The Jury Room

by **Stubblecat** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:30 pm

Here is where I ask some theoretical questions about how and why we buy movies, and what will happen to our collections.

To preface: As a newer member of the DVD Verdict forum, I've gleaned that the members here seem to be fairly well-educated and literate for the most part, and that the average age is probably somewhere in the late-20s-to-early-30s. Almost everyone here types in full sentences and uses correct grammar. That alone says a lot about the company you keep.

Anywho, my point is to question the nature of our DVD collections. Do you impulsively buy lots of DVDs (or Blu-Rays)? Are you scaling back due to finances? Are you clearing out titles that you've only watched once? Are you upgrading your collection to Blu-Ray? Or are you getting older and watching your priorities shift away from buying movies? Do you just rent or download?

I'm curious.

I ask because of my own situation. I used to spend hundreds of dollars of my formerly disposable income on laserdiscs and (eventually) DVDs. But now I'm closing in on 40. I recently took a look at my DVDs (a few times... It's a process that I went through 4 times) and asked myself when I would watch any particular DVD next.
Do I keep a title because it's a neat collectable? Is it something cool that I've watched once or twice but can't seem to part with? Is it something that my kids would want to watch? If I died tomorrow, would my wife just sell it off for a dollar at a yard sale?
The questions go on...

So before I answer the questions myself, tell me where your head is in regards to your collection based on your situation in life.

by **the5thghostbuster** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:36 pm

I've cut back both because I've felt like buying less and because I have to in order tpo pay for school this year. Actually sold more this year than any other.

by **hoytereden** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:05 pm

I'm slowing down considerably due, in part, that I have a daughter in colllege and a son a year or so away from starting same. I too used to pick up a lot of DVDs. Some were double dips of Laserdisc titles and others were stricly whim decisions. I'm a lot more selective now but I am still double dipping on Blu-ray titles of DVDs I especially enjoy. If there's a choice on a new title I go for the Blu-ray edition which, of course, is more expensive. My other money drainer is poster collecting and that also has impacted my number of DVD/Blu-ray purchases.
As far as selling off titles-I'm a pack rat by nature and the miserable prices they give you on trade-ins doesn't make it worth while for me.

by **the5thghostbuster** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:38 pm

the5thghostbuster wrote:I've cut back both because I've felt like buying less and because I have to in order to pay for school this year. Actually sold more this year than any other.

by **SmokestackJones** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:44 pm

Hey Bubble,

My collection isn't near as big as some members' (about 250-500 titles), and although I've spent quite a chunk of change on discs, but I go for quality over quantity (not to bash others - I'm sure there are collections here that are huge and of high qulity). Through selective buying (this is where being notoriously picky about my DVDs is an asset) and selling off the dross, I've achieved a lean, mean viewing library. Practically every one of them I could take on a desert island and not regret it (well, I would regret not taking more of them... :-)

). In short, it reflects my taste in film.

There are a couple of reasons: my aforementioned pickiness and the fact that I want to leave my collection to my grandkids when I pass on.

-SJ

by **Future Man** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:23 am

My buying has slowed considerably since the last 20% off sales when I splurged and got most of the titles on my wish list. Although I do intend to replace select dvd titles with their Blu-Ray counterparts, Blu-Rays need to drop in price before I will buy them with any regularity. Psychologically, buying a Blu-Ray at their current pricing makes me as choosy as I was in the old days of buying laser discs even though laser discs were typically much higher priced (often $40-$100) than Blu-Rays are now. I never owned more than 20-30 laser discs compared to 800 or so dvds.

by **Dan Mancini** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:18 am

I've done the same thing you have, Stubblecat -- mostly because I'm not a collector by nature. When I hit around 700 titles, I realized there were discs I wasn't going to watch again, as well as discs I would watch so infrequently that it was pointless owning them (even if I loved the movies). And they were sort of an eyesore in my home theater (I mean, I had boxed sets stacked on the floor, for Pete's sake). I started selling them off a couple years ago and sit pretty consistently at around 200 titles -- about a quarter of which are kid's titles that I wouldn't own if I didn't have rugrats.

What's scary is that my DVD sales funded the purchase of a PS3, an widescreen LCD for my desktop, an 8-megapixel camera, a major out-of-pocket car repair, and some other stuff. It's sort of scary how much loot I had tied up in little plastic discs.

I almost never buy DVDs or Blu-rays anymore -- only titles I know I'll watch again and again.

by **Steve T Power** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:18 am

My habits remain pretty consistent. I buy what i'm interested in, and as a general rule we don't (we being myself and the missus) sell discs. I'm not a compulsive buyer, i don't HAVE to have something new every week, and i generally enjoy a good blind purchase if i know it's a film i'm going to be interested in. I am also, by nature, something of a collector, but the same rules apply; buy what i think i 'll enjoy. My game collection is arguably more sprawling than my DVD collection (it's scattered throughout the house), but i cuurently sit on approximately 1000 DVD's (i haven't done a count in ages, and since DVDSpot disappeared i'm not as on the ball at keeping everything cataloged. Between all my consoles/pc i'm probably close to that number in games as well.

Every now and again there will be a culling of the collection (maybe once every two years) where the collection may drop by about 100 titles, but it doesn't take long building up again (I manage a larger scale video store - so i get no shortage of kickbacks there... particularly when titles go pre-viewed).

My last culling paid for my 360 HD-DVD add-on (about 6 months before the format died) and a good chunk of the PS3. The one and only game culling paid the remainder of the PS3. The hole in my soul after that has made me vow that, barring financial crisis, the game collection will never be raped again.

by **SmokestackJones** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:48 am

Steve T Power wrote:My habits remain pretty consistent. I buy what i'm interested in, and as a general rule we don't (we being myself and the missus) sell discs. I'm not a compulsive buyer, i don't HAVE to have something new every week, and i generally enjoy a good blind purchase if i know it's a film i'm going to be interested in. I am also, by nature, something of a collector, but the same rules apply; buy what i think i 'll enjoy. My game collection is arguably more sprawling than my DVD collection (it's scattered throughout the house), but i cuurently sit on approximately 1000 DVD's (i haven't done a count in ages, and since DVDSpot disappeared i'm not as on the ball at keeping everything cataloged. Between all my consoles/pc i'm probably close to that number in games as well.

Every now and again there will be a culling of the collection (maybe once every two years) where the collection may drop by about 100 titles, but it doesn't take long building up again (I manage a larger scale video store - so i get no shortage of kickbacks there... particularly when titles go pre-viewed).

My last culling paid for my 360 HD-DVD add-on (about 6 months before the format died) and a good chunk of the PS3. The one and only game culling paid the remainder of the PS3. The hole in my soul after that has made me vow that, barring financial crisis, the game collection will never be raped again.

Well, we now see where your loyalties lie...VIDGAMER!! :mrgreen:

-SJ

by **Andrew Forbes** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:42 am

I'm a compulsive collector/shopper, but I am trying to pare down my collection. I enjoy having a library of quality "Ahht Haus" stuff, but I try to maintain a degree of variety, since my viewing moods vary weekly. I like having a little of everything, and not just AFI's latest, greatest hits list, which is why you'll find Fulltime Killer next to The Furies next to Galaxy Quest on my shelf.

by **Gobear** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:44 am

Dan Mancini wrote:I've done the same thing you have, Stubblecat -- mostly because I'm not a collector by nature. When I hit around 700 titles, I realized there were discs I wasn't going to watch again, as well as discs I would watch so infrequently that it was pointless owning them (even if I loved the movies). And they were sort of an eyesore in my home theater (I mean, I had boxed sets stacked on the floor, for Pete's sake). I started selling them off a couple years ago and sit pretty consistently at around 200 titles -- about a quarter of which are kid's titles that I wouldn't own if I didn't have rugrats.

How did you earn that much money from selling DVDS? Apart from the few rare OOPS that I own that I might be able to sell on e-Bay, the advent of Blu-Ray has made DVDs worthless in the second-hand market. Where are you selling your discs so profitably?

by **Stubblecat** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:34 pm

It's definitely harder to get good money for DVDs nowadays. It's true that Blu-Ray has dented the secondary DVD market, but so has the endless double-dips of exisiting titles.

Last year I had a scary experience which put forth the issue of my own mortality. Then I took a hard look at the shelves full of DVDs in my basement, and asked myself what would happen to all the stuff I own if I died tomorrow.

The sad answer was that all my DVDs, CDs, vinyl, etc. would all end up in some yard sale being sold for a hundredth of what I paid for them.
So I decided to go through several culls, the last one being the most brutal. At first I just cut through the impulse buys and stuff that I could easily part with.
Then the next time I started asking myself when I would ever watch these films again.
Round three were the big fancy box sets which serve little purpose.
And finally I got rid of titles that I will most likely buy on Blu-Ray once the prices go down.

I had criteria for anything I kept as well: If it came with zero inserts (ie: just a disc, a case and the outer slip of paper), then I copied it and sold the original. And anything original I kept had to be something that I watch at least once a year or have watched more than once and hold some sort of special significance to me.

Now that I buy Blu-Ray, I blind-buy nothing. Almost everything is a double or triple-dip of films that I am completely in love with.

by **mavrach** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:09 pm

I got my first DVD player much later than most, 2003. I had so many VHS' that I didn't want to give them up.

So I started collecting DVD's with the plan that I'd just buy ones I didn't yet have on VHS or that I really liked. I started to bulk up the collection as fast as I could, with the idea that I'd have enough to call a normal collection, and would peter off in purchases thereafter. This point hasn't come yet, and now I own over 1300 DVD's.

Once you pass 365 DVD's, you can't watch them that often, it would take about 4 years for me to watch one DVD a day to get through the whole collection. So unfortunately there aren't a lot of repeats in there, and there is also a huge unwatched pile, about 150 at this point. Nevertheless, I'm still very picky about selling DVD's.

I'll only sell them if I'm sure I'll never want to see them again. I might blind buy something risky and end up not liking it, that gets sold. Or if I buy something to try to force myself to eventually watch it because I'd probably like it, but ends up sitting unwatched for years. Those get sold too. There is no profitability in selling DVD's, so I just get rid of them for space, and they end up just being discounts in another purchase that day.

I've been trying to cut back. I'm getting older, getting married in May, and need to save. I obviously have no self control with DVD purchases, so fortunately I've naturally bought just about everything that I'd want at this point. I can go into most DVD stores and come out without finding anything (I even hit the Circuit City closing sale and didn't get anything even with 50% off everything). So most of my purchases are limited to new releases. I'm getting pickier there too, and will just buy the ones I know I want to see.

by **tucco** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:26 pm

My DVD purchases have leveled off dramatically in recent months, I think rather permanently.
I don't have the disposable income that I used too, and was buying too many DVDs against what I could afford.
Now I tend to buy mostly catalog titles that have been restored and re-released like the GODFATHER and DIRTY HARRY collections for example, and new releases of current movies like THE DARK KNIGHT, etc., which I absolutely know I'll re-watch.

My buying habits have changed to where I don't buy every title that I want because my buying habits HAD to change....I just can't spend the money on them like I used to and thankfully have learned to do without a lot of titles.
This thread is like a DVD Anonymous confessional..

Selling them has become almost moot with me as payout is crap these days...if I don't think I'll watch a title again I now usually just keep it in case someone comes over and maybe asks if I have it and then break it out.

As far as unopened, unwatched DVDs? Not a one. I'm way past that point where I have anything that I don't watch the same day I buy it. The old days are gone......
I don't see myself upgrading to Blu either.....Too much expense, and believe me I do appreciate the amazing quality of picture, however, I can't even buy DVDs the way I used to let alone upgrade my collection to Blu.That would mean replacing all my titles which are to much of a financial hit to sell (at crap payout prices) and to replace. The whole process is too financially draining.....I'll have to suffer with regular DVD quality which has suited me fine all these years.....and the restored stuff like GODFATHER and James Bond are pretty damn good.

Buying DVDs like a kid in a candy store has just gotten to costly for me. Blind buys are a thing of the past as well.
I could cull my collection one more time and that's probably as far as I could go, and that's like only 20 titles.

by **BrettCullum** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:08 pm

Scary that we all seem to have arrived at the same place. I'm not buying new titles, and I am even thinking about how to cull my collection down to a manageable size. The hallway on the third floor of my townhouse is fully lined with DVDs, so much that I no longer even have a good count. And there seems to be signs the format is facing a slow down and possibly a demise. I wouldn't be interested in reinvesting in another format like BluRay. I have little time these days for sitting down and watching the things I have on DVD. Other things have taken over their priority such as working out, reading again, and social things. It just doesn't seem as cool to hit Best Buy every Tuesday to purchase a couple of new releases.

Anybody got any secrets to selling? The used DVD stores have sort of dried up in my area, and eBay seems to be the only option. I'd love to unload what I can, but fear I won't see much return. Maybe I should take out a booth in the antiques mall and go from there.

by **Stubblecat** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:07 pm

Dig us: A forum of aging family men!

I until recently was a fairly active member of Blu-Ray.com. But the place is literally packed with ill-informed lunkheads with thousands of dollars of disposable income to spend each week on the worst titles imaginable.

The sad truth is that if you want to sell any part of your DVD collection you're going to discover a sad truth about collecting in general: Market value is based on supply and demand. You try to sell that first Universal DVD pressing of Army Of Darkness? Sorry, there have been something like 5 versions issued since.

You paid 25 bucks for it?
Who cares. I'll give you a nickel.

Perhaps this is what little wisdom I've acquired over the years I will now try to impart. Our Fathers didn't have collections of stuff like this. We're the aging Generation X who are just now starting to feel a bit of blowback over how easy we had it in comparison.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you feel the urge whatsoever to purge anything in your DVD collection, you better take what you can while you can. I unloaded my out-of-print stuff on eBay a few years ago (when the getting was good, luckily) and everything else has been through used CD stores. I see it as a hard lesson today that I can part with a thousand retail dollars worth of DVDs for just a hundred bucks and walk away happy.

To wit: I haven't spent a penny of any of the cash from my big 4 culls. I have $700 sitting in a locked guitar case that I haven't told my wife about. My best friend has a piece of paper with the case's lock combination on it. Just in case.

Guh... Getting older can be depressing. Somewhere along the line I steered this thread from the folly of collecting to the fragility of life.

Enjoy!

by **molly1216** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:15 pm

wow, you are right we have all reached the same point at the same time. huge collections are fun but are no longer practical nor manageable, since i can't keep feeding it, i need to cull it down. with so many ways to watch so many things. I no longer need to keep as many things around. i DO like to have all my obscure favorites as well as certain 'subcollections' but movies i know i can netflix or get from the library are easier to part with.

My buying is cut down to nothing and for the few things i still MUST own i am generally trading in a few things i don't need to own. unlike the guestimate of 20-30 year old somethings, I and a few other members are looking 50 and 60 in the face, and I don't want to own as many possessions as i used to. So i am not having the separation anxiety i used to get when selling dvds.

There was a time in my life when i would have killed to own everything Star Trek episode on dvd, now i don't even own the movies..not even Wrath of Khan. been there seen that.

by **molly1216** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:18 pm

Stubblecat wrote:Dig us: A forum of aging family men!

sniff!

I started putting the dvds on a separate bookcase as i watch them.
in a year i will take a serious look at what's left on the unwatched DVD shelf.

by **J.M. Vargas** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:02 pm

BrettCullum wrote:Scary that we all seem to have arrived at the same place.

Nothing like aging (we're all regulars at this forum and have been posting for several years), maturity and a once-in-a-generation-or-two economic crisis to make us focus on our priorities/limitations. The real threat of losing our livelihood (which reached critical mass for me a month ago before leveling-up into temporary safety this past week) can't help but make us take a hard look at our disposable entertainment options. Some of us gave up going regularly to movie theaters a while back except for 'event' films (i.e. "Dark Knight"), others gave up on cable/satellite, etc. I now watch way more movies on TV than rent/buy DVD's because I need to squeeze the most bang from my cable bill bucks. Except for bargains and/or must-watch movies (and even then not jumping at the first purchase opportunity) new DVD and Blu-ray are easy to live without these days. Especially if you have a ton of them still unwatched gathering dust in your shelf (see my other thread: http://www.dvdverdict.com/juryroom/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=3155).

by **SmokestackJones** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:56 pm

Again, my innate pickiness helps me keep the collection under control.

There's another reason I've slowed down on my DVD buying (which I don't think has as much to do with now being in my early 50's). There are less DVDs that are on my "must have" list because the list has gotten considerably shorter. Example: I bought Hobson's Choice: Criterion last week, which has been on the list for quite a while. Before that, I replaced my Abbot & Costello sets with the new Abbot and Costello: The Complete Universal Films set. That was back during the Christmas holidays last year. Between times, I just haven't seen any releases that were on my list or a "must buy." Also, I completed about three sets I was collecting (well, as far as I was going to collect, anyway): The Walt Disney Treasures series (got all the Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoons plus a couple of odds and ends), Popeye the Sailor (I only want the B&W cartoons) and the Looney Tunes Golden Collections (I'm still collecting The Three Stooges Collection, but I'll only go so far as the Shemps). So the sense of satisfaction is a strong one.

As I see it I have just a few classics I'm still waiting for plus a couple box sets I need to get and that's it. So my collection has lost the momentum and inertia has naturally set in. I won't say that, after a point I'll never buy another disc, but I do seem to be heading towards the "casual buyer" category.

-SJ

My DVDs · by **Parklife** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:15 am

My buying started to tail off about 2 years ago... I built a fairly decent collection in a fairly short time but I'm a bit of a collecta-holic and noticed some bad habits so I had to slow down. When I started collecting it was to be a very finite selection of foreign and independent films. Basically, if there was a chance it would be on tv/hbo/etc... I didn't feel the need to buy it. But, as the fever hit, it turned into stopping by Best Buy for 4 movies for $20 and things got a bit out of control. Of course, getting married a few years ago to a woman that keeps clutter to a minimum finally pushed me to Netflix and I haven't looked back since.

I still buy on occasion and DVDs are still at the top of my list for birthdays/holidays but it's easier to pass things up when I know I can get most of them in the mail within a week. I've sold the odd DVD here or there but frankly, I think it's pretty worthless for what they return. Also, I can say that most of my collection is made up of films that I either watch pretty regularly or movies that were so powerful or meant so much that I want to own them despite not watching them often.

We did get a Blu-Ray player for free recently and we picked up a few discs but I'm even amazed at how good regular DVDs look on the player. We also upgraded Netflix to send us Blu-Ray discs so we're good there too.

There remains some 'must own' Criterion discs as well as other classics and foreign films that I know I'll buy but I've taken a much more laid-back, I'll buy it when I find it used mentality. I feel no need to buy anything on release because at some time or another I'll see it used or at such a deep discount it's won't hurt so bad. (Just yesterday I was in a Barnes & Noble and they have some DVD and Blu-Rays at 40% off)

Never once downloaded a movie from anywhere and wouldn't know where to begin.

by **Dan Mancini** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:06 pm

Gobear wrote:
Dan Mancini wrote:I've done the same thing you have, Stubblecat -- mostly because I'm not a collector by nature. When I hit around 700 titles, I realized there were discs I wasn't going to watch again, as well as discs I would watch so infrequently that it was pointless owning them (even if I loved the movies). And they were sort of an eyesore in my home theater (I mean, I had boxed sets stacked on the floor, for Pete's sake). I started selling them off a couple years ago and sit pretty consistently at around 200 titles -- about a quarter of which are kid's titles that I wouldn't own if I didn't have rugrats.

How did you earn that much money from selling DVDS? Apart from the few rare OOPS that I own that I might be able to sell on e-Bay, the advent of Blu-Ray has made DVDs worthless in the second-hand market. Where are you selling your discs so profitably?

I had some OOP print stuff, boxed sets that had maintained their vaule, and lots of Criterion (including some OOP titles). I sold almost everything through Amazon Marketplace -- mainly for the convenience of not having to hassle with PayPal and money orders and all that. And I think I caught DVD's last wave, just before its death rattle kicked in.

by **barnaclelapse** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:47 am

Not that I can add a whole hell of a lot to this, but I'm pretty much collecting at the same rate I've always been. I generally stick to stuff I know has a high replay value to me, though I sometimes will go ahead and buy something I know I'm only going to watch a few times.

I'm still a complete collecting nerd, but I do try to be realistic about what I honestly really want to have.

by **tucco** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:42 am

Another thing I don't think has been brought up on the subject of selling off DVDs:
I don't know about the rest of you but I suspect the situation is the same.....the DVD's you sell absolutely MUST be in pristine condition or else they WILL NOT take them.....
At least that is the case at every single buy-back outlet I know of....

So you bring in 50 DVDs, you're gonna get stuck with some of them....I've brought in stuff that I KNEW was pristine after I examined them and still had the proprietor find a defect that I couldn't see. I'm talking titles I've watched once only, and knew damn well there was no scratches, etc.
I've been stuck with plenty of first releases that I've tried to sell when the SE came out and swear to god there was not a scratch on them...When pay-outs are rock bottom, that puts a significant dent in your profit.

As far as not going Blu, I remember how happy I was to just be seeing the movie itself when VHS was still the thing........and realize how happy I am now to see the movie in widescreen, in picture quality undreamed of for a regular TV set , with special features, deleted scenes, etc........compounded with the expense of replacing all my stuff with Blu, these gentle reminders keep me content to stick with regular DVD......

by **The Omen** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:07 pm

Stubblecat wrote:Here is where I ask some theoretical questions about how and why we buy movies, and what will happen to our collections.

To preface: As a newer member of the DVD Verdict forum, I've gleaned that the members here seem to be fairly well-educated and literate for the most part, and that the average age is probably somewhere in the late-20s-to-early-30s. Almost everyone here types in full sentences and uses correct grammar. That alone says a lot about the company you keep.

Anywho, my point is to question the nature of our DVD collections. Do you impulsively buy lots of DVDs (or Blu-Rays)? Are you scaling back due to finances? Are you clearing out titles that you've only watched once? Are you upgrading your collection to Blu-Ray? Or are you getting older and watching your priorities shift away from buying movies? Do you just rent or download?

I'm curious.

I ask because of my own situation. I used to spend hundreds of dollars of my formerly disposable income on laserdiscs and (eventually) DVDs. But now I'm closing in on 40. I recently took a look at my DVDs (a few times... It's a process that I went through 4 times) and asked myself when I would watch any particular DVD next.
Do I keep a title because it's a neat collectable? Is it something cool that I've watched once or twice but can't seem to part with? Is it something that my kids would want to watch? If I died tomorrow, would my wife just sell it off for a dollar at a yard sale?
The questions go on...

So before I answer the questions myself, tell me where your head is in regards to your collection based on your situation in life.

I sold my entire collection aside from some limited editions (Suspiria 3 disc, Halloween two disc with/tv edit)or some I don't feel will be released on Bluray anytime soon. So I'd say for this year so far, I sold 500, bought 4 standard dvds, and 5 Blurays. So I'm -491 for '09.

As a bonus, I feel free to start a smaller collection again as the dvd prices have dropped to rock bottom and you can get your favorite for under $10 in many cases. I only buy very highly rated BR discs, and they have to be films I like, not just a show piece.

by **BrettCullum** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:05 am

Tin Omen -
I'm curious as to how you sold the 491 titles... tell us what you did.
Brett

by **cdouglas** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:47 pm

I used to go on a weekly DVD binge, buying up a decent-sized stack of stuff (anywhere between 3-10 items) each week. My DVD purchases decreased a good deal after getting married, and it ceased becoming a regular thing after I became a homeowner. Now I'll purchase, oh, maybe 1-2 items per month... just stuff that I really feel needs to be a part of the collection (and that I'll actually get around to watching... I still have too many movies that have been collecting dust for years).

by **The Omen** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:36 pm

BrettCullum wrote:Tin Omen -
I'm curious as to how you sold the 491 titles... tell us what you did.
Brett

One big lot on ebay. I got ripped off because obviously selling each one alone I would have netted significantly more. However I didn't have the time to list each and wait for the $6 per disc to float into my bank account. I was laid off for a long time, so that didn't help matters at all. If I had been working, I probably would have never sold them.

So I sold around 500 dvds for 2,000 + shipping. It hurt at first, but now I actually love being out from under that collection.

by **Daniel Kelly** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:50 pm

The more time goes by the more I fail to see the need for an extensive DVD collection, life is short, and really how many times do you want to watch Underworld Evolution? I sold a big stack of discs at the start of the year to a pawn shop of sorts, for 100 titles I scored around £70 ($95?) which wasn't to bad considering I really had no interest in watching the majority of those titles again. Still I probably paid over £200 in total for them back in the day.....

My collection is now sized at about 400 DVD's with a few blu-ray discs and TV boxsets. Not huge by an avid collectors standards but far larger than your average joe or in truth more sprawling than it needed to be. I tend to buy a few items per month but I would have at a point been picking up a title or two a week in the past. I'm getting a little warmer toward rentals now and as someone mention above pre-played DVDs at the local video store mean fairly recent movies at low prices. I'm intrigued to hear about the amounts some people have cultivated on e-bay, maybe thats the next stop when I gut the collection next time.

by **BrettCullum** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:51 am

I am very seriously considering an eBay auction for 300-400 titles at a time. Seems like the best deal out there as far as reselling goes. I'm just not seeing it worth the time to list titles singly unless they are rare and out of print. But the massive stuff? No worries there.

by **cdouglas** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:02 am

I recently sold a batch of 50+ DVDs (mostly stuff that you would typically find in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart) on Ebay for $122. Not great money, but I needed the shelf space and it was nice to get a little cash for cleaning up my collection.

by **TemporalWisdom** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:57 am

Most of my +/- 300 DVDs have been watched at least 3 times per. Most of the remainder I can easily see myself watching again. There are a few crapjobs I probably ought to sell, but not many. Maybe 20-40 that I'd be happy to see gone from my shelves. I'm pretty choosy. When I buy something, it's generally because I've seen it or an earlier season of it. Maybe it's got an actor I'm a fan of. I'm making very rare purchases these days, because I have to wonder how long my standard definition DVDs are going to be good for, and Blu-Ray is too expensive.

by **Andrew Forbes** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:43 pm

My collection has been chainsawed down to around 400 titles in the last few weeks, which is still more than a movie a day for a year, but feels a lot more manageable and quality-dense than when it was up around 850. We'll see how long I can keep it here. I'm really trying to curb my spending habits (especially for disposable stuff I pick up on a whim), so we'll see how long I can keep it at this level.

by **Steve T Power** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 3:51 pm

Mine stands at about 1000, give or take, and i'm happy where it's at. I'm so all over the map with my films, and i subscribe to no newsletter but mine own, so it's tough for me to weed anything out (though to be fair, it's a family collection, and i'm sure about 60-70 percent of my wife's stuff could be tossed).

I tried to do a pruning last week and wound up with 5 titles for selling, which scored me about enough cash to put gas in the car for a few days.

by **BrettCullum** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 10:15 am

I'm definitely feeling the urge to purge!

by **Stubblecat** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 5:36 am

I'm glad to see that this topic is ongoing.

Now that I'm starting to feel the child support crunch, I'm taking another hard look at my collection. Even the Blu-rays might have to be culled a bit. For standard DVD I can always copy the discs and sell the originals, but that's a lot of work for titles I may not watch again any time soon.

Next, I have to go through my CDs again... Sigh...

by **Zanarkand** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:36 pm

My collection of roughly 250-300 DVD titles is here to stay.
I have no interest in selling off any of them, No I'm not like that. Once I get something, it stays.
Everything from TV seasons to those $1.00 B&W films at the checkstand at the drugstore.
Some titles I don't know if I even watched them or not. Yes, the plastic is off of them, which would
indicate that they have been opened, but I open and test all of them, after purchase. Not often do I watch
them as soon as I get back with them.
While I like Blu-Ray, at this time I have no intention of dumping my DVDs for the BR version.
so at this point, my collection is simply on the sideline.Not headed for the dumps or growing in size.

by **mkiker2089** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:02 am

Recently I've taken a dramatic shift in my buying. I used to be a "collector". I was proud of what I owned and would pick something from my "library" to watch often.

now I'm a "consumer", I buy based on return hours. I use Netflix to keep me in a constant stream of movies, both disc and actual streaming. My purchasing has become almost non-existent and only the greatest of the greats get through.

by **arciooh** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:14 pm

mkiker2089 wrote:Recently I've taken a dramatic shift in my buying. I used to be a "collector". I was proud of what I owned and would pick something from my "library" to watch often.

now I'm a "consumer", I buy based on return hours. I use Netflix to keep me in a constant stream of movies, both disc and actual streaming. My purchasing has become almost non-existent and only the greatest of the greats get through.

Same here. I've even started unloading some of my DVDs on eBay. It's hard to keep up collecting on this economy with two kids and a mortgage

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