A tidy fortune may be hiding in your attic


BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR

Maybe the mention of Christmas this early causes you to groan but unless you start now you could miss out on extra funds from what you think is clutter with the help of eBay.

eBay, if you recall, was the first online marketplace but today is a household name. It connects millions of buyers and sellers in Ireland and across the globe, helping them to find the item they’re looking for from its 1.4 billion listings. There are millions of buyers in 190 markets so your junk could be someone else’s treasure wherever they live.

Even a cursory glance or search shows that eBay is a treasure trove for second-hand and vintage items and some people make thousands each year selling  items on the online marketplace. Not only is this great for the bank balance, but it also “contributes to a circular economy by finding a new lease of life for items that may otherwise end up in a landfill”.

Here’s some of the top items people have sold or are selling on eBay that could make you a lot of extra cash if you happen to have them at home:

Early-Edition and Unique Books

Early edition prints of popular novels, biographies and other books can fetch into the thousands on ebay.ie. Grading, i.e. condition, and rarity of the book plays a big part in the final price you can expect and if they’re out of print, you can expect even more. For instance, a seventh edition copy of Ulysses by James Joyce, printed in 1925, fetched €1613 on ebay.ie in 2021.

History books can also yield a tidy sum. A complete set of The Gaelic Athletic Association in Dublin 1884-2000 (Volumes 1,2,3) sold for €81 on eBay in February.

Colourful TypewritersVintage typewriters are on the way back! Retro typewriters are growing in popularity with hipsters who want to ditch the tech and get creative the old school way, while others are snapping them up for decorative purposes for their homes. Prices for vintage typewriters range anywhere from €11 – €115 on ebay.ie right now. Working typewriters can generate most interest, especially, believe it or not colours like duck egg blue or pink.

Designer Products

These brands are a popular search term on ebay.ie. Searches for Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci and Louis Vuitton are particularly high on the online marketplace. Designer bags in particular hold their value and can sell for hundreds of Euros. People want quality and want to shop sustainably. So if you have any old designer clothes in your wardrobe that is taking up space, why not put up a listing?

1980s Video Games

Any old video games in the attic?  Any chance you might have  “a factory sealed Mega Man Nintendo 64 Game”.  If you have you are sitting on a possible payday of €3,000 plus. This is the exception but there are a  host of retro Nintendo games for sale with prices ranging from €10 up.  Again, good condition, unused, or rare edition games tend to be attract the collectors, but you can still earn the price of the Christmas dinner!

Pokémon Cards

Always  a top seller on ebay.ie. In the past year alone, sales for Pokémon cards went up 37% on eBay. The top two Pokémon cards sold on eBay last year include a Charizard 1st Edition Holo which sold for $9,000 (€8,195). Meanwhile a 2003 Pokémon Lugia Holo Aquapolis sold for $9,015 (€8,208) on the online marketplace.

Colin McCallion, eBay Ireland’s Head of Commercial Operations, says: “If you want to make some extra cash, the best thing you can do is take stock of what is in your attic or closet catching dust. As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and you never know what little crock of gold you might be sitting on; it could be a covetable collectable or a vintage item from bygone eras, these kinds of items can sell for hundreds and even thousands of euro on ebay.ie.”

The way to start is search for your proposed item on eBay to see if it has value, When listing your items, make sure you take a clear photo of the product and use plenty of relevant search terms in the title so people can find the product easily. With so many in the market everyday it can be quite easy to find a buyer for your wares regardless of how quirky the item might be.

So set up your account with a few clicks and hopefully see the money come in..

john@ellisfinancial

086 8362622

 

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