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In one of my financial articles here on Helium.com I talked about how doing some simple "completed item" research on Ebay may provide knowledge that could bring you in some extra bucks. Sometimes, though, even during such a search, a unique item won't show up no matter how much research you do.

If you have some unique items on hand, you can do a completed item search on eBay or other venues and no information will be available. It might be a good idea then, depending on the size and weight of your unique item, to try listing it for sale to determine its true market value to try to gain some fast and easy money in return. You might be pleasantly surprised (or you might not, but as long as it's not a big investment to list, it never hurts to try).

For instance, at a local auction I bid and won a box of dog chew toys that were mixed in with a couple of old ratty looking rag dolls. I paid $2 for the whole box, mainly because, with pet toys costing so much in stores these days, I went for the rubber squeakers for the pup (always a good idea to thoroughly clean and sterilize such items first before giving to your dog). I almost threw the five old rag dolls away, they were in beat up condition.

First, though, I decided to do a completed item search for rag dolls, but none of my rag dolls were listed. Still, I had only paid $2 for the whole box, including these dolls. And they were lightweight, so would be easy to pack and ship.

I washed the dolls, they still didn't look that great, but since my initial investment for these items was so small I took a chance and put each rag doll on eBay, starting around $3.99 each. To my surprise, three sold for $3.99 each and one that was made by Hasbro turned out to be a collectible rag doll. It was in rough condition but I was explicit about the used condition in the listing and it still went for around $45.

Look around your house for unique items, but consider your costs first before deciding to list. Is the object in question smaller, so can be easily shipped, or is it very large, which will entail freight costs (although the buyer usually pays shipping, you still have to find freight services, cost, whether they will pack or you will pack, etc., so don't forget such considerations when deciding whether or not to list your unique item for sale).

Of course you can always have a buyer pick up a larger piece, but, unless you are willing to load a heavy item and meet an unknown buyer in a safe public place, giving out your home address

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