Geek alert

[caddyman]

What with the forthcoming weekend being a bank holiday and all - the last before Chrimble (staggers in disbelief at the speedy passage of time), I thought I might avail myself of the opportunity to tunnel into the mess that is my kitchen. There is precious little food stored in there, but far, far too many boxes and bits and pieces.

There is no room to manoeuvre, so some clearing is necessary. I suspect that this will mean sorting out and discarding books - something I hate doing - or at least taking them to a charity shop somewhere. In practice it will be the novels that go. It I am to get rid of books they will not be my history or otherwise factual tomes, it will be the paperbacks novels of dubious quality that go, and not all of them, either.

I really ought to get rid of a whole load of videos, too. I almost never watch them and all in all they were a grand waste of money. I have, and no longer need, a complete run of Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In addition I have season one, and part of season two of Star Trek: Voyager. That is eighteen and a bit seasons of Trek in one form or another.

Add to that, seven seasons of X-Files, four of Babylon 5 and umpteen Dr Who Videos, and it becomes clear why I have no money or space. And the resale value of all these bulky PAL videos in this digital DVD age? Verging on zilch.

There are movies, too. Far too many, and few ever watched.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can dispose of these things? I don't want just to bin them, but I don't see ebay as a viable route as there are too many and the postage would cost more than the return on the items. Not to mention the effort in packing them up. I should have thought that any residual value these tapes have is as a collection of the entire series in each case, rather than as individual tapes with two episodes on each.

Comments

[oldnick.livejournal.com]

Despite your worries, I'd say eBay with clearly stated P&P up front. Postage is the customer's issue, not yours - if they want them they'll pay the P&P. I'd suggest weighing a bundle of videos and one of books, then scale it to the Royal Mail price bands.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the demand, and if they don't go you've only lost a couple of weeks.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

You'd be amazed... actually, maybe you wouldn't ;)... what people will buy on Ebay, and postage is usually at the buyer's expense.

More seriously, you could put a list up on here and see if anyone'll take any of them off your hands (it won't be us; we don't have a functional video recorder at the present time)

You might not get much but...

[maleghast.livejournal.com]

..you might want to consider Cash Convertors / Cash Generator etc. if you want "some" money for them... Failing that charity shops do seem to take videos. Also comic shops might be interested in the complete series collections you have as some keen collectors are not yet on the DVD bandwagon and might be looking for a deal - still you're right you won't get much more than a pack of fags per season...

Re: You might not get much but...

[captainweasel.livejournal.com]

not cash converters - they're flogging video's for £1 at the moment, so they buy them for about 20p each.

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

You can sell them as complete collections on eBay as well, which would cut down on packing bother.

[keith-london.livejournal.com]

If you don't want money back for them, why not donate them to Oxfam? Alternatively, a second hand video store might pay you something for them.

What movies are they? Recent titles?

[captainweasel.livejournal.com]

ebay or specialist collectors may be the way - or an add in the local paper if such things still happen?

[matte-kudesai.livejournal.com]

Failing that, I'd be most willing to bolster up my collection somewhat.

Lo-fi 70's british sci-fi always knocked me for six so any chance to expand would be greeted with maximum hurrahs...

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Well that kicks the Trek into touch, but I guess we could come to an arrangement over some Dr Who...

[winterdrake.livejournal.com]

Video City
117 Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill
W11 3LB
020-7221 7029

They buy old videos/DVDs and, given what they quoted me some while ago, their prices are fair. They're also one of the best rental shops I've ever seen, and they mean their promise to get any film in their catalogue for you within 24 hours (at least, they did last time I neeeded to use the service, which was some years ago).

If I've mis-remembered, and you're not in London, this will not be a useful suggestion. If that's the case, my apologies :).

[thalinoviel.livejournal.com]

Oo. I like X-files and Dr Who video sets. We still have quite a few videos and a video player. I suspect, however, that the amount of money I have to spend on such things is considerably less than what you might get elsewhere. Try them on Ebay, or search LJ for fan communities who might want to buy them.

If you have no luck, (which I very much doubt) contact me.