ebay CDs

[ebes67]

I recently bought a couple of discs on ebay. When they arrived, I noticed that one had a black mark drawn across the bar code and another had a small hole drilled in the case over the bar code. I later noticed a couple of ebay listings that stated the discs did not have black marks or holes on the cases. Does anyone know what that means? The discs seem to play fine, by the way.
Thanks!

[kexodusc]

Could be play copy versions...same quality, but the packaging defects are intentional to prevent resale. We use to get stuff like those sent to us to play in store when I worked at a record store.

Could be something entirely different though.
I've been burned on ebay a few times buying CD's...usually the big scam is sellers using ebays listing database for cd's implying the cd's are the remastered titles, not the sub-par original recordings, then blaming ebay's listings for the error.
There's a Led Zeppelin dedicated ebay store that is (or was) notorious for this.

Buyer beware, I guess.
For the most part I've done ok with CD's on ebay though.

[eisforelectronic]

Those marks are typically seen on promotional discs used for things like listening stations, giveaways, or other demos. In simpler terms, it means it was obtained free of charge from either the distributonr or record company. There should not be anything wrong with the discs, they are taken from the normal production line. Most company's don't want to take the time or expense to print "For Promotional Use Only" on the actual CD, so they mark the jewel case or insert in a quick and easily recognizable way.

When I worked in a music store we used to take home the listening station CD's every month. Everyone would take turns choosing 1 cd at a time, rotating the starting person each month. When everyone was done, invariably there would be a bunch of assorted CD's left over. I used to take all the leftovers and sell them to a used cd store.