Oh where oh where can we donate pre-recorded VHS cassette tapes ? !

APennySaved

Has anyone heard of a place - charity shop, etc. - that currently accepts donations of pre-recorded VHS cassette tapes?

Spent some of  the weekend sorting out the garage      and found oodles of boxes of usable/watchable videos. But of course we no longer have a VHS tape player. Nor any wish now to keep these items! Our current policy is: decluttering is the way forward  . . . 

I remember seeing (years ago) that charity shops often had a sign up stating politely 'No video cassettes wanted'.
But have things changed at all?? Is there any charity shop - or any other venue - that would like these?

It seems such a shame to have to take them down to the local tip, where we're sure they'll just get put on a landfill site!!

They're all in their original plastic cases, & in good condition.

We'd be happy to take them in to a venue, or have them collected from home if that's preferable.

P.S. I have a feeling we're not going to get far with finding a solution this one, but I had to give it a try!

marcia_

 We ditched ours in the bin after ringing several charity shops that were not interested 

Torry_Quine

Saw some in my local Salvation army shop

mjm3346

They do not necessarily age well particularly in storage - the tapes can be useful to string across canes to deter birds from newly seeded areas - locally none of our charity shops want them

from a council site

Video tapes

There is little call for video tapes as most charity shops won't take them.  There may be people on sites such as Freecycle or Freegle or specialist Facebook groups who may still want video tapes.  Otherwise please put them in your black/grey household waste bin or the waste to landfill container at your local Household Recycling Centre.

https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/directory_record/5624/video_tapes

MalMonroe

Nobody wants them. Not even people on Freegle or Freecycle. So you could just dispose of them, as mjm3346 suggests above.

Savvy_Sue

MalMonroe said:

Nobody wants them. Not even people on Freegle or Freecycle. So you could just dispose of them, as mjm3346 suggests above.

I have seen knitting done with the tapes. Not recently, not even necessarily locally. So if I had the time and energy, I might briefly offer them on Freecycle / NextDoor / Freegle etc. 

Also POSSIBLY worth seeing if they are selling on Ebay. 

And again, POSSIBLY someone will be interested in the empty cases, to repurpose in crafty ways. 

But I'm not holding my breath for the OP ... 

strawb_shortcake

I think a select few VHS tapes can be quite collectable, primarily things that never made it to DVD, but the vast majority are worthless. From what I recall it's what I'd consider to be video nasties, b movie type horror films or cult classics that can see a return on. 

I always think like CD's, vinyl and video tapes would be good for an art college to use.

APennySaved

Thanks for all your advice.  👍  

Yes, do think I'm a bit out of luck on this one! :-/

From what I've read here & at older threads on MSE forum, even Freecycle etc. seem at a lost to offer any solution. And as most of the cassettes are standard mainstream films, they'll have been available on DVD now for years.

I went up & down out local high street the other day & asked at all the charity shops (interestingly, since COVID-19, 3 of these have sadly shut down! ) if they'd be interested in the video cassettes at all; & the result was as expected: a friendly refusal.

So think it's off to the tip we go! Hey-ho ... needs must & all that!

Silvertabby

We have a portable tv with a built in VHS player.  Mr S insisted that keep the tv and the huge box of tapes, just in case he/we wanted to watch them again.  More than a few years later.......

Edi81

I had a clear out and charity shops refused DVDs. 

Unless they are genuine rarities they will sadly need to go to landfill. 

Silvertabby

Edi81 said:

I had a clear out and charity shops refused DVDs. 

Unless they are genuine rarities they will sadly need to go to landfill. 

DVDs or video tapes?

I use our old dvds as bird scarers - 4 lengths of string, each with 5 or 6 dvds knotted in at regular intervals, are hanging in my open greenhouse door.  Stops the birds flying in and stripping my grape vine (mostly).