The DVD regions are:

Region 1: The United States, Canada, US territories and the country of Bermuda

Region 2: Europe, Western Asia, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, French and British territories and Greenland

Region 3: South Korea, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Region 4: Oceania, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America

Region 5: South and Central Asia, Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Mongolia, North Korea

Region 6: All of Mainland China

Region 7: This region isn't assigned yet, but is currently used for advanced copies of DVDs shipped out by movie studios to the media and to movie critics for advanced screenings.

Region 8: All films seen on airplanes and cruise ships use Region 8.

There is one more region viewers can choose from. It is known as Region 0 or All Regions. A disc that has been set to Region 0 is viewable in every region on any DVD player. Any disc that is released that doesn't have any copyright restrictions on it can be set to region 0.

It is interesting to note that a DVD creator can set any DVD to any number of regions they wish. You can have a DVD that is set to regions 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 or any combination that the movie studio likes.

If you are planning on starting your own online business selling wholesale DVDs, it is important that you understand how regions work so that you always ship the right discs to the right regions.

Shipping is all about two things: perception and affordability. Some shipping options, like Fed Ex and UPS are all about top class service, dependability and speed, but they also cost the most and can scare some thrifty shoppers away. On the other hand, the good, old, US Postal Service is all about affordability, but it is the Ford Pinto of shipping options. Let’s break each one down.

First, Fed Ex is clearly the Cadillac of shipping options. Not only do they provide overnight shipping to just about anywhere in the United States, they give tracking numbers to all of their shipments and customers can use the Fed Ex website to track their order from one coast to the other. While Fed Ex is far and away the premium shipping service offered in the US today, it also comes with a premium price, and they can be tough to deal with if they deliver during a time when your customers may not be home. It is likely a farther drive for your customer to go to the local Fed Ex store than it is for them to go to the post office. Choosing Fed Ex is a smart choice only if you are presenting a wholesale DVD operation that is all about class, exclusivity and hard to find, out of print titles.

Many wholesale DVD stores end up choosing the middle of the road candidate: UPS. Just like with Fed Ex, every UPS order comes with an automatic tracking number and delivery to your customer’s front door, but just like with Fed Ex, UPS can be expensive, although usually not as expensive as Fed Ex, and if your customer isn’t home, they may have to drive to the other side of town to pick up their order.

Most wholesale DVD companies simply use US Mail for their shipping. It is far and away the most affordable choice and since most DVD orders are only for $12-$20, express, high cost shipping doesn’t make any sense. The biggest problem with US Mail is that since they deal with such high volume, there is an increased chance of packages getting damaged or just plain lost along the way. There is tracking available, but only with express shipments.

Some retailers offer a choice of one, two or even three different shipping options. Check with your distributor to see what they offer and remember, in most states, it is illegal for a business to make a profit off of shipping charges.

If there is one bad habit the Internet has created in many people it is a complete lack of patience. After all, we can type almost anything into a search engine and have it come up in under a second. You can make plenty of money from your online eBay based business, but it isn’t something that is going to happen overnight, so the first tip is to be patient. If you were starting up your own brick and mortar store, you wouldn’t expect to make tens of thousands of dollars on your first week, and that likely won’t happen with your eBay based business, either. With a bit of hard work and the proper dedication, though, that kind of success isn’t out of the question down the road.

The golden rule states that we should treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves, and that couldn’t be more true if you are starting your own online eBay based business. Honesty really is the best policy when it comes to starting your own business. Don’t ever sell a product that isn’t up to par and don’t ever intentionally write a product description that is misleading or just plain false. Buyers understand that sometimes sellers make mistakes and an inferior product might be shipped now and then. The true test of how successful you will be is how you handle those situations and how you ensure things like that from happening in the future.

While many people start an online eBay business as a hobby or as a way to make a few extra bucks, most people realize within a short period of time that if they dedicated more time and effort to it, their online business could be their primary source of income. This is true for any aspect of life: what you get out of your eBay based business is exactly what you put into it. The better your customer service is, the better your overall rating will be, and the better your rating is, the most customers that will flock to your storefront. Having an eBay based business can be a lot of fun and very profitable as long as you stick to your principles and treat each and every potential customer with the respect they deserve.

By opening up a web-based business selling wholesale DVDs, you are giving yourself the ability to work from home. Ask any random group of ten adults if they would enjoy working from home and you’ll receive an overwhelming response. For million of Americans, working from home is the ultimate job and with a successful online business selling a product that can help you turn a real profit, you’ll likely be able to quit your day job after your web based business is established. It is a luxury that few people are able to enjoy, but it could be your daily reality with a little bit of hard work.

Probably the best thing about a wholesale DVD based home business is the fact that you are selling a product that just about every American over the age of 13 buys on a weekly basis. You would probably have to sell air to have a product that is more in demand that DVD movies, television shows and special interest programming. Think about it, do you know a single person that doesn’t have their own DVD collection? By buying wholesale, you can establish an impressive inventory and still have enough room to increase the prices so you make a tidy profit. It really is a win-win situation.

If you are a tech savvy consumer, you have probably heard about the eventual switch from DVD to Blu-Ray discs. Blu-Ray technology is the next generation. These DVDs can hold far more data than a regular DVD. Some people have questioned opening a DVD store online if the format is close to dying out. The truth is, most people don’t even know what a Blu-Ray disc is yet, and since many people are still smarting over the fact that they had to switch all of their VHS tapes to DVD, they aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to replace their entire movie collection all over again. The switch to Blu-Ray will happen eventually, but it will likely take decades, just like the switch from VHS to DVD did, so you have very little to worry about. If you want, you can also sell a few Blu-Ray discs in your online store, as well.

As long as I have been on eBay, I've dealt with non-paying bidders. There isn't a good solution for this problem, but there are a few things that may help.

1. Make sure you are emailing your buyers as soon as the auction ends. Make sure this email has all your payment options and gives an expected time for the shipment. I use eBay's Seller Manager Pro to send this automatically generated email every time I sell an item.

2. After 7 - 10 days, I always send payment reminders. Make sure this reminder also has your payment options.

3. You can also request contact info for any person that bid on your auction. Just use this link. Ebay User's Contact Info

Give your bidder a call and remind them to pay. They'll most likely be surprised to hear from you. It will also give you some idea if this is a non-responsible bidder or a competitor that is interfering with your auctions.

4. If the contact information is false, you should contact eBay right away. This buyer will be suspended as soon as eBay verifies the contact info themselves.

5. If I haven't been paid within 14 days, I always open an Unpaid Items Reminder with eBay and begin filing for a credit.

6. I never leave a negative feedback for non-paying buyers. You will most likely get a negative in return. Now that eBay has started cracking down on sellers, this could lead to a suspension of your account if you get to many.

I now use an automated program that makes the research a lot easier. I expected to find similar results. What I found, has me reconsidering using the gallery image for my own auctions.

In the month of August 2007, there were a total of 1,405,555 dvd auctions ran without the gallery image. These items had an average sell through rate of 20.58%.

During this same period, there were 443,195 dvd auctions ran with the gallery image. These items produced an average sell through rate of 48.82%. This is more than twice the sell rate of dvd auctions that didn't use a gallery image.

Lets look at these numbers a little closer.

If you were to run 1,000 dvd auctions, it would cost you an extra $350.00 to add the gallery image to each one. On average, you could expect to sell an extra 282 dvds for purchasing this option.

So should you purchase the gallery image for your dvds? It all depends on how much you profit per dvd. If you only averaged a profit of $1per dvd, you'd be spending $350.00 for gallery images to make an extra $282.00 giving you a loss of $68.00. However, if you are averaging a profit of $2 per dvd, then the gallery option would have made you an extra $214.

Ultimately, it's up to you to test your auctions and determine if this feature makes sense for you.

My question is this: In order to really compete w/ these "big league" players, won't I need to price my movies at a penny just as they do, and then have to settle for a buck or less in profits per title sold? Otherwise, it seems there would be no inducement for eBay buyers to buy from me instead of my competition. Am I overlooking something - or will it be necessary for me to accept such meager profits in order to compete?

If you want a lesson on how to compete with the big boys, look no further than Moviemarz. You can read the details in this post. Becoming the top Ebay DVD Seller

Everyone has heard the old saying, "If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck". Well unfortunately, this isn't always the case on ebay. A lot of sellers on ebay are selling bootleg titles and trying to pass them off as legitimate. You can't compete with these sellers on price, but at the end of the day, buyers know the difference. Take a look at any of the auctions closed successfully by Moviemarz. I guarantee you can find 1,000 other auctions for the "same" dvd that sold for far less, but for some reason that buyer chose to pay more and buy from a legitimate seller.

Now there are some legitimate sellers offering 1 cent CDs and DVDs. Jayandmarie are a good example of this. But keep in mind, in most cases they are not offering new product. Most of the product they sell is used and bids up well past the starting fee of 1 cents.

Here is the strategy I use to price my dvds.

Pricing my dvd to sell

Good Luck,

Brent Crouch

When I started my business, I sold exclusively on Ebay. A dvd is sold on ebay every 3 seconds. Consumers spend an average of 11 million dollars a month on single dvds sold on ebay. It isn't an accident that the top ebay sellers offer dvds.

A couple of years ago, I was invited by Amazon to list my products on their site. I was very reluctant. I had already wasted a lot of time trying to sell on Yahoo Auctions, Overstock.com, and a few others. These ventures turned out to be a waste of time. There was no other site able to provide the number of buyers I was getting from ebay.

After a few phone calls from Amazon, I finally agreed and took the time to list a few items. I was surprised a few days later to notice they actually sold! I listed more items with the same success. Amazon proved to be well worth my time. This year, I will do six figure revenue from Amazon.

I like Amazon because I don't have to pay a listing fee. I pay a flat 15% of the sales price plus shipping and handling. This is a great benefit when you get stuck with titles that just won't sell.

If I were starting my business all over, I'd have my products on ebay and amazon. I've talked to a few sellers that have had good results from half.com. Personally, I don't have any experience with that site.

Why limit yourself to just an ebay or just an amazon store? Why not open a store on both sites once your inventory level is large enough to support both venues.

Good Luck,

Brent Crouch

There are a couple of drawbacks to an ebay store. The final value fee is higher than an ebay auction. Most dvd auctions will sell for under $25. Ebay will collect 10% of the final value of all store items sold at $25 or less. Another drawback is store items do not show up in ebay search results except in rare cases.

The top sellers run the bulk of their items as store listings. They run auction listing that provide links to their store and encourage buyers to click through. The most successful strategy is to include a navigation bar in your auction that lists your movies by genre. This is one of the most successful strategies I have found to encourage buyers to visit my store.

Good Luck,

Brent Crouch

I don't have any experience with Half.com. So I can't help you much with that site. For the first five years, I sold exclusively on ebay. About two years ago, I received an invitation to sell on Amazon. I was a little reluctant at first. I wasn't sure Amazon could provide the amount of buyers I was getting from Ebay. Nothing could be further from the truth. This year my business is on track to do six figure revenue from Amazon alone. It was well worth the time.