I'm fairly new the the world of collecting anime, so I thought I'd come up with a getting started guide. First of all, you don't need alot of money. You need to be able to buy video tapes, and the ability to buy postage for them. It costs $3 to send 3 tapes through the United States Postal Service to anywhere in the United States.
Why am I mentioning this? Well one way to get tapes is to go to the Video Store (Suncoast or Saturday Matinee are the best choices in the U.S.) and purchase English Subtitled (or even dubbed, although I personally believe subtitled is better) versions of tapes that are commercially licensed to be sold in the United States. This method is the most expensive. Let me give you an example:
Anyway, another way to get anime is through FanSubbers. What is a fansub? Well there are people out there, nice, wonderful people, who take anime that has not been licensed for sale in the U.S. yet, and they subtitle it. Then they, or someone they designate as a distributor, distribute it for free, or at cost. They make no money off this, they just do it out of the kindness of their hearts. There are also people who will trade copies of tapes with you, but you need to gain a base collection before you can do that.
There are several links to various fansubbers and their distributors off The Armory. You can also go the The Anime Web Turnpike and make your own list. You should also check around and ask people before choosing a distributor that you don't know well, just so you don't get cheated. I hate to say this, but it happens. I've had good luck with all the distributors and subtitlers off The Armory, especially Tomodachi Anime and ChiAnime.
Fansubbers each have their own list of rules, so be sure to read through the ENTIRE page before making a request. Requests can be made in one of two fashions, SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) or by Check, Money Order, or Cash. I do not recommend sending Cash through the mail, and neither does the Post Office. If you go with the SASE method, you'll have to send blank tapes to the distributer, this will cost you the cost of the tapes (most require HiFi and some require specific brands, so check before sending off Walmart Brand T-120s) and the cost of mailing the tapes to the location, plus the cost of mailing the tapes BACK to you. The method I personally like the most is to send a check or U.S. Postal Money Order to the distributer and have them mail you the tapes. This is done at COST. You pay for the tapes, the stamp to mail the tapes to you, and sometimes wear and tear on the VCRs. I've seen costs from $15 - $21 in the domestic U.S. International mailing costs more, so if you order from Canada to the US, or from the US to Italy or someplace, then you're going to pay more.
One more way is to find a friend who's into Anime and copy their tapes. Don't copy commercial tapes of course because that's illegal. Start building you collection that way. You could make contacts through local Anime clubs and groups. You can also go to Anime Cons and make more connections. This is a good way to be introduced to anime as well, since Clubs will sometimes have showings, and Cons always will (I hope). You can find links off of The Anime Web Turnpike for your local clubs and upcoming Cons.
Well, that's about it. Good luck on starting your collection!
Oh! My Goddess is an OVA that is licensed by AnimEigo. It is a 5 episode OVA, at about 30 minutes per episode. Animego sells the tapes for $15 a piece (US) dubbed at a half hour episode per tape. You could buy a Disney movie for about that price and get an hour and a half of cartoon. Of course, it's Disney, and not Anime.
I completely understand why Anime videos are expensive. They don't make as many sales as Disney would is the first case. It's a specialty genre, that hasn't completely hit the mainstream in American Society. It's currently a cult thing I guess. Most anime wouldn't be considered suitable for American children as it's shown on Japanese television. Of course, since it's a cartoon, most American's assume that children would watch it. I'm in my 20's. So much for that idea.