Thursday, March 19

VHS are nearly worthless people, seriously.


It makes me seriously ponder the sanity of some among us when I see this:

eBay: $132 Jungle Holocaust VHS

eBay: $115 Terror (Last House on the Beach) VHS

It simply baffles the left testicle. I've burned calories in thought in an attempt to break down the types of people who would do such a thing, here we go:

1) The Novice Collector who believes he'll never, ever find it again!!!

2) The Savvy Fifteen Years Ago Tapehead who is totally unaware of DVD's expanse who thinks it'll sell in his hole-in-the-wall shop for $300.

3) The Bid Whore who must win; common sense be damned.

4) The Absolute Idiot with money to literally burn.

5) The Sky High Bid Extremist who bids far beyond the current bid in the final ten seconds to destroy all hope.

Judging from the winner's 160 count, the same person won both auctions (so it can't be personality #5). Yes, these VHS editions are rare, but $250 for two films that are on DVD. C'mon man...?

Now, I'm not one to get pissy over how others spent their money, but I think this speaks to the more seller-powered value of these things. Both sellers posted about ten or so individual auction listings for their rare tapes (including these) with all ending in a week. This seems to always yield high returns, especially the posting of a group of tapes at a time. For example, late last year the same VHS edition of Jungle Holocaust in the same (if not better) condition sold in a lot of eight other desirable tapes for $35. I remember forgetting about the auction being bummed it sold for such a relatively low price.

But here's the thing, that lot seller had no other related items up for auction. Maybe it's me trying to make sense of the nonsensical, but I've seen this many times before. So I guess that's a valuable tip for you sellers. Then again it might help collectors understand what will potentially go for low and for high. Ultimately, the key is patience and to have fun. When you starting plunking down $100+ for a tape, seek medical attention.

6 comments:

Cinema Du Meep said...

Just wanted to say, LOVE your blog. Such a fascinating read!

xoxo
Cinema Du Meep

Jayson Kennedy said...

Thanks! Always happy to see others enjoying my run-on sentences!

I Like Horror Movies said...

If I spend more than $10 on a DVD title, I begin having buyers remorse and anxiety attacks.. I cant ever under any possible circumstance think of any reason I would spend over $100 on a single title, without exception! The only exception would be if I had starred in the film, only 3 copies were made, and two were destroyed in a freak carnival accident.

Jayson Kennedy said...

Definitely Carl, either that or there would have to be some set of extraordinary circumstances. Even then, I'd have to demand a high-res picture of front, back, tape, and inner cassette flip top open before I'd even consider it.

Rach said...

I can't bring myself to buy DVDs when they first come out at stupid prices and theres no way I'm paying over the odds for an old VHS....

I love your list, its so true!!

Anonymous said...

The only reason for wanting these tapes is for the covers. There can't be any other reason! It can't be the tapes - old, distorted, pan and scan copies, with lines all over the screen, can it?

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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