Selling things you no longer use is an easy way to drum up extra cash — but you don’t need an antiques collection for your home to be a treasure trove.
The UK secondhand market is booming right now, with UK consumers predicted to spend a whopping £3.6 billion on used goods in 2025.
There’s certainly money to be made, and as a self-professed ‘car boot queen’, Ellie Macsymons from NetVoucherCodes, is well versed in turning pre-loved into profit.
So if you have any of these sought-after items lying around gathering dust, listen up. Your next clear-out could really pay off.
Vintage Pyrex dishes
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According to Ellie, these retro cooking dishes are ‘hot property right now,’ with designs like Gooseberry, Butterprint, and Snowflake fetching anywhere between £30 and £150 each among collectors
It all depends on their condition, though, as she adds: ‘Chips, cracks, cloudy glass (often from dishwasher damage), and faded patterns can all reduce the value significantly.’
Retro consoles and games
From Game Boys to Sega Mega Drives, Ellie says ‘enthusiasts and nostalgic millennials are snapping up working consoles and original games.’
In terms of games, you’re looking at £20 to £30 for common titles, but rare ones can be worth as much as £300. Vintage consoles typically sell for a minimum of £40, while certain models command upwards of £200 — and even just the packaging can go for £100 or more online.
Ellie advises: ‘For the full resale value, make sure consoles aren’t missing power leads or controllers and check game cartridges for corrosion or heavy scratches.’
90s and 00s clothing
Fashion makes up a 37% share of all recommerce purchases in the UK, but you can command a particularly pretty penny by cashing in on the current trend for Y2K clothing.
‘Look out for denim jackets, branded hoodies, and old-school trainers from labels like Levi’s, Adidas, Burberry, or Ralph Lauren,’ says Ellie. ‘Such brands can resell for £20 to £150 depending on the piece’.
Before you list anything designer though, make sure to double check it’s not a fake, as Vinted, Depop and eBay suspend or ban users for selling counterfeit goods.
Mid-century modern furniture
Furniture and decor pieces from the mid-century modern era – roughly the 1940s to the 1960s – has stood the test of time, and has long been a coveted style for interiors fans.
Ellie says that ‘small furniture items like teak side tables, magazine racks, or atomic-era mirrors,’ can command £40 to over £300 if you find the right buyer, but ‘the roof is the limit’ for everything MCM.
Keep in mind however, ‘newer mass-produced items that just look retro’ will go for a lot less.
LEGO sets
‘LEGO holds its value incredibly well, especially themed or discontinued sets like Star Wars, Harry Potter, or Architecture collections,’ says Ellie. ‘Even bulk bags of random bricks can go for good money.’
Depending on completeness and theme, you’re looking at £20 to more than £200 for a sets or boxes of well-kept LEGO, but (and this is a big but) ‘things like missing mini-figures, incomplete instructions, or knock-off bricks can make them essentially worthless.’
Not sure how to tell whether you’ve got a fake? Real LEGO has the brand name stamped on every stud.
Vintage cameras
As film photography skyrockets in popularity, so has the demand forvintage cameras like Olympus Trip 35, Pentax Spotmatic, or old Polaroids.
The price you can fetch for one of these will be lower if it’s in poor condition (look out for issues like rusty battery compartments, sticky shutters, or broken lenses) or, for Polaroid cameras, the film type is no longer available.
If you find the right buyer though, you’re looking at between £25 and £150.
British ceramics
When it comes to ceramics, Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, or Denby are the brand names to look out for — especially limited editions or discontinued ranges.
Teapots, dinner sets, or figurines, ‘can resell for £30 to £200 depending on condition and pattern,’ says Ellie, but ‘crazing (fine cracks in the glaze) will lower the resale amount, as will missing pieces, or heavily used sets.’
Rare books
Old books can be big earners; you just need to hunt through your shelves for the most valuable ones.
Ellie says ‘first editions, niche cookbooks, out-of-print art or photography volumes, and certain children’s books’ can sometimes resell for £500 or more, so it’s worth doing some research if you think you’ve got something unique.
She adds: ‘Ideally, books should include their dusk jackets (better yet if they’re preserved in plastic) and not have torn pages or heavy wear.
‘Ex-library copies are usually worth less.’
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