'Tis the Season to be Selling

The hottest toys for this Christmas season! Can you predict the future and make money? Good luck! There's a ton of websites that claim to have inside knowledge of what "the" items for Christmas are. The governator reminds us nauseatingly in "Jingle All the Way", that there's money to be made in scarcity caused by Christmas shoppers.


Personally, I don't have the stomach to risk my hard-earned cash on some unproven future endeavour. Stick with the known. The beauty of thrifting is that you don't have to worry about the lastest and greatest thing. You're concerned with the old and proven.

Christmas is a hot season for a lot of things. Virtually anything can be given as a gift, but things to look for are kitsch and nostalgia. Think of what people will give as a gift, if it was used. Something they remember from their childhood. Or a gag gift for a friend. Or a collector's item.

Two things that do significantly better around Christmas are games and toys. Games that are popular at parties are great sellers, since what's the holiday season without gettogethers with family and friends. There are quite a few games out there that are no longer available in stores, but are still extremely popular. Your basic Trivial Pursuit is widely available and will not sell at a profit. But that "Moods" game that went out of print is a hot item. Or from a nostalgia point of view, there are games from the 70's that sell extremely well, like "Masterpiece" and "Hotels". Keep an eye out for the electronic "Simon". I sold one of these for $80 plus shipping a month before Christmas last year.

Scan the game shelves at your neighbourhood thrift and keep an eye out for these nostalgic gems. If in doubt, look at completed listings ebay.


One last thing. Keep in mind that hundred's of other people are looking for nostagic gifts for their significant other during the holiday season. There will be stiff competition, so to guarantee success, you need to be picking up your finds in the summer. Summer shopping, fall selling. The formula for thrifting success!