$35,000 for a VHS tape? No, that price is not a typo. If you have a stack of old Disney movie VHS tapes lurking in the depths of your basement or in the back of your TV cabinet, know that you can actually (theoretically) try to sell these movies for a fortune!
According to USA Today, “recent VHS tapes of iconic movies like Back to the Future and classic Disney films are being sold for hundreds and even thousands on eBay.”
Recent VHS tapes of iconic movies like "Back to the Future" and classic Disney films are being sold for hundreds and even thousands on eBay. https://t.co/1EcywqKmhq
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 16, 2023
These days, it’s certainly true that streaming services are the not-so-new frontier and that many Disney fans will turn to Disney+ in order to watch their favorite animated Disney films or Disney Princess movies — even if (we kid you not) they have their own copy of the movie sitting in their living room cabinet.
Supply and Demand Strikes Again
The success of streaming services has led to a decrease in demand for physical copies of movies (and in some countries, Disney has stopped producing physical copies of its films across the board), which has understandably led to an increase in the value of the original physical copies of movies from back in the day.
However, for many Disney Fanatics, the idea that their old VCR cassette tape versions of films could be worth thousands of dollars might seem laughable — especially since these eBay sellers are pricing films at exorbitant prices!
On January 31, 2024, for example, there was a Beauty and the Beast VHS available on eBay for $35,000:
Is There a Treasure Trove in Your TV Cabinet?
USA TODAY has shared that “tapes degrade 10% to 20% throughout 10 to 25 years and footage can be jagged as the age of the tape, according to photography company Kodak.”
In addition, the “tapes don’t last for long due to remanence decay of the magnetic charge, causing blacked-out scenes, discoloration and eventually, entire loss of footage.”
However, that hasn’t stopped eBay sellers from trying to sell the old movies for as high a price as $125,000 (which is the alleged price of this copy of The Goonies from 1985)!
At Least Aladdin Is On Sale…
One copy of Pinocchio (1993) is priced at $10,000, while Dumbo (1941) will cost an eBay customer $20,000. A VHS copy of Beauty and the Beast (1992) is being sold for $35,000, and 101 Dalmatians (1961) is going to cost customers $9,999.99.
“This would push our [family’s] financial goals up by a few years!” the Beauty and the Beast VHS seller wrote in their post.
The Lion King (1994) is one of the discounted items in this range, costing “only” $3,825 — and Aladdin (1992) is the cheapest of all, selling for a mere $500.
Despite these high prices, eBay customers do seem to be viewing the old Disney VHS tapes on the website often, which suggests that they are interested.
For some hardcore Disney Fanatics, these prices might seem reasonable if they no longer own VHS copies of their favorite childhood films (some of which might be Black Diamond edition, Platinum Edition, or simply classic edition Disney movies in their iconic VHS format).
Other Disney fans, however, might be reminded of the expensive bags of “Splash Mountain water” that we saw on sale earlier this year.
Would you pay this much for a VHS copy of a classic Disney movie? If not, what’s the highest price that you would pay for an old Disney VHS tape?
