Beware of ebay Blu-ray Deals!
I just felt it was my civic duty to pass this story along to all my fellow Blu-ray fans. So the other day I was shopping on ebay and got the urge to add a little Odette Yustman to my growing Blu-ray collection. I have been persistently tracking the price of The Unborn Blu-ray for several days now and as luck would have it I decided upon the lowest price I could find for the Blu-ray. I got it new and sealed for $11.76 and a small shipping charge. The seller was on the ball as he immediately shipped it the next morning and I came home yesterday to find it waiting for me on the kitchen table. Of course, everytime I receive a Blu-ray I am as giddy as a school boy in 1980’s coming home to watch He-Man, Transformers and G.I. Joe.
So anyway, I open it and to my surprise as I slipped it out of its slipcover I noticed a small rectangle missing from what appears to be the sealed plastic around the Blu-ray case. It appeared as if someone took a razor blade and cut out a small rectangle around where the wrapper was imprinted saying it was made in Mexico. I found this very odd. Everything seemed new and sealed except this small rectangle from the plastic missing. So then came the kicker. Anyone who knows me knows how anal I am with my products and how they must be pristine or else I am passing. I noticed razor blade cuts into the plastic case where the rectangle of plastic was removed. I did not even check to see if the artwork was damaged as I immediately proceeded to email the seller. Below are the responses I received.
“Hi, thanks for contacting me. I get my blu-rays from rackers. Rackers are third party companies that are hired by grocers and supermarkets like Wal-Mart and Kroger to stock, add, remove, and keep inventory as they deem necessary. Its popular with items such as greeting cards, sodas, and DVDs/blu-rays. When these companies pull items off the shelf that they don’t think will sell in a certain region, they wholesale them to people like me. If a certain store has a promotional sticker or security sticker, or any sticker otherwise placed on the blu-ray by the store and not the manufacturer, the rackers will often cut the stickers off the blu-rays before wholesaling them out. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about this. The items are still new and unopened as stated. I’m sorry for this, it just comes with the territory of buying discounted movies. I can take a look at my inventory tomorrow and see if I have any that are without cuts if you’d like, but I can’t make a guarantee. Because it is store and region specific, the same title will often have the slices on all the plastic, and some cuts unfortunately go deep enough to cut the case. If you haven’t opened the factory seal on your blu-ray, I will gladly exchange it for you if I have one that isn’t cut or is not cut into the case. For the future, I’d recommend that you ask the seller if there are any of these types of cuts on the case, and request that they make sure they send you one free of cuts. Though its not common, most sellers will have a couple shipments with particular titles with these cuts, as most sellers on here get their blu-rays from rackers. I hope this information helps you. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! “
I immediately responded back to the seller and told him never in the past 3 years have I ever experienced anything like this after buying 30+ new and sealed Blu-rays off of ebay. I told him it was the seller’s responsibility and liability to disclose the item’s conditions in the actual listing. The seller responded back to me by saying the following.
“Again, I do apologize. Most buyers that are concerned with the aesthetics of a case are familiar with this and will email me ahead of time to make sure one way or the other, but I can understand why you would have no idea. The item is still technically sealed, as the seal that protects the item being sold and of value, the actual disc, from being touched is still sealed. Ill check my inventory tomorrow when I get to my office for an Unborn without cuts. Also, if the case from my personal collection is cut-free, I would be fine with exchanging it for you. I don’t care much for the case itself so it wouldn’t bother me.”
Now while this is nice of the seller to try and work out my concerns please tell me…what kind of buyer, even as anal as myself, ever contacts the seller to tell them to make sure they send a new and sealed copy that does not have any razor cuts in the case and/or artwork? The answer to that, at least for me, is not anyone that I know of.
For what it is worth, I have also seen practices where people will sell the Blu-ray disc with no case and/or artwork. This happened to my brother-in-law before on ebay. Please make sure to read the auction closely to see the words “still factory sealed.” If it does not say that, then move on, or contact the seller to get concrete evidence and proof of what you want.
I have not heard back from the seller today and/or gotten to make any alternate arrangements as of yet. I applaud the seller for trying to work things out, but as I stated before I felt this was my civic duty to warn all Blu-ray fans of this practice going on out there. Please feel free to leave your comments and thoughts below on this matter. Thanks for reading!
It was my Economics professor who said that the old addage “Caveat Emptor”…”Let the Buyer Beware” was no longer applicable in the US. The modus operandi was now “Caveat Venditor”…”Let the Seller Beware”. This paradigm shift was due to the state of litigation that had risen from Class Action, Safety Recalls, etc. But this is not the case in the rest of the world where the consumer has to be wary of every transaction. Food for thought.
one word stolen… no one can get bluray movies that cheap.. and to think its not its just plain dumb that don’t sell bluray movies in grocery stores
Well I am happy to report that after a few more emails since last night the seller has agreed to pay the postage for me to send it back to them and send me out a NEW and SEALED Blu-ray of The Unborn with no razor cuts. I’m looking forward to this. I guess it just goes to show that a little polite conversation could go a long way, but buyer beware. Be careful out there! Thanks for reading!
Did you take any pictures of the blu-ray?
Thanks for asking Joe, but no I did not. Sadly, I so was disappointed that I just put the cardboard sleeve back around it and immediately contacted the seller. Of course, I was astonished to hear what the seller had to tell me, but pleased in the end that the seller understood my frustrations and agreed to swap it out at no expense to me. Only time will tell next week if I get a fairy tale ending. I sure hope I do! I mailed the Blu-ray back today, new and sealed 🙂
Wow, you really are anal. How much is that disc in the store?
if it says “factory sealed” one assumes it’s packaging is pristine — uncut! if the buyer doesn’t squawk back when the pkg. isn’t whole,or messed with, then sellers won’t be as likely to disclose the packaging condition up front, as they all should. You tell ’em, Bri!
Yes I am really anal and I admitted that above, but that is not the point of all this. The point is when you buy something that is listed as “brand new” and “sealed,” SHOULDN’T you get just that? Or would you expect to find a brand new and sealed Blu-ray case have razor cuts on it where a chuck of the plastic was cut out?
Stick to Brick and Mortar stores or Amazon. Why would anyone buy anything from E-Bay? Its a GIANT flea market. You get what you pay for. Add the price of what you spent on the disc, your time e-mailing the seller, your time sending it back… Wow you could have bought five of them from Amazon!
Err…Bob, did you read the part where he has purchased over 30 others with no issue? This renders your point moot.
I’ve also purchased quite a few off of eBay but luckily have never run into this. I have had one come with a return address to a pawn shop though so who knows where that originated from. 🙂
Thanks for the heads-up!
I hear The Unborn is awful.