Buying and Selling DVDs on eBay

Buying and Selling DVDs on eBay

Introduction

Hello, my name is Scott, and I have been a member of ebay since September of 2004 and began selling in 2005. I started out by selling my own personal DVD collection that I bought and didn't want to watch anymore. They were of course brand new released movies I purchased for $16.99 retail that I would turn around and sell for a much lower price. This quickly ran out in a matter of weeks. With this guide, I hope to help you learn how to properly buy and sell DVDs on eBay. I am now a Powerseller and I sell DVDs on eBay every day, so I know what I'm talking about.

Buying DVDs on eBay and Elsewhere

You must figure out a method for purchasing your stock. I'll tell you what my methods are and perhaps that will help you to create your own. The market on eBay is saturated with DVDs. They are the most popular item on there. So one of my prime methods I use for picking up stock is to win auctions in the Wholesale DVD Lots section on eBay.

When searching eBay for wholesale lots of DVDs and I found that most lots are poor selections of no-name, non-major worthless classic movies (Kung Fu, action etc) that even Blockbuster couldn't sell. That was a HUGE let down. But with careful searching, I weeded out the sellers who have no idea what DVDs are in their "great assortment", and find sellers selling their personal DVD collections. How did I find a great collection of DVDs on ebay to resell? The solution is actually a lot easier than most people would expect. Instead of searching for the title of a DVD that you want, perform the following search:

"DVD personal collection"

It is very important that you type in the above search string exactly. If not, the results will contain lots of items that will not be able to sell, like worthless classic movies. Lots of people search for "DVD wholesale lots", but I have found that these lots do not have as many top-quality movies as though from individual sellers. The most important keyword is "personal", because that usually means it is an individual seller and not a company. Never bid on a DVD lot that does not list all of the DVDs in its description (this is a red flag, skip this item and move on). I only bid on auctions that have a complete list of all the DVDs for sale so I know exactly what I am paying for. I also confirm that the seller has good feedback.

When buying wholesale lots of DVDs on eBay, you need to consider the total price (bid + shipping) and figure the average price per DVD. I would say you found a great deal for if the price per DVD is $5 or below, including shipping. Example: If I am bidding on an auction for 100 DVDs (I like the title list, seller has good feedback, they offer PayPal, etc.), my maximum bid would be $500. That bid includes any shipping and handling fees that the seller charges. So, using the same example, if the seller charges $25 for shipping, my max bid would be $475. You do not want to bid higher than $5.00 per DVD as it will cut into your profits.

There are also tons of illegal bootleg DVDs sellers that are shipping from Hong Kong, China and even from the USA itself. All to often sellers don't say they are selling bootleg DVDs in their auctions. I find this to be a very important factor to list in your auction description when shopping for a movie. If an auction is priced to low, let's say $79.99 to $149.99 for a lot of 100 DVDs, they are either worthless classic B movies that nobody has heard of or they are bootleg copies. If I suspect they are bootlegs, I don't even bother asking if it is. I just move on. eBay can also be an awesome place to score hard-to-find DVDs or DVDs that are out of stock at your local Best Buy or Wal-Mart. In fact, even with the price of shipping, you can typically get a better deal for DVDs on eBay than at your local retail chain.

Another place I found for looking for DVDs is my local Video Rental Stores and making a deal with the owners to buy most of what they are overstocked on. By me buying from them they don't have to sell their product in 200 different transactions and take up valuable retail space. They sell to me all in one lot and they get rid of all the movies that are overstocked. Flea markets also tend to have a lot of used DVDs to sell but you have to look carefully and buy smart. I always bring my Cell Phone with Internet to check certain DVD prices before I buy.

Another way to find cheap and wholesale DVDs is to purchase a wholesale DVD list. The problem now is which list should I buy. I recommend you go to Wholesale-DVD-Directory.com This site contains reviews of the best and worst wholesale DVD lists for sale online. This site also contains reviews of the top wholesale video games lists available online.

Here are few more websites that have dvd lists below:

Selling and Listing your DVDs on eBay

Here are some good tips to properly list your DVDs and make your auction more appealing to buyers....

The Price Of Your DVDs: The first mistake I made buying DVDs was to pay to much for the movie and than have to lose money on eBay selling it. You have to do your research both at Half.com and eBay.com and continuously check what the prices are for popular movies. The supply and demand of DVDs for sale on ebay is like the stock market it goes up and down constantly. I was selling multiple DVDs of the movie "National Treasure" when the price was near $9.00 but as the supply became more abundant the price came down to $6 or $7. Its not fair, but its part of doing business.

On average your goal is to make $1 to $3 profit per DVD. That doesn't sound like much, but I was shipping about 800-1000 DVDs a week. This is how I priced my DVDs on eBay. On average I would pay $5.00 or below for each DVD for sale in a wholesale DVD lot auction on ebay. I would sell for $6.00 plus $3.95 for shipping. The actual cost for me to ship the DVD is $1.90. Then subtract ebay fees: $0.34 and paypal fees: $0.59 and I ended with a gain or profit of $2.12.

What DVD Are You Selling: Know if there are variations on the market, and if there are, know what version you are selling. AND TELL WHAT ONE IT IS! For example, there are several versions of Night of the Living Dead on the market. Along with the many public domain knock-offs, there are several versions with varying extras (the Millennium Edition, the 30th Anniversary Edition, the colorized edition w/ Mike Nelson commentary, Tom Savini's remake, etc). Sometimes a buyer will be willing to pay that much more if they know that the versions of the films that they want are in your auction.

eBay has a listing feature where you just have to input a DVDs UPC code and ebay will automatically have a description and a stock photo of the DVD. You can also search Google.com with your DVDs UPC code for the exact DVD you are looking for. You can compare the UPC code with the one you are listing. Some DVDs - especially independents and public domain films - will not have a UPC code. This is not a bad thing, it just means that your search will be completely reliant on the title and year of release. IMDB.com has free info of mostly every movie ever made and their Theater and DVD release dates.

DVDs Condition: You should always state the condition. If your DVD is new. New usually describes itself. If you have a used DVD, don't be afraid to state it has scratches. Most people only care that the movie plays fine. A lot of sellers say, "Watched Once". Well watching once doesn't mean a thing to me. You could have watched it once and threw it on something, scratching it, or even stepped on it for all I know. How do you know it even plays if you don't watch it a second time.

Buyers want to know " Like New Condition (no Scratches), Good Condition (Some light Scratches), Fair Condition ....." Personally in my opinion, DVDs in bad condition shouldn't be sold. Who likes to watch a movie that skips, or just stops completely? Here's the selling point: "Plays with no Problems".

TIP: If your selling a used DVD. Please clean the disc and case off before shipping it. It is terribly disgusting to have other peoples food, smudges of something you don't want to know, or many finger prints. Trust me, it's a "surprising" bonus alright! But just nasty. You should also put a piece of bubble wrap, tissue paper, or whatever INSIDE the hard case. 3 of 5 times the DVD pops out and gets scratched up during shipping. You can even say you do this in your auction description. Why? This puts more trust into the buyer that you take extra care of your customers.

The Specs - Aspect Ratio, Special Editions, Features, Region Code: Many DVDs come in two flavors - Widescreen and Fullscreen or sometimes both on the same disc. Of course be sure to mention which one you are selling. Special Edition DVDs and Features are also pretty important to mention. If you are selling a DVD with 2-disc's, you got it mention it. Make certain any inserts are mentioned, some DVDs have coupon inserts or other media related info.

I also mention they will play in USA/CA DVD players only so as to not have someone International bid and expect DVD will play in Europe. Although nowadays players can be worked in such a way in Europe that they can play region one DVDs. These Specs apply to single auctions as well as auctions for a lot.

Pictures: If your selling a Used DVD, I think its good to show the case actually has a DVD in it, or take a picture of the case with the disc leaning beside it. Having a picture of the actual item, rather than a stock photo really does give the buyer more confidence in your item.

Accept PayPal: I've noticed that the ending bid on an auction that allows PayPal is 25% or more higher than those that don't. It's the convenience and the buyer protection that makes it preferred. Buyers do not feel comfortable making a purchase and having no recourse if something goes wrong.

Just be honest, and answer email questions from your customers completely and quickly! If someone can't be bothered to answer questions about their auction, I can't be bothered to bid on it. Lack of attention to potential buyers is just as damaging as lack of attention to the layout of your auction. Take the time to learn eBay's version of page coding and avoid typing in all capital letters, commonly referred to as "online shouting". I know most of this may be obvious, but some people just don't know.

eBay Stores

The auction format on eBay is great, but some of the real low prices can only be found in eBay stores. Items listed for auction just cost more, the listing fees are more expensive and the duration of the auction is short in comparison to the eBay store format. What this means to the shopper is that items that are in regular auction format tend to be more expensive then items in eBay stores. For example for us to list a DVD lets say "Pirates of the Caribbean" in our store we only pay a $0.05 listing fee, if we were to do this at auction we would pay 7 times more.

Although this is a small number so is the cost of the movie. We sell this title for $3.09 in our store but at auction we would have an opening bid of at least $3.34 due to eBay auction insertion fee of $0.35. So the cost of this item went up about 10% just due to where on eBay it was listed. If the price of the movie was more expensive say first five seasons of "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM" $147 then $.35 does not matter as much but with the average sold price of a DVD is about $11 so $.35 does add some real cost. This is only one part of the equation, but I hope that it helps educate fellow shoppers about the eBay store format.

The Cost of Shipping your DVDs

The average cost to ship a 7 oz DVD First Class within the US, is approx. $1.90. Media Mail may run a little less but for these type of items the cost savings are not worth the painfully slow delivery time. Of course if you opt for Priority Mail your shipping costs will double and you won't get your CDs or DVDs that much quicker. I charge $3.95 for the first item; $2.00 each additional. You can charge buyers whatever you think is appropriate. You should mention your shipping cost not only in the auction description but in the shipping area of your sell it form.

Here's the math. The costs of my #1 Bubble Mailer padded envelope: $0.11(which you can purchase in bulk at ebay) + ebay fees: $0.34 + paypal fees: $0.59 + actual shipping cost: $1.90 = $2.94 Total. Now $3.95 minus $2.94 = $1.01. I made a $1.01 profit on the shipping and handling charge on top of the profit I made on the DVD. Again I know this doesn't sound like much but at the peak of my business I was selling 800-1000 DVDs a week. That's about $800 to $1000 a week. As a guide; if someone is charging much over these costs, that low price CD or DVD may not be such a bargain.

Thank you for reading my guide. I hope it is helpful. This method works for me when buying and selling DVDs on eBay.com and it could also work for you. Best of luck in your ebay quest for success.

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