Found Comics or Collectables During a Clearance? Don't Skip Them

Here is something most man and van services and house clearance firms will not tell you: a lot of what ends up in the skip during a clearance is actually worth money. Old comics, retro toys, vinyl records, trading cards and collectables can be worth a surprising amount, and once they are gone they are gone.

When we do a part clearance in Middlesbrough, Stockton, Yarm or anywhere across Teesside, we keep an eye out for the kind of things that are worth a second look before they get thrown away.

Why This Happens So Often

It is rarely carelessness. Clearances usually happen at difficult times: a bereavement, a move into care, a house that has to be emptied by a deadline. Nobody in that situation has the appetite to research the value of eleven boxes from a loft, and the default is to treat everything as rubbish because that is the fastest route through a job nobody wanted.

The other reason is that collectable value is genuinely counter intuitive. The things that look valuable, ornaments, china, dark wood furniture, are often worth very little now. The things that look like junk, a bundle of comics in a carrier bag or a box of loose action figures, are where the money usually hides.

Old Comics Can Be Worth Real Money

This is the big one, and it is close to home for us. Boxes of old comics turn up in lofts, garages and spare rooms all the time during clearances, often decades old and long forgotten. Most people assume they are worthless. They are frequently wrong.

Key issues, first appearances and comics from the right era can carry serious value, and Marvel and DC titles from the 1960s, 70s and 80s in particular are worth checking properly. Even relatively recent comics can be worth something if they contain a character's first appearance or a sought after variant cover.

Two things drive the value more than anything else: what the issue is, and what condition it is in. Which leads to the most important practical advice in this article.

How to Handle Comics You Find

If you turn up a box, what you do in the next ten minutes matters more than you would think, because condition is a large part of value.

• Do not clean them. Not with anything. Attempts to improve a comic almost always reduce its value.
• Do not flatten, fold or tape anything. Tape is permanent damage.
• Do not use elastic bands. They mark covers and perish into the paper.
• Get them out of the loft and the garage. Damp and temperature swings are what destroy paper. A spare room is fine.
• Keep them flat and supported. Standing a box on its side bends everything in it.
• Photograph the covers before anything moves. Cover, title and issue number is enough for a first assessment.

We Work With a Local Comic Specialist

This is where we differ from other man and van and clearance services in Teesside. We work alongside Retro Relics Comics, a local comic book specialist who buys and sells across Marvel, DC and independent titles.

If we come across comics during your clearance, or if you have already found a box and do not know what to do with it, Retro Relics can take a look and offer you a fair price for the lot. No obligation, no pressure, just an honest valuation from someone who actually knows what they are worth. It is a far better outcome than watching them go in the skip, and better than selling blind to someone who will undervalue them.

What Else Is Worth Checking Before the Skip

Comics are our speciality through Retro Relics, but they are not the only thing worth a second look during a clearance:

• Retro toys. Star Wars figures, Lego, Transformers, action figures, especially anything still boxed.
• Vinyl records. Original pressings of popular albums can be highly collectable, and the sleeve condition matters as much as the disc.
• Trading cards. Pokemon, football stickers, older card sets.
• Watches and jewellery. Easily overlooked in drawers and boxes.
• Vintage tools and cameras. Old hand tools and film cameras both have active resale markets.
• Old coins and banknotes. Some are worth well above face value.
• Sewing machines, radios and instruments. Frequently written off as junk and frequently not.

Where to Actually Look

If you are doing a pass through a house before a clearance, these are the places things turn up:

• The loft, obviously, but specifically the corners and behind the water tank
• Under beds, in flat boxes and suitcases
• The backs of wardrobes and the tops of them
• Inside furniture: drawers taped shut, false bottoms, envelopes taped under desks
• Inside books, where paperwork and photographs are often kept
• The garage rafters

Do this pass slowly and before the clearance rather than during it. Once a van is loading, the pace changes and things get missed. It is worth giving it a weekend.

How It Works

It is simple. When we do your part clearance, we flag anything that looks like it might be worth something rather than just clearing it away. If you would like, we can put you in touch with Retro Relics Comics for the comics and collectables side, or point you toward the right place for other items.

You are never under any obligation. Plenty of people just want everything gone, and that is completely fine. But if there is a chance something in that loft is worth money, it is worth a quick check before it is lost for good.

Book a Clearance in Teesside

We do part house clearances, single rooms, garages, lofts, flats and downsizing clearances across Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, Darlington, Yarm and all of Teesside. Licensed waste carrier, registration CBDL645754, fair prices, and a genuine eye for the things worth saving.

WhatsApp us on 07424 135460 or use the quote form on our homepage.