With summer drawing to a close and kids headed back to school, many parents across the country are looking forward to reclaiming their homes.
But before they go on an all-out purge of “stuff” their kids have piled up over the years, it could pay off for parents to keep an eye out for games, toys and collectables they can sell for a healthy profit.
“Every fall when our crews go into homes during back-to-school season we come across valuable items that parents were ready to toss that are actually worth quite a bit of money to collectors,” says Mike Thorne, President of St. Catharines, Ont.-based JUSTJUNK. “We always help clients figure out which items to throw out, which ones to donate and which ones they should hang on to for their resale value.”
After 15 years as a leader in the junk removal industry, JUSTJUNK has seen many clients rescue treasures from what they initially thought was trash. Here are some of the top kids’ items with money-making potential JustJunk tells parents to look out for when decluttering:
Old-School Pokemon Rules: Pokemon Go may have taken the world by storm this summer, but there’s plenty of money to be made from the original Pokemon for Nintendo Game Boy. Original game cartridges in good condition are selling to collectors for a few hundred dollars.
Polly Pocket Can Pad Your Wallet: These tiny dolls and playsets that were popular in the early ‘90s can fetch $500 or more in top condition.
Furbies For The Win: Launched in 1998, these strange owl-like robotic creatures are still highly sought after. Collectors will pay about $600 for one of these guys in mint condition — sometimes even higher if it’s in the original packaging.
Harry Potter Still Casts a Spell: If you happened to get on the Harry Potter train early and bought a 1998 first edition of the first book in the fantastically popular series — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone — you could be in for a payday. Copies in great condition are currently selling for about $6,500 each. Add a signature from author J.K. Rowling and the price more than doubles to about $15,000.
