I turned a 30p soft toy into a £16 profit – here’s how & the plushies to look for at boot sales if you want to cash in
A SIDE hustle queen has revealed just how she turned a 30p jumble sale bargain into a £16 profit.
Emily has turned her reselling passion into a profitable business, and is a pro at finding gems at local sales, boot fairs and charity shops.
And in a recent video on her TikTok page, she explained how she knew she’d make some money when she spotted a certain little toy in a bargain bin at a jumble.
“I’ve sold quite a few soft toys and they can do really well,” she said.
“I got him from a jumble sale, it was quite a little while ago and I hadn’t listed him.
“Then about three or four days ago, I listed this little dude.
“Now he only cost me 30p at the jumble sale.
“I didn’t look him up when I was there, I just saw him, I thought look he’s a Womble, he’s vintage, let’s just give it a whirl.
“And he sold really quickly!
“I bought it for 30p and I sold it for £16.”
Emily added that while Jellycats are always a good brand of soft toys to look out for, they aren’t the only profit-making plushies you can find.
“Obviously you’ve got vintage toys like this,” she said.
“So if you see anything that’s like from an old TV show – like I’ve sold a Rosie and Jim toy before, that sold really well, and this Womble.
“There’s also a brand called Charlie Bear.
“I sold a Charlie Bear once, I found him for 50p and he sold for quite a bit of money – and some Charlie Bears can actually sell for hundreds of pounds.”
Another brand that you can look out for to make a quick buck is Moulin Roty.
“This is an expensive brand so if you can get these for a few pounds you’re going to sell them for profit,” she said, holding up a little mouse toy.
“Not always loads but sometimes they go for quite a lot.
Top charity shop tips for bagging a bargain
Ross Dutton has been a manager for Crisis's charity shops for four years and currently runs the charity's Finsbury Park shop in London.
Choose your area – As a rule of thumb, the posher the area, the better quality the clothes that are donated.
Don’t hang around – If you see something you like, buy it, as it’ll likely be gone when you come back
Look out for cut-off labels – Some of your favourite high street stores will have deals with local charity shops to donate stock that isn’t sold during their own sales. Often part of the deal is that they need to cut the labels off the clothes.
Stay at home – While some charities have their own site, like Oxfam and Crisis. many also sell from dedicated eBay stores, such as British Heart Foundation and Scope. You won’t get the range of bargains that you would get in a physical store, but if you’re looking for something specific it may be worth checking online too.
“Obviously Jellycats and a ton of other teddies that you can definitely look out for.”
“Here are a few soft toy brands to look out for,” Emily captioned the video.
“I also managed to get some fab profit from this Womble.”
People quickly took to the comments section to share their own plushie profits, with one writing: “I paid 50p for a Jellycat and sold it for £55!”
“£34 from a Jellycat,” another said.
“I found a cabbage patch doll, old 80s one not in great condition but paid 99p and sold for £72!” a third revealed.
“Henry hoover green plush paid £1 sold for £60,” someone else wrote.
“1998 jelly cat – bought for £1 – sold for £45,” another said.
To which Emily replied: “What a profit! I love jellycats. They sell so well.
“I always get attached to them though, so feel sad when I pack them in their boxes to be posted off!”