Bootlegs 101

By Michael O'May

Lesson 2 - The Purchase or trade.

  It’s a big world out there and thanks to the internet bootleggers are interconnected constantly trading and buying each others bootlegs forming one giant collective of movies. Some bootleggers keep their collection to themselves, and trade in secret, like myself, others make a buck on the side, and that is where this lesson comes in.

  First of all let me get something perfectly clear. You can not make a living bootlegging movies, in actuality you’re going to loose money if done right so it bares to reason you would want to recoup some losses selling online or at conventions.

  Another point I want to make is there are no refunds in bootlegging, once you buy something, you own it. You really can’t go to the cops and say you were ripped off buying a more than likely illegal DVD copy of a movie. It’s like telling a cop you were ripped off buying weed. So remember there is always risk involved in purchase, but for the most part if you know what to expect you’ll be fine.

Conventions:

  You can’t go to a horror movie convention and not find at least a dozen guys selling bootlegged movies. For the most part they are genuine lost movies and there are some pretty nice versions out there (Night of the Creeps for example). There are some things to look out for though.

1. Watch before you buy: I can’t emphasize this enough. The box can say widescreen directors cut but that doesn’t mean it is, so if they have a TV and DVD player set up at the table sample the movie before you buy it. If the dealer has no TV or DVD player ask to test it out at the table next to him, if they refuse, don’t bother.


2. Don’t buy from anyone suspicious: This happens in Jersey, a lot. If the table is selling anything they claim is “Legit” its bullshit. You don’t sell Sopranos DVD’s at a convention unless they are fake. If they have say SAW 4 on DVD again don’t be an idiot you’re going to be ripped off. These dealers usually looked mobbed up and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are, so stay far away.


3. Haggle: You can always shave 5 bucks or get a 2 for 1 deal if you haggle right so have a fucking spine and bargain.

Flea Markets/Grocery Stores:

  Believe it or not you can find some good shitty DVDS that are more or less bootlegs, because not a dam thing has been done to these movies beyond a menu screen. You usually find these lurking on spinner racks located in the back of the store or at some Asian guy’s booth at the flea market that also happens to sell socks and batteries. There is a catch again though, more often than not you have no idea what you’re getting because the titles are changed and there’s no pictures on the box to give you any idea what’s going on. This is merely to avoid getting sued by the owners of say Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave if they ever found out Wegman’s grocery stores were selling their “Classic” for 2.99. As a rule of thumb I pick up anything that sounds like a TV movie, stars Fred Williamson or looks like a kung fu flick. Just because you cant go wrong with shit like that. Either way expect a 50/50 split of fun shit/pure shit. Roll the dice it’s worth it.

Online:

This is your biggest risk. You can’t test the product before you buy it. You have no rights as a consumer. And if whoever you are buying online from sees fit to fuck you over they can without repercussion because essentially you are buying an illegal product. Sooner or later your going to get fucked on the internet, it has happened to me many times and it will happen to you, accept that when dealing with online purchase.

1. Start on eBay. I can never emphasize this enough; if the movie you are looking for exists in some legit fashion somewhere (other regions) chances are it’s on the bay. So take the extra minute and check it out.


2.   Still can’t find it? Do a search on the net just to see what turns up; again it may be on DVD somewhere.

  For the sake of the tutorial let’s say you can’t find shit, its time to hit up the online bootleggers. http://www.shockcinemamagazine.com/links.html is the best place to start. It is a collection of links to the more reputable bootleg and some times not bootleg sites to find your rare gem. If you’re new to the world of bootlegs take your time and navigate each site and explore the catalogs there are literally tens of thousands of titles out there. It can be overwhelming so take it slow as to not miss a thing.

  Here’s where it gets tricky though. For one you can easily get ripped off. I have on a few occasions gotten incomplete movies; my money was taken but no product sent, etc. by less than reputable online sellers that I took the chance with because they claimed to have what I wanted. It’s a chance you take. You must remember you are buying an illegal product essentially thus your right are little if none. But it bears to reason these guys have more to gain keeping you happy than pissing you off, you just get the occasional bad apple.  A bigger problem in my opinion though is they (the online bootleggers) will always trump every movie they are selling up as being the greatest thing ever when more often than not it’s just a shitty movie that deserves to die a slow painful death. You can’t test the movie at the dealers small TV, and its more than likely not on IMDB so you just have to take the chance. As a rule I treat every movie description as an exaggeration so if they claim a movie to be super cool it’s probably just semi cool and has its moments. But you are going to be surprised from time to time so take the chance.

  You will want to pay attention to any notations they make about the film you are about to purchase so your not surprised when you get it. Picture quality, language, letterbox, and different cuts of the film are often mentioned as a courtesy to the buyer.

  Personally I have used www.revengeismydestiny.com many times and they have never done me wrong. The site features some pretty good buy 2 get 1 free sales a few times a year to make dropping a hundred bucks a worth wild idea. But to stay competitive generally one site won’t have the movies of another so shop around, and be careful.

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