pirated VHS
Summary: keziak is uncertain about the authenticity of martial arts VHS tapes acquired from a seller, as they lack a player to verify their condition. Participants advise against selling them online due to the potential for issues like pirated copies and poor quality, which could lead to buyer complaints or account penalties. Suggestions include donating the tapes to a thrift store or disposing of them locally to avoid risk. Some participants discuss the value and rarity of certain tapes, sharing experiences and opinions on how to handle old media responsibly.
I have a lot of martial arts VHS that I got from a guy on Marketplace actually years ago. I am finally digging through them. My problem is that I do not have a player to check quality and some of them have poor looking covers. Should I maybe give up on them if I can't tell if any are pirated? Are more professional looking covers a sign that they are probably legit? Some of the suspicious VHS are Shaw Brothers who I thought was a legit company but maybe they are pirated copies that just put that name on the covers, dunno.
ten_o_nine
·1 month agoI think pirated VHS's are worth more than the original copies. Try this site, Buy/Sell/Trade/Want : r/VHS
keziak
OP1 month agoI didn't see martial arts but I did see listings where people either said their tapes were recorded off the TV or such tapes are wanted. That whole thing seems super sketchy.
ten_o_nine
·1 month agochapeau-noir
·1 month agoLawdy - this reminds me of the old boxing tapes I would pick up!
keziak
OP1 month agothanks, I figured out the search function. There were posts about hauls from thrift stores.
fm2000
·1 month ago · EditedDo some sold comps on eBay and see if the tapes others have sold are similar to yours. Those small video production companies often produced bootleggy-looking tapes due to low budgets (other small companies who produced videos of other genres often produced official but shoddy looking tapes). Don't throw them out without doing a little research. I had some Panther Productions tapes when I was young that looked a little bootleggy and I knew they were genuine.
Tapes stored properly will more than likely will still play fine (that is a big if though). Look at the tape inside the windows with a magnifying glass and see if there is mold. Flip the lid to see if the tape was chewed last time I was taken out of a machine. There was hysteria for years that VHS tape would just disintegrate after 15-20 years, but this isn't really the case... if they were stored properly. I have tapes that are over 45 years old and still play.
keziak
OP1 month agoI can't say what happened with the tapes before I got them but since then they have either been here or in a climate-controlled storage unit.
The plot thickens.
chapeau-noir
·1 month agoIf stored properly is the big question here. I dealt with tape medium through a lot of my corp career (copy editor) and used to sell VHS - tape is in fact not stable and unless they're meticulously stored and handled from start to finish, become brittle and break. You are right, it's a big "if".
grann-4629
·1 month agoThere are sellers on eBay who rip DVD's of old tv series like '77 Sunset Strip' and successfully sell them in large numbers for around $50 per disk. This was the same thing that wss happening with VHS tapes before DVD technology came along. I remember Warner Bros. was very active as a VeRO member and had many listings taken down in those days.
albertabrightalberta
·1 month agoI'm not a fan of adding to landfills but I have a hard time supporting donating them. Too many buyers will think they found a gold mine and if they buy to flip, the cycle is perpetuated.
I'd either find someone who can use them or I'd dispose of them.
mam98031
·1 month agoDonate them. I agree with the others, if you don't know if they are legit, don't sell them anywhere on the internet. It would be a Federal crime to sell a pirated VHS. Simply not worth the risk. You haven't missed not making money off them in all the years you stored them, so just donate them and free up space for items you have enough info about to sell here.
keziak
OP1 month agoGetting rid of all those boxes would definitely help with the clutter. Also I ran two auctions of small lots of them and got nowhere. I feel like if I listed large lots I should list all the titles and that would be time consuming for stuff that would not sell. I looked at a few sold lots and the sellers didn't list titles.
mam98031
·1 month agoVery risky, but it is your decision. I'd donate and take the write off on my taxes.
chapeau-noir
·1 month agoAgree - don't increase landfill with them. There are equal chances of someone trying to sell them...but also someone who just wants to play them on their own. We have a pile of VHS players in our house that my partner is refurbing, and I know lots of people who still own them (mostly cinemaphiles) good chance of them just going to someone who wants to watch them.
keziak
OP1 month agoso in other words there may be a market for these but unclear enough about provenance that it's unwise to try to sell them here?
I see plenty of sold single tapes and lots including some with pretty sketchy looking covers. But on ebay any number of people can get away with stuff that one may be slapped for.
chapeau-noir
·1 month agoYes - I would not try to sell them here - the last thing you want is to be sanctioned over something like this with eBay's 'Maybe/Maybe Not' policy enforcement. I don't think it's worth the risk.
keziak
OP1 month agoAre such things mostly sanctioned due to buyer complaints or bots? It doesn't matter, just wondering.
grann-4629
·1 month agoBack when I was trading VHS tapes internationally I remember seeing the FBI warning about fines and/or jail time for pirating tapes, and the Macrovision copy protection logos on the cases ... didn't stop hundreds of us from breaking the copy protection and making copies. No money was ever involved. I used to send tapes of 'Law & Order' to a fan in Greece and all he had to do was cover the cost of postage.
I don't recall any of us getting busted by the FBI.
luckythewinner
·1 month ago · EditedIMHO if you do not know they are legit, you should not list them. Do they have barcodes that match up with a legit release?
Also, look through the little "window" at the tape and see if you see white mold anywhere. If you do, you will likely get returns if you try to sell them.
keziak
OP1 month agoI looked up the barcode on one of them on Amazon and the tape came up but as unavailable. It's not on ebay or sold history. A couple of similar ones (actor) are up on auction.
shado-x
·1 month agoShaw Brothers were the producers of the films, they are legit. It is the manufacturer that released the VHS tapes for those films that has to be verified. Look at the label on the tape itself if the box is in question, you should know quite fast. Do a Google Image search as well to make sure. If your tapes or sleeves are Maxell, TDK, etc., with handwriting, maybe not. Good Luck.
keziak
OP1 month agoI went through a few of the boxes and the ones that struck me as quite suspicious are the white clamshells with a picture on the front. Even labeled Shaw Brothers [I sold some of those on DVD].
fm2000
·1 month agoI had martial arts tapes exactly like that. It doesn't mean they are bootlegs.
grann-4629
·1 month agoI had a bunch of those tapes in the plastic boxes ... they were mostly Emmy Consideration tapes issued by studios to Emmy voters. They are supposed to be returned to the studio after viewing, but usually end up for sale somewhere. Some of the cases were white and some were black.
keziak
OP1 month agoInteresting. Most of the tapes have covers that look more authentic than that.
bennotbill
·1 month ago · EditedUnless tapes are kept in a good environment they tend to get a bit "fungusey" on the surface. So if you can't check if they still play well..............
keziak
OP1 month agough!
keziak
OP1 month agothanks all. I guess I'll just think of it as part of my digging out my unsold inventory. I have been making steady progress but some of it is just not selling and probably never will, even if there is sold history on ebay.
I just sold a collection of books to a guy because I am in no position to ship them (bad flareup of knee arthritis). I told him that I recently sold 1800 books on Marketplace to the only person who answered my MP ad. He was fairly upset to hear it. He never saw the ad.
keziak
OP1 month agodon't know why that post duplicated
onefootflipper
·1 month agoI have never tested a VHS tape. It isn't worth the time to do so. If someone complains then just refund them.
Poor looking covers is extremely common for old VHS tapes of martial arts stuff. So much of it was distributed in America by tiny little companies which are long gone as are the foreign companies that they may or may not have licensed the movies from, as are all the records of everyone involved. This is simply not something I would be worried about at all. It isn't a rabbit hole worth going down.
Might just want to stick them all in one large lot and be done with them, rather than trying to piece them out.
chapeau-noir
·1 month agoI would either try getting rid of them locally or just donate. Tape can be a notoriously fickle storage medium and I wouldn't try selling anything I thought might be pirated.
onlinecentral
·1 month agoDo they have outer sleeves or cases, labels on the cassettes? Think of the labor to run web searches to somewhat confirm the authenticity. If these are One-Offs, get rid of them on Marketplace by breaking even or taking a loss for the entire lot.
bonanza125
·1 month agoIf you can't tell if they are pirated then do not list those on Ebay. The last thing you need is either a removal after all the work listing them or someone returning them. I would say get rid of them locally.
simba6
·1 month agoVery few people still have a VHS machine. Depending on how they were stored they might not even play anymore. Many were produced by very low budget companies so poor quality many not mean pirate copies. Unless you know they work, I would not try to sell them here. Not worth losing the shipping for a low vale sale.
keziak
OP1 month agoI see auctions of them in lots selling but as I say, I'm in the dark. I know that ebay has a rule against pirated media. It's a lot but apparently just taking up space.
Should I donate them to a thrift store or gradually put them in the trash?
keziak
OP1 month agoMeant to add that I have tough luck selling on MP because of being fairly far from the more densely populated areas in and around DC. I suppose I could try.
adamcartwright
·1 month agoI would just donate them.
shado-x
·1 month ago · EditedI wouldn't say that, many OEM genuine VHS original release tapes sell to make bank. I own 2 VCR players, one 1 use, 1 in storage as a backup, and have sold hundreds of players and combos on eBay. They are in such demand that I am Sold Out right now.
chapeau-noir
·1 month ago · EditedWe have four VHS players stacked up in the living room. We need to get rid of them! I don't watch video unless I have to, but my partner is a cinemaphile and likes refurbing them.
roastedsaurus
·1 month agoIf it was me, without the ability to tell if they even play and the possibility of IP issues I wouldn't go any where near them. Too much risk of returns/unhapppy buyers and take down listings/VERO hits. Sell them as a lot on FB and be done with it.
keziak
OP1 month agophoto of three that look sketchy and three that look OK