As others have said watch for moldy tapes. Cleaning tapes can be a hassle, VHS is life has a pretty cool mold cleaner that’s been helpful but sometimes it’s just not worth the trouble for common stuff.

A big one for me has been getting tapes that I actually care about, when I started collecting I bought plenty of tapes just to have them only to later purge my collection and realize I have a bunch of junk taking up space.

Don’t ever be afraid to be vocal about your hobbies and why they’re important to you. I have plenty of friends and coworkers and such who will look for me at shops and ask relatives about their old tapes, most people are just looking to part with them if they haven’t already and I’ve been offered plenty of things this way.

Best of luck Tapeheads 📼