A tape count gives you a starting budget
Preserve Media's per-tape charging means the published video price does not depend on the recording's running time. Keep a simple inventory with one line per cassette: a reference number, its label and any known contents. A label such as 'Christmas and holiday' may describe several recordings on one tape, so preserve the wording rather than trying to split it into assumed jobs.
Treat £14 as the listed conversion price per cassette, then request the full order total. Confirm any delivery charges, tax treatment and optional output costs, alongside the expected completion date. Those details matter when comparing quotations. If a cassette looks damaged or has visible mould, describe its condition before sending it and ask whether it can be assessed. Avoid testing a suspect tape in a household player.
Keep cine film and sound recordings separate
The published price list also covers 8mm and Super-8 cine film. A 3-inch, 50ft reel is £14, a 5-inch, 200ft reel is £20, and a 7-inch, 400ft reel is £26. Cine reels with sound carry an additional 50% of the cost per reel. That surcharge belongs to cine film; it should not be applied to VHS recordings just because they contain sound.
Audio has its own entries, including tape cassettes and 7-inch or 12-inch vinyl records at £14 each. If your collection combines a wedding video, earlier cine footage and a recorded family interview, list those separately when requesting a quotation. Relatives may be able to identify what each item contains without playing it, especially when handwritten labels are difficult to decipher.
Agree the handover and the digital output
Preserve Media publishes a mailing address in Longwood, Huddersfield, and offers telephone contact plus text or WhatsApp contact with Bob. Use those contact options to agree how your items should arrive. A postal address does not by itself establish drop-off opening hours or an appointment arrangement.
Before handing anything over, photograph the labels and keep a copy of your inventory. Ask what file format the conversion will produce and how you will receive it. If you want to watch on a television, edit short clips or upload a video to a family archive, explain that intended use. It helps you choose an output you can actually open. Ask whether each cassette becomes one file and whether any supplied storage device or extra copy has a separate charge.
Use the one-month download window deliberately
The prices include a digital download available for one month from delivery. Preserve Media also says it returns the originals alongside the digital versions. Put a reminder in your calendar when delivery arrives, then download promptly. The availability period describes access to the download, rather than how long conversion takes.
Open every returned file and compare it with your inventory. Check the beginning, middle and end, listen to the sound, and look for missing sections or a file that stops unexpectedly. Keep the original delivery files before making edits. Store another copy separately and retain the physical originals. A family archive is useful for access and context, while an independent backup gives you another route to recover the files.
Put names and dates back into the recordings
Memrial is a separate private family archive for digital memories after conversion. It does not convert tapes or form part of Preserve Media's service. Its free allowance is 2.0 GB shared across the archive, with no card needed. Check the sizes of your converted videos when deciding what to upload first.
Invite relatives to help identify people and add stories. Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, so knowing the year without remembering the day still makes a recording easier to find. Albums can keep related photos and videos together. A useful first upload might be a birthday recording with a few photographs from the same celebration, giving relatives enough context to recognise the occasion.
Arrange a viewing and collect the missing photographs
Memrial's Live Watch Parties synchronise an uploaded home video, with the host controlling play, pause and seek. Voice and text chat let relatives nearby or far away talk through what they recognise. The free allowance is three hours per month with up to six participants.
For a reunion, Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership, and their photos or videos go into the event album. Closing the link keeps the collected memories. That gives a family a practical way to bring newly shared photographs together with an older converted recording.