Buying DVD's from foreign countries on Ebay????

[puffkin]

Hopefully someone can help with this.

I am trying to buy the Baby Einstein box set of DVD's on ebay. I have seen some really reasonable pricing. However, many of the units listed come from China/Hong Kong. They say they are exactly the same as the American Version, just different packaging (though all in English). I just want to make sure that these will play on my DVD player. What should I look for to make sure the discs are compatible to my DVD player? Thank you so much.

 

[Rowena]

I would pass on this for two reasons.

Different countries have different regions. You may have a region free player, but most likely they won't work.

Also, this is most likely a bootleg/pirated set.

 

[cardaway]

Really bad idea.

Very few of these products are legit (bootlegs) and even fewer are really as good as the legit releases here in the states.

Just some of the problems with the bootlegs... incomplete programs, audio drop outs, unreadable discs, picture breakups.

There are a few exceptions, and some are legit Asian releases. Be very careful. Reading the sellers feedback is a good start.

As to the region issue, most bootlegs are indeed region free, but not all region free discs are bootlegs. I own a few legit Asian releases because the U.S. verions are edited for content.

The biggest red flags oddly enough are Disney releases. Because of the higher price, and Disney's annoying habit of puting titles in the "vault", Asian releases of Disney movies are all over the place. Be very careful to check the feedback and look for descriptions and actual pictures that show the region 1 release. Don't trust stock photos. Many times stock photos are used in auctions, but the Aisan bootleg is shipped instead.