7 common household items owned in the ’70s that are now worth a small fortune

Whether you opted for snowflakes or daisies, Pyrex dishes were a staple of the ’70s and ’80s. If you’ve got any of this iconic cookware hiding in your cupboard or stored away with the festive mugs, we recommend a bit of Spring cleaning. 

You’re not guaranteed a goldmine, with some dishes on eBay starting from around £10, but there’s a chance you may get lucky: Some vintage CorningWare sets are currently up for sale in the hundreds. And, it doesn’t stop there! A 2-piece CorningWare set is currently up for over £7,300. 

When convenience starts removing the more whimsical side of life, like the melodic clunk of a typewriter, we all seem to long for something less streamlined and more mechanical. 

A hand-typed letter certainly has something more special to it than a text and the vintage technology is readily available. Prices start at about £30 on eBay but special edition machines can head upwards of £700.

If you remember the day you stopped running from the bus to your TV set at home, there’s a chance you’ve encountered a VCR. Long before streaming services, when the thought of Netflix or Amazon Prime would be tantamount to a hoverboard, a video recorder made you the coolest kid on the block. 

Watching films or recording the latest episode of your favourite show might not sound revolutionary now, but we’re clearly feeling nostalgic for early tech inventions. You could make a good profit with one VCR recorder listed for over £250 and others circling £100. 

In a galaxy far, far away, ’70s kids sat in the cinema not knowing they were watching history unfold on the big screen. Childhood toys naturally hold a special place in our hearts, even when Luke’s telekinetic powers failed to materialise in our own lives. 

If your birthday list included a figurine or two, now would be the time to dig them out. Unboxed figurines start at about £30 on eBay – dependent on rarity and of course, condition. Sotheby’s 2015 auction is sure to excite you. Just over 10 years ago, a boxed figurine sold for almost £20,000. 

Train connoisseurs take their model railways seriously and if you were lucky enough to discover your passion early on, it might be time to pick up that whistle once more. Hornby is an iconic brand and sets of these beloved toys go for around £100 on eBay, with some active listings reaching over £2000. That’s a first class ticket to a healthier bank balance (and a tidier downstairs cupboard).

Vintage furniture has a reputation for quality, from raw material to long-lasting construction. While IKEA might bring to mind horror stories of flatpack arguments, even the Swedish furniture company has a more, if you’ll pardon the pun, solid reputation in its past production lines. 

Their 1970s Cavelli armchair could potentially go for over £10,000, and even older models can fetch more. In other words, it might be worth looking for gold in the sofa itself, rather than just its cushions.

The first Sony ‘Walkman’ snuck in just before the decade’s end, arriving in stores in 1979. Private listening wasn’t just confined to a slammed bedroom door, now you could moodily walk through the local park with headphones blaring AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. 

If you’re happy parting with your ‘Walkman’ in favour of a Bluetooth headset, it could be worth a rummage in your cupboards. Complete kits are listed for as much as £1,500 on eBay. Perfect pocket money for a new set of vinyl records – wait, vinyl’s back too?