Please don't take this the wrong way. I just wanted to vent about an issue I've encountered several times when trading. I have received several DVDs without the other person writing on the DVDs to label it. All they do is put a piece of paper in the DVD sleeve. I have even received sets wrapped in a rubber band with a post it note on top. Some sets I got had the title written around the plastic ring in the middle of the DVD. Seriously people, writing on the DVDs is not going to ruin them. The ink from the marker won't eat through the DVDs and turn them into coasters. I used to use a solvent free marker but lordsmurf said this same thing. Besides, the solvent free marker was too wide anyway. I started using a fine point sharpie and it works just fine. I even let the ink dry for at least a minute before putting it in a sleeve, even thought it doesn't need that long to dry. I'm only saying all this to tell people to please write the name of the show and disc number on every disc that you trade. By not doing that, you only create more work for me because I end up having to write these things on the DVDs myself.

i think its a matter of preference - some people don't want dvd's with ugly writing on them (which I confess to having - I call it my secret "code" that no one else can read)

your best bet is to mention it before the trade starts - simply ask the person to label the disks ahead of time.

- others who don't want anything on the disks should ask people to label the sleeves or tag them with post-its.

How each of us catalogs our DVD collection is a very personalized thing. For that reason, I tend to use post-its (on the outside of the DVD sleeve) or just write on the DVD sleeve itself. That way the person can mark the discs however they like. Not to mention my handwriting isn't the clearest at times.

Because of the number of DVDs I own, I keep them in wallets and throw the packaging away. I keep a typed numerical list of each disc and have each of my wallets labeled on the outside with the number range contained within each wallet, each of which contains 96 discs. I have purchased some DVD-Rs from private individuals and the labeling ranges from some professsional-looking inkjet labels, to those of one lady who sent me two movies with her very good hand-written script labeling the discs. In several instances, I have kept the packaging if it is exceptional (The Jazz Singer), even though the discs are in the wallet. My DVD-R of Secret Of The Incas came in a plain sleeve with no writing on the disc, but it is positioned and numbered in the wallet and I can find it instantly if I wish.

I prefer that whoever sends me DVDs would write the title and disc number on the disc. It bothers me when people send me DVDs with just pieces of paper in the sleeves, post it notes, or just writing on the sleeves. As I said, doing this causes more work for me.

I keep my DVDs in large capacity DVD wallets that can hold over 500 DVDs each. One is pretty much full and I have a few pages full in the other one.

I just wanted to vent about my frustration with this but to each his own.