Maybe you have boxes full old VHS or magnetic tapes in your attic or basement, and you’re wondering what to do with them. If you’re considering throwing them away, we have prepared a few options on what to do with old VHS tapes. Continue reading to find out the best options for you to take.
What to do with Old VHS Tapes UK
We need to address this question first before moving forward, because it’s important to understand whether you only want to dispatch a few or all of the tapes you own.
It also doesn’t matter if your VHS player is still in good running condition, because the VHS tapes themselves are flawed and will deteriorate over the years.
From here you have to consider converting the content in your VHS tapes into digital formats if you want them to last beyond their normal lifespan, especially if the recorded videos have sentimental value to you and your family.
The Best Solution
A company like Supaphoto offers digitisation services for old videos, VHS and magnetic tapes (for camcorders) and deliver them to you via cloud, flash drive, or hard drive (external HDD or your laptop’s hard drive). More than that, we will also dispose of your tapes safely and in accordance with the UK’s environmental protection laws.
By converting your old VHS tapes into digital formats, you also get to have the ability to make multiple copies of any of your video recordings, which can be a great idea for giving it away as birthday, Thanksgiving, or Christmas presents to family members! For example, you can give copies of your wedding day to your children for them to cherish it for all time. Whatever event it may be, if it is related to happy memories, it is worth digitising (saving in digital format to last longer).
Why Would you Get Rid of Your Videos?
There are many reasons why you may want to get rid of your vhs tapes
You already digitised them and you want to free up storage space, so you want to throw the VHS tapes away.
They sustained damage over the years and no longer play.
You’ve made duplicates of the video recordings in the tapes and won’t need them anymore.
You’ve never used them before and are blank VHS tapes, and you want to dispose of them quickly.
You feel that the technology is already outdated and you have no more use for them.
Other Considerations
Digitise VHS Tapes
For those who lived through the 80s and 90s, they still recall how much fun it was to go to a VHS rental shop and renting several VHS tapes to take back home and enjoy watching the movies, as either the dad or the elder sibling putting a tape in the VCR, and then rewinding it after, so others can watch it the next day. Those were fun memories but they were in the past. Now, the new way is by digitising your tapes if you want to relive the glory of the past – well, at least with some of the amusing features that made VHS unique. The general “retro” quality and the intro previews at the beginning of each tape are guaranteed to remain intact, despite digitising a VHS tape.
Old Videos
You can also find this opportunity to give your children some history lessons about old VHS videos even though they are being played now by a 1080p HD quality film from a digitised version. Digitising VHS tapes of old family videos is also very important whether for sentimental or historical purposes. Most people don’t want those heartfelt moments captured in videos to disappear with time, as they remind us of a powerful connection that makes a strong bond in families. At Supaphoto, we also value those family ties and that is why we ensure the video quality will remain the same when we digitise any of your VHS keepsakes, so you get to keep these precious memories forever.
Spare yourself the time and effort to digitise your old VHS tapes on your own and let us handle this for you. Don’t delay and take us up on this offer now! We’re one of the few businesses that can help you keep those precious memories before time will erase them.
Sell Your VHS Tapes
It was not so long ago that the internet was inflated by that hype about original Disney VHS tapes that are auctioned for thousands of pounds. However, people found out that a lot of the eBay listings for such antiques were scams. The fact of the matter is, that you can find thousands of listings for vintage Disney VHS tapes under the “Black Diamond” category, these are between 1984 to 1994 which are currently on sale on eBay. Contrary to the hype, most of them are actually sold for less than £30, which is quite disappointing if you ever own a Disney VHS tape but some were even sold for less than the price of the shipping fee itself! Still, if you desperately need to make a little bit of extra cash, then it might be a good idea to sell your old Disney VHS tapes on eBay. People often also buy tapes second hand online
Do Creative Things to Do
While the technology for VHS tapes has long since been extinct. Despite their big and bulky size, there are other creative ways that you can use them for. Take a look at these DIY VHS tape hobbies that you can follow. This way you can use your abandoned and dust-collecting VHS tapes in your garage storage. Among the creative designs you could use them for is a neon lights for a vintage themed party. Alternatively a home movie theatre room or clutch for an 80s Halloween costume.
They are made of polyester plastic base coated with a polyester urethane binder material containing magnetic oxide particles. Therefore, recycling VHS tapes cannot be done by your yourself. You’ll be doing mother nature a huge favour by doing so. Sending them to the landfill (basically throwing them in your trash bin) will be a problem. This is because they are non-biodegradable materials. Even if their molecules breakdown they still become microplastics that can get into other living organisms like plants and animals. They can then end up in our table as food. Disposing of old tapes is so important to do the right way. There are many of can chose from. That particular sites is an example only of what you’d consider after you have converted your videos in East Sussex .
Another health concern is the toxic residue that the magnetic strip coating on the film leaves behind. It can possibly pose a serious health risk to anyone who comes into contact with it. Fortunately, there are many e-waste recycling companies around. These will accept old VHS tapes for recycling and you only have to pay a small fee for their services. Their facilities have the ability to turn these tapes into usable downcycled plastics.
Reasons to Keep Them
At the end of the day, it makes a lot of sense to keep your videos! Why? Well it’s simply because over time you’ll realise that decluttering can do more more harm than good. Yes digitalise them! It makes a lot of sense to have a modern version that you can share with your family. As your tapes age, they will deteriorate – so it makes even more sense from that point of view. Can old video tapes be restored? Well yes but the sooner you convert them the better anyway.
But remember too that nothing beats having a physical copy of your tape. This way you can pass it down to other family members. Are my tapes worth a lot? Yes but more than in simply a monetary sense. You cannot put a price on your memories.
Copy Old VHS Tapes to DVD
Obviously, one of the sensible things to do is to copy your old video tapes to dvd . Or you can transfer them to digital. This will have the effect of safeguarding them for your family in the future. It’s always best to choose a company like Supaphoto when it comes to getting this important step done. You’ll get peace of mind that the job is done properly and respectfully.
