Mini-Case Study: Dollars from Watching VHS Tapes

For those who are perhaps too young to remember, VHS tapes were the predecessors to DVD’s (ask your parents). These days you can sometimes find boxes of them at yards sales for a buck or two because nearly no one wants them. So how do you monetize something no one wants?

Pete Dillon-Trenchard is doing it by scouring VHS tapes recorded at home that contain commercials, news bulletins, CrimeStoppers updates and local adverts. Unlike television programs and movies, no one is going to officially release these time capsules, thereby creating an opportunity to capture them and post them to Twitch and YouTube.

Monetization comes through advertisement and Patreon fans, and Pete doesn’t just curate; he also comments. H e provides a wry, Beavis and Butthead style of commentary to whatever is happing in the tapes in front of him.

Imagine getting paid to literally watch old VHS tapes and find the gems hidden within.

And Pete isn’t the only one doing this. There are other VHS curators making money in various ways, including one that turns the clips into stories and another who focuses on old religious programs.

Keep in mind if you want to try this that you may receive a cease and desist notice if a property rights owner wants to enforce a 30 or 40 year old copyright. If you do receive one, it’s easiest just to remove that particular clip rather than fight it.