Snow White - To Buy Or Not To Buy ?

Atlantica · Post by **Atlantica** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:37 am

I have been so wanting to own Snow White on DVD ever since I became aware of Disney DVDs, but I sadly missed it the first time round. Its going to Amazon.co.uk for around £45 for the collectors edition, with book etc. I just wondered if you guys though it was worth owning?

Any help would be really, really welcome!

cornelius · Post by **cornelius** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:57 am

I've had the same dilemma myself for quite a while and with only 3 more classics to get to complete my collection it's very tempting but I just can't justify spending that much on one used dvd at the moment. Having waited a couple of years for 101 dalmations I can wait a couple more for this.

I guess it's only worth what you are willing to pay. If you feel it's worth it, I'd say go and get it. The most I have paid for an OOP classic was £24. I don't think I'd go over £25.

yukitora · Post by **yukitora** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:24 am

Well, if you regret buying it you can always resell it.

You might make a small loss, but you'll have had the experience of owning it, even if only for awhile

Atlantica · Post by **Atlantica** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:42 am

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm thinking of maybe investing in a multi-region DVD player . .. .. as I was looking at the price of Snow White on R1 on Amazon.co.uk, and its £18.99 ! ! Thats shocking compared to the R2 ! Multi REgion DVD players cant be that expensive, can they ??

bean:therio · Post by **bean:therio** » Thu May 08, 2008 5:30 am

atlanticaunderthesea wrote:Thanks for the advice guys! I'm thinking of maybe investing in a multi-region DVD player . .. .. as I was looking at the price of Snow White on R1 on Amazon.co.uk, and its £18.99 ! ! Thats shocking compared to the R2 ! Multi REgion DVD players cant be that expensive, can they ??

There is a great number of cheap region 2 players that are either region free or can be made region free. I have a Philips player and I was able to make it region free very easily by just entering a code with the remote. It works like that with many players and many brands. Googeling on the name of a specific model plus keywords like "region free hack" should give you information on how and if a type of player can be made multi-region.

blackcauldron85 · Post by **blackcauldron85** » Thu May 08, 2008 4:17 pm

Are you saying that the lowest price is 18.99? If so, you may not want to go with the cheapest one- you get what you pay for. If prices start at 18.99, it may not be the most quality DVD available- definitely check feedback scores...you may need to pay a bit more for a good-quality copy from a seller you can trust (based on feedback scores). I'd just hate for you to buy one at a cheaper price and it turns out to be scratched or a bootleg.

Touchstone84 · Post by **Touchstone84** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:01 pm

yukitora wrote:You might make a small loss, but you'll have had the experience of owning it, even if only for awhile

No, it's "for a limited time" in the Disney marketing tounge!

Atlantica · Post by **Atlantica** » Wed May 14, 2008 3:12 am

Thank you for all your thoughts guys! I really, really appreciate it!

You are right though Amy, I think I'm going to get a more expensive one, just to be on the safe side. Thank you for thinking of me!

TheKey · Post by **TheKey** » Wed May 14, 2008 3:44 am

I'm thinking about buying the R1-DVD of Snow White, too, but I'm not sure how to find out if a DVD on ebay is a bootleg.
How does the real one look like and how much do you usually have to pay for a real copy of Snow White?

Atlantica · Post by **Atlantica** » Wed May 14, 2008 3:56 am

Go onto play.com, and R1 Snow White DVD's are there. Amazon.co.uk has them too !

blackcauldron85 · Post by **blackcauldron85** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:43 am

You're welcome, atlanticaunderthesea!

TheKey wrote:I'm thinking about buying the R1-DVD of Snow White, too, but I'm not sure how to find out if a DVD on ebay is a bootleg.
How does the real one look like and how much do you usually have to pay for a real copy of Snow White?

Looking at feedback scores and buyer comments is the best way to ensure that the product you get isn't a bootleg. Even if a seller has 100% or 99% feedback, read some comments by people who have bought items from that seller before. If even one person mentioned getting a bootleg, then your best bet would be to stay away, since other people may have received bootlegs without knowing it.

Don't just purchase the first copy you find- look at all of the listings if you have to, so you can figure out which copy is the best value, both in price and quality.

I would feel more comfortable paying a decent amount of money for this collector's item than a cheaper price. I would assume that the majority of people selling SW&t7D on eBay (or Amazon, etc.) know by now that the item is an out-of-print collector's item. If a seller is selling it for $5, then you have to wonder why. Also, check to see if the seller has sold many, many copies of the same film before. How likely is it that someone would have bought 50 or more copies of a DVD when it was in print, just to sell later on? Especially with SW&t7D, how would they have known that the Platinum Editions would turn out to be such collector's items?

So often, parents will buy Disney movies on eBay and they don't know any better- if they receive a bootleg, they won't know that it is, so they'll leave positive feedback. That's why you must look at all the feedback. I don't want to slander anyone, but it would not be wise to purchase from this seller:
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d ... 0224765349

This particular seller does not have great feedback, and more than one person has claimed to have received bootleg DVDs. And, just look at how many copies of each film he or she is selling.

If you want to post links to eBay links of something you want to buy, I'd be happy to look at them and help you out (since I have lots of eBay experience...).

Make sure you read the entire auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Snow-White-and-the- ... dZViewItem
says:
BRAND NEW PLATINUM EDITION DVD ......DISNEYS SNOW WHITE DVD. ONE DISC ONLY SMOKE FREE HOME DIGITAL SURROUND SOUND..LOTS OF FUN EXTRAS..ONE DISC ONLY SMOKE FREE HOME.........

Obviously this is not an original copy, since there are no Region 1 one-disc copies of SW&t7D. Just beware, and read everything!

TheKey · Post by **TheKey** » Sat May 17, 2008 6:18 am

Thank you so much, blackcauldron85!

I've been searching ebay for a few days now and it's relly exhausting to find real copies of OOP Disney DVDs. =(

On the German ebay there a fewer bootlegs, but the DVDs are way more expensive and the German Snow White DVD has only one Disc...

What about this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Snow-White-2-Disc-P ... dZViewItem

The DVD is very cheap so I guess it's a bootleg, but I didn't know that there are also bootlegs with booklets.

Scamander · Post by **Scamander** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:52 pm

@TheKey: Unfortunately there are really authentic looking bootlegs, some have even booklets, as you can see here.
The auction you've linked is presumably a bootleg, because the seller sold many region-free Disney- and Ghibli-DVDs, which worldwide do not exist.
I'm from Germany too and I would advise you to search on german ebay for the R1 Snow White-DVD. Look for auctions from Europe and go for a bid, if the seller accepts paypal and you think he is trustable.

blackcauldron85 · Post by **blackcauldron85** » Sun May 18, 2008 6:58 pm

Often bootlegs don't have inserts, but sometimes they do, as Scamander said.

Some of the SW&t7D this seller is selling are the 2-disc Region 1 versions, while some are imported region-free DVDs; since I don't know how the seller acquired the region-free DVDs, I don't know if he or she would know if they are bootlegs. The seller either could not know that they are bootlegs (if they are), or he or she doesn't care and is knowingly selling bootlegs.

A good piece of advice in this instance is, if you have a bad feeling, any bad feeling, at all, then save your money and buy from a different seller. You can always wait to buy- if you don't see any auction at the moment that you are willing to bid on, you can always wait and check every few days. That seller doesn't give refunds, so it's best not to do business with that seller. This seller has sold so many SW&t7D, "Beauty and the Beast", "Sleeping Beauty", and "The Little Mermaid II" DVDs just this month that I'd be wary of buying from them, especially since the prices are so cheap.

Bootleggers want to make money; they charge a cheaper rate per item because they'll sell more. If you see a DVD for $50, for example, and the seller has good feedback and will provide pictures (either in the auction or when you email them) and will be happy to clearly answer all of your questions, then that would be an ideal purchasing situation.

I just wouldn't risk purchasing from this seller.

But, I'm sure an honest seller will come along with a copy that you can buy, eventually!

PeterPanfan · Post by **PeterPanfan** » Sun May 18, 2008 9:12 pm

There's a better chance of a Snow White DVD being real if the price is around $40.

blackcauldron85 · Post by **blackcauldron85** » Mon May 19, 2008 5:27 am

PeterPanfan wrote:There's a better chance of a Snow White DVD being real if the price is around $40.

That is extremely true!

Scamander · Post by **Scamander** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:13 am

Gosh, I've even paid $60 (plus $10 for Shipping)
But I had to, because I've lost faith in US-ebay-sellers.

TheKey · Post by **TheKey** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:34 am

Thanks for all your help!

Yesterday I bid on an auction of a private seller for a used copy of Snow White and I won!
The seller just had that one copy and never sold a Snow White DVD before.
Of course I can just be really sure when my DVD arrives but I'm at least 98% sure that it's the real thing.

I'm really excited!

I guess it will take a while for the DVD to get here... but well, I waited for so long, I can wait a little bit longer.

blackcauldron85 · Post by **blackcauldron85** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:05 am

Yay! I'm happy to hear that! I hope that it is in great, unbootlegged, condition when you get it!

TheKey · Post by **TheKey** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:22 am

Thank you very much! =)

Now there are just three masterpieces I have yet to buy: Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 and Make Mine Music.
Make Mine Music is not available on DVD in Germany so I'll have to import it as well and both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 are very expensive on ther German ebay Site, like Snow White.
So I'm thinking about buying them on ebay.com as well but I noticed that there are a lot of bootlegs listed for those movies, too.

Is there a bootleg version of the Fantasia Anthology?
And what criterias do I have to look out for with those movies?

I'm sorry if this isn't the right thread anymore, I didn't want to start a new one.

Stupid bootleggers... they're spoiling all the fun of buying Disney DVDs.

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Snow White - To Buy Or Not To Buy ?

Snow White - To Buy Or Not To Buy ?