Your mother always told you spring cleaning was important. Now we remember why. When an unnamed mother put a classic Nintendo Entertainment System with five original games on eBay recently she added to the product description, “it’s time to get rid of things that are no longer being used.”
One of those games happened to be “Stadium Events.” A rare game that was originally sold for the Family Fun Fitness pad (the precursor to the Nintendo Power Pad), and was only temporarily available in the United States. It also happens to be the Holy Grail of NES collectibles.
The closet cleaning mom who posted it had absolutely no idea. Which is why she was shocked when her NES and the accompanying games sold for $13,000 dollars. Classic tech collectibles, like still in the box Apple II’s, routinely fetch lofty bids on eBay. The previous record for Nintendo gear went to Gary Coleman, who’s Nintendo Gamecube gear sold on eBay for $510.
If you find something fabulous stuck in a dusty corner and want to make your fortune on eBay, just make sure you double check your posting for typos. One unfortunately seller lost $500,000 dollars by leaving a “p” off of his listing for a wildly rare bottle of “Allsopp’s Arctic Ale.” Arctic Ale was brewed in 1852 for an arctic expedition led by Sir Edward Belcher. It was crafted with special qualities necessary for the journey, including a freezing point below 12 degrees Fahrenheit and nutrients to stave off scurvy. Unfortunately, most of the beer collectors who might have shelled out big bucks for this find didn’t even know it was there because they weren’t looking for “Allsop.” The winning bid (only the second placed) was for $304 – that winner then turned the bottle around on eBay, with the correct spelling, and sold it for $503,300.
