How can you tell if a DVD is a bootleg?

[monterey vidiot]

I won an ebay auction for a Body Gospel set. It looks fine to me, but from what I've read here, many things from ebay are not a real Beachbody product. How do you know?

[Amazon]

Originally Posted by monterey vidiot

I won an ebay auction for a Body Gospel set. It looks fine to me, but from what I've read here, many things from ebay are not a real Beachbody product. How do you know?

I don't believe you CAN know anymore. There are too many foreign counterfeiters out there that counterfeit practically everything in a package.

You not only get a counterfeit DVD and case, you get a bootleg jumprope, a bootleg measuring tape, and even a bootleg BeachBody shipping box that looks exactly like the real thing... whatever was supposed to come with the original BeachBody set, will come as a bootleg.

And if the DVD has glitches, you're stuck because BeachBody won't be able to help you.

I won't buy anything used anymore. And it sucks, because I used to buy and sell my tapes and DVDs on eBay.

[Jane P.]

Sometimes the picture quality on bootleg dvds is not as clear and crisp as on the originals. The colors can also be somewhat faded.

[dutchgirl]

One way to spot a bootleg is to look at the written guides and other materials included in the set. With a bootleg set there are often typos in the written materials, some pages may be missing altogether, the paper quality may not be as high as one would expect, etc.

[JackieB]

Originally Posted by dutchgirl

One way to spot a bootleg is to look at the written guides and other materials included in the set. With a bootleg set there are often typos in the written materials, some pages may be missing altogether, the paper quality may not be as high as one would expect, etc.

I won a CLX set on ebay and this is exactly what the printed material was like. I also had trouble with one dvd that would only play on my computer, not on either dvd player. I am sure it was a counterfeit.

I ended up giving it away--didn't feel like I could justify tring to sell or trade.

Jackie

[bzar]

you can do an internet search, like:

body gospel bootleg
body gospel pirated

and people might have posted somewhere how they could tell.

reading here on VF, for example. the tape measure might have no brand name on it.

but like jackie said, they're so good at bootlegging nowadays.

i went to a craigslist seller a few weeks ago because she had a jill miller set and 2 zumba packages, brand new.

the woman was a trainer and she was selling various odds and ends and fitness accessories that she was trying to get rid of. i looked at the zumba set, and said "interesting" and "did you teach zumba?" and she said "no, we were just trying to see if people would be interested in it" and i said "did you buy it from the manufacturer?" and she said "no, we found someone who was selling them."

boom, i knew it was bootlegged. i'm not even sure if she knew it was bootlegged, so i wasn't going to call the cops or anything.

it is very unlikely that the jill miller CD set was bootlegged, so i bought it. this trainer also developed her own body ball DVD and was selling kits of her own system in her studio.

[PeakFitness]

Originally Posted by dutchgirl

One way to spot a bootleg is to look at the written guides and other materials included in the set. With a bootleg set there are often typos in the written materials, some pages may be missing altogether, the paper quality may not be as high as one would expect, etc.

Or even if the materials look the same, you may look on the beachbody site and see that it's supposed to have a food guide, for example, but your set doesn't have a food guide. Or, with CLX, the guidebook is completely left out (the one you're supposed to write the reps in).

[topfitmama]

I have a Slim in 6 set and all the discs have the name of the workout engraved in the inner circle of the disc (shiny side) and the same number that appears on the front side of the disc SLDVD6101, 02 or 03. Would that be signs that these are genuine?

Many other DVDs have either some number or the name of the workout engraved in the inner circle, so I wonder if that is a "genuine" mark. Can this falsified too?

[TLB]

Originally Posted by monterey vidiot

I won an ebay auction for a Body Gospel set. It looks fine to me, but from what I've read here, many things from ebay are not a real Beachbody product. How do you know?

I got mine on EBay also. I was really nervous, but everything looks intact (literature, etc.) The chapters are where they are supposed to be. 2 discs had a couple of fine scratches. I wonder if they had a quality control issue with one batch.

I didn't think to look for engravings - that's a good idea.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by dutchgirl

One way to spot a bootleg is to look at the written guides and other materials included in the set.

This.

I identified a CLX as a bootleg when the written guides were only 20 pages (still high-gloss, great quality) and the real CLX manual is like 90 pages.