In the quest to save money - don't be cheap

Many buyers think that they may be buying a bargain when purchasing a bargain from an online auction site such as Ebay.

For the most part, by far the majority of purchases are made from reputable sellers selling authentic and good quality merchandise.

However - a purchaser may be unaware that what they are purchasing can be made by bootleggers, and can and does look close to the original.

On closer inspection though - if you compare the original to the fake or bootleg merchandise - you may be quite surprised to discover that even though you have parted with say for example - $20 less than the price that you might have been able to purchase it from a local retailer - that what in fact you have bought is an inferior and substandard product.

Take for example - Nintendo DS games - not able to be copied right? Wrong: have a look at this - A guide to fake DS games sold on Ebay.

The same goes for pirated films, and backyard movie piracy distribution networks - they are downloading shoddy copies, burning them, and then selling them to the unsuspecting buyer. Then the unsuspecting buyer comes home, either inserts the DS cartridge into their DS, or the movie into their DVD player - and the DS game seizes up and crashes the DS, and the movie's sound and picture are really bad quality, and voila - one might as well have just thrown their hard earned money into the bin.

Please do some research before you purchase really cheap merchandise. Not only will you possibly be purchasing a really inferior and pirated copy, but the game developers, movie makers, and local stores are not getting the revenue that they need to continue selling the real thing.

Consider other ways of legitimately purchased the real product by either trading in your old games, going to the large discount stores where they are having a sale, or to the smaller boutique game stores when they are having a sale, or purchasing second hand games from a licensed second hand dealer. Or you have the option of renting your games - try sites such as Rentagame, Get Gaming, or the local video store. For movies try Redbox, Blockbuster (Blockbuster also hire out games and consoles), Bigpond Movies, Netflix etc.

Don't get diddled! And if you have bought one, and try to resell it on Ebay - beware that you may get caught, and get into some serious trouble.

Buyer beware.