How to sell your old toys FAST!

Everyone has toys. Maybe they were for your kids. Maybe they were for yourself. But eventually, those toys may become obsolete for our homes.

However, all toys have a purpose somewhere, and therefore you can always sell them or get rid of them somehow.

Here are our tips for getting rid of old, vintage, collectible, or even brand new toys… 

Donate Them

No matter the type of toy or its condition, a children’s hospital, a daycare or a pre-school would almost always be interested in them. And they’d go to great use! Depending on the value of them and who you donate them to, you may be eligible for a tax-deduction as well.

Pawn Shop

If you want to sell your toys for cash very quickly, you can always try to sell them to a local pawn shop. The problem with this though is how much cash you can expect to get for your toys – pawn shops are notorious for underpricing everything. But if you’re in a bind and you just want cash fast, this is a surefire way to get cash fast – it just may not be much.

eBay

Another way to sell your toys for cash is selling them on eBay. This will probably yield a bit more cash than you’d otherwise get at a local pawn shop, however it takes a lot of work to successfully list and sell anything on eBay. Even after doing everything right – taking good pictures, writing a good description, answering all questions and paying any listing fees – there’s no guarantee you’ll sell your toy after all that hard work. And when it does sell, you still need to pack it and bring it somewhere to ship it, and possibly deal with lost or damaged mail claims.

 

Will you sell them all yourself, one by one – especially if you have a large collection?

That’s a full-time job. And it can take months to sell an old toy collection. You have to learn how to determine their value, take pictures, list them on eBay, collect your payments, then pack and ship and deal with returns…

YIKES! What’s Plan B?!

To get the best of both worlds – a good selling price and convenience – consider selling your toys to us at EC! 

Luckily, we have designed a foolproof “1-2-3” way to sell your collection to us!

Although we buy all sorts of things, we are most interested in:

  • Any sort of collectible, especially Star Wars and DC & Marvel superheroes
  • Action figures
  • Movie props & memorabilia
  • ..and much more!

Vintage Toys (pre 1980): Generally we are looking for the best quality (preferably boxed) vintage toys possible. However, we will also buy unboxed items if they are in good, complete condition. 

Modern Collectible Toys (post 1980): We are happy to buy toys produced after 1980, but they will usually need to be in perfect condition in excellent original boxes, complete with all accessories and any included paperwork and/or certificates. We generally pay only “bulk” prices for unboxed action figures, especially if they are incomplete.

Please note we’re currently not interested in buying:

  • Furniture
  • Fine Art
  • CDs / Blu-rays / DVDs / VHS
  • Happy Meal toys
  • TY Beanie Babies
  • NASCAR collectibles
  • Barbies
  • Hess trucks and other die-cast cars

 

If you are interested in selling your collectibles to us, follow the steps!

Step One: PREPARING YOUR COLLECTION FOR APPRAISAL

Take a clear photo of your collection, or a few photos if the collection is particularly large. Group similar items or toy lines together. 

Step Two: MAKING A LIST OF YOUR COLLECTION

Write up a general list of toy lines and items, with details only if the identity of an item is not clear from the photograph. Don’t spend a lot of time exhaustively cataloging and building lists and spreadsheets. All too often we have sellers come in with a gorgeous spreadsheet of every item and tons of detailed photographs, only to find out that what they’re selling has little value. Keep it to a general overview, unless we request specific details.

Step Three: SEND US YOUR PHOTOS AND LIST

Email toys@emeraldcitycomics.com or text 727-378-2410‬ to send us your photos and list. We’ll ask you any questions we might have about the items, then request more photos if necessary.

We’ll also let you know right away if any items are NOT of interest to us.

“1-2-3” saves you HOURS of time!

Why use this method to sell your collection?

Two reasons:

  1. Many toys don’t have a lot of value. There are some items which are worth way more than the average. If those are present, then your collection is worth more, and if not, it’s worth much less.
  2. Listing every single item takes forever. We get many lists from people who have taken days to make a detailed inventory. Usually, that’s a waste of your time.

In seconds, we can look at your list and decide whether or not your collection has significant value. If we like the look of the list and initial photos, then we can advise you to give us more detail.

Equally, taking lots of photos is very time-consuming. Why take 100 photos, when we can simply ask for the few extra photos we need after viewing your list and initial photos?

 

Want to sell your toys to us?

Here’s how it works!

 

Once we know what you have, and have seen the photos, we will schedule an appointment to bring in your collection. During the appointment, our toy buyers will appraise the collection and make an offer. If you accept, we pay you cash immediately! FYI: we pay a bit MORE if you want store credit instead of cash!

 

Why sell your toys to us?

We treat you fairly and with respect at all times. We know that the decision to sell your collection can be a tough one to make, sometimes due to a cash crunch – and that your toys may have sentimental as well as financial value!

Emerald City has been in business since 1989! We have stayed in business for over 30 years and achieved 4.8 stars out of 5 on Facebook and Google by treating all of our visitors as Valued Guests!

Our longevity also means that our toy buyers have years of experience and accumulated knowledge about the values of new and vintage toys, so they can quickly and accurately determine the value of your collection!

 

To give you some insight on a Frequently Asked Question…

“I expected to be offered more for my collection – why was I only offered this much?”

  • If there is any odor in or on the items (such as cigarette smoke), the value is substantially less.
  • Prices are based on an item’s condition, how complete it is, and our current inventory.
  • A retail store cannot pay full retail / guide / eBay value for any item. We can only offer you a percentage of the prices you may see in a price guide or on our shelves. Please understand that this is just the nature of a retail store: we may sit on an item for months or years before it sells, and the markup we make on an item is what pays for our Team, our building, electricity, etc. If you need to get an amount much closer to retail or guide value, your best bet is to sell directly through eBay, Craigslist, or a local convention.
  • Unfortunately, sometimes certain collectibles are just not worth what you think they might be. There are many items for which we have a high supply and/or a low demand, so we are unable to even make an offer on them! We will let you know whether you should sell them to a buyer that might need them more than we do, or if they might be better donated to friends / family / favorite charity.

 Any other questions?

Please email toys@emeraldcitycomics.com, or call us at 727-398-2665 (ask for Adam or Dave).