Discussion Forums - DVD Bazaar

This dvd swapping site has really gone “down hill” since they created the swap user transaction fee a few years ago and the constantly increasing postage at the post office to mail out DVD requests. There are now probably only a 10th of active users than there were several years ago. I can go months and months and months without anything on my cue that I really want being filled. In fact, most of my granted dvd requests over the past two years have been for DVDs that I’m really not excited about. I’ve had many, many DVDs in the number 1,2 and 3 cue spots for many years without movement. Hardly anyone posts really decent Dvds from the 1970s back to the Golden Age of Hollywood anymore. I think that the increased postage to ship DVDs and the user transaction fee has made those great film lovers stop posting great films or even using the site anymore. 99.9% of the films posted on Swap-a-Dvd are certainly not for lovers of great cinema. I feel that the true spirit in which Swap-a-Dvd was created well over 6+ years ago has been lost.

The combination of increased postage and trade fee has reduced the number of transactions in the regular system greatly. Most of the action probably happens here in the Bazaar from "power users" who have a source for cheap DVDs and offer deals to get several credits in a single transaction.

I've gotten a few Wishlist movies in the past year, but the wait list for recent movies in high demand moves very slowly. I've seen several movies in Wishlist Multiples post here I would like to have, but the lists don't include any other movies I want. I'm not going to order several movies just to get the one I want.

The prices for used DVDs and even Blu-rays in my area has dropped so far that it isn't worth using the site for anything but rare movies. I've got movies that are on user's Wishlists, but I don't list them because I don't need any more credits. Selling credits for $3 each isn't worth it for me since I got most of my credits sending out one item at a time. I honestly fear these sites (including books, CDs, and DVDs) will disappear before I use all of my credits.

Classic movies don't seem to be mass produced and distributed the way mass produced recent films are. There are many fewer copies out there and the odds of them ending up on this site are low.

It's not the club's fault. SwapaDVD needs some income to sustain itself and 49 cents is not a lot of money for it's service. Of course I would like it to be free, but I understand the way it is. Post Office fees are a bit high but we all know about the post office struggles. I enjoy swapping, getting films in the mail,  and making others happy by posting something I dont want but someone else does. 

Also in some ways dvd collectors are in a good spot as many people just don't want their dvds anymore.  That is the real killer of the swap club is people don't buy dvds like they used to.  However i have gotten some good films lately on SwapaDVD  lately looking around and shuffling my wishlist. There are usually 200+ dvds posted everyday.  

Long live SwapaDVD.  I hope it is around for a long time. If you are interested we started a Swapadvd fan page. Here is the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SwapaDVDCDFanPage/

Douglas i checked out your tower and you are not offering any movies from 1970 and older? I love this site and have recieved many classics and sent out many classics as well. Where are you "classic" dvd trades?

Actually that's the real problem.  Too many people who post nothing but common titles and then are looking to get a rare one for it.  Like Danny stated, it looks like Douglas has posted only common, later titles.  It's called a double standard.  Noticed that while Sue has some less common titles posted, there's nothing that rare or special either.  But maybe that's because she posts classics that go to wishlisters.  I don't know.  If that's the case, maybe she should post them in the wishlist multiple thread and save on postage.

I have many wishlisted titles offered here in the bazaar.  Yes, I ask for multiples but have a large number available and understand why others do the same.  So don't offer Spiderman (just an example) and expect to get a Criterion Collection for it.

Why is this thread even in the section where members do make fair trades?  That's why there's a Discussion section.

Thank you SwapaDVD Team for still maintaining the website.

Douglas, I would check out your WL & see if I have any you are looking for, but you don't have it public. I like to post multiples to people to save on shipping and always check wishlists...

I actually do the same thing as Rita but understand why Douglas keeps his wishlist private.  I do the same thing with my wishlist but am always open to letting a member see if they can offer several at the same time.  Sometimes members take advantage of wishlists left public. 

So I offer to check Douglas's wishlist to see if I can offer a group as well.  Just let me know when and if you change it to public.

I have an extremely large wishlist which makes it easy for anyone willing to take the time in order to offer a group to me as well.

So there are still ways to trade fairly on Swap as long as you're willing to give as well as take.

To be fair though, most people have common titles on their tower. Anything rare will get snatched up thru the wish lists. I might have a few films where there is only 1-2 copies out there. Most are not. Although I do have a couple good ones posted too.

If you are looking for classics, I have received some good ones from my wishlist as well. And there are a ton of budget films out there that are classics and available now. Alpha Video is one distributor that has some unique older titles. Quality is sometimes not great, but often they are the only ones that carry certain films. I know have discovered some favorites thru the titles of these types of budget dvds. 

http://www.swapadvd.com/dvd/browser.php?s_type=d&st=Alpha+Video&l=100

I have to say, Lory does have a great assortment of movies....many of which I had never even heard of before. I always enjoy perusing his list in the WL multiples just to see what he's unearthed! 

You never know with Alpha.  Their "She Should  Have Said No" was mastered from a beautiful 35mm print.  Then again, their "Night Of The Blood Beast" was mastered from a second rate VHS tape.  They've also switched over to DVD-Rs which are not actually allowed through the system. 

This is a good topic (and timely for me) as I have a lot of classic DVDs (pre 1970) that I would like to swap, but I can't afford to ship them out individually at $2.63 each.   I made the mistake of posting (without holding) many DVDs to my tower a few weeks ago, and I was immediately flooded with requests.  Many were multiple disc sets, but with too many single DVDs my shipping charges quickly added up to $80-$100.  I was very happy with the resulting 100+ credits I received and picked up some blu-rays and TV seasons on DVD, but I need to find a way to keep my costs down. 

As a result, I now post everything with Hold, and I now can see what kind of demand there is for those titles.   I have 568 titles on my tower now.  Only 36 titles are visible though, which are titles with >15 copies available.  The rest are on hold.  About 300 are on wishlist/autorequest, and the rest are titles with <15 copies available, mostly <5 copies.  Of the 568 titles, ~200 are pre-1970.

I need to keep my shipping costs <$30/month, so I plan on offering titles only once a month, and would like to find a way to ship at least 6 credits with each shipment.  I have 57 titles available of  3 discs or more.  My plan is to post a few of those, then check the wishlists of the requestors to see if there are single disc titles I could offer them.  I can't think of a better way to achieve an average of 6 credits per order.   

If there is a better way to do this, I would love suggestions, thanks!

Steven take a look at the October Wishlist Multiples thread:  http://www.swapadvd.com/forum/topic.php?t=37054

If your titles are wishlited you can request that multiples be requested.  There is a new thread every month, so it's available whenever you are ready.  

Thanks, Tracy, this is exactly what I need!   

Steve,  Here's a good rule of thumb for calculating the postage.  I can mail 3 movies for $2.63  @ Media Mail, but if you switch out the older, heavier cases, you could send up to 4 per order for the cost of shipping one dvd.  When you make your list, calculate how many orders of 3 you can send per month (10-11), and write at the top that you can only send 10 order per month.  Hope  you join us there.

Douglas, If you are going to post in threads about films you are looking for, you really need a WL, or at the least, write in your post titles of these classics/oldies you are looking for.  As you see, plenty of people would post some--maybe even to your WL if there were one!  What people call "classics" are not the kind I would keep, so you might be in luck, but I have no idea what you're looking for.