VHS and BETA tapes

[macuu222]

My wife has about 2000 VHS and BETA video cassette tapes of movies. Some are right out of the box..many are copies. My question is ...Are there any places on island that will accept them like the recycle center, or the library or maybe the salvation army or do they all have to go to the Hilo dump?

[hikatz]

Hilo Library accepts donations of vhs, beta and cassettes for their library sale, as long as there is no mold on the tapes.
Staff phone # 933-8890

From previous library sales, the tapes sell well.

[macuu222]

Thank You hikatz. I'll let my wife know

[Todd H]

My wife cherishes her collection of VHS tapes, numbering over 200, by my estimation. Even though we're fully up to speed with the digital age, she's just not ready to give up on those old analog tapes. I used to give her a hard time about hanging on to the past, and quickly learned to keep my mouth shut when she pointed out my massive collection of LP's (records). So, last weekend, I capitulated to her long-standing wish for a new VCR and bought her a Toshiba DVR-620 at Video Only. As the purchase was being rung up, I pretended to dust off the carton and joked to the salesman that "I'm sure you're glad to be selling one of these!" He laughed and said "believe it or not, our store alone sells 1 to 2 of these units every week. There are lots of people who collect movies on videotape, because they can get them for next to nothing."

Having told a recent, true-life event, I would urge you to not throw the cassette tapes into the city dump, as they'll most likely end up in the landfill. My suggestion is to donate them to your local thrift shop, or church bazaar. Your library has most likely gone all digital, so they will not want them. The typical selling price (at least in the Seattle area) is 25 cents for a single cassette movie, and around 50 cents for a boxed set/collection (e.g. Star Wars - Trilogy). You can then write off a reasonable amount (donation) on your 2014 taxes

The other option is to put an ad on Craigslist. Maybe ask $200 for the entire lot, assuming that most of what you have are original movies on VHS. Expect the buyer to haggle you down to a lot less, but that's part of the fun. Good luck!

Todd

[hikatz]

http://www.hilopubliclibrary.org/donations.html

they do give donation slips, and the money raised helps support our libraries.

(I have helped at local sales in Hilo, and seen boxes of tapes thrown in the dumpster)

[macuu222]

Thanks.... It's just that VHS tapes take up almost a whole room in our house. And yes my wife loves her collection of tapes even though more than half those titles we already have on DVD! I just called the library...they said they would take them (if there is no mold). The craiglist idea seems interesting and I just remembered that HPP has a owners swapmeet second Saturday every month also.