FAQ
Questions, answered.
Everything you need to know about digitising your family photos, videos, tapes and recordings with Good Heirloom.
- What is Good Heirloom?
- Good Heirloom is a New Zealand digitisation service for family memories. We convert old VHS and camcorder tapes, printed photographs, film, negatives, slides and audio recordings into high-quality digital files, then organise them into a private family archive — not just a folder of unnamed files.
- What kinds of media can you digitise?
- VHS and camcorder tapes (VHS, VHS-C, Video8, Hi8, MiniDV), printed photos and albums, 35mm film, negatives and slides, audio cassettes, and older digital formats like CDs, DVDs and floppy disks. If it holds a family memory, we want to save it.
- How long do VHS tapes last before they degrade?
- VHS tapes typically last 15–25 years before noticeable quality loss. Tapes stored in warm or humid environments degrade faster. Many family tapes recorded in the 1980s and 1990s are now at serious risk of becoming unwatchable — the window to save them is closing.
- How is Good Heirloom different from other digitisation services?
- Most services scan your media and hand back a hard drive full of unnamed files. Good Heirloom organises everything into a structured family archive — sorted by year, event, and the people in each memory — so your family will actually explore and enjoy it.
- Are my originals safe?
- Yes. Your originals are tracked from the moment they arrive, handled with cotton gloves in our climate-controlled studio, and always returned to you along with the digital copies. Digitising never means giving anything up.
- How much does it cost to digitise family photos and videos?
- We’re finalising pricing ahead of launch. Every package will combine a simple base fee with per-item rates for the media you send, and you’ll always see a full estimate before anything is confirmed. Waitlist members lock in 15% off their first order.
- Can I give a digitisation package as a gift?
- Yes. The Physical and Family Archive packages come in a gift-ready presentation box. They make meaningful gifts for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, milestone birthdays, and retirement celebrations.
- Do you ship across New Zealand?
- Yes. We provide pre-paid tracked courier kits for sending your media to us, and return everything via tracked courier. We serve families nationwide across New Zealand.
- When are you launching?
- Soon. We’re finishing our studio setup now, and the waitlist is the first to know. Founding families get first access to our initial intake, plus 15% off their first digitisation order.
- What does it cost to join the waitlist?
- Nothing. Joining the waitlist is free, reserves your place in the queue, and locks in 15% off your first order when we launch.
Every year you wait, the tapes fade a little more.
Join the waitlist now — it's free, takes ten seconds, and locks in 15% off your first order when we open.