Decide what you want to watch before comparing prices
The advertised single-tape DVD option is £20 for one video tape of up to three hours, including a DVD and return post by Recorded Delivery. Larger quantities are advertised at prices as low as £12 per video converted to DVD. That lower figure is conditional on quantity; it is not a guaranteed price for a small order. Ask for a quote based on the actual number and running time of your tapes.
MP4 files have a different charging basis: a £15 minimum charge for the first hour, then £10 per hour after that, from one tape. This makes the output decision part of the cost comparison. Ask how partial hours are charged, whether USB delivery adds a charge, and whether a combined DVD and file order is possible. Do not assume the DVD package price includes digital files.
A disc can suit a relative who already uses a DVD player. A digital file is a practical choice if your priority is watching on a computer and building a family archive. Before choosing, check the devices your relatives actually use and ask what file specification you will receive. Confirm the current total and any applicable tax treatment before placing an order.
Keep camcorder tapes and cine reels separate in your enquiry
Memories to Keep publishes camcorder tape prices of between £10 and £12 each, depending on the tape type, plus delivery. Identify the format printed on each cassette rather than treating all small tapes as interchangeable. A photograph of the label and casing can help you explain what you have without attempting playback.
The business also publishes a separate cine film service. Its rate for 8mm and 16mm film is £36 per 400ft spool. Small 50ft reels, three inches in diameter, attract an additional handling charge per film, making them £7.00 each. Additional DVD copies are £5 each when ordered at the same time as the film transfer. These are film charges, not video tape rates.
For cine film, the website describes conversion to digital formats including AVI and MP4. If a collection mixes reels and cassettes, request an itemised quotation for each group and its desired output. That keeps the film measurements, tape running times and delivery costs clear.
Confirm the handover point before travelling
Memories to Keep publishes an address of 26 St James Close, Hanslope, MK19 7LF. Confirm the handover or postal arrangements directly before travelling or sending irreplaceable recordings. The website also publishes the telephone number 01908 014067 and email [email protected].
The video transfer page says return post by Special Delivery is available, with pricing by telephone. Ask which return arrangement suits your order and whether the originals are included in that return. Agree an expected completion date at the same time; a postal delivery option does not tell you how long conversion takes.
Use a small inventory to protect the meaning of each recording
Give each tape a simple reference and record its existing label, likely contents and approximate date. Keep that reference with your order notes so you can match returned files to the originals. Ask about visibly damaged or mouldy tapes before sending them, and avoid opening or forcing a cassette that will not move.
Once files arrive, play the beginning, middle and end of each recording, checking picture, sound and whether the expected event is present. Keep the physical originals and make a second digital copy in another location. Invite a relative to help identify people or places while the footage is still fresh in your mind; their recollection may be more useful than an uncertain handwritten label.
Turn the converted videos into a private family archive
Memrial is a separate private family archive for memories after conversion. It does not convert tapes and is not part of Memories to Keep. You can start with 2.0 GB of free storage shared across the archive, with no card needed. Choose the videos and photographs you want to upload within that allowance, while retaining your own backups.
Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, helping relatives find memories by year even when nobody remembers the precise day. For a family birthday, a Live Watch Party can synchronise an uploaded home video: the host controls play, pause and seek, with voice and text chat for relatives nearby or far away. The free allowance is three hours per month with up to six participants.
Event Memories can collect new photographs and videos from that birthday through a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership, and their uploads go into the event album. Closing the link keeps the collected memories. Older recordings and the new occasion can then sit together with the family stories that explain them.