Questions I get all the time.

Place your order online. It takes a couple of minutes and shows your price as you go. Then drop your box in my Marshfield dropbox, book a drop-off appointment in Marshfield or Brighton, or mail it in. Nothing is charged up front.

No. The dropbox at 22 Priscilla Rd in Marshfield is open day and night. Once you place your order, I email you the dropbox code and instructions. Boxes up to 18 x 18 x 10 inches fit.

Put everything in one box and write your full name, email address and phone number on it. A title or date on each tape, reel or album helps me name your files the way you’d look for them.

Yes, by appointment in Marshfield or Brighton. Choose it on the order form or send me a message, and we’ll set up a time for a direct hand-off.

Yes, for any size order. Place your order first and I’ll email you shipping instructions. Put a note with your name, email and phone number inside the package, and use a tracked shipping method. You pay shipping both ways; the return postage is added to your invoice.

Text me a photo of your tapes, reels or cards and I’ll tell you what each one is and what it will cost. The tape guide on the What I Digitize page helps too.

Orders of 1 to 10 items use simple package pricing: $75 for 1-3 items, $125 for 4-6 items and $185 for 7-10 items, with one storage option included. Bigger orders are $15 per item plus a storage fee based on the number of items.

One tape or film reel counts as one item. DVDs, CDs and SD cards count 2 to an item, and photos, slides and negatives 25 to an item, so 60 photos counts as 3 items. DVDs and CDs are the same thing as far as pricing goes.

Yes. A package is just a number of items, so 2 VHS tapes and a pack of 25 photos is 3 items and fits the Shoebox package.

No. Go through them first and send only the ones you want. You’re charged for what you send, so sorting ahead of time keeps the cost down.

Loose photos are the cheapest to scan, so take them out if you can. If they’re stuck in, an album is $30 for the first 35 photos, then $0.70 per photo after that.

No. If a tape turns out to be blank, you aren’t charged for it.

Nothing up front and no deposit. I send an invoice when your order is finished. I accept Venmo, Zelle, Apple Pay, cash, check and PayPal (PayPal adds 3%). Your items and files come back once it’s paid.

It’s an estimate based on the counts you enter. I count everything when your box arrives, and your invoice is based on my count.

Standard turnaround is 2 to 3 weeks from when I have your items. If you need it sooner, expedited turnaround is 1 week for a flat $50 per order. You choose when you place your order.

I email you an invoice when everything is finished. Once it’s paid, your originals and your files come back to the same dropbox for pickup, by hand at your appointment, or by mail for mail-in orders, whichever we arranged.

All of your original items, plus your digital files on a USB drive, a DVD set or a download link (it works for 1 week). Video plays on any PC, Mac, phone or smart TV, and photos and slides come back as high-resolution JPEGs.

Yes. Your videos are MP4 files, which most smart TVs play straight from a USB drive: plug it into the TV’s USB port and open it in the TV’s media or USB app. If you’d rather use a DVD player, pick the DVD set. You can also play them on a phone or laptop and cast or AirPlay them to the TV.

Yes, always. Every tape, reel, photo and slide comes back to you with your files. I never keep or throw away your originals.

I recommend the USB drive. It’s durable, plugs into any computer and makes it easy to copy files for family. A DVD set is great for someone who only has a DVD player.

Yes. Your package includes one storage option. Each extra option, like a USB drive and a DVD set, adds one more storage fee. Extra DVD or CD copies are $20 each.

Yes. Watch your memories on your own Media Wall and share them with family. The Cloud plan is $80 a year or $24 every 3 months, and the Backup plan (a safe copy you can download, no watching online) is $50 a year. Every plan starts with 30 days free: a card is needed to start, nothing is charged for 30 days, and you can cancel before then. Even with a plan, keep a copy on a drive at home too.

Yes. Each file is named with the title on your label, so “Christmas 1994” stays “Christmas 1994”. Tapes without a label are numbered and marked Untitled.

VHS, VHS-C, Video8, Hi8, Digital8, MiniDV and HDV tapes, 8mm and Super 8 film, audio cassettes, photos, 35mm slides, film negatives, DVDs and mini DVDs, CDs and SD cards.

Not right now: microcassettes (the tiny Dictaphone-style tapes), reel-to-reel audio and 3/4" U-matic professional tapes. If you have something else, ask me before you pack it.

Often it can still be saved. I repair damaged tapes and reels whenever possible. A $25 repair fee is added for any tape or reel that needs it. Please don’t try playing a moldy tape at home, since that can make it worse.

Yes, as much as the tape allows. I play your tapes on high-end VCRs and decks with built-in time base correction (TBC), which steadies a shaky, jittery picture, straightens wavy edges and keeps color and brightness even. I also keep the heads clean and adjust tracking tape by tape. It can’t add detail the camera never recorded, so you get the best version of your tape, not a brand-new HD video.

I can attempt a recovery on SD cards and old camera memory, but I can’t guarantee it. If I can get your files off, I’ll organize them into folders for you.

Me. South Shore Digitizing is just me, so the person you talk to is the person who digitizes your memories, start to finish.

Not if you drop off locally: your originals stay on the South Shore the whole time. If you mail your order in, it ships straight to me, and I mail everything back when it’s done. Either way, nothing goes to a warehouse or gets handed off to anyone else.