British Couple Pays $15 For Beanie Baby Believing It’s Worth $93,000, Ty Issues Fraud Alert

A British couple purchased a Beanie Baby for $15 from a local flea market, and believe it is worth $93,000. However, Ty, the maker of the bean stuffed animal, has issued a fraud alert, stating that their particular Beanie Baby is not worth what they are suggesting.

Leah Rogers and Ryan Flanagan were selling a selection of toys at the market in Bude, Cornwall when they noticed the rare Princess Diana Di Beanie Baby at a nearby vendor’s stall.

Being a former collector, Flanagan recognized that the purple stuffed animal was a limited edition “Princess” bear that could be worth thousands of dollars. The toy was created in 1997, the year the princess died, to raise money for the Princess of Wales Memorial Trust. The couple bought the toy for £10 ($15), but when they checked around on eBay, they were shocked to find a listing for £62,500 ($93,406) for the rarest edition available.

The Daily Mail reports that the special edition bear is one of only 100 made, and the couple has already listed their’s on eBay with a starting bid of £20,000 ($29,890). They are hoping to sell it and have the money to put a down payment on a house.

“We couldn’t believe it. We picked it up for £10 and it could be worth tens of thousands,” Rogers said. “It’s so hard for young people to get on the property ladder so we think this could really be a blessing.”

Sadly, their dream of buying their dream home with the funds from their Beanie Baby probably won’t happen.

According to Tycollector.com, the couple was misinformed as to the toy’s true value and a fraud alert was issued.

“In an irresponsible and non-professionally researched newspaper article on April 18, 2015, the UK Daily Mail and The Sun (UK) provided misleading information about Princess Beanie Baby values. Once again, tycollector.com was inundated with emails from people in the UK and Ireland hopeful that their Princess Beanie Baby was worth a lot of money and asking for the best way to sell theirs.

“The writer of the original article (as is usual with these types of articles) used “listing” prices on eBay, as opposed to the prices buyers have actually paid for Princess over the past 30 – 60 days, to support the premise that Princess is valuable. One cannot avoid speculation about the credibility of ANY article in the UK Daily Mail or The Sun, when those online magazines/newspapers permit such a misleading article as the one about the Princess Beanie Baby to be published.

“We are truly sad so many peoples’ hopes were mistakenly raised by reading a fraudulent article that suggested they might own a rare and valuable Princess Beanie Baby.”

[Photo via eBay]