# In the early days of VHS & BETA, did it really cost 80 - 100 bucks to buy a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177 "2007-07-26T01:35:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/61 "2007-07-26T19:09:09Z")
[QUOTE=wheresgeorge04] I remember a customer melting the movie [Crash (David Cronenberg)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115964/) and having to pay $106.99 for a replacement copy, in about the year 2000. That’s our cost from the video distributor, not a retail price. Joe [/QUOTE] That movie was HOT- maybe it melted on its own. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/62 "2007-07-26T19:18:33Z")
I remember having to sign a credit card slip for $100 each and every time I rented a movie. When you brought it back, they tore up your credit slip. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/63 "2007-07-26T19:30:37Z")
[QUOTE=jk1245] I bought a Sanyo Beta VCR (complete with “Sanyo- The Official Electronic Products of the 1984 Olympics” sticker) for ~$600 in early 1984. [/QUOTE] That was my first VCR too! Same sticker and everything. I still have it in my basement storage room. I don’t think I ever rented a tape for it but I must’ve had close to a thousand movies and TV shows taped. All sadly now gone. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/64 "2007-07-27T02:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] I remember having to sign a credit card slip for $100 each and every time I rented a movie. When you brought it back, they tore up your credit slip. [/QUOTE] I held off buying a VCR until the price dropped below $400. When I finally got my $399.95 special (top loader, with little pushbutton tuning buttons and a 6-foot long wired on/off remote control) I ran right out to the one place I knew rented videotapes. I had to put a $400 deposit on my credit card just to get a membership card. Not to mention the rentals themselves were something like $10.95 each. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/65 "2007-07-27T07:52:36Z")
Where I was from, you didn’t even have to flash ID or leave a deposit or anything. You just filled out a card, and they gave you a movie. My first ever rental was _Firestarter._ Then there was that store that let 14-year-olds like me rent pornos… ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/66 "2007-07-27T10:42:56Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Or porn. There was always some sort of porn available on that one shelf behind the curtain which had the sign that said “Adults Only” on it. It was slim pickings in the early days. [/QUOTE] Slim Pickens did porn? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/67 "2007-07-27T13:01:55Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] Interview with the Vampire? The Mask? Speed? Dumb and Dumber? The Santa Clause? [/QUOTE] One of those, yes. I beg that you assume some level of taste on my part. I was young! I needed the obsession! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/68 "2007-07-27T13:38:49Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] Slim Pickens did porn? [/QUOTE] Yeeeeeeeehaw! ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/69 "2007-07-27T13:52:56Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Quite serious. This was during a time when there were exactly two video rental stores in a metro area of 1.2 million people. [/QUOTE] Was one of them called Nord Video? ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/70 "2007-07-27T14:18:04Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Was one of them called Nord Video? [/QUOTE] :eek: That’s the one that took my hard earned paper route money and then vanished after about 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177/71 "2007-07-27T15:27:53Z")
My wife’s family owned and ran a video store in thate 80’s and early 90’s in a small town in Montana. It took me awhile to understand that she really meant the prices when we discussed buying copies of movies for the home. They got out of the business right when walmart started selling DVD’s and tapes for around $20. But yeah, the companies they bought their tapes from charged around $100 per copy for those VHS tapes. She swore up and down they were built a bit more rugged than the ones you could get at the store, but who knows? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-early-days-of-vhs-beta-did-it-really-cost-80-100-bucks-to-buy-a-movie/413177.md?page=3)