LUCKY youngster Lewis Eeles proved the saying one man’s trash is another man’s treasure by selling an 83p toy dustbin for £1,300 on eBay.

The Hunts Post: The Trash Pack toy that sold on Ebay by Lewis Eeles of alconburyThe Trash Pack toy that sold on Ebay by Lewis Eeles of alconbury (Image: Archant)

Lewis, 10, is an avid collector of the latest must-have toy Trash Packs, also known as Trashies.

He bought a pack of 12 of the small rubber characters in Tesco for £10 and discovered that one of the collectibles was “ultra rare” – with a certificate verifying it was one of just 250 in the world.

He discussed his fortunate find with friends at Alconbury C of E Primary School and discovered that one of his classmates had recently sold a Trashie for £180.

Dad Jon, 38, said: “Lewis has about 200 of these toys – they’re taking over the house. When we saw the certificate that said ‘ultra rare’ we thought ‘What does that mean? Is it wow or so what?’

“One of the kids at Lewis’s school had a rare one and sold it for £180 so I said he should think about selling it. He thought about and said OK.”

During the auction, Mr Eeles and Lewis watched the bids slowly creep up and after two days a man in America offered Lewis $500 for the toy.

Mr Eeles said: “I was shocked but I thought ‘I’m just going to let this stew’.”

With minutes left of the auction, the highest bid was £726.

Mr Eeles said: “My son was hopping about the kitchen! In the dying seconds, a bid for £1,296 was placed. We were all like ‘Oh my God!’ We are all a bit flabbergasted.”

Following the sale, to a woman in Australia, the money was paid into Mr Eeles’s Paypal account and, after commission, Lewis has made just over £1,000.

Mr Eeles said: “The money is his. For years, Lewis has wanted to go to WWE wrestling but we always said it was too expensive. He said to us ‘Now I can go to wrestling!’”

Lewis lives with his dad, mum Sarah and seven-year-old brother Max in Maple End.

He said: “I started collecting them because I thought they looked cool. I was really pleased I had an ultra-rare one. All my friends kept talking to me about it. I’ve bought two more 12-packs and I will hopefully go to watch wrestling.”