Saturday, November 2

Did You Know? These 10 Stuff in Your Attic Can Make You Rich!

Do you have any hidden treasures in your attic?

We all have quirky things in our attics that are collecting dust because we most likely forgot about them. But have you thought that they might be worth quite some money, especially if you sell them to connoisseurs? Old toys, Star Wars collectibles, that old school Nintendo that you got as a gift for your birthday and that’s probably still working, or even sports equipment that can be sold, might put a fortune in your pocket.

Because spring is already here, it’s time for you to check out your attic and sort out the “junk” and see what can be sold on the internet and what you can take out for a garage sale. Are you ready to get rich this year? Here’s a list of things that could be worth thousands of dollars:

attic, rich
Photo by Christina Desitriviantie from Shutterstock

1. Iconic old magazines

If you’re lucky enough to still have a couple of old magazines, especially those that were sold in limited editions or ones that are linked to an especially significant event and include pop culture icons, they can fetch much higher prices. For instance, a Red Star issue featuring Marilyn Monroe can fetch $6,100, while a regular edition of the same magazine featuring the former president Donald Trump fetches about $800. Do you notice a difference?

Value can also be increased by age and historical significance. For instance, despite some chipping to the page edges, a collection of 16 issues of Life magazine from the years 1941 and 1942, when the United States was a participant in World War II, sold for $300 on EBTH in May last year.

Do you have any old magazines in your attic that seem interesting? If not, I am sure your parents still have some stuff that can be easily sold on the online market. And if they don’t want to give them to you, try to convince them by telling them you will split the cash!

2. Vinyl records

Vinyl is back on track now more than ever! Thousands of people are hunting for bargains on old vinyl, especially with bands that aren’t active anymore. For example, an album signed by Pink Floyd, The Doors, or Janis Joplin may be worth around $1,626! Wow! And if you happen to have some vinyl with the artists that were on stage at Woodstock, those are some hot deals as well.

3. 1986 American Girl Dolls

If you still have your cute American Girl doll from the 1980s, you might look for it in the attic because you can sell it for some good money. And if you haven’t played with it and it’s still well preserved in the original box, then consider yourself lucky because this kind of vintage toys are super expensive nowadays.

The most expensive one, I believe, was sold for $3,300 a few months ago during the Christmas holidays. You’re not the lucky owner of an original American Girl doll? No worries, because older models and even replicas that are in excellent shape and include at least one extra outfit could still fetch $100 on eBay.

4. First edition hard cover books

Do you remember that amazing hardcover first edition of Harry Potter? If you’re lucky to have it in your attic and you’re willing to sell it, you might be able to fetch a couple of dollars. However, don’t forget that the condition in which you preserved it or how rare the book is might add to the final price.

And don’t worry if you aren’t able to determine the correct price by yourself, because there are a lot of websites (my personal recommendation is Biblio) that can help you determine an estimate price for what you want to sell.

5. Film Cameras

Although the majority of people now have sophisticated digital cameras on their smartphones, film cameras are currently having a moment as people rediscover the fun of developing pictures and manually adjusting settings.

For example, a Leica M6 with its packaging was recently sold for $5,101, while an M4 from the 1950s with a bag, tripod, and lens attachment sold on EBTH for $3,600. For a Leica, even a single pair of lenses can cost hundreds of dollars.

Also common? Polaroid: the first snap camera. A more affordable model was purchased for $152, while a gold-tone and black variant with a leather case recently sold for $553. Since a lot of people are interested in buying vintage cameras, if you still have something similar in your attic that you inherited from your parents and it’s still up and running, don’t waste the opportunity to sell it right away!

6. Video game consoles

If you and your kids enjoyed playing video games as much as I did and you still have some old consoles in your attic, you can make a lot of money by selling them in 2023. You might think that with the PlayStation 5 as the main trend, nobody is interested in old video game consoles. But that’s wrong! For most gamers, these things are superb, and if they are a rare edition, a lot of them are willing to pay a lot of cash for them.

For example, the Nintendo PlayStation prototype seen here fetched almost $360,000 at its sale last year around the Christmas holidays. Further, you can also sell video games individually and still have more than $20,000 in your pocket! Who knew that things like these that collect dust in your attic may be worth that much?

7. Midcentury barware

Do you remember that old midcentury barware manufactured by Libbey, Federal Glass, Hazel-Atlas, and Culver that was super colorful with just the right amount of gold glitz and looked fancy and chic? I hope you still have some pieces in your attic because, guess what? They are worth a lot of money, depending on how well they are preserved. The price for a whole set can go up to $1,500. Now that’s something!

attic
Photo by Abigail McCann from Shutterstock

8. Baseball cards

This one is definitely a hot deal, and I hope you will still find some old baseball cards tucked somewhere in your attic because they are also an item that may be worth up to $3.2 million! Baseball cards generally increase in value as they age, according to the general guideline when estimating their value. But there are a lot of details that go into determining a card’s price, so if you’ve found a collection of ancient cards, it’s worthwhile to have them valued.

A friend of mine sold his old baseball cards online, and he was happy to get a deal that “filled” his pockets with thousands of dollars. Lucky man! Which reminds me that I might have some old baseball cards in my father’s attic too, so I guess it’s time for some spring cleaning. Are you lucky to have old baseball cards in your dusty attic? Tell us in the comments.

9. Concert posters

Here comes the nostalgia! And if at some point you used to collect old concert posters, then you know what I’m talking about. The bigger the name, the better! I was surprised to see how much money some old posters with the Beatles or Pink Floyd gigs were sold. By any chance, is the poster framed? Now that’s awesome because all the framed posters are usually more wanted, and people are willing to pay from $100 to $1,000 depending on how old the poster is.

For example, while I was browsing on eBay, I saw a poster with a huge headline (I think it was with the ’66 Beatles gig) that sold for $137,000. Wow!

10. Rare Comic Books

Same thing with books and old iconic magazines; rare comic book issues might be worth a while if the edition was printed only in limited edition. For example, the first comic with Superman was sold last year for almost $3 million! If you’re also lucky enough to have some comics from the Fantastic Four series that was initially published in 1961, you can sell them for $5,100.

Ah! Let’s not forget about the amazing collection of X-Men comics released between 1975 and 1977 and if I remember correctly, there were around 100 issues. They can also be sold for at least $1,651 if they are kept in good condition.

However, it’s worthwhile to find out when new DC or Marvel movies are coming out and try to time your sale to coincide with their release because prices frequently increase when a comic book character is about to appear in a new Hollywood movie. Neat, right? Do you have old comic books in your attic? Tell us in the comments; we’re eager to hear from you.

And now, because you have all this amazing information right at your fingertips, start that much-needed spring cleaning! You never know what treasures your attic might hide. And if you find this article interesting, we’ve got many more like it. Check this one out: 14 Garage Sale Items That Could Secretly Be Worth a Ton. 

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