A tape price that helps you plan a first batch
The published price for VHS, VHS-C, MiniDV, Hi8 and 8mm cassettes is £10 per tape, or £9 per tape for five or more tapes. USB sticks cost extra, usually £5-£15 depending on the amount or size of the converted media. Confirm the total for your own collection before handing it over, including whether any delivery costs or other charges apply.
Preston Media also lists audio cassettes at £5 per tape and 8mm or Super8 cine film at £8 per 100ft. Those are separate services with different charging units. An 8mm video cassette and an 8mm film reel should therefore be identified separately when asking for a quote. A quick list of formats and quantities gives a much clearer starting point than simply describing everything as old videos.
Arrange the handover before travelling
Preston Media says it may be able to offer collection and drop-off in the Preston or Lancashire area, and also accepts postal orders. The wording makes local collection something to arrange, rather than an automatic part of every order. As this is described as a home-based service, agree the handover method and timing directly before making a journey.
The website states that payment is required when conversion is complete, with media sent or returned after payment has been received. Ask how the original tapes and converted files will be returned together, what a postal return involves and when you should expect completion. Before posting anything, photograph the contents, keep a written inventory and use protective packaging so you can identify each item later.
Choose tapes by what they contain
A sensible first batch might include a wedding recording, a family holiday and a tape whose label nobody can quite decipher. Give each cassette a simple number and note its existing label without assuming the label describes the whole recording. Home recordings often contain several occasions on one tape, so a date range can be more useful than one confident-looking year.
Ask relatives which recordings they remember before deciding what comes first. Someone may recognise a handwriting style or remember who borrowed the camcorder. Do not try to play a tape with visible mould, a cracked casing or loose tape just to find out what is on it. Describe the condition to the converter and ask whether it can be assessed, and whether any repair would involve a separate charge.
USB or download: plan the next viewing step
Preston Media offers all conversions on USB stick or by digital download. Choose with your intended viewing device in mind, and ask about the file format before ordering. A television's USB socket does not by itself guarantee that it will play every video file. For downloads, establish how you receive the files and whether there is a deadline for saving them.
When the files arrive, compare them with your numbered inventory. Check the beginning, a middle section and the end of each recording, listening for sound as well as watching the picture. Keep the originals while you review the result. Copy the digital files to a second storage location, and preserve an untouched copy before trimming clips or changing filenames. A USB stick is convenient delivery, but should not be your only copy.
Let relatives add the dates and stories
After conversion, Memrial provides a separate private family archive for photos and home videos. It does not convert tapes and is not part of Preston Media. Its free plan includes 2.0 GB of shared archive storage, with no card needed. Check your video file sizes when choosing what to upload, because that allowance is shared across the archive.
Invite relatives to help identify people and add stories. Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, making it possible to find memories by year even when the only clue is a school uniform or someone's age. For a shared viewing, Live Watch Parties synchronise an uploaded home video through the host's play, pause and seek controls, with voice and text chat. Relatives can join from nearby or far away; the free allowance is three hours monthly with up to six participants.
Connect an old recording with a new occasion
An anniversary gathering can bring an old wedding video into conversation with today's family photos. Memrial's Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership, and their photos and videos collect in the event album. Closing the link keeps the memories already contributed. This gives relatives a straightforward way to add their own perspective after watching a converted recording together.