Three formats, with the whole tape preserved
The stated conversion formats are VHS, the smaller VHS-C cassette and DVDs. Chicago Rewinds also explains that it captures the entire content of tapes without alterations, including empty sections and recording gaps. That is useful if you want a complete digital record, but it means a finished video may include long pauses between the moments you want to watch.
Decide whether completeness or quick family viewing matters most. You can keep a full transfer as your preservation copy and, separately, make shorter viewing copies later. Before ordering, ask which file format you will receive and how it will play on your computer, television or phone. The published details do not establish a particular file extension or resolution, so agree on the output instead of assuming what digital means.
Read the price bands as a sequence
The published pricing is $20 per item for items 1-10, $18 per item for items 11-20 and $16 per item from item 21 onward. The website's example makes the structure clear: in an order of 25 tapes, the first 10 cost $20 each, the next 10 cost $18 each and the final five cost $16 each. Reaching 21 items does not turn every item in the order into a $16 item.
Count the collection before requesting a quote, including any DVDs you want converted alongside tapes. Ask how items are counted, whether recording length affects the charge and whether tax or other charges apply. The published process calls for upfront online payment to secure an order. Confirm the complete amount and the agreed contents of the order before paying, especially if relatives are combining several small collections.
West Town collection changes the shipping decision
Chicago Rewinds says customers can drop off or ship their media to its designated West Town, Chicago location. Its return policy is the detail to settle first: although it accepts shipped items, it currently cannot ship them back. Customers can collect their originals at the West Town location. An outbound parcel therefore needs a collection arrangement as well as a shipping address.
Contact the business before traveling or mailing anything to confirm the exact handover address, arrangements and expected completion time. Its website gives phone or text and email as ways to discuss an order. If another relative will collect the originals, ask what information they need. Keep a numbered inventory and photograph the labels so that everyone knows which items went into the order.
Prepare the recordings without disturbing them
Write down what you already know: the family occasion, people pictured and any approximate year. Keep uncertain descriptions tentative. A label reading summer vacation may be useful even when nobody remembers the exact date. Ask relatives about the recordings before conversion; someone may recognize a place or explain why a seemingly ordinary scene matters.
Keep tapes in their cases where possible and identify each case and cassette consistently. Avoid attempting repairs or playing a visibly damaged tape to test it. If you notice a broken shell, loose tape or possible mold, describe the condition to the provider and ask whether it can be accepted. These are preparation suggestions, not a promise that Chicago Rewinds offers repair or restoration.
Use the 30-day window to check and save
Chicago Rewinds says it stores digital files in the cloud for 30 days and removes them afterward. Download the files promptly and allow time to resolve questions before that period ends. Its recommendation to save them within the window is worth treating as part of your collection plan, rather than a task to leave until the last evening.
Check each file against your inventory. Play the beginning, middle and end, listen for sound and check any particularly important scene. Remember that gaps can be present because the stated transfer approach preserves the whole tape. Keep an untouched downloaded copy and a second backup in another location. Retain the originals too, with their labels and any notes that help identify the recordings.
Bring relatives into the digital collection
After conversion, Memrial provides a separate private family archive for digital memories. It does not convert tapes and is not part of Chicago Rewinds. The free allowance is 2.0 GB shared across the archive, with no card needed. Check your downloaded file sizes when deciding what to upload. Albums, comments and stories let relatives add context alongside the videos and photos.
Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, helping you find memories by year even when an old cassette only suggests a decade. A Live Watch Party synchronizes an uploaded home video, with the host controlling play, pause and seek while relatives nearby or far away use voice and text chat. Free Watch Parties allow 3 hours per month and up to 6 participants.
For a family reunion, Event Memories offers a secure contribution link for that occasion. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership; their photos and videos collect in the event album. Closing the link keeps those memories. It is a way to connect an older reunion recording with new family contributions while retaining your own backups.