Barbies for $5,000, rare New York Rangers collectibles for $30,000 – hard-up Americans are selling their treasure hoards to get by

• Some cash-strapped Americans are selling treasured collectibles including Barbies and sports memorabilia at eye-popping prices, per the WSJ.
• High inflation, rising interest rates, and mounting debt are just some of the challenges US consumers are grappling with today.

Hard-up Americans have turned to selling their treasured hoards of collectibles to get by in an economy that's grappling with elevated living costs and historically high interest rates.

Mitch Beck is selling his cache of New York Rangers memorabilia that took him 23 years to collect for as much as $30,000, while 29-year-old Anurita Loubier has been trading her trove of 300 Barbie dolls to pay off her rent and electricity bills, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"This is literally like selling away my life," 61-year-old Beck told the outlet as he grapples with a six-figure debt pile.

Aggressive interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve haven't made it any easier for those steeped in debt. The central bank has hiked benchmark borrowing costs by a staggering 525 basis points since March 2022, lifting them above 5% from near-zero levels in a bid to cool inflation.

US consumer debt has been surging as Americans exhaust their savings and pandemic-era financial cushions evaporate. In a worrisome sign for consumer health, credit-card debt topped $1 trillion for the first time ever, suggesting people are spending beyond their means after the pandemic.

Luckily for Beck, the sports souvenirs market is a lucrative one – global collectibles sales projected to hit $1 trillion by 2033, per Market Decipher.

Loubier told the Journal she plans to sell her rare collection of Barbies, massed since the late 1990s, for $5,000.

"The movie has helped motivate me to sell more Barbies, as everybody wants to associate with the brand and have a piece of it," she said, referring to the recent, highly successful Barbie movie.

Alongside rising debt, Americans are also getting squeezed from higher fuel, food and mortgage costs – suggesting many US consumers are facing an increasingly challenging environment even as the economy seems to be holding up.