DVDs are taking up too much space - what to do?

Philippines
July 16, 2012 7:45am CST
My husband buys a dvd or 2 about 3-4 times in a month, and we've kept them all since 2007. I guess some of them were borrowed by neighbors or friends but were no longer returned. Despite that, its piling up and since we'd still be buying more, which would needs its own shelf space, we need to dispose of the older ones. Ive started to select those I want to keep, and there are still a lot which I don't know what to do with. I wonder if I should just junk them in a plastic bag and wait for the garbage truck, or give away to people which would take time and effort from me. I don't know if there are shops that would buy old DVDs for whatever purpose.
10 responses
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
16 Jul 12
Don't put them out as garbage..they'll just end up in landfill...if you want rid of them,try selling them on ebay,have a garage sale,or offer them on freecycle! that's a significant investment of your money on those shelves,I'm guessing you're talking about 3-500 DVD's,and I dunno how many You would have paid full price for..you may as well try and get some of the investment back,rather than dump them..also,consider signing up for a DVD rental or online movie streaming service..having 300+ DVD's you don't want to watch again or keep,rental would be a big saving for you-OR,you could nearly start your OWN rental business!
• Philippines
17 Jul 12
I don't know where the video rental shops went these days. They used to be very popular in the whole nation, but in the last few years, I don't see one anymore. I even used to work part time in one of the top shops. But the sad thing is, even if you rent for a minimal cost, the quality of the dvds or cds are bad, and you'd often get disappointed when the movie just froze in the middle.
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
17 Jul 12
Things have been moving on with how we watch movies...netflix and other postal renters have moved in,so you don't have to get the movie back to the store by a certain time the day after you rent it anymore..just drop it in the post when you feel like it..and if you have broadband,you can stream the movie instead of needing a physical copy.the problem with physical media is that they do get damaged..I hope you can get something back for your collection!
• Philippines
18 Jul 12
We don't have those postal renters - that sounds like a good idea. I've heard from friends about downloading movies off the net, but I have never tried that. I'd have to get some help from techie friends to walk me through how to do that. and, get a faster connection, too.
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
17 Jul 12
hi jureathome. if those are original copies of DVDs, you can either resell them or rent them out. if you plan on reselling these, you can do so online. if you're renting these out, you can do it from the comfort of your home. you can also swap the titles that you have with your friends for other DVD titles or other stuff that interest you like books or other items that you need right now. if these are pirated ones, you can just donate the DVDs to orphanages or retirement homes. you can donate it together with a affordable DVD player and tv set. by doing so, these DVDs will still be used by others. hope this helps. cheers and happy mylotting!!!
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
18 Jul 12
try selling/trading the original ones. everything else that wasn't bought, you can donate along with the pirated ones to an orphanage or retirement home. my 2 cents.
• Philippines
18 Jul 12
Those are good suggestions. Some of the items are original, bought from the mall and some from the US. There are also pirated copies, and of course, I know those can't be sold again. The quality is not that good either, so they get damaged easily.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
16 Jul 12
You get could a large hard drive and copy the movies. I would sell the ones that you do not want. a lot of stores will buy them for a decent price. You could sell them on eBay or half.com as well. I really don't understand buying DVDs and Blurays. My husband has a small collection and he never watches them. I understand with kids movies since they will watch a movie over and over again, but for adults, why not just purchase a digital copy?
• Philippines
17 Jul 12
I'm actually thinking of keeping digital copies of those I want to keep so my kids could also watch them when they grow up. I know most of these movies will be hard to find in the future. I agree about kids movies. My little girl watches the same Dora series like twice every week.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
16 Jul 12
Though you aren't going to be able to get much money from selling DVDs that you really don't want to keep anymore, there are places that will buy them from you for a small amount of money. If there is a Half-Priced Books store in your area, that would be the first place that I would suggest. If there is no such store in your area, then check for local used bookstores or media stores and you might have some luck with selling the DVDs.
• Philippines
18 Jul 12
I could try looking out for those stores. I do hope they exist around here.
@doroffee (4222)
• Hungary
16 Jul 12
Aren't there any second-hand stores in your place that are selling various things? Also, you could offer them up for charity, like for orphanages.
• Philippines
18 Jul 12
I don't know if there are any accepting DVDs around here. The charity could be a good idea, only I have to find one first who would be interested in these items. I think here in our place, charity houses are more interested in food, clothing, or money.
@alfkay (12)
17 Jul 12
Get one of those DVD wallet things for one's you can't part from, they are great space savers They can hold around 100, also if they are original DVD's then they normally have pictures on making the boxes unnecessary
• Philippines
18 Jul 12
Yeah, that's also a good idea. But, aren't those more prone for damages since the dvd's are exposed and could easily get scratches.
• United States
16 Jul 12
Resell them. People do buy used DVDs. However, I don't understand why anyone would keep spending money on DVDs. It seems like such a waste. Unless it is something that you absolutely love and want to rewatch numerous times, why not just get it through Netflix or Amazon?
• Philippines
16 Jul 12
The problem I have with selling, is, that I don't really mingle with my neighbors, moreso, selling stuff to them. It would also take much time and effort for me to meet up with friends in the city just for that purpose. I don't know nothing about netflix. Perhaps, its not common here in our place.
@marguicha (223020)
• Chile
17 Jul 12
If you have the time, you can sell them. But anyway, don`t wait for the garbage truck. I bet there are many places where you can make people happy by giving them to them. Check for homes of any sort.
• United States
17 Jul 12
Depending on where you live, there can be MANY places that will take your used DVD's. Here in North Carolina, we have an Edward McKay's that buys used books, DVD's, video games, CD's, action figures, posters, etc. There's also pawn shops, but they don't usually buy OR sell DVD's for very much money. Goodwill or Salvation Army will take DVD's off your hands, but they don't pay you anything for them. Hope this helps.
• United States
17 Jul 12
dear there are many things to do in this situation . 1.get a dvd case-you can get them real cheap at retail stores and you can fit 30-40 dvds in each.They don't take that much space and they are a great buy. 2.get a ipad-instead of getting so many dvds that you never watch you can get a ipad and get movies on that {renting buying etc.} 3.do a garage sale-you can get rid of dvds as well as getting some extra cash.