It’s the end of summer, and the last bit of your spring cleaning project is still hanging around – Your box of old VHS tapes.   You know that you’ve been wanting to preserve those special memories of your kids that are trapped on VHS – memories you haven’t seen since your last VHS player broke 8 years ago…But for one reason or another, your VHS tapes are still just hanging around.  Don’t wait any longer – your VHS tapes are degrading every day, and if you’re storing them in the damp basement or hot attic, there’s a good chance that the quality of your VHS tapes is already pretty bad.

If you’re the enterprising type, you can look into ways to convert VHS to DVD yourself – either by buying a VHS to DVD recorder, or by recording your VHS tapes to your computer, and then creating and burning a DVD.  But if you’re like most of us (somewhat lazy, that is), this is not your best option, simply because you will never finish the job.

Luckily, there are many commercial video transfer services out there – either locally or on the internet, that are ready and able to help you with transferring your VHS to DVD, and offer many services that might be useful to you. Here are some of the key things to look for when choosing a VHS to DVD company.

1. Is the VHS to DVD service local or national?
Local VHS to DVD services offer many advantages to the customer with only a few tapes – they are local, you know where your VHS tapes will be, and you can typically get some good service & turnaround.  But local video shops can also be on the more expensive side of the equation – usually charging $30 per VHS tape (and more!) – and they typically only use VHS to DVD recorders to handle the conversion.

A national VHS to DVD service will most likely offer the best value, with costs as low as $7.95 per VHS to DVD transfer.  While you will need to ship your videotapes to their facility, just be sure to use a trackable Shipping Method via UPS or FedEx for complete peace of mind.  With significantly higher volumes, most National VHS to DVD companies offer a higher quality transfer, complete with thumbnail chapter menus and packaging.

2. Can they repair broken or damaged tapes?
After years of storage and being moved around from one location to another, some of your VHS tapes may have had their case broken or the tape itself may have torn and be in need of a splice.  This is a common occurrence, and most VHS to DVD conversion companies will offer tape repair services for a per-tape cost ranging from $19 to $39 per tape, depending on the severity of the damage.  Sometimes the repair technician will simply move the physical tape reels to a new cassette….other times they may need to actually splice your broken tape back together.

3. Do they provide a chaptered DVD?
Most VHS to DVD conversion services will include what is called a thumbnail chapter menu as part of the VHS conversion service.  These chapter menus allow you to easily navigate through your DVD during playback, skipping ahead in time-based increments or on scene changes.

4. Can you combine tapes onto one DVD
Many VHS to DVD services will allow you to combine multiple tapes onto one DVD, as long as the total run-time of the DVD does not exceed two hours.  Most times, you will encounter a “2nd tape fee” for this combining service, which can range from $5 to $10 per extra tape.