Collectable items worth money in your loft

With the end of winter in sight, many Brits will be turning their attention to a spring clean of their home. Decluttering unwanted items is a great place to start, but could you be throwing away a small fortune?

From old books to stuffed toys and board games to ancient tech, old clutter can be a potential gold mine that could earn you thousands of pounds, if you know what to look out for.

To help you make money from your old unused clutter, storage expert, Vlatka Lake from Space Station, has revealed the old items you should look out for in your loft as they regularly sell for three, four, five and even six figure sums!

What to look out for

Beanie Babies – up to £350,000

They were all the rage back in the nineties, but if you still have a few hanging around in your loft, don’t throw them out. A whole host of the stuffed toys, including Peanut the Elephant and Peace Garcia, regularly go for four figure sums online, while a 1997 bear commemorating Princess Dianna once sold for £350,000.

Harry Potter Books – up to £40,000

If you have a complete set of the wizarding series, make sure you hold onto them just in case. According to a list of criteria from Abe Books, original versions can sell from as little as £200 to over £40,000.

Old money – up to £300

It’s well worth examining old copper jars for rare coins. 20 pence pieces with no date on them and two pence coins from 1983 with the words ‘New Pence’ on them, can sell for hundreds of pounds. The old £10 note is due to go out of circulation on 1st March too, so it’s worth searching to see if you have any old notes lying around.

Lego – up to £7,000

As one of the most popular children’s toys across the world, plenty of households are bound to have old boxes of Lego. There is a big demand for rare individual Lego blocks, however, old Lego sets can also sell for a lot more now than when they were new. The 2007 edition of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon is available on Amazon for more than £7,000, 20 times its original value.

Tech – up to £500

Although many people believe tech loses value as it gets older, many classic games consoles and music devices hold their worth and sometimes sell for big money. The resurgence in popularity of record players has seen their price rocket, and old games consoles such as the SNES or Nintendo 64 can now sell for several hundreds of pounds. Old Apple products are also worth looking for – an iPod Classic in mint condition can be sold for more than £200.

Where to sell

There are plenty of places to sell your old stuff, with the likes of eBay and Amazon giving you access to thousands of potential buyers from all over the world. There are also websites that specialise in buying specific items, such as books and coins. If you are selling online, it’s important to do you research and compare various sites to ensure you get the best price.

What you should keep hold of

If you don’t have any items that could potentially net you hundreds of pounds in today’s market, look out for items that are predicted to increase in value in the future. First edition versions of modern books are a good thing to keep an eye out for, with the likes of The Da Vinci Code and Game of Thrones tipped to increase in value over the coming years. Original versions of tech like the Amazon Echo could net you a fortune in years to come if you hold onto it – likewise with first edition Play Stations and Xboxes.

If you’re looking for somewhere to store your items that could increase in value over the years to come, visit Space Station self storage.