Lunch boxes, fishing lures, coins: 15 household items worth thousands online
Put a hold on your next garage sale, you could have valuable items sitting in your home worth thousands online, from 90s toys to rare homewares. See 15 items you can make money on now.
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There’s a whole online community that will pay thousands for the items collecting dust in the back of your cupboard.
From bakewares and vintage lunch boxes to rare coins lying in your wallet, there are avid online collectors looking to find the last item to complete their collection.
eBay’s State of Collectibles Report from March, 2023 revealed that one in four Australian adults are collectors, making up approximately five million Australian collectors.
Their survey found that the median total profit for a collector selling collectibles was $5000 to $10,000 over the past three years, with eBay being the most popular website.
Before you trash the clutter in your cupboard, see if you could bag a deal by looking at our list of household items and potential collectibles that could earn you a bang for your buck.
Vintage lunch boxes
Popular in the 1950s through to the late 1980s, tin lunch boxes were once highly desired items, showing off a kid’s personality through branding that showcased their favourite TV shows, movies, superheroes and interests.
Now mainly a phenomena of the past, these vintage lunch boxes can fetch anywhere between $50 to $800 on eBay and online marketplaces.
Disney lunch boxes are some of the most well sought after, but more niche lunch boxes are the ones worth the most, with one extremely rare Australian-made red 1977 ABBA lunch box, licenced by Red Grundy Pty Ltd recently fetching $839 on eBay for its Australian seller.
COOGI Sweaters
Popularised by their appearance by characters Kath and Kel Day Knight in Kath & Kim, these colourful sweaters by Australian knitwear brand COOGI are trendy clothing items that can catch hundreds online.
If you’ve got a COOGI jumper in the back of your wardrobe collecting mothballs this summer, it could be worth popping it on an online marketplace, with many selling between $500 and $1000 on resell sites such as eBay, Depop and Etsy.
Sidchrome tools
Known by their TV slogan, “you canna hand a man a granda spanner”, Sidchrome is an Australian tool brand with an active following of loyal collectors who will pay top dollar for vintage screwdrivers, sockets and spanners.
While individual vintage tools sell for anywhere around $10 to $60, full Sidchrome sets can be worth hundreds of dollars, with one completed vintage set of six Sidchrome screwdrivers in Victoria selling for $1250 on eBay in July this year.
McDonald’s merchandise and toys
As kids, everyone wanted McDonald's Happy Meals not just for the food, but for the toys that came with them, with some now worth more than ten times their original value today.
Various Happy Meal toys from the 1990s and early 2000s are selling for around $80 to $150 on eBay, with a set of three 1991 ‘Changeables’ toys recently earning $145 for their seller in Woodford, Queensland.
Promotional McDonalds glasses, including their Coca Cola glasses, can also earn you some extra cash, with many buyers going out of their way to purchase the 1995 Batman Forever McDonalds promotional glasses, worth between $70 to $110 a set.
Agee/Crown Pyrex
Check your kitchen cupboards because old school Australian Pyrex containers can earn hundreds of dollars from vintage collectors.
Under the Crown Pyrex, or AGEE Pyrex (short for Australian Glass) brand, these casserole tins, ramekins, mixing bowls, mugs and bakeware can sell anywhere from $40 to $500 online.
Coins
The spare change lying in your wallet could actually be worth thousands, according to avid coin collectors.
Various coins have become extremely rare after being minted incorrectly or being part of a limited range released to the public.
Perth-based coin expert Joel Kandiah said that a number of 2007 five cent coins made that were minted incorrectly, featuring an image of the Queen’s head on both sides, is worth anywhere from $3000 to $5000.
A $1 coin from the year 2000 known as ‘the mule coin’ featuring a double rim on the heads side after being accidentally minted with the 10 cent die is also highly valuable, worth between $300 to $3000.
Coin collectors will pay hundreds and even thousands for rare and misprinted coins, including the $2 red poppy 2012 coin worth up to $400, the $2 Lest We Forget 2015 coin worth up to $40 and the special curved line 20c coin from 1966 worth up to $4000.
Vintage fishing equipment
If you’ve got an old tackle box lying around, it may be worth checking to see if you’ve got any vintage goodies in there as many avid fishing collectors are looking for rare items to complete their collections.
A 1980s Tasmanian Devil Wigston’s Lure sold on eBay in July for a whopping $572.
Many Queensland-made lures are also fetching upwards of $200 online, with one signed Norm Edwards barra lure in mint condition selling for $429 in July this year.
Here are some other Queensland-born fishing lures to look out for that have recently sold on eBay for top dollar:
- Barra King Lures: $20 – $30 each
- Killalure Lures: $20 to $30 each
- Eric Moller Lures: circa $60 each
- George Dempster Lures: $40 to $100 each
- C Lures: $50 to $200 each
- Leads Lures: $30 to $250 each
- Norm Edwards Lures: circa $200 each
Brisbane-born Alvey Reels and its parts are also fetching anywhere between $30 and $300 on eBay depending on quality and rarity.
Old gaming consoles
iPhones have allowed people to carry gaming consoles in their back pocket, but there are still people out there who are passionate about owning old school gaming consoles.
Classic consoles from brands including Atari, Nintendo, Gameboy and PlayStation are fetching hundreds online.
A seller from Upper Coomera in Queensland recently earned $375 for their old Atari 2600 console, with other sellers earning upwards of $500 for Nintendo bundles with old consoles, games and controllers.
Even newer consoles and technology including the first generation Apple iPod Classic and the Nintendo Wii are valuable finds on eBay.
Vintage tobacco tins
Not all tobacco tins are valuable, but if you’re lucky enough to have a unique tin, you could get hundreds from the right buyer.
Recognised as an antique item, tobacco tins are highly sought after by avid collectors, including the 1400 members of the Facebook group ‘Collectors of NZ, Australian and World Tobacco Tins’.
Branded tins from Luxor, Gold Bar and Havelock have gotten their sellers anywhere from $15 to $200 per tin on eBay, with more rare tins in mint condition earning hundreds.
One 1930s Queensland’s Own ‘Sunny Boy’ tobacco tin sold for $390 by ABCR Auctions, a Victorian antiques auction.
While they may be hard to come across, it’s worth checking the brands of any old tobacco tins you may have lying around to find a jackpot, with one Victorian-based eBay seller earning $760 for a single Sydney-manufactured Champion Ruby tobacco tin after receiving 12 bids on the rare item.
Mambo clothing and accessories
A popular Australian-born surfwear and clothing brand, Mambo was popularised in the 1980s after featuring items designed by artist Reg Mombassa.
A Mambo ‘Loud Shirt’, a series of button-up shirts designed in the 1990s, sell on eBay for $150 to $500, a highly desired item by fans of vintage and 90s streetwear.
Other Mambo merchandise including watches, hats and shoes also sell for hundreds on eBay, with a rare 1993 Mambo Time Lords Watch recently selling for $400.
DVD sets
While streaming has become the new normal for watching TV and movies, DVDs and particularly DVD sets can earn you some spare change online, with many people on the lookout for niche titles that cannot be found on Netflix.
Sets of popular American series such as Law and Order and Will & Grace can get between $40 and $80.
However, full sets or rare editions of less internationally popular series such as The Sullivans and Prisoner have recently sold between $900 and $2500.
Vintage toys
Think twice before chucking out those old toys from your childhood, as many toys, particularly from the 1980s and 1990s are worth hundreds of dollars, maybe even thousands.
Avid collecting communities exist for famous toys such as Pokemon, Barbie, Hot Wheels and more, and are willing to pay top dollar to complete their personal collection.
Sewing machine
Depending on brand, model and condition, sewing machines can go for hundreds online, with vintage Singer 222k machines going for the most.
Vintage accessories and parts can also go for $10 to $20 depending on demand, but if you’ve got a vintage machine sitting collecting dust, you could sell it like this Main Beach-based seller who sold their Singer Featherweight Free Arm Portable machine for $1300 in August this year.
Vinyls
While it’s not a mainstream way to listen to music, avid music lovers are still listening to tunes on record players and are willing to splash some cash to find their favourite bands and singers on limited edition vinyl.
If you’ve got some old vinyls stacked away in your cupboard, it may be worth checking if they’re of any value by checking its condition and pressing, or using a website such as Discogs to see how rare your specific vinyl is.
On eBay, rare editions of AC/DC, KISS, Hilltop Hoods and Elvis Presley are going for hundreds.
READ MORE: THE VALUE OF VINYL: HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE SITTING ON A MUSIC GOLDMINE
Typewriters
Despite the lack of need for typewriters in the computer age, people are continuing to purchase the old-school item as an antique or for decoration.
Both working and non working typewriters are selling on eBay and Facebook Marketplace from anywhere between $15 to $250.
Originally published as Lunch boxes, fishing lures, coins: 15 household items worth thousands online
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