Used Tokyo Disneyland passports and Haagen-Dazs lids… unknown high value items.
It is important to stimulate the collector’s desire to own.
Sometimes, things that collectors think they have no choice but to throw away, such as trading cards they collected as children or outdated home appliances, are the things that collectors want so badly they can’t wait to get their hands on them.
What kind of things are valuable to collectors? The second part of this article introduces the knowledge of Yasushi Kikuchi, author of “How to turn your life’s work into an asset without throwing it away” and Sachie Kawasaki, author of the “All About Flea Market App Guide”.
It is also a way to earn money by stimulating collectors’ desire to own things.
Tokyo Disney Resort passports (admission tickets) can be sold even if they have already been used. USJ is also a famous theme park, but Disney is more popular. Many people are looking for non-saleable novelty items such as commemorative goods for corporate foundations, eco-bags, and radio program memorabilia.
One unexpected item is the Haagen-Dazs lid. Haagen-Dazs comes in so many flavors that even collectors can’t keep up with them, and in some cases they are looking for them on Mercari,” said Yumi Kuwana, author of “Zero kara Hajime Mercari” and writer.
When the reporter checked “Mercari,” two lids of limited-time-only flavors were listed for 300 yen.
However, the most one can earn from such collectible items is a few hundred to a few thousand yen. If you want to get rich, you may need to search through your parents’ closet like the reporter did.
Magazines and toys that cost a few hundred yen now fetch hundreds of thousands of yen!
The Weekly Shonen Jump ’84 issue 51 (170 yen at the time), in which “Dragon Ball” graced the cover as a new serialized work, fetched several hundred thousand to one million yen. Even if not to this extent, new serial issues of “Slam Dunk” and “Fist of the North Star” sell for about 50,000 yen.
A recent issue of Weekly Shonen Magazine, in which “Tokyo Manji Revengers” was first published, sold for 18,500 yen. If you are planning to sell single issues of popular manga, we recommend selling them as a set. If there are missing volumes, you can buy them on Mercari or at a used bookstore and then sell them all together.
Kinnikuman erasers (Kin erasers), which once dominated the market, can be worth several hundred thousand yen depending on the item. For example, “Mammoth Man,” which was sold at the time for 100 yen per capsule and contained two erasers, sold for 100,000 to 300,000 yen.
In addition, “Super Space Cop Gabin Infinity,” a reboot of the “Space Cop Gabin” series that aired in 1982, will be broadcast on TV Asahi from February 15 this year, attracting more attention to Gabin goods from that time. Popular figures are selling for close to 100,000 yen, and toys modeled after weapons from the show are selling for close to 30,000 yen,” said Yoshiaki Izumisawa, author of “Mercari no Tatsujin” (“Master of Mercari”).
Another example is a collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami, with playing cards selling for 7,000 yen a piece.
For example, there is a person who likes the number 9 and collects only 9 playing cards,” said Yoshiaki Izumisawa, author of “The Master of Melkarakari. It might be a good idea to sell playing cards made in collaboration with popular illustrators to these enthusiasts one by one.
The weekly magazines that readers hold in their hands today could also be transformed into treasures.
Issues with popular gravure idols on the cover tend to sell for more than the original price. For example, an issue with a DVD featuring Hena Kikuchi on the cover can fetch as much as 2,000 yen. If you don’t throw away the issue after reading it, but sell the issue with the cover and the extra DVD together, you can get as much as 5,000 yen for it.
Other issues that report celebrity love scoops or historical events are priced at several thousand yen.
In terms of DVDs, old popular dramas such as “Kita no Kuni Kara” and “Hisshikatsu Shokunin,” which are rarely available through online distribution services, sell for 50,000-70,000 yen if they are listed as a set.
You can also exchange your hard work for money with a set.
Textbooks for home construction, bookkeeping, cooking licenses, etc., as well as textbooks that are no longer needed because children have moved on to the next grade, and reference books used during entrance examinations can fetch several thousand yen when put together for sale. The next examinee, somewhere in Japan, is always looking for them,” Kuwana said.
If you are not used to selling items on flea market apps, you should start with books and magazines,” said Mr. Kawasaki.
For example, with clothing, you have to take measurements and check for stains, but with magazines and books, stains and scratches are less of a concern, so it’s harder to get into trouble. When the app reads the barcode of a book, the title and author are automatically displayed, and with AI, it also writes the listing text for you. Packing is also easy, so I recommend it.
Mr. Kikuchi explains the importance of the description when listing an item.
For example, if you are selling an old home appliance, you can add a story in the description, such as “This is the first boom box I bought when I was a student,” to reassure the buyer that you are not a reseller.
Many people don’t want to buy from “resellers,” so it’s a good idea to include some background information to put buyers off guard.
There must be something in your house that could be profitable if sold. We hope this article will help you in your treasure hunt.
From the February 20/27, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY
