Your old VHS tapes could be worth a small fortune

Yes, you read that right. Videocassette recorders are still around and there are enough of them to justify a spot on the National Day Calendar — the national day marketing calendar under digital media company Zoovio, Inc.

While most people have retired their VCRs, not everyone has gotten rid of these devices or the VHS tapes that worked with these physical video players.

Some might even be holding onto the retro gadgets after seeing that a sealed, mint-condition "Star Wars" VHS tape from 1977 sold for $57,600 in New Jersey by Goldin Auctions, a collectibles auctioneer, in December 2021.

If you have a collection of a limited-edition or unopened VHS tapes, you could be in ownership of a small fortune.

A sealed vintage copy of 'Star Wars' on VHS is up for auction, worth $60K. https://t.co/5fl36TqFht

TMZ  (@TMZ) February 13, 2022

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"Most VHS tapes aren't worth that much money and will sell for only a few dollars," Baruch Labunski, the CEO at Rank Secure, a Toronto-based digital analytics firm, told FOX Business.

"Rarity and nostalgia are what makes some VHS tapes valuable," Labunski continued.

"An original ‘Star Wars’ tape can fetch $3,500 if it's in a sealed package. A three-piece ‘Halloween’ movie set can bring in $500. A lot has been made of the Walt Disney Home Video releases from 1981. The Black Diamond editions bring in the most money, with most ranging between $50 and $300."

Labunski added that opened and used VHS tapes tend to have their value "dramatically" lowered.

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"Most VHS tapes are sold on eBay," he said. "Looking at the recent sales of Disney movies, the price range was $20 to $316. Cult classic VHS movie prices ranged from $35 to $200."

In the auction world, appraisers have listed VHS tapes that are racking up bids that are thousands of dollars.

At the time of publication, Goldin Auctions has a dozen VHS tapes that have a current bid of at least $1,000.

The available titles are "The Blues Brothers" (1980), "Star Wars" (1977, 1984), "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" (1984) "Alien" (1984), "Batman" (1989), "Coming to America" (1990), "Double Impact" (1991), "Batman Forever" (1995), "Jurassic Park" (1994), "Happy Gilmore" (1996) and "Blade" (1998).

Heritage Auctions, a Dallas-based auction house, on the other hand, has 260 VHS tapes up for sale.

The four VHS tapes that are leading Heritage Auctions’ VHS tape lot are:

"Back to the Future" (1986), current bid of $20,000;

"Star Wars" (1984), current bid of $17,000;

"First Blood" (1982), current of bid $12,000;

and "Jaws" (1983), current of bid $10,500.

Heritage Auctions has sold more than 541,380 VHS tapes, according to the auction house’s past sale archive.

I knew all those boxes of shit taking up residence in my garage would pay off someday!

Mine hit the dumpster years ago.

stuff like that most of the value is in the fucking jacket. Better have mint quality box never opened or be lucky to get shit for it.

I have vintage porn on VHS.

How much for the worn out copy of Space Jam from my childhood?

BRB gotta go dig through some boxes in the attic.

BLUF: An item gets "independently graded" by a company that is owned by the auction house.
The higher an item is graded, the more it drives the price up, and the auction house charges a significant percentage (20% from the buyer & 5% from the seller) of the final sales price.

Heritage Auctions is a company that runs just about exclusively on scams, deception, and fraud.

This is exactly the same scam as they did with video games (WATA Games and Heritage Auctions).
Start at 6:50.



Anyone remember the "Certified Coin Bubble" from the late 80s?
This is being run by the exact same guy who came up with that scam.

ETA:

I have the original Star Wars Trilogy on VHS (first movies I ever got on VHS). And when I say original, the first movie is just called Star Wars. It looks like this:

Click To View Spoiler

But I'll never sell it. The last VHS I bought was also a Star Wars movie.....Episode 1 Collector's Edition. I know someone who has them on Laser Disc, too.

Laserdiscs?

All the toys you had as a kid are worth money too, provided you never opened or played with them.

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I have this set still sealed.

I'll let it go for $87k.

I still have that same VHS boxed set of the original trilogy Star Wars, but it’s opened of course, so I guess not worth much.  I save it because when my kids finally want to watch Star Wars, it’s the first version they need to see.  I save a VCR just for this reason alone.

Edit:  Oops, looked again, and I have a more recent version.  More like the post above this one.

Back when the dicks even had sideburns.

Top Gun?

Don't wreck this for him you big meanie.

I used to have the first VHS Star Wars and I think I threw it away years ago after DVD's came out.  

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How much for HEAT?

If you open the box to see if the tape still has usable video on it...you destroy it's value.

It's like the VHS version of the Observer Effect!

I threw away a fortune i guess...

Sandwich bag of cheetos dust and a half bottle of code red.

How much for a VCR itself, with the remote?

A mayonnaise sandwich that has been in the sun for 3 hrs.

Even less.  I just remembered that I recorded Sally Jesse Raphael "I was born a man" shows over most of them.

Got boxes of them upstairs, lots of Disney and Star Wars tapes.

They are in the cases, but none in mint condition.

Got a whole Schwarzeneggar collection on VHS...



...I'm gonna be rich!

I am not so sure about that call. I looked through two pages of sold eBay auctions and not one of them included the remote.

A rewinder only is $26.

A remote and a manual, but no VCR is like $20.

I bet you could get a C note for a good VCR, remote, and the manual.

“It’snaaahtaahhhhtooomahhh!”

I have a Star Wars album somewhere....... am I rich???



The Force is not with me

Looks like around 300 on fleabay.

Ahhhhhhhhh this is just like Disney VHS tapes or beenie babies. Now every dumby is going to think their sealed Pearl Harbor on VHS is worth big bucks. Please.

There are a VERY small amount of VHS worth big bucks and they are usually sealed and the very first run of a VHS and the seal/box have to be mint. The legit most expensive VHS used to be Cars sealed since it was the or one of the last VHS to be manufactured.

You guys do know that folks launder money through ebay right? When you see a copy of Little Mermain on VHS go for $20K.....that's not legit.....it's how money is laundered.

This is actually a worthless lot.

Yeah….my original Star Wars VHS tape is showing up on Amazon for like $25….. so much for selling it and buying a SCAR-17…..

I bought that on eBay at the bottom of the market, something like $12 used.
Greedo did not shoot first.

I've got the original Star Wars Trilogy and some others. I have at least three operating VCRs.

I used all mine up.

Off the top of my head I have the 2 tape Scarface.  Open though.

If you want a VCR on eBay, save your time and money and buy a never-opened NIB. I bought a used Panasonic Omnivision with DynAmorphous metal heads that was top of the line in its day and it was burnt out. Bought a NIB Funai (cheap brand but same internals as the name brands) for a few hundred more and no issues.

I have that set as well as the Back to the Future and the Indiana Jones movies.

Eta: have the star trek 1-4 movie box set too.

I think you misread my point.. I have my old last one, with remote and manual (not sure of the model, it is at the folks house). I think as time goes on they will become more valuable (than the tapes) as AFAIK, like the tapes they aren't making them anymore, but they won't wear out quite as fast as the tapes that degrade with time.

I've still got my VHS player...... hardest thing to find was the head cleaning tape.....

Aside from lots of cool gun videos, "High Heel Harlots 4" with Debi Diamond and Tawny Ocean was never replicated on DVD

Who remembers the SMELL of the “back room” at VHS rental stores? Same smell at every one. Why is that?

My Dad is sitting on a gold mine!!!!

Amyl nitrate?

You mean the VHS in the top drawer that just has an X on it for the title? That one?
The homemade one, one?

Tried to play it a couple years ago but I think my vcr players head was all crapped out.

It was all blurry and had tracking, horizontal and vertical issues. I gave up.

It was easier to watch the scrambled playboy channel or Cinemax in the 80s than this vhs tape.
At least back then you would get a glimpse at a nipple. And the sounds of moaning and grunting were always there.

I have a novelty clock we got from redeeming our rental tokens and I still have a token or two from the video store we rented from in Bremerton, WA.

SOLD!

I have the sealed Star Wars Trilogy.

I have a vhs to dvd recorder.

I haven't used it in a long time, but I did convert a bunch of our home movies from when the kids were growing up to digital.  So, that was mainly why I bought it.

Glad I did though.  I popped a vhs tape in from when my Dad converted his 8mm films over to vhs and they were so degraded that portions of it was in black and white.

And before any smart asses say that's probably how it was filmed, they used to all be in color and were mostly filmed in the mid 70s' and converted to vhs in the early 80's.