Forum - View topicSecond hand products
|
|
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Concrete Donkey
Posts: 17 Location: England, UK |
|
||
|
I've read quite a bit on peoples thoughts on fansubs and thought long and hard myself on my posistion on it. I notice morality comes up a lot in discussions with fansubs which I fully appreciate and understand. One of the key arguments against fan subbing is that it is unlicenced and it is more than likely that anime companies loose money on it. So my thoughts naturally moved on to he topic of second hand (pre-played) items, which I don't see discussed as much.
Heres one way to look at second hand products. If I were to buy a second hand anime disk from a store (after checking the condition of the disk of course) I would own an offically licenced and packaged dvd. However, the anime company who published that disk, and the company who made the anime gets none of my money. None of it. Here I have a pre-played disk that looks just like anything I had purchased new and is not a bootleg or a fansubfit to go in anyones collection. But the people who made it gets the same amount of money from the sale as a bootleg sale. The only people who benifits is the retailer and the person who sold it to them. Most DVD's have copyright info on it stating that you cannot resell it. Yet it is done throughout the UK and the states (at least with computer games.) All the anime I have brought from the UK (where I live) have been brought second hand. I buy a lot of new dvds from the states but not the UK. The British anime market has not benifited at all from me getting into anime. There is another way of looking at anime. Some people might not buy the product if they couldn't trade it in at a later date. I know this is true with computer games as I've work in a store that sells them. Some people never buy (or will never buy a certian product) at full price and trade things in too make it cheaper. When something is traded in for a new product (say an anime dvd) the companies involved in it's production would still get their share of the profits even if the consumer never spent any money on it. The retailer still has to pay cash to it's distributers even if they sold it to a customer completly in trade. This is money the company may never had gotten if the second hand market did not exist. Personally I think the two effects of the second hand market balence each other of, at least to a degree. So what are peoples thoughts on second hand products ? Is their anyone who wouldn't download a licenced anime but wouldn't think twice about buying a second hand (legitimate) copy from a store or e-bay ? I'd like to hear other views on this. |
|||
|
|||
ZahmiraV
 Posts: 243 Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
|
||
This is true, but keep in mind that the company did get the money for that disk the first time it was purchased. It's different than a fansub. If you were to buy the anime DVD, then copy it and give it out to everyone, then that would be comparable to fansubing. I think second hand products are just fine. In order to have the second hand products, they have to first be brand new products. |
|||
|
|||
|
Concrete Donkey
Posts: 17 Location: England, UK |
|
||
This is also true. However, the product has been sold at least twice and the company only gets paid for one sale. Were it not for the second hand market they could have gotten twice the amount. Also remember that there is no limit to how many times a product can be traded in. I can't see this happening with anime much, but I've seen the same copies of a game get sold, resold and resold again through the store I work at. I also feel that second hand products are fine and will not hesitate in buying a product second hand provided it was in good condition. However, this doesn't stop the second hand market from being any less illigal. I'm not sure about the USA, but I'm pretty sure that selling second hand products violates some kind of civil law. (as stated on the discalmers at the begining of DVD's that no one reads.) |
|||
|
|||
|
astra
Posts: 131 |
|
||
|
In Japan, there is a used books chain called Bookoff. There have been studies that report that the chain has had a significant impact on new book sales.
I'm pretty sure that selling used dvds is legal in the US. I see them selling used dvds at Gamestop. The thing is, I think most Americans would rather have their things new. The prices at Gamestop reflect that; the discounts are not nearly high enough for it to have the same impact that Bookoff has had in Japan. I love the fact that there is a Bookoff in NYC. Its my second home 
|
|||
|
|||
|
ChichiriMuyo
Posts: 201 |
|
||
|
Well, while there is no moral objection to buying anime second hand anyone who does but makes the argument that buying bootlegs takes money away from the creators doesnt have a leg to stand on. I know for a fact that second hand sales have to have some (even if a small amount) affect on regular sales because I have bought dvds used that I would have bought new had a cheaper alternative not been available.
|
|||
|
|||
king_micah
 Posts: 994 Location: OSU |
|
||
|
There is a principle in law that trumps the back of the box. That is the right of first sale which is ingrained in common law. The right of first sale says I can sell anything I own once.(Meaning I can't copy it for additional sales).
This makes second hand sales legal. Plus, with second hand stores, at least someone bought a legit release. |
|||
|
|||
|
ZahmiraV
Posts: 243 Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
|
||
Second hand sales are quite legal, at least in Canada (where I am) and in the US as far as i can tell. If they were illegal, then the Second hand CD store down the street from me would have been shut down ages ago (they also sell used DVDs, including anime). Second hand clothing stores, book stores, and even yard/garage sales would have to be illegal as well. |
|||
|
|||
|
Stormrider
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 41 Location: Hermitage, TN |
|
||
|
Bootlegs and fansubs tend to have sub-par quality in picture, sound, and translation/dialogue. A second-hand DVD is a commercial release, so the quality is as such. The work is presented to you the way it was intended to be and in the format that it was intended to be by the company that holds the license. Nice and legal. After all, a product must first be bought new before it can be considered "second-hand", therefore all due parties have been paid...unless, of course, the product was obtained by illegal means (ie. "five finger discount"). That would be a whole 'nother can of beans.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Ianoo
Posts: 19 Location: Fort Worth, Texas |
|
||
|
I agree with the majority of those favouring second hand sales, my total anime collection is such.
I can say that second hand sales may actually improve new sales as well. I buy a DVD at Half Price Books *only 15 bucks for anime!* and view it. It turns out to be really good. I then recommend it to several friends who, not being the second-hand type, go out and buy a new copy, a copy they wouldn't have if it wasn't for the second hand sale. Maybe this argument is completely false, but it makes sense to me 
|
|||
|
|||
ÄlveKatt
 Posts: 96 Location: Sweden |
|
||
|
To me second hand is a bit of an environmental issue. If i can get a good copy of a movie without an extra piece of plastic being made i do.
And basically, many of the times the reason you seel something is because you are tired of it. If a moviecompany makes a product you tire of or don't like you can't give it back as long as you have watched it once. So the moral issue: I don't think it is moral of companies to try and stop anyone from sellling it to someone else. Because in most cases you don't sell things you are pleased with. Second hand helps give the movie the value it actually has for the buyer. And i think you have that right as a consumer. It deprives the company of money that they should have given back to the original customer anyway if we had lived in a perfectly moral world. So, as an extra thought. If you think that buying second hand is immoral, is it also immoral to buy a dvd, watch it a few times and then give it away for free to a friend? (And no, he didn't make a copy for himself first.) |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group