Ash Ketchum

I sold two bags of anime DVDs at Book Off yesterday ($70.79 total), but I have hundreds of anime VHS tapes I want to give away, sell or donate. Are there libraries or archives that would take anime VHS? Schools? Anime clubs? I live in NYC, so it would have to be somewhere I could ship to or, if local, that I can rent a van or something to transport several boxes. I don't have an eBay or PayPal account, so I haven't considered that option.

I'd hate to just throw them away.

Here's my closet and a selection of the kinds of tapes these are:

wishbone

I think I still have that Patlabor 1 VHS tape.

big e

In this day and age, I doubt schools or anime clubs would want VHS tapes. Maybe if you have stuff that's rare or never had a DVD release, you may be able to unload, but with more and more of the older stuff getting DVD re-releases and BD releases now, I doubt anyone would want the VHS versions. As much as you don't want to, I think you'll be tossing a lot of this.


Having said that, you wouldn't happen to have any of the Slayers OVAs or movies? Those were put on DVD, but they're OOP and kinda pricy.

PhantomStranger

Yeah, many libraries are shedding legacy media themselves. So unless you personally know the librarian is an anime fan, that may not work. It does look like a cool collection.

I'd go to an anime convention, there must some in your area, and literally drop them off at the front entrance with a sign saying free for all comers. Either that or post something on Craig's list.

TheBigDave

I'd sell them on eBay. There's a lot of rare stuff of VHS that never got a DVD/BD release. It's actually a hot retro item right now. Some people are hardcore collectors, and others are just getting them to decorate their nerd caves.

I've seen some VHS movies going for $30-$50. I saw a Perfect Blue VHS go for $55. And the Battle Angel Alita VHS are in demand.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Battle-Ange...p2047675.l2557

If you have a complete series, I'd sell it together. Like this set of Gunbuster OVA VHS that sold for $40.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gunbuster-O...p2047675.l2557

If you have a bunch of random titles that aren't worth much on their own, I'd bundle them into a large lot. Here's a large bundle of about 50 VHS anime tapes that sold for $165.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HUGE-Classi...p2047675.l2557

If you don't want to go to all that trouble, just post on Craigslist. Take a couple pictures of the boxes, estimate how many tapes you have, and list them for $100. Say "Cash Only" and "No Delivery. Must be picked up". Someone will grab them quickly. Especially if you live in a large city.

Ash Ketchum

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a lot of those titles pictured. The shot of the collection sold for $165 looks like something I would have photographed. The problem is I want to keep the rare stuff like BATTLE ANGEL and GUNBUSTER because I don't have them on DVD. The stuff I want to sell is mostly stuff that's come out on DVD or stuff that wasn't very good to begin with. A company called Anime Works released a lot of crappy one-shot anime titles on VHS back in the 1990s and I bought a bunch of them for a couple of dollars each at a discount place just to see if there were any gems in the batch. There weren't. I imagine most of these are out of print, but probably not worth much. I should check, though. Thanks.

Geddlo

Thanks for this Ash, I've never heard of them. I have to check them out next time I go to the city. I was just in that area too, on Wednesday.
I have a bunch of anime DVDs I'd love to unload.

TheBigDave

Check out Second Spin. I've been selling them some DVDs & BDs lately. Lots of titles are only worth $0.25. But for some stuff they offer $2-$3 or more.

I sent them 3 boxes this week. About 25-30 discs in each box. And I'm getting about $50-$60 each.

It also helps me identify rare titles. I know that if Second Spin is offering $5 or more, I can usually get $15+ on eBay.

https://www.secondspin.com/

Callmeklo

Hey guys I’m new to the forum!

this is a long shot but I was wondering if any of you guys still had any anime tapes to unload or sell! I pay top dollar for some and am super interested if you still have any!

Ash Ketchum

I should have updated this back in 2020, but I took shopping carts full of anime pre-record VHS tapes to my local Salvation Army Store in the fall of that year. One day I went back to the store to check and found them in the video sale bin. One of them still had my post-it note about the opening theme on it, so I removed it. The next time I went back, I saw a young guy walking to the cashier carrying a stack of my anime tapes to buy. I felt so good.

Today, about a year-and-a-half later, I stopped in that Salvation Army store and was stunned to learn that they're closing.

PhantomStranger

I always wonder how many of those Goodwill/Salvation Army places stay in business.

cultshock

I had a table at a horror convention this past weekend and sold a shit load of VHS tapes, mostly between $10 to $30 each, including some anime titles. It was mostly young people buying them (in their late teens and twenties), it was crazy. So if you want to sell VHS, now is a good time. I wish I didn't throw a bunch of mine away several years back, but who knew?

fujishig

If I knew someone was actually interested in watching them, I'd just give a lot of it away. As it is I just chucked most of my VHS tapes.

cultshock

The funny thing is, I think a lot of these kids aren't actually watching the tapes, they just like collecting them because they are cool and "retro". We sold a bunch of laserdiscs at the show too. I was happy to make some good cash for the stuff, because the tables were expensive!

TheBigDave

VHS prices are crazy these days, especially horror and anime. I sold a Suspiria VHS for $50 a few months ago. I don't think anyone's watching them, just collecting them. A lot of movie review Youtubers (like Stuckman) have shelves full of VHS in the background. And I always see autograph collectors getting them signed.

PhantomStranger

I think VHS has become kitsch for lack of a better word. People who are too young to have grown up with the format collecting them for whatever reason.