New Trader, Looking for Advice

[Nenra]

Wow, I have wasted most of my morning at work looking through this site and am so excited. I only recently learned that there were people trading shows when I went looking for "Life with Lucy" episodes. As a result I am totally new to how all of this works.

I have read the moderator posts, but am still a little unsure how to begin. I don't have much at this stage to offer, but I have lots of things I have always wanted copies of but thought I'd never see again. (I do have boxes and boxes of old VHS tapes above the garage that I could never part with though I have no idea what is really on them, LOL)

So my question is simple. Can anybody give me some guidance about how somebody starts off when they have little to offer? I want to begin collecting the shows I want, and what I do have I can provide on VHS, or burn to DVD (I'd even help burn things to DVD for anybody who can't do this themselves).

My reason for concern is, over the past two weeks I have sent e-mails to a few people on some other message boards (less organized than this one) and when I told them I had little to offer they never even bothered to reply. I am hoping somebody here can point me in the right direction.

What I do have handy now is:

TV: Mister Roberts (8 episodes on VHS)
TV: Life with Lucy (1 episode)
TV: All Star Party for Lucille Ball (VHS)
TV: Charmed and Buffy unaired pilots (low quality on VHS)

Some of what I want are:

TV: MTV's Undressed
TV: University Hospital
TV: Cupid
TV: Life with Lucy

I have more, but that's a start I hope. I am glad to be here, and look forward to learning and getting to know everyone. Now back to work. LOL :lol:

[robyrob]

Welcome to the Boards! :wave:

starting off can be tough, but if you are patient you can build up your collection over time.

Some things to consider when you don't have a lot to offer would be: trading for blanks, investing in a good DVD recorder, make a note of any specialty channels you may get or any local channels that might be airing hard-to-find shows, or even just start recording some current shows that you are interested in - no one can record (or even watch) every new show, and quite often people are interested in the ones that they didn't get a chance to catch.

Happy Trading!

[wiseguy182]

greetings,

I think a good place to start would be to catalogue those tapes, in other words, make a list of what's on them. Who knows, you may have some rare gem that somebody's been looking for a long time.

Then you could post the have list and hopefully some people respond. Or, you could do a search for the items you want and attempt to strike up trades with the people that have them.

[Nenra]

greetings,

I think a good place to start would be to catalogue those tapes, in other words, make a list of what's on them. Who knows, you may have some rare gem that somebody's been looking for a long time.

Then you could post the have list and hopefully some people respond. Or, you could do a search for the items you want and attempt to strike up trades with the people that have them.

Thanks everyone for the advice. So I had a fun Sunday. I started going through my VHS tapes to see what I have. Only made a small dent but it led me to what may be an obvious question. I can understand why having a copy of something that did not get released on DVD would be good (I have found multiple Tony Award broadcasts for example), but would I be right to assume that locating VHS tapes of programs already available on DVD makes these tapes I can toss, or is there a "market" of sorts for broadcast recordings of these shows?

[robyrob]

Thanks everyone for the advice. So I had a fun Sunday. I started going through my VHS tapes to see what I have. Only made a small dent but it led me to what may be an obvious question. I can understand why having a copy of something that did not get released on DVD would be good (I have found multiple Tony Award broadcasts for example), but would I be right to assume that locating VHS tapes of programs already available on DVD makes these tapes I can toss, or is there a "market" of sorts for broadcast recordings of these shows?
there IS a demand for original airings of older shows, and some people actually look for recordings with original commercials

- you would probably have to start posting a list and updating it as you go through those old tapes to find out what the demand is for them.

[savageamusement]

A couple more tips.


Check unusual places-


Pawn Shops have tons of dumpings of things families no longer want, or don't look for a value other than a few dollars.

Library sales- I can't tell you how many things I have found.
Film strips, beta tapes, laer disc lots, old vhs.
Whenever a mode of media goes out, libraries get rid of TONS of things.


I have found books on tape, that I have traded for stuff.


So check unusual or unlikely areas- Second sale, or thrift stores- another great idea- (and you never know what you might find)


Offer any help you might have.

Can you set up websites, or are you good at converting? This can be tons of help.
Do you get a station someone doesn't-
Such as, I am ocated near chicago so I have picked up the station METV which airs loads of rare stuff.

So you might have some talents that are really helpful

And last but not least, blank media might be an option.
Most traders I know, will trade occasioanlly for blank media, while few want to put a dollar amount on anything- a heavy trader uses media, and it isn't always on sale- so your location, might be helpful for this.

Just a few ideas, that helped me get started.

DOn't forget to trade among your own friends and family-
Ask to borrow items and enjoy them- or set up a 'trading party"
and ask a bunch of co workers over for pizza and have them bring movies and dvds they are done with.
Everyone likes something new to watch- but we forget to ask around us sometimes.

Hope this helps a little