Magazines can be very profitable items to sell on Ebay and are often readily available at garage sales, rummage sales, and estate sales.They are usually very low in cost and sometimes free! Knowing what to look for will help you avoid spending money unnecessarily and accumulating boxes of magazines that you can't sell.
Magazines about unusual topics are sometimes profitable to pick up. The more narrow the field of interest is, the more sought after it can be. Look for vintage surfing magazines, old woodworking magazines, old craft magazines, and magazines about railroads and electronic gaming.
If magazines aren't worth selling singly, you can always sell them by the lot. Group them together by the year or even make one big lot of 20 or more magazines. Be sure to list in your auction the month/year of the issues, as well as any specific articles of interest or celebrities featured.
Generally, the big collection of Playboy magazines found at every garage sale isn't really worth purchasing since everyone seemed to save them. I wouldn't bother purchasing them unless they are from the 1950's to 1960's. Keep your eyes open for the sought-after first issue of Playboy with the famous Marilyn Monroe cover!
Be on the lookout for magazines that have ceased publication. Domino was a magazine published by Conde Nast from 2005 to 2009. It had many subscribers who are now paying decent money for back issues. Another discontinued magazine is Martha Stewart Kids. These can be picked up at sales for dimes or sometimes free. (Always check the FREE boxes for magazines.)
Some recent completed magazine auctions on Ebay:
ASTOUNDING STORIES OF SUPER-SCIENCE 1930 10 ISSUES 1st $710.00
Famous Monsters Lot of 63 Magazines 1, 50, 100+ more! $500.00
Chocolatier Magazines, 1984 to 2001 - lot of 80 issues $400.00
10 VINTAGE MOTOR BOATING MAGAZINES 1933 $251.38
So you can see that magazines can be very profitable sellers and often with very little investment. Sometimes the folks holding the garage sales can't wait to unload their many boxes of magazines on you. If a magazine strikes you as unusual or vintage or if it's a large lot of issues of one magazine and the price is right, take a gamble! Click here for more information on selling used magazines and advertisements on eBay.
Article contributed by Amy Kagey. Visit Amy's blog, Collectibles Online Sales.
Hi Amy, great post. Amazing sometimes just how valuable old magazines can be especially when they're in good condition. Keep up the good work.
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