Do People Still Buy VHS Tapes? Because I want to Sell My Old WWE Video Collection

8 years ago

Tons of people like myself have held onto VHS machines because we have a lot of great content on VHS tapes and don't feel a need to do a mass transfer to DVDs or we have lots of great tapes that never came out on DVD.

Lots of machines play both DVD and VHS. It's not a big deal for hardcore fans to plug in a machine to watch something. It is very cheap to buy a used VHS machine. I would think that you should be able to sell your tapes, but people really look for bargain prices for the VHS offerings though. You never know, maybe a hardcore fan will pay more.

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positivenegative

8 years ago

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David Beroff 8 years ago

Originally Posted by positivenegative

You know it's pretty cheap to transfer to CD these days. Doing that would also enable you to sell the collection multiple times....

Legally?
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- Justin012 8 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by David Beroff
  
  Legally?
  .
  .
  
  I wouldn't think it's legal to copy from VHS to DVD and sell them online. Also it would be very time consuming. You would also need to find the original dvd covers online and print them off.
  
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  David Beroff 8 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Justin012
  
  I wouldn't think it's legal to copy from VHS to DVD and sell them online.
  
  That was kind of my point.
  
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mkii

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by positivenegative

You know it's pretty cheap to transfer to CD these days. Doing that would also enable you to sell the collection multiple times - then advertise them in the right places and you'll make a tidy sum

Good luck.

That's a great way to get banned off pretty much any seller portal and potentially get in trouble with the law or end up in court.

Originally Posted by Justin012

I was a huge WWF (now wwe) growing up in the 90's and early 2000's and collecting some of my favorite wwe ppv's and matches.

I know a lot of wwe fans today, prefer to watch wrestling on the wwe network for $9.99 per month, so gone are the days when people buy or rent VHS.

I'm not sure whether or not my old wwe collection would sell. I was thinking eBay or Craiglist? What you think?

If I saw that sitting on my curb, I would leave it there, which means it's PERFECT FOR EBAY. Don't expect too much unless you have the Donald Trump match. (Edit: I found it on Ebay and it's only like $10... Man I really need one of those pin making machines, there's some absolutely hysterical pins selling for $10+FS on there HAHA.) I'm not getting into a political discussion, I'm just saying that I bet that video is going for quite a bit on Ebay right now.

wwe vhs | eBay

It does appear some people buy them. I don't know if busting them up into single auctions is better than selling as a lot. A lot would be much less work but you might not get the most money that way.

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Justin012

8 years ago

Originally Posted by mkii

wwe vhs | eBay

It does appear some people buy them. I don't know if busting them up into single auctions is better than selling as a lot. A lot would be much less work but you might not get the most money that way.

Yes, I'd rather sell the lot instead of single auctions. Either that or there going into the bin

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mkii

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by Justin012

Yes, I'd rather sell the lot instead of single auctions. Either that or there going into the bin

After seeing prices on Ebay, I'd try a few fixed price sales, start at like 10$ a piece for the whole lot, then drop it to 7.5 6 5 4 each time the lot doesn't sell.

So start at say $300 (do free shipping at that price) if it doesn't sell or you don't get a taking offer, do 240$ but they pay for shipping, then try for 200$, just keep dropping the price a bit until it sells. I see a bunch sold at 5-10$ for single movies so it's probably worth your time? No idea on what your income level is.

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Justin012

8 years ago

Originally Posted by mkii

After seeing prices on Ebay, I'd try a few fixed price sales, start at like 10$ a piece for the whole lot, then drop it to 7.5 6 5 4 each time the lot doesn't sell.

So start at say $300 (do free shipping at that price) if it doesn't sell or you don't get a taking offer, do 240$ but they pay for shipping, then try for 200$, just keep dropping the price a bit until it sells. I see a bunch sold at 5-10$ for single movies so it's probably worth your time? No idea on what your income level is.

Thanks for the suggestion mkii. I have never actually sold anything on eBay before but I'm sure it's slightly difficult to sell over 30 video cassettes.

Let's say the lot sells for $200, how am I supposed to know what the total cost for postage and packaging? And how the heck do I package them altogether?

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mkii

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by Justin012

Thanks for the suggestion mkii. I have never actually sold anything on eBay before but I'm sure it's slightly difficult to sell over 30 video cassettes.

Let's say the lot sells for $200, how am I supposed to know what the total cost for postage and packaging? And how the heck do I package them altogether?

Uh, that shouldn't be too hard to figure out, just go to whatever shipping service is commonly used in Ireland, take all the tapes (after you have snapped pictures of them) and wrap them in paper (in a big bundle) and then tape the bundle together, then either wrap it in bubble warp or packing peanuts and put it into a box. I use Uline.com for packing materials, I realize that isn't ideal since you have only 1 item to sell.

Packing boxes isn't difficult, if you've never done it before I understand it seems like a major pain but it really isn't.

Originally Posted by David Beroff

I think my local Salvation Army has trouble moving VHS tapes at 50 cents each. (That's what stops me from even trying to do anything with my girlfriend's collection of hundreds of them.)

There's people who make 100k a year buying stuff at places like that and reselling on Ebay/Azon. The issue is that you MUST know what to buy and how much to pay. That takes a lot of research and trial and error. I have a camera slide projector that I've been trying to sell for an eternity. It's brand new, works, I'm priced below everybody else as well, there's just so few buyers. Another seller sold one at a price higher than me and another one sold when I didn't have my auction up. I paid 1$ for it at a garage sale, I made a big deal that the seller did not know if it worked. Asking 95$.

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Justin012

8 years ago

Originally Posted by mkii

Uh, that shouldn't be too hard to figure out, just go to whatever shipping service is commonly used in Ireland, take all the tapes (after you have snapped pictures of them) and wrap them in paper (in a big bundle) and then tape the bundle together, then either wrap it in bubble warp or packing peanuts and put it into a box. I use Uline.com for packing materials, I realize that isn't ideal since you have only 1 item to sell.

Packing boxes isn't difficult, if you've never done it before I understand it seems like a major pain but it really isn't.

Okay, thanks mkii. I'll stick it up on ebay and see if it sells. nothing to lose. Cheers

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tagiscom 8 years ago

Yes, you also have to weight in the time to profit ratio.

Or is it worth spending a day, setting all of this up for $10?

I would take the lot down to Cash Converters, (or second hand dealers in your country) and sell the lot to them.

You may only get $5, but save yourself a day of taking pictures, loading them up, etc.

And l do also have a VHS video recorder, and on rare occasions watch something on it.

I used to buy popular movies, ($1 each) but half of them where terrible quality!

As for buying blank VHS, everything that is available is crap quality, so l tend to sacrifice an old tape for a blank one.

And l use my recorder sparingly since it is a nightmare to find another one.

And impossible to repair, at least my brand.
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- Cali16 8 years ago
  
  A quick look on eBay shows that people are buying WWE vhs tapes.
  
  Shipping them individually would probably cost about $3 in postage. Shipping them as one unit just put them in a box that isn't too big (so they're not banging against each other) - they're pretty sturdy, no need for bubble wrap. I'd guess the cost to be around $15 (give or take a couple dollars) for the lot.
  
  The downside of trying to sell them altogether is it may be a little harder to find a buyer who wants all of them. They'll likely sell better individually, but that's more work for you.
  
  Here's a listing that sold just two days ago - 12 tapes for $99.99 (buy it now, not an auction) and $9.95 for postage. http://www.ebay.com/itm/lot-of-12-WW...AAAOSwL7VWieOL
  
  So, you may be able to sell them altogether - it just may take a little longer.
  
  Keep in mind that eBay will keep about 10% of the final price for their cut. But, if you're just going to toss them otherwise, might as well make $50 to $90 on them.
  
  If you've never set up an eBay listing and don't want to take them time to figure it out, you could probably hire someone on Fiverrr to do it for you.
  
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David Beroff

8 years ago

Originally Posted by mkii

So start at say $300 (do free shipping at that price) if it doesn't sell or you don't get a taking offer, do 240$ but they pay for shipping, then try for 200$, just keep dropping the price a bit until it sells.

I think my local Salvation Army has trouble moving VHS tapes at 50 cents each. (That's what stops me from even trying to do anything with my girlfriend's collection of hundreds of them.)

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whateverpedia

8 years ago

When I got a DVD player I was faced with a similar problem. What to do with all those old VHS tapes?

I ended up donating them to the Salvation Army.

I've got a bookshelf full of DVD's now, many of which are on Netflix and/or Stan.

Now, what to do with all those old DVD's? Probably another trip to the Salvos.

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Zodiax

8 years ago

I wouldn't take those tapes but you can send me those containers of whey protein.

We can be besties 4eva.

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davejarvys

8 years ago

Wrestling fans don't seem to mind buying vhs tapes especially if the tape is not on the network. If you sell on eBay maybe go on to the UKFF.com and draw attention to the sale.

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Jill Carpenter

8 years ago

You're probably not going to like to hear this suggestion.

Because the age of the tapes is pushing the 20 year mark, you may want to review at least the beginning of them before boxing them up.

VHS can go seriously bad, get grainy, audio screwed up - from loosing it's magnetic umph over time.

They can be affected by how/where they were stored.

I'd make sure there is something watchable on the tapes.

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seasoned

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Jill Carpenter

You're probably not going to like to hear this suggestion.

Because the age of the tapes is pushing the 20 year mark, you may want to review at least the beginning of them before boxing them up.

VHS can go seriously bad, get grainy, audio screwed up - from loosing it's magnetic umph over time.

They can be affected by how/where they were stored.

I'd make sure there is something watchable on the tapes.

GOOD POINT! Even when the beta were popular, and in their heydey, this was a BIG problem! Humidity, age, machine quality/type, rewinds/forwards, views heat ALL affect the quality! You DID say you were a fan that watched them, so I am guessing the quality isn't that good. In the early days, a quality machine cost like FIVE times what the lowest end machine did, so THAT doesn't bode well EITHER. BTW CDs are ALSO not all that great as far as length of storage.

As for selling the tapes? For the reason jill already mentioned, they will likely be good ONLY for a fan or collector. A collector would want the TAPES in the best condition possible.

As for copying? one copy to a CD might be a "minor" copyright infringement. Selling several times is WORSE! Copying artwork, etc... drives it to the HILT, that is full on piracy! And I don't mean the low end stuff that got program traders threatened with jail in the 80s. I mean the kind like Microsoft advertises to OEMs when they bust a new piracy center.

BESIDES, the CDs would likely be WORSE fidelity than the tapes.

Steve

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yukon

Banned 8 years ago

No doubt a collection like OPs would easily sell. That niche is like retro video games, still popular.

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GlobalTrader

8 years ago

I would try Craigslist first - less hassle. You may also want to do a search for potential buyers who are already looking for VHS tapes under the wanted section of CL.

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irawr

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by GlobalTrader

I would try Craigslist first - less hassle. You may also want to do a search for potential buyers who are already looking for VHS tapes under the wanted section of CL.

This is a great way to get screwed.

I buy on CL and resell on Ebay regularly. This isn't good advice.

You have this backwards. Try Ebay first, try to get a price that's good, if it doesn't work out, then CL it. As a seller with well over 10,000 completed transactions, I really don't recommend CL at all.

This is one of the reasons I post here on an avatar and not my real name. Yeah, if you sold me stuff on CL, you got owned... We are meeting up or you're sending me stuff for me to make money, the only way this would be worse is if I just didn't pay anything. I only bother there if I feel I will double my money AFTER FEEs and AFTER a significant loss adjustment. So you're getting about 25% of the final sale price on CL if I'm the buyer. And I've bought quite a bit... Also, sometimes I'm not very knowledgeable about the item, in which case you will get even less.

So to sellers on CL who feel like "Man I kind of feel like I got F---ed" when you sold something there, you probably did.

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GlobalTrader

8 years ago

I agree, if you have the time and wish to go thru with taking pictures, posting the descriptions, packing them up and shipping them is worth the extra money, then absolutely. Everyone is different and I am glad you have had 10K completed transactions but as I said, everyone is different and my suggestion stands.

Originally Posted by irawr

This is a great way to get screwed.

I buy on CL and resell on Ebay regularly. This isn't good advice.

You have this backwards. Try Ebay first, try to get a price that's good, if it doesn't work out, then CL it. As a seller with well over 10,000 completed transactions, I really don't recommend CL at all.

This is one of the reasons I post here on an avatar and not my real name. Yeah, if you sold me stuff on CL, you got owned... We are meeting up or you're sending me stuff for me to make money, the only way this would be worse is if I just didn't pay anything. I only bother there if I feel I will double my money AFTER FEEs and AFTER a significant loss adjustment. So you're getting about 25% of the final sale price on CL if I'm the buyer. And I've bought quite a bit... Also, sometimes I'm not very knowledgeable about the item, in which case you will get even less.

So to sellers on CL who feel like "Man I kind of feel like I got F---ed" when you sold something there, you probably did.