Couple Buy Beanie Baby for $15 and Find Out it’s Worth $93,000… Maybe

beanie baby Princess of Whales

Couple Buy Beanie Baby for $15 and Find Out it’s Worth $93,000… Maybe

CORNWALL, ENGLAND – April 20, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – An English couple bought a Beanie Baby for $15 (£10) at a swap meet – and later realized it could be worth $93,00 (£62,500). Leah Rogers and Ryan Flanaghan were selling a range of toys at the sale in Cornwall, when they spotted the purple teddy at another seller’s stall.

As a former collector, Mr Flanaghan, 22, recognised the bear as a limited edition Princess Diana Di Beanie Baby – one of the most sought after in the collection which can be worth thousands of pounds.

The bear turned out to be one of just 100 made around the world, made in December 1997 for the Princess of Wales Memorial Trust. They are now selling it on eBay, with a starting bid of $29,000 (£20,000).

The pair are now hoping to sell the bear on the auction site and put the money towards a deposit for a house.

But now a leading collector group is dismissing the possibility, and has in fact issued a fraud alert. Listing price and value are hardly connected, especially on auction sites such as eBay. While they have the limited edition bear, Tycollector.com has issued a fraud alert warning consumers that their Diana bear isn’t worth much at all, regardless of production run.

The range was created in December 1997 – the year the princess died – to raise money for the Princess of Wales Memorial Trust. It includes a poem on the tag which refers to Diana as an ‘angel’.  A ‘first edition’ bear is incredibly rare, while a second edition sells for just $29 (£20).

They later discovered the bear was handmade in Indonesia in December 2007 with special PE pellets and wording on the tag, which refers to the Princess Of Wales Memorial Fund – all of which make it a first edition bear.

There is also a poem which reads: ‘Like an angel she came from heaven above; she shared her compassion, her pain, her love; she only stayed with us long enough to teach the world to share, to give, to reach.’

Another first edition Diana bear, the same as the one belonging to Rogers and Flanaghan, is currently being listed on eBay for $93,000.

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