WHAT YOUR OLD VHS TAPES COULD BE WORTH ... CHECK YOUR CUPBOARDS!
- Brian Westlake
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Physical media collecting is making a quiet comeback, with VHS tapes, LaserDiscs and Blu-rays shifting from forgotten clutter to sought-after collectables.
As streaming libraries shrink, more people are turning back to physical formats, not just for nostalgia, but for access and ownership.
Across Australia and beyond, physical media collecting is drawing in a new wave of buyers, and in some cases, turning old tapes into serious money.
Why is physical media collecting booming again?
The resurgence is being fuelled by the limits of streaming.
“The comeback is being driven by something streaming accidentally created. As services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have consolidated and shrunk their libraries, people have started to realise that digital access is temporary," Allen Tellis.
"A title available today can disappear tomorrow with no warning. Physical media does not do that. A disc or tape on your shelf is yours permanently."
His data highlights the scale of the shift.
“At WatchRoster we track over 643,000 titles and our data shows that 578,992 of them are completely unavailable on any streaming platform.
"Nearly 90% of all films ever made cannot be watched online. For those films, physical media is not a nostalgic choice; it is the only option.”
What could physical media collecting be worth
The financial side is catching attention.
“Horror VHS from the 1980s is the strongest category by a significant margin. Independent horror films with limited original pressings that never made it to DVD or streaming are consistently selling for serious money,” says Tellis.
“In our database, Return of the Demon from 1987 has a median sold price of $438.50 based on multiple recent transactions. Chopping Mall from 1986 sits at $285.”
Even outdated formats are holding value.
“Betamax, which most people consider completely obsolete, commands the highest average resale value of any format we track at $45.19 per title. LaserDisc averages $35.99.”
Who is driving physical media collecting?
Buyers range from film preservationists to investors and younger collectors drawn to the experience.
“The market collectors treat physical media like any other alternative asset.
They understand which titles have genuine scarcity, which formats command premiums, and they buy and sell with real financial discipline.”
Others are chasing something less tangible.
“Then there are the experience collectors who simply prefer the ritual of physical media. Pulling something off a shelf, reading the back of the case, the intentionality of choosing what to watch rather than endlessly scrolling.”
Why is physical media collecting more than a trend?
As more titles disappear from streaming, demand for physical copies is rising.
“The trend we are watching most closely is the gap between streaming availability and physical media demand… Scarcity drives value, and digital licensing decisions are creating scarcity in real time.”
In a world built on access, physical media collecting offers something simpler, and increasingly valuable: ownership.
