Joe Oliveto has over a decade of experience covering tech, physical media, and entertainment. His work has appeared in such digital publications as HuffPost, Thrillist, Yahoo!, Time, Elite Daily, Cracked, and numerous others. Along with collecting physical media, his hobbies include hiking, reading, going to concerts, and attending repertory film screenings throughout NYC.
Building a physical media collection can be a rewarding experience for a cinephile. It can also be a somewhat costly one. The fact that discs aren't exactly priced with affordability in mind is one reason some might have for primarily watching movies and shows through streaming services and digital rentals or downloads.
One way to reduce the cost of DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs is to buy used copies. That said, if you most of your shopping on the internet, you do need to be aware of certain common mistakes people make when shopping for pre-owned media online.
Specifically, you need to be aware of the mistakes I've made. Learn from my errors, and you'll be more likely to grow a physical media collection consisting of quality used discs that might as well be new.
Mistake: Not checking the packaging's condition
Even if a disc is in good shape, the packaging might not be
Imagine you're a movie lover eager to add another Criterion Collection disc to your lineup. Maybe you want a prestige drama, like All of Us Strangers.
However, maybe you don't want to spend prestige prices. Criterion discs may be exciting for film buffs, but their costs can be less thrilling. Instead of shelling out close to $40 or so for a single movie, you decide to hop onto Amazon and see if any used Criterion copies of the film are available. You find one at a decent from a reputable seller who claims the disc is in good condition. You place an order accordingly, satisfied that you've purchased a fantastic new addition to your collection without spending more than you can justify.
Unfortunately, you get a minor surprise when you receive your order. While the disc might be in perfectly good shape, you discover the gorgeous Criterion packaging has been cannibalized. As it turns out, the previous owner of this disc was a public library. As libraries are known to do, they adjusted the packaging to fit one of their standard Blu-ray cases.
That's fine if you only care about the movie on the disc. However, if you're a physical media enthusiast, the disc's content absolutely isn't all you care about. You also value the container it came in. Boutique labels like the Criterion Collection release films as art, and their packaging reflects this. While the disc itself may have been perfectly fine in this scenario, the state of the box means you didn't get exactly what you thought you were paying for.
Sadly, I don't have to imagine the above situation. It happened to me. From that experience, I learned a valuable lesson: On marketplaces like Amazon, sellers are typically referring to the condition of the disc itself when selling used DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs as being in "good" or "like new" condition. You need to check the condition of the packaging to confirm it's also in good shape.
Mistake: Not thoroughly evaluating every disc in a bundle
Sometimes a seemingly good deal is a bad one upon closer inspection
Another error I've made is one that's easy to fall prey to if you're not careful about properly considering what you're getting out of a supposed deal. In this instance, I discovered that one way to quickly build up a physical media collection while technically not spending a lot of money is to shop for Blu-ray bundles on eBay and other such platforms. Sellers often sell bundles of five or so used discs together, many of which are often loosely-themed. For example, you might fund a bundle for "Criterion Collection thrillers" or "Apatow era comedies."
It's important to remember that the tactics sellers use in these circumstances often aren't that different from those that major retailers might leverage. In the days when it was more common for major big box stores to offer extensive physical media options, you might find DVD bundles that seemed to offer decent savings.
That is, until you thought honestly about all the titles these bundles or sets offered. Two or even three might appeal to you, while the others might not actually be the type you'd otherwise spend money on. You may technically be getting a reasonably large amount of content for the price you're paying, but at least some of that content might consist of movies you'll never watch.
The same goes for buying used DVD and Blu-ray bundles online. During my early days of physical media collecting, I was eager to amass a library of titles. In my eagerness, I bought the occasional bundle that came with titles I honestly haven't even watched yet. I can't exactly claim these purchases represented wise financial decisions on my part.
Mistake: Not making sure you're getting the specific edition you want
There's often more than one physical media version of a title you're looking for
Online retailers offering new DVDs and Blu-rays often describe these products thoroughly. Although the price may be higher, one of the perks of buying a new disc from an established retailer is that you can review the listing and be confident you're getting the exact version of the disc you want.
You need to be more careful when buying pre-owned discs online. This is another case in which I've made mistakes by rushing into a purchase without confirming what I'm buying.
Any fan of physical media knows there will often be multiple releases of the same piece of content. Consider the Lord of the Rings films. These are available in their theatrical forms, as well as the extended editions.
That's a particularly obvious example. Others may be easier to overlook. For instance, a film might be available in a single-disc edition as well as a two-disc edition with expanded supplemental features. In these instances, you want to be certain you know what you're buying.
Of course, there are also obvious mistakes someone could make when buying used physical media online that you've likely already considered. You probably don't need anyone telling you to research a seller's reputation on Amazon or eBay before making a purchase. However, even if you consider yourself to be a reasonably smart shopper, as I consider myself to be, there are still traps you could fall into that might lead to some buyer's remorse. These tips will help you guard against them.