A series of posts I will be starting pertaining to VHS collectors, I hope to do this as much as possible and as much as people need me to do so. My first sort of advice is going to be about the “how to”, which mainly focuses on the selection of such video tapes and how to make it easiest for you, the buyer.
There are three basic things to look for when buying a VHS tape, either for your personal collection (If you are a VHS enthusiast like me or aspire to be) or to resell for a profit. Most VHS tapes can be purchased for a dollar or less at your local Good Will store and the like. They hold no real guarantees, but we’ll get to that in another blog.
The first- and best- kind of VHS tape to look for is simply one that is either a) Not available on DVD for some reason or b) Hard to find/rare/out of print on DVD. With the latter of the two choices, some people may be more willing to pay two dollars for a VHS when the DVD is going for over $15. There are certain movies (I won’t name them) that are much easier and cheaper to find on VHS than DVD. You need to learn what those titles are as fast as you can. And then obviously, if something was never released on DVD and VHS is your only means of seeing it, then this would be a tape worth buying.
The second kind of VHS tape to buy is one that is still in factory shrink wrap. Granted, I’ve seen some lame looking videos in their original packaging and know they wouldn’t sell for the dollar I’d have to pay for them, but if it’s something you think you can resell, always get something that is sealed. Shoppers love words like “new”, “mint” and “sealed”. “Never before viewed”. This will go back to our guarantee blog (which is forthcoming), but the closer it is to new, the longer people will believe it will last. No one wants to buy something that isn’t going to work, especially a VHS tape.
The third obvious kind to look for, especially for resale, is what most people file under “special interest”. This includes, but is not limited to, television shows, sports and even music. A lot of professional wrestling (Think WWE, WCW, ECW) was done through tape trading, but also something that existed in pre-DVD era may not be put on DVD yet by the wrestling company (if it even ever is). Often times as well, if such a thing is released on DVD it can be edited in ways you don’t want to mess with. Music is the same thing, as most music videos don’t get rereleased onto DVD. Things like Billy Ray Cyrus might be a pass, but use your judgment based on what’s popular at the time. Television is perhaps the best to search for, especially if it is unreleased on DVD or contains the original music on VHS. I am proud to say that I own a VHS copy of an Andy Kaufman special which I do not believe was ever put onto DVD. These are the types of things people want. These are what will sell, if you’re looking to resell.
While you’re looking for these videos, just remember this as my best advice for hunting through a stack of videos without having to look at the description of every movie. Knowing the most that you can about movies really helps here, but this is what I like to call my “Top Gun Method”. If you see a VHS of the movie Top Gun, you’re obviously going to assume that the movie is on DVD and very easily obtainable. Hence, this is not a VHS tape you want to necessarily buy because it doesn’t hold a high resale value. So while you’re searching through sometimes hundreds of titles, you just need to block out the familiar ones, like Top Gun, and look only at the ones that you don’t know what they mean. Remember, Twister is a movie that everyone who wants to own it probably already does (on DVD and VHS!), while Cyclone is a rare Fred Olen Ray film on VHS. It’s also a matter of what people like and are willing to pay for: Godzilla, Fred Olen Ray, Roger Corman, Jerry Warren—these are all names that you can’t find some of their stuff on DVD, or if you can it’s just the difference between paying $20 for a DVD or $3 for a VHS tape. VHS tape should win every time, and if you’re only paying $1 to begin with you’re making a good deal. Also, you can never go wrong buying anything Mystery Science Theater 3000.
