What is Collectable Depends On Who You Are

by Michele
(Ohio)

I don't make a living selling collectibles, but I have made some pretty good money on things others were selling for nothing. I've found that whether or not something is considered collectible simply depends on how much someone else might want what you have.

For example, I do most of my collectible shopping at garage and estate sales. At one garage sale, I found a large Coca Cola trash can. It was full of old lace, which I didn't bother to go through. I asked the man running the sale how much he wanted for the can and its contents. He told me it had belonged to his mother, and he was just trying to get it out of his garage, so he would take $10.00 for the whole thing. I gave him his money and left with my find. To him it was all just junk. To me it was a treasure.

When I got home, I went through the can, which also had some old dolls in the bottom. I started looking up prices for some of the things on eBay. When everything was cleaned up, I listed the items. One of the old dolls sold for over $100.00! The trash can itself sold for $110. All together, I made over $300 on the items in that can.

There was a book though that never sold. It was a first edition Winnie The Pooh book. Officially, that book would be considered collectible, but since I couldn't find a buyer for it, it's not doing me any good at all. It sits in my book case, no more valuable than any other book there.

Buying and selling collectibles can be risky at times, but if you know what to look for, you usually make more than you are paying out. There are many books that list the value of different collectibles, and you would be wise to study them. There are also websites that can help you identify what you have and what the value might be.

When in doubt, don't buy unless you know for certain you have a good price, or unless it's something you would like to have for yourself if it doesn't sell.