How can eBay sellers sell DVD box set so cheap?

I have been searching and searching and searching (Probably over 200 hours worth of looking on the internet, This is not an exaggeration) for DVD Box Sets such as Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, True Blood, ext...I just simply can not find a single supplier of these DVD Box Sets that are legitimate. Websites like dvdslive.com and popotrade.com are CLEARLY selling counterfeit goods but here is what is bothering me SO MUCH about this. Everyday I see people on eBay selling 10 or 20 Box Sets of the same Series EACH DAY for $80 to $100 Each and I just don't know where they get them from...I can't find a single supplier here on salehoo or anywhere else...Sure I can get these products from a site like popotrade.com for $10 per box set and then sell them on eBay for $100 but that just doesn't seem like a smart idea (I'm just venting I would never do that) but it really makes me wonder where all of these sellers are getting these brand new Season DVDs from and selling them SO cheaply.

Example (Breaking Bad) - The average Cost on eBay is around $40 for the whole series Brand new factory sealed...Walmart sells theirs for over $100 for the whole series...

Am I supposed to believe that everyone of these sellers on eBay has more purchasing power than Walmart? Because I don't believe that.

So what did I do? I reported a few of them for selling suspected counterfeit goods and waited to see if their accounts got suspended. Each one of the 3 I reported are now back up and selling again making well over $1000/day and I don't understand how... And I didn't just pick random people either. I looked at the products they were selling and then took what they were selling and compared them (And the pictures for the products) to that of Popotrade.com....The ones that matched up with only selling those and having the same pictures I reported....thinking that this was where they were getting their products from. Apparently I was wrong on all 3 counts :/ I also contacted eBay before hand to make double sure that Popotrade was NOT A VERIFIED RESELLER and they informed me that they are not...

Can someone please explain to me where all of these brand new box set DVD series (Breaking Bad, True Blood, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Duck Dynasty, ext) are coming from and how all of these eBay sellers seem to get them for 1/10 of what they sell for on eBay and why I have not been able to find a single supplier for any of these? That is the entire reason I signed up for salehoo was to find a supplier for box set DVDs and months later I still have nothing ( not for lack of trying)... I have settled for selling regular DVDs on eBay...Salehoo has many suppliers that I have found for bulk lots of random DVDs but NO BOX SETS...

I am sorry if this seems like a long rant (It sort of is) but it is also me asking the simple question of where are the suppliers for this type of product that are legitimate. I don't want to buy counterfeit goods so I guess I am just lost in this area. Thanks to anyone who can help out. I have tried to do this on my own but just can not for the life of me seem to find a real legitimate supplier. Thank you :)

It's a really hard one to get my head around to be honest. The obvious is that they are selling bootleg copies, but your research seems to discount that, unless they've found a way around the eBay verification process. One possible answer could be that what you have are wholesalers selling through eBay directly and not openly to the public or at least selling them off branded.

The problem with the theory would be that you should then also be able to find them, even if not at the same price. It doesn't so much seem to be the price here, it's more that they are just not available anywhere.

My suspicion would be that they are being sourced in Hong Kong, I know a lot of this type of stuff does come from that market. I would suggest talking to one of our verified suppliers, someone like MVM. Firstly ask them if they can source them at all, being in the business I would suspect they would know where to look, but if they say they can't supply them for you, then ask if they would have any ideas as to where these copies would be turning up on eBay through?

If you call and speak to them directly, they may well have some answers for you.

Thank you...All I really wanted was an explanation as to how these essentially "New Sellers" With less than 100 feedback were getting these products and selling them all day everyday...I will call around like you said and see what I can come up with...Finally nice to get an honest answer instead of the run around :) 2 thumbs up in my book :) Thanks again and I will certainly call around and see what I can find out...Have a great day

So what did I do? I reported a few of them for selling suspected counterfeit goods and waited to see if their accounts got suspended.

Tattling didn't help? I'm shocked, shocked!

I guess it doesn't bother you badly enough to just order one and see what happens? Best way to gather intel on a competitor.

Low feedback + suspiciously low prices means that whatever they're doing, they know enough to keep it off of an established account ie. they are probably doing something that they shouldn't be. Since that can be deduced from the very basic facts, why worry with it? It's not as if they know about a source that you don't -- not a legit, sustainable source you would use -- so why put this much effort into it?

Legit but unsustainable sources include movie clubs, buyer rewards schemes, etc. where access to the sets should be on a limited basis, but they've skewed it a little. Back a decade or so ago it was trivially easy to make a few hundred bucks over a weekend gaming Columbia House and other movie/music club memberships. Nothing illegal or unethical about it really, although it may have made a few guys trying to sell new CDs for somewhere near retail a little agitated. Offline store closings/relocations can also net deeply-discounted temporary supplies of in-demand items.

There's also the possibility that the sets are being sold at a loss to upsell something else, to build feedback for the account, etc.


Frank