You don’t need to head to a deserted island to find buried treasure. If you have the patience to sort through thrift store racks, garage sale bins, and your uncle’s attic, you might just find some unexpected gems.
Focus on the 1950s, a fertile ground for valuable resale items. Mid-century modern items appeal to decorators who love a retro vibe, while the nostalgia factor drives up prices for vintage toys and games.
To get you started on this lucrative side hustle, I scoured eBay sales listings and guides from serious collectors to find these 14 can’t-miss picks from the 50s.
1. Fancy Bar Glassware
Cocktail parties had a major moment in the 1950s, and host households showed off glamorous glassware sets to serve drinks and apps. A midcentury Mardi Gras ice bucket from Culver, one of the era’s most popular brands, recently sold for more than $200 on eBay. Eight cactus-painted beer glasses with a wooden tray by Libbey Glass commanded $265 on the auction site.
2. Vinyl Records
Over the past few years, vinyl has seen a big comeback, and retro records can sell for thousands. A pre-owned copy of Miles Davis on Blue Note Lexington Ave, Volumes 1 and 2 recently sold for $3,500 on eBay, and the Elvis Presley single You’re a Heartbreaker brought in $3,200. Prices often skyrocket for hard-to-find titles.
3. Leather Jackets
Play the part of a 1950s greaser in a leather jacket that looks like it came straight from the set of Happy Days. If you have one in your closet, sell this iconic garment for a sizable profit. An eBay shopper recently spent nearly $3,000 for a vintage Montgomery Ward Windward leather moto jacket made from genuine steer hide.
4. Vintage Levi’s
Levi’s jeans have been a style staple for over a century, so vintage versions remain valuable. If you have 501s from the 50s, they could fetch thousands online. A men’s pair of the button-fly Big E Levi’s 501s went for more than $4,200 on eBay earlier this year.
5. Science Kits
An atomic energy lab set for kids seems like a dangerous idea, which might be why the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab was only on store shelves for two years (1950 to 1951). Today, if you find this vintage kit in your attic, you could sell it for up to $3,500 on eBay. It has four types of uranium ore, a Geiger counter, and other necessities for budding scientists.
6. Rare Books
Early editions of classic books from the 50s can be worth thousands, so check the shelves if you have a studious great-grandparent. A copy of the first printing of The Haunting of Hill House, a 1959 horror classic by Shirley Jackson, recently sold for almost $1,800. Even more common titles regularly sell for hundreds, like a 1958 library copy of Walt Disney: The Art of Animation that auctioned for $649.
7. Classic Board Games
If your family members managed to keep all the pieces together for the past seven decades, you could make a mint by selling 1950s board games. Full mahjong and backgammon sets date back to the midcentury, and they are regularly auctioned for anywhere from $200 to $1,000 or more.
8. Character Lunch Boxes
Check thrift shops and garage sales for classic metal character lunch boxes. Based on recent sales of a Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Double R Bar Ranch set and a Disneyland Davy Crockett lunch box from the 1950s, you might be able to flip them for $100 to $200.
9. Action Figures
Selling vintage toys from the 50s is anything but child’s play. A set of nine West Hartland cowboy figures with hats and guns sold for $1,776 on eBay in 2024, while a Louis Marx plastic sumo wrestler went for $1,500 on the website.
10. Comic Books
You might think of superheroes when you think about comic books, but in the 1950s, you could find romance, detective stories, and many other genres in those colorful pages. They’re quite valuable depending on condition and rarity. For example, an eBay user recently purchased a copy of the teen title Going Steady #12 for more than $3,000, while a lot of six horror and crime comics sold for just over $1,000.
11. Duck Decoys
Handmade wooden painted duck decoys from the 50s regularly sell on eBay for hundreds. If you encounter these fowl finds at an estate sale, try flipping them for a fast profit. The most valuable ducks come from a few renowned makers, such as Elmer Crowell and William Bowman, and the price rises with rarity and condition.
12. Toy Trucks
These sturdy metal toys stood the test of time, and they often sell today for hundreds. Several recent sales of 1950s vintage trucks on eBay landed around $1,000, including a Smith Miller L Mack Cargo Truck and a Linemar Marx gasoline tanker with a Donald Duck design.
13. Furniture
Homeowners who love the mid-century modern aesthetic pay thousands for furniture from the 1950s. I recently saw a pastel plaid vintage sofa and chair set to sell on eBay for $2,500. The iconic Herman Miller Charles Eames leather lounge chair and ottoman combo, a classic from this era, frequently sells for around $1,500 – or even more when in great condition.
14. Model Trains
Nostalgic Christmas morning memories might account for the high price of vintage 1950s trains. Single cars in good condition can sell for over $1,000; even less-perfect models command great prices. One recent lot of unpainted Lionel diesel engines landed at a $700 auction price.
15 Bizarre Items That People Bought and Sold on eBay
We all have an eBay account, but who still uses the platform? Traditionally, eBay was the go-to website to sell and buy used items. Now, there are many marketplaces for second-hand items, but eBay is the place where weirdness abounds. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen on eBay? I can bet it wasn’t as weird as some of these items.
18 Everyday Household Items That Are Surprisingly Valuable to Collectors
You don’t have to be a collector or hoarder to have several valuable things in your home. We all accrue many items over the years, some of which could be worth money. Even some everyday household items can be valuable, especially to collectors.
To help determine whether any of your household items are valuable to collectors, we’ve assembled a list of 18 everyday items you likely have in your house. Check out this list and see if any of your items can be turned into money.
