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Where to get rid of VHS tapes |
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#1 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 215
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Where to get rid of VHS tapes
Ive got a box of VHS tapes i want to get rid of but i cant find anywhere that actually takes them. Ive tried a variety of charity shops and all say they dont take them. I know they arent worth much but i thought even if they got £1-£2 for each one it would still be a couple of hundred or so toward their charities.
Ive tried offering them on ebay and gumtree at no cost but no takers. Id rather not bin them, especially as they are just a huge amount of plastics, but it looks like thats going to be the only choice. Anyone have any ideas where i can get rid of them? They are all in really good condition, mostly star wars, star trek, x files and comedies. |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 24,059
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Most charity shops gave up on them some time ago, I expect so very few people have a working VHS machine. The last time I some they were in a massive box outside a charity shop at some ridiculous price. I just dumped all mine in the hard plastics at the recycling centre.
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,764
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Council dump, I'm afraid.
They're worthless today. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 9,454
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Quote:
Ive tried a variety of charity shops and all say they dont take them. I know they arent worth much but i thought even if they got £1-£2 for each one it would still be a couple of hundred or so toward their charities.
Unfortunately landfill is the only likely option. Also, this has come up a few times before here, and given that similar answers were being given over six years ago, I can't see that the market will have improved any! |
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#5 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 215
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Quote:
If you can't find anyone willing to take them off your hands, what makes you think the shops can sell them? They know that they won't shift them.
Thanks for your reply. |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: South West
Posts: 3,279
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Quote:
10-15 yrs ago people were struggling to get rid of their vinyl records, now they are very collectable. There might be people interested, you never know. It was worth asking them if they wanted them as a donation at least before binning them in my opinion.
Thanks for your reply. |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 10,733
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The only chance is if they are rare/collectable will anyone be interested, the problem with VHS now is that while there will be a few who will buy them to finish off their collections etc the hassle of postage etc out weighs the value.
Perhaps in another decade the hipsters will move onto VHS as the latest fashion and suddenly you'll be able to rip them off for hundreds of quid for some grainy copy of some program. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Gtr Manchester UK
Posts: 7,918
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I've hung on to my VHS recorder and some blank tapes Just In Case. I have found it is a way to record red-button digital TV when there was nothing on the EPG. OK< that was very early this decade (might have been for the 2010 winter olympics) - can't really see another use unless some rare footage turns up in a charity shop/ebay...,which in any case can be converted to digital easily enough!
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 5,262
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Bought vhs tapes are nearly always worthless. Somewhat bizarrely it is home taped VHS that can be valuable now as they can contain footage that is otherwise lost. Some very rare missing episodes would be very desirable to collectors, but even stuff like continuity announcements is wanted.
Of course you are right that in the future they may become valuable as they become rarer, but there are so many of the damn things stuffed in lofts that this is not going to be anywhen soon. |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Buckingham
Posts: 28,534
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But how many of them will be unplayable as they have not been stored in conditions that stop them become brittle and / or shedding their coating - not to mention print-through?
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,671
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Quote:
Perhaps in another decade the hipsters will move onto VHS as the latest fashion...
OP, slap some photos of them onto Instagram with a few relevant hashtags like #vhs #vhsgram #igvhsclub #retro etc and let it be known that you want rid of them and the hipsters will be crawling all over them. |
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Isle of Wight
Posts: 2,746
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Quote:
Ive got a box of VHS tapes i want to get rid of but i cant find anywhere that actually takes them. Ive tried a variety of charity shops and all say they dont take them. I know they arent worth much but i thought even if they got £1-£2 for each one it would still be a couple of hundred or so toward their charities.
Ive tried offering them on ebay and gumtree at no cost but no takers. Id rather not bin them, especially as they are just a huge amount of plastics, but it looks like thats going to be the only choice. Anyone have any ideas where i can get rid of them? They are all in really good condition, mostly star wars, star trek, x files and comedies. |
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 5,303
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Quote:
Somewhat bizarrely it is home taped VHS that can be valuable now as they can contain footage that is otherwise lost. Some very rare missing episodes would be very desirable to collectors, but even stuff like continuity announcements is wanted.
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: At college, in L.A.'s office
Posts: 54,214
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I have the same problem. I have a whole load of VHS tapes that I can't get rid of. None of my local charity or second hand shops will take them. I still have a VHS player but it hasn't been used in years. I probably still remember how to use it
I managed to replace some of the movie tapes with DVD versions but there's loads of blank tapes with old TV shows on them lying around.
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 353
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Video tapes all went straight in the skip when I helped out at Salvation Army, which was 3 years ago.
I've still got a stash of Sky Movies/ satellite 'adult entertainment' from the 90's but I throw a few out every once in a while, have not used my VHS machine for probably 10 years. Just think the PQ would be worse than the SD DTB channels, which I barely ever watch. There are no landfill sites here in Hampshire now. I believe it all goes to energy recovery ( incineration) so it's not going totally to waste. I've also got a big bin liner full of Betamax tapes! |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 24,059
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I remember when VHS became started pre-recorded films sold at £39.99 and blank 3-hour tapes £5-£7 that is when you could actually buy them, for a period they were in short supply.
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Merseyside
Posts: 4,289
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Quote:
If you can't find anyone willing to take them off your hands, what makes you think the shops can sell them? They know that they won't shift them.
Unfortunately landfill is the only likely option. Also, this has come up a few times before here, and given that similar answers were being given over six years ago, I can't see that the market will have improved any! |
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 353
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Quote:
I remember when VHS became started pre-recorded films sold at £39.99 and blank 3-hour tapes £5-£7 that is when you could actually buy them, for a period they were in short supply.
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 10,653
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They're great in the garden. Crisscross the tape across a seed bed with quite narrow strips. Stops the birds from eating the seed and stops the blasted cats from using the seed bed as a toilet
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 9,454
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Quote:
10-15 yrs ago people were struggling to get rid of their vinyl records, now they are very collectable.
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South
Posts: 10,847
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If you've got plenty of storage space going spare then it wouldn't hurt to just leave them there on the small chance that they will one day be worth money. However if it involves any cost to you whatsoever (even if just inconvenience) then throw them away.
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Brackley, UK
Posts: 16,657
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Quote:
I've hung on to my VHS recorder and some blank tapes Just In Case.
The VCR won't even be able to pick up TV signals now that the analogue broadcasts have turned off. You probably won't even be able to connect it to a TV. It's a useless lump of electronics. |
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#23 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 215
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Quote:
Not really the same thing though, is it? Many audiophiles have always preferred vinyl, and (some) vinyl has long been collectable. I can't remember anyone saying they prefer the look of analogue video, nobody is marketing precision-made high-end VHS players, or coveting the sleeve notes on VHS tapes versus DVD discs.
And if you want to compare then yes, 15 yrs ago you would sell vinyl albums for 50p, now a lot of them are going for considerably more and its not just because of any perceived better sound quality. Some of it will be people from that era buying and collecting nostalgia. Anyway, this wasnt meant to be a huge discussion around their worth. It was mainly to ask if anyone knows where i can take them rather than chuck a load of plastic into landfill. It seems that is the only answer so thread has done its course. Thanks for those that answered. |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,719
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Quote:
Unfortunately landfill is the only likely option.
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Crosby
Posts: 1,650
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Throw them over the back fence.
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I managed to replace some of the movie tapes with DVD versions but there's loads of blank tapes with old TV shows on them lying around.

