40 Garage Sale Finds That Could Secretly Be Worth a Ton

From Lite-Brites—no longer in production and now worth as much as $300—to a first-edition Barbie released in 1959 and valued at $8,000, vintage toys can have incredible resale value. If you're going hunting for Barbie No. 1, look for the doll sporting a zebra-striped bathing suit, with holes in the bottom of her feet.

Okay, so chances are you aren't going to score a $35 million Gutenberg Bible at a yard sale, since there are only 49 in existence. But that doesn't mean you can't scoop up a rare tome that can bring in the bacon when resold. The key is to find first editions of popular books in great condition, like J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which recently sold for $80,000.

It's estimated that the global resale market for athletic shoes has reached $2 billion and among the most prized are Nike's iconic line of Air Jordans. The value of them varies by model, but one of the snazziest pairs is the Jordan 1 Retro Legends of Summer Red Glitter. Created for the 2013 Justin Timberlake/Jay-Z tour, they've resold for $7,000.

Vintage kitchenware like Pyrex can go for thousands, but if you happen across antique-looking pottery you also might want to snap it up. In 2013, a 1,000-year old Chinese bowl bought for $3 at a yard sale was auctioned off for more than $2 million.

Diamonds really are a girl's best friend—especially when you buy a ring at a yard sale for a few dollars and it turns out to be worth $850,000. At nearly 27 carats, the ring's stone was so big it looked like costume jewelry, so it was decades before the ring's new owner had it appraised and learned its true value.

When perusing comic book piles at garage sales, it's a good idea to keep your eyes open for The Man of Steel. The first comic that Superman appeared in resold for $3.2 million, and others can go for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We're not talking about designer duds you can resell on eBay, although those finds can bring in cold, hard cash, too. Sometimes sellers accidentally leave big ticket items in pockets, handbags, and the like when they put them out at their garage sales. In 2013, a California woman forgot to take an $18,000 pair of earrings out of a jacket before selling it for $20.

Vintage model trains are highly collectible, and this means big bucks for the right choo choo. A 1908-14 Lionel 8 Trolley is going for $7,500 on eBay.

It's not unusual to find old records at garage sales. What is unusual is to buy one for 75 cents at a sidewalk sale and turn around and sell it on eBay for $25,000. While you might not unearth a super-rare Velvet Underground record like that one, plenty of more common vinyl treasures could still net hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Invented in 1858 by John Landis Mason, these handy glass jars with the airtight seals were first used for canning. Nowadays the rarest kinds, like those stamped with an upside-down logo that were used as dispensers, could sell for around $1,000.

Obsolete technology or not, collectors will pay serious cash for rare VHS tapes. As you paw though the piles of them you often see at garage sales, look for Disney "Black Diamond" editions of movies like The Fox and the Hound. It's estimated to be worth nearly $1,500.

If you came of age in the 80s, chances were good you had a Walkman. The beloved audio cassette player was in everyone's hands—or on their hips—back then. Today, nostalgia has bumped the resale value of models like the blue TPS-L2 up to as much as $500.

We've all heard the rumors that millennials' rejection of material goods has erased the value of things like sterling silver flatware. But antique silver can still command thousands of dollars on eBay, so it remains a potentially valuable garage store find.

Whether or not you can play a lick, buying that old axe sitting in the corner of the garage sale can bring big returns. Used guitars from esteemed brands including Martin, Taylor, and Gibson can sell for thousands on sites like Reverb.

There are usually at least a few old tools available at garage sales, and although they probably don't look like treasures they just might be. Antique and rare tools can hold enormous value, like a wrench for the John Deere Dain all-wheel drive, four-cylinder, three-wheel tractor. In 2009, one sold for $15,000.

Germany's Black Forest isn't just known for great cake—cuckoo clocks from the region are prized by collectors. Even new ones in good condition can be resold for hundreds of dollars, while antiques go for even more, like the Johann Baptist Beha clock recently auctioned for $8,000.

They're not only beautiful, but handmade antique Persian rugs can regularly sell for a few hundred dollars on up into the millions. The most expensive ever auctioned was a rug from the 17th century, which went for a cool $33 million in 2013.

The finest china made, bone china can be valued at as much as $100 a piece. To ensure that the place setting you're looking over is bone china, hold it up to the light. If it appears nearly see through, it's bone china. The most valuable comes from England; look for a crown or similar emblem on the back to determine if it's British.