.12 and 'international' postage credit of £1.79. The same dvd on ebay probably wouldn't have fetched as much but I would have easily got £2.50 (or more) intl. postage and the commision would have been exactly £1.26.

[Gregory]

I generally agree with MichaelB's points. I would say, though, that the shipping allowances are good for light items but often insufficient for heavier items. I recently had a large-ish book priced at $12, and I have always allowed international orders. Someone from France bought the book. I received $12.99 for shipping, if memory serves, and the cheapest shipping method to France was $30. Now I'm definitely not going to allow international shipping of medium-to-heavy items anymore. This is an extreme example, but there have been many cases even with domestic orders where the shipping allowance has fallen short and cut into the meager amount I was making on the item.
With cheaper items, one has to be especially careful about relatively high commissions. For example on a recent sale of $5.19, Amazon took $2.57 for their commission, or about half the purchase price. Fortunately, as you list the item they show you how much you will make when it sells, so one knows what one is agreeing to beforehand. I don't expect to make a profit on the things I sell, just get back most or all of what I paid for a DVD I've changed my mind about owning, and I can almost always come close to that. It helps that I never have to pay for packaging, except the tape. If one can get used bubble mailers for free at one's work that's a definite help in breaking even on a lot of these transactions. I don't feel I have many good options, which is why I'll sometimes give DVDs away to someone who won't find it odd to receive a "used" item. EBay fees are almost never more reasonable than Amazon's commissions. Listing things here on the forum is one of the best options, especially if you have a large enough amount at once to be gotten rid of.

[cgray]

Good point with the 5.xx where Amazon took half the commission. In fact, they ALWAYS take at least $1.00 or so, so the people that list books for $0.10 are actually losing money on the deal. I never understood this--do they just not get it? Or do they actually like the book so much that they would pay to have it find a good home? And if the latter, how much can you really like Dean Koontz? So,... pretty sure its the former. Must be strange to get your monthly statement from amazon and see that you paid $100 to sell 100 $0.01 books.

I sell books, cds, etc. and have found that I can't list anything for below about $3.85 and make any money, after packaging and mailing.

[tavernier]

I sell books, cds, etc. and have found that I can't list anything for below about $3.85 and make any money, after packaging and mailing.

That's right--when I see something go below $3.50 I close my listing.

[MichaelB]

I sell books, cds, etc. and have found that I can't list anything for below about $3.85 and make any money, after packaging and mailing.

Same here - there's a cut-off point below which I won't go, and I also completely agree with Gregory's point about excessively heavy books.

On the other hand, I stand by my assertion that for normal-weight, normal-size, reasonably-priced items (i.e. in the $10-50 bracket, or £5-25 in my currency), Amazon Marketplace is probably the online shopfront that generates the most reward for the least effort.