Do you own any? Should a mail order seller disclose that the disc was a former rental? Have you had any trouble with former LaserDisc rentals?

As for me ... I own two (rare discs). The sellers did not disclose that they were former rentals but both LD(s) play flawlessly. I would not have a problem buying a former rental ... but I would like to know what I am buying beforehand ... because it can effect the closing & re-sale price.

I've bought a few former rentals from shops when they were liquidating. So long as the discs weren't horribly scuffed and the covers were in decent shape, I'd buy them.

One that I bought had never even been rented!

I have a ton of former rental discs in my collection, so I have nothing whatsoever against them. Most of them are Hong Kong and Taiwanese imports. The nature of the market in that part of Southeast Asia was such that it was greatly focused on rentals rather than sales to collectors. Most of these discs were primarily intended for rental, and so it is rare to find many of these titles which are in pristine condition from a private collection. When dealing with former rental discs, you will from time to time encounter discs with problems. I should mention that I buy most of mine from one particular seller. Almost every shipment I get from him has one or two discs with problems of some sort. However, this seller is great about standing behind what he sells. He buys in volume, and so he doesn't have time to check every disc. When I get bad discs from him, all I have to do is tell him the titles and what is wrong with them, and he gives me full credit no questions asked. That being said, my advice would be if you are going to buy a lot of former rental discs, make sure who you are dealing with. Be certain that you are trading with a reputable seller who will offer credit or exchange for defectives, because you WILL encounter some. That's just the nature of the beast. This is especially true in the Hong Kong and Taiwan area markets, because that's almost the only type of discs left over there now. I buy them because so many of them are very rare titles. If you see a rare title that you want, don't let the fact that it is a former rental cause you to shy away from it. If you really truly want it, jump all over it! If you don't, it might be a VERY VERY LONG TIME before another copy of it appears! In fact, you might NEVER see it again! Well, that's my opinion, for what it's worth.

David

I have some rental or lending discs. I'm not sure if they were all video store rentals, from a library, or possibly school usage. But the jackets and disc labels had barcode stickers on them. The jackets are not always in the best condition, but other then 1 disc having light rot, the others play fine.

Sellers should always disclose if a disc is a former rental. Certain titles I want in pristine condition. A former rental is likely to have stickers on the disc and, since they were in heavy use, scratches. That wouldn't stop me form buying the disc if it played well, but it would affect how much I'd be willing to spend.

I havn't got any rentals but I'd say that they would be mostly okay. Most rental discs (LD's and DVD) are usually good. And also LD are more durable in the sense that they have a much thicker plastic shell but are also heavier.