How to Find Rare Beanie Babies

Ask other collectors. This seems obvious, but is often overlooked because you might think other collectors also just want to gather the rare ones. Not always the case. Many times, a fellow may have duplicates of a rare Beanie Baby and be willing to trade with you.

Research. The importance of this step cannot be overstated. If you don't know which Beanie Babies are rare, you will not recognize them when you see them. You should know if you are looking for any particular animals and in cases where rare models are similar to common versions, you need to know enough to be able to tell them apart.

Look for castoff sales. Tag sales and garage sales are good, because people sell what they don't want. After a fire, divorce, or other disaster is sometimes your best bet, because then the person selling is often not the collector. You don't want to buy individual animals from someone who knows what they're worth. You want to buy a large bag of animals at a low bulk price from someone who thinks stuffed animals are stupid and just wants to get rid of them.

Shop online. While it's much more satisfying to hold them in your hands as you look them over, you may not always be able to find what you want near you. Going onto a site like eBay or a toy exchange will allow you to acquire Beanie Babies from people all over the country, as opposed to just where you can drive to.