Editor’s note: This article was first published in October 2022. The news concerns the toys from McDonald’s Cactus Plant Flea Market adult box, and the eBay asking prices ($300,000 and $25,000) and sales figures are from that week. Asking prices are not sale prices, and there is no follow-up on whether the $300,000 set sold.
McDonald’s recently launched a Happy Meal toy campaign for its adult customers, aiming to stir up feelings of nostalgia among its older clientele. What McDonald’s didn’t count on was the bidding war that broke out because the toys are a limited edition.
As reported by CNBC, the Cactus Plant box has already sold out at most restaurants across the United States, so collectors who want to get hold of one of these limited-edition toys can only do so on the secondary market.
Plenty of people have seized on this business opportunity as a way to make quick money, since reselling toys (especially old ones) has always been a very profitable niche that most people know nothing about.
The McDonald’s toys are turning up on every resale site, especially eBay, where they are being valued at thousands of dollars.
One eBay seller has listed the quartet of McDonald’s toys (Grimace, Hamburglar, Birdie and the Cactus Buddy) for a whopping $300,000. The seller told CNBC that they will sell quickly, because offers are starting to come in.
Another seller is asking $25,000 for one of the Happy Meal toys, unopened, and on top of that wants the winning bidder to cover the $6.10 shipping as well.
And smaller sales have indeed been quick to happen. One of the first eBay listings to sell included 150 toys that went for $2,400 on 6 October, and more than a dozen lots of 150 units then sold for close to $2,000, according to eBay’s sales history.
As the batches of toys run out, prices will climb because of scarcity, so the last toys available may well fetch astronomical sums.
As we can see, when it comes to speculating, any product will do.
See also: 36 ways to earn extra money
Featured image: Judgefloro, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
