A few years ago, a friend handed over a box of her childhood Barbie dolls and accessories for me to sell for her. I had a ball going through it all, researching and selling it on eBay. After all was said and done, the stuff brought in well over $1000 and I was very happy with my 30% commission! And in the process I learned a LOT about vintage Barbie dolls and accessories!
One of the most valuable and elusive vintage Barbie items is a genuine mink stole that was a Sears exclusive in 1964-65. The mink retailed for $9.95, which was quite a lot of money for a Barbie coat in the 60s! If you’re lucky enough to have one that is still in the original packaging, you have a small fortune on your hands - $4,000 or more on a good day. One that no longer has the packaging but is still in great shape usually bring $1,000-$2,000 on eBay. I made it my quest to find one of these minks for a low price and flip it for a profit.
I came across one for sale on rubylane.com, which was a low traffic website at the time (lucky me!). The seller was asking $1,200, but I eventually negotiated the purchase price down to $950. The day it arrived in the post, I stood in the living room and tore open the package. The second I remove the mink from the envelope, my cat Lola jumped up in the air and snatched it from my hands! “OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!,” was all I could say as I chased her down! The minute I snatched it back, I threw it in a dresser drawer and started formulating a plan to get rid of it as quickly as possible. It made my stomach churn to have spent that much money on a piece of vintage Barbie clothing, let alone a cat toy!
The next disaster occurred when I was putting the mink on a doll in order to take photos of it for eBay. “How does her arm go through the armhole?” I grumbled to myself as I heard a rip. “OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!” I had just ripped a seam on the mink! It was then that I realized that the mink wasn’t a coat, it was a stole and therefore did not have armholes! ARGGGHHHHHHH!
At this point I just wanted to get rid of the thing before I completely destroyed it! I listed it on eBay, and it sold for $1,600 within two weeks. I shipped it to the new owner, and held my breath for days waiting to hear that the buyer was happy with his purchase (yes, it was a HE who purchased it). He was, and I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief!
So, if you’re ever digging through vintage doll clothing and see something that looks like a furry cat toy, you may have just hit the jackpot!
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| I'm sure you can see why my cat thought it was something to play with! |
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| Note the original Barbie label inside the stole - this is what makes it so valuable! |
