Why bother reporting them?
You'd figure I'd be the one to complain as my HOLIDAY SPECIAL has been the mainstay of bootlegs eBay for more then a few years now (again I ask where is my cut?!) and some even use my DVD art for the covers. I've reported way more then my fair share of Dark Dealers but have since LONG given up.
Why? It's TOO much work to check eBay EVERYDAY for DVD's that I made (there are about 80 DVD's that I've done total and about 10-15 on eBay all the time – guys my cut please?!) I've seen my BOTH versions of my Holiday Special, Casting Auditions, and my Vintage Commercials DVD (also Birds of Prey, S:AAB, Halloween discs and some others)AND to make matters WORSE...
THREE yes 3 members of this VERY forum ALSO sell on eBay (and THEY know who they are - since I SENT two of them the DVD's - come on LOWER your prices guys!)
And BEFORE anyone tries to OUT me on eBay....
YES, it is true that I HAD sold some of my DVD's and some OT transfers on eBay but I was also reported and kicked of eBay for selling them.... I offered them at $4 a disc and they always came with the cover art CD, links to this forum and to MYSPLEEN.NET - I even stated in the AUCTIONS that you could download all these DVD's for free (I had a link but eBay canceled the auction
) SO, yes I tried to fight the Dark Dealers on eBay itself but the do-gooders had me shut down after a few months for offering the free downloads and cheap DVD's (at the time OT DVD's were selling for $100-$200 for the Dr. Gonzo set and $50-70 for MY Holiday DVD and this is only 1 year ago!).
The truth is, there are a MILLION and ONE Star Wars fans out there that HAVE no idea about this site, all the transfers or my uploads on myspleen.net (much less how to use anything other than AOL!) and the ONLY outlets for these fans to get these 'rare' Star Wars DVD's are from friend, at conventions, swap meets, trades (if they are savvy enough to find the right forums) and online auctions and by stopping the online auctions you’re depriving (or saving
) a Star Wars fan. And wouldn't that honestly make you an elitist??And truthfully you also have to blame the fans/ bidders on the eBay auctions for letting them get so high! THEY bid on them, they choose the price they’d pay (damn I’ve bid on some - I paid $200 dollars for my first OT DVD’s and $120 for my Holiday Special VHS) so it is the FANS buying them for those prices. YES it is the bidders who push the prices up (again they have NO other way of getting these) this is called a buyers market and all the rules of supply and demand are in FULL effect here. HOW?
SEE DICK on the internet, See Dick find out about a show called THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL.
Dick’s never seen this show as he’s only 13 and this show aired only once in 1978 WAY before he was born and he will never see it.
LOOK how sad little Dick is that he will never see it; Dick loves Wookiees!
JANE tells dick about eBay
Dick looks on eBay and finds nothing
LOOK, Dick actually finds THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL on eBay for only $10!
BUT, sadly Dick did not realize that TOM (who has been looking for a copy for 10 years!) also found the same auction on eBay. Tom likes the look of Jedi in make-up so he will bid $20 for the DVD
OH NO!
LOOK, Now HARRY found the same auction and he also really likes big hairy Wookiees but he’s really into Golden Rod more. HARRY thinks $200 is not too much so he bids also
See what I mean, there will always be a fan that will pay or do ANYTHING to get a copy. Sadly for the fans, when people report the auctions they inevitably get them shut down. Now the demand for this not so great piece of history will fuel the outrageous bidding that will lead to the exorbitant prices that you find so high (but yet fans will pay).
So now in closing, in the end by reporting these auctions WE inadvertently are keeping these DVD's OUT of the hands of other fans by reporting these auctions. (we don’t call the cops on guys at cons selling these DVD’s – do we?) I’ve now become numb to the fact that my DVD’s are buying people Ferraris and Lamborghinis (have you really seen some of the bids people will make!) so I let ANY reporting of auctions fall STRICTLY into the hands of LUCASFILM and the copyright holders.
I won’t be responsible for driving the prices up but by reporting the auctions you’re limiting the supply and I suggest that we all just let them be, the more sellers there are the LOWER the prices will get and that is the point right?