Remember the Beanie Baby boom? When Ty first introduced Beanie Babies in the early 90s, everyone thought their collection would be worth a fortune one day — and some of them wound up being right!
While some Beanie Baby value is simply nostalgia, some Beanies became valuable collector’s items. That said, figuring out which of your old Beanies is worth something and getting that money is easier said than done.
Ready to start trading in your Beanie Babies for cash but aren’t sure where to start? Here’s everything you need to know about how to begin buying and selling Beanie Babies.
How to Determine Beanie Baby Value
Did you know that a Ty Princess Diana bear once sold for over $500,000? Well, if that figure alone is the reason why you want to get into buying and selling Beanie Babies, then you’re out of luck because it never happened. While the famous Princess Bear can be one of the more valuable Beanies on the resale market, if you try to sell one now, at most, you’ll probably rake in about $80.
That said, if you manage to find one of the original nine Beanies with a tag misprint, you could be looking at a significantly heftier payout.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about Beanie Baby value, and the only way to combat it is by doing plenty of research and becoming an expert on Beanie resale and by consulting a toy appraiser before listing your Babies for sale.
Keep Your Babies Clean
You may be able to sell a well-loved, tagless, original Pattie the Platypus to someone who’s feeling a bit nostalgic. But, if you want to earn big bucks selling Beanies, you’re going to have to make sure your toys are pristine.
Unfortuabnlty, the best way to ensure you’re Beanie Babies are in “like-new” condition is to travel back to 1997 and pop them all into those handy Beanie Baby display cases that were all the rage. But, until time travel becomes a bit more mainstream, the best you can do is to try to prevent any further damage.
One easy way to keep your Beanie Babies as fresh as possible is by popping them in a Ziploc bag. A Ziploc bag will protect your Babies from dust, water, and unpleasant smells like smoke, which can significantly lower their value.
If you have a few slightly shabby Beanie Baby’s you’re interested in selling to collectors, you may want to consider passing them off to a toy restoration expert first to get them cleaned up and looking their best. But, keep in mind that some purist Beanie connoisseurs may want you to disclose this information before you make a sale.
Find the Right Marketplace
Finally, once you have your Beanie Babies ready to go, all that’s left is to find a place to sell them.
Sites like eBay may seem like the most obvious choice when selling collectibles like Beanie Babies. But, these types of online marketplaces have gained a bit of a bad reputation due to scammers.
If you want to make money selling Beanie Babies on one of these sites, you’re going to have to spend some time building up your reputation first, which can take a while.
The best place to buy Ty Beanies Babies online is specialty sites that cater exclusively to Beanie Baby collectors. Usually, Beanie lovers and experts run these types of sites and will be able to help you navigate the buying and selling process with ease.
Getting the Most Bang for Your Beanies
Once upon a time, people banking on Beanie Baby value was a bit of a joke. But now we know that some of those adorable little plushy, bean-filled animals were actually worth their weight in gold.
Now that you know more about how to begin buying and selling Beanie Babies, it’s time to get to work.
Are you looking for more information on how to get into buying and selling high-value collectibles? We’ve got you covered. Check out the rest of our blog for more helpful articles today!