How you can make money selling old toys, even if you don't have the box

There are a number of ways you can sell old toys, even if they're not collector's items or in pristine condition.

Talk about selling old toys and many people automatically think about old dolls kept pristine in their boxes or board games that have never been played.

But there are plenty of places where you can sell your toys, even if they don't have their original packaging and have been loved.

Find a toy exchange

A quick way to get cash for toys is to look out for a toy exchange event.

At the moment there’s the Argos Toy Exchange, which is run in conjunction with Barnardo’s.

Back for its fourth year, the UK-wide initiative allows people to exchange pre-loved toys for a £5 Argos voucher.

Donations are being accepted at Argos and Barnardo’s stores until November 20 and the £5 voucher can be redeemed when you spend £35 or more on toys at Argos until Christmas Eve.

Barnardo’s will use the pre-loved toy donations to sell in its stores in the run-up to Christmas and all profits will go to fund the charity’s work with over 240,000 children, young people and their families.

Other big high street names like The Entertainer and the Early Learning Centre also periodically hold toy exchange events throughout the year. So keep an eye out!

Get cash for LEGO

LEGO collections can quickly get out of hand.

Zapper is a website which offers instant valuations on things like books, CDs, DVDs, games, mobiles and various other electronics, but it also has a cash for LEGO trade-in service.

You just need to put your LEGO in a plastic bag, weigh it, select the nearest weight from the drop menu on the site (0.5kg to 10kg) and select a free delivery method. Zapper will then post you a cheque for your goods once it has checked the items.

Zapper offers a set price based on the weight of your trade, so 0.5kg of LEGO will get you £1.75, but if you have 10kg of the stuff you can get a decent £35. The trade must contain genuine LEGO only (no clone brands like Mega Blocks or Knex) and be in a good condition.

Alternatively if you have more valuable LEGO items like rare minifigures or sets you could try specialist LEGO marketplaces like bricklink where you might be able to get a better price.

Trade-in consoles and games

Games consoles and video games can be traded in for cash or vouchers in a number of places online or even on the high street.

CeX, for example, offers instant cash valuations online or in-store for consoles like GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and Wii as well as video games.

Game is another good place to go. It also offers an instant valuation for old consoles and games online or in-store.

But the retailer claims it will beat any hardware trade-in offer you get elsewhere by 5%, and on other trade-ins like games it will better by £1.

It’s worth checking what MusicMagpie, Zapper and Ziffit can offer for comparison.

Do a toy jumble sale

With the colder weather settling in there won’t be many car boot sales you can use to raise cash from your pre-loved toys.

But keep an eye out for local jumble sales in community spaces like churches or schools. Better yet why not organise one yourself?

Alternatively, an app called Shpock claims it is bringing the boot sale online.

Sell on eBay

If you think your toy or game collection is rare or popular it might be worth selling on eBay.

eBay is a great place to reach a wide audience who might be after collectibles, a sold out item or a bargain on a gift in time for Christmas or a birthday.

Alternatively, there are other cheaper online marketplaces you can try like Preloved, Gumtree or even Amazon Marketplace.

Give them away

If you aren’t in desperate need of the extra cash don’t discount giving old toys and games away for free.

Your local charity shop will be keen to get donations in the run up to Christmas, or you can try websites like Freegle or Freecycle.

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