A fool and his e-credit...

[Dee]

I was wondering if anyone on the board has purchased anime on eBay at all?

I like eBay, and even though I know it's probably a bad plan, I'm tempted to try it once to see what I get. My concerns (in addition to the usual):

1. The DVD could have bad sub/dub - possibly comically bad.

2. The DVD quality suffers because the anime has been too tightly compressed (26 episodes on 3 DVDs was quite typical)

3. A lot of them seem to be regionless DVDs from China. Are these even legal?

I'm told that 2 might not be so bad, as although the quality will be reduced it will still be superior to VHS. I could cope with that given the savings offered. 1 and 3 worry me though, and it is just possible there may be other problems that have not occurred to me in spite of my infinite wisdom.

Does anyone have any thoughts, or want to save me from myself?

[hr] "I ran out of filters so I strained the tea through a copy of Shakespeare. Now I have "The Tempest" in a teapot. That's trouble brewing."

Izumi, "Nadesico"

[samus]

I think your main worries should be #1 and #3. #3s, if they come from HK/Taiwan/other parts of China, are most likely to be illegal. If you get a #3, then you're more likely to get a #1. However, I have known #3s to actually use fansub translations for their own productions.

One of my friends regularly buys anime from an HK DVD supplier and this has happened. Of course, more often than not, he gets a really crap sub. We found this out when he bought all of Wolf's Rain. The subs were so bad that it rendered the DVDs unwatchable.

If you've got a broadband connection and a big hard drive, your best bet to get current series is either suprnova.org or animesuki.com for fansubs. Licensed stuff is harder to come by on these channels though.

[Kimmie]

I wouldn't bother with any of your options since all three sound like pirate copies. Don't agree with paying for fansubs.

[hr]I don't mind what happens now and then, as long as you'll be my friend at the end.

[samus]

Fansubs, in theory are not meant to be for-profit. Before the proliferation of digisubs on the net, we used to get fansubs on VHS (one still can) for the cost of the tape + p/p. However, ... there are exceptions. Generally any 'ethical' fansubber won't even offer any series that has been announced as licensed for domestic distribution.