November Recap

My fourth month, and my best one yet!

I sold 35 items.

I spent $335.67 on those items.
I sold those items for $1,314.39
I paid $161.26 in fees to eBay.

I made a profit of $817.46

This was not only my best month to date - I have improved each month so far! - and not only was it my most profitable, and the month with the most items sold, but I also doubled my income of last month! Most shocking of all was that five of these items sold on the last day of the month accounting for $150 of the total profit! I wonder if it had to do with the last day of November being Cyber Monday. Either way, a great way to end the month, and here is hoping that December is even better!

Transformers Backpack

Bought: $5.00 Sold: $40.10 Fees: $4.49 Profit: $30.61

I was in Brockville with Robin and I wanted to visit the Goodwill there, and she went to meet a friend for lunch, so I had some free time. This was the first time I had ever been in this GW, and I was eager. Sadly, I didn't find much. All I found was this backpack hidden in a back corner. It had a tag for 2008, so not vintage, but still very cool looking and in good shape. The cashier looked at it and asked me if it was vintage, I think she was concerned it was priced too low. I checked on eBay and Google, but I couldn't find a listing for this bag anywhere. Not that this is a surprise as an eBay search for Transformers backpack brings up 100s of results. I had Chris over last week and he was helping me sort stuff and take photographs and he loved this bag, and said I had to list it for $40. I wasn't sure, and was going to be conservative and list for $20, but I took his advice and allowed for offers. I got an offer of $30 and took it. That was $10 more than I expected to make, and was very happy with the ROI on this item. I guess I should keep Chris around - not only does he help with sorting and listing, but he also often makes great finds for me at VV. 

Vintage Hot Wheels Play Set

Bought: $1.51 Sold: $20.56 Fees: $2.78 Profit: $16.27

I was at Goodwill and I found three Hot Wheel playsets from different ages (2013, 2008 and 1993). They were each between $1 and $2. I quickly bought all three, figuring a sale of one was going to make up for the purchase. This one was the oldest from 1993, and was complete. It is unlike most Hot Wheels sets in that the cars don't race around a track, but rather it is a car wash and/or garage. What is interesting about it is that the parts come off and the base folds up into a carrying case that stores the pieces. This was a series called "STO and GO." This was a quick sale and had a number of watchers, not surprising for a complete set this old. 

I really don't understand why people collect Hot Wheels, nor do I understand why some sets are more valuable than others (aside from the obvious age of some), but it is usually easy to find out which set you have and look up. Or, alternatively, if you get it cheap enough it is probably a safe bet. This one I didn't look up in the store and it actually took me a few minutes of Googling to figure out it's name, but for this price it was an easy gamble. 

Another Avalon Hill Sports Game - This time Football!

Bought: $14.68 Sold: $79.98 Fees: $8.00 Profit: $57.30

Yet another Avalon Hill game. This one is based around College Football. This game is really interesting in that the game contains real stats for all College football teams in the year of release. Each year they released new info sheets. This is one of the more collectible (read expensive) Avalon Hill games. Mine was one of only 3 for sale on eBay, and the other two were over $100 (which I have not seen an AH game go for and I think is too high). I received 4 or 5 offers of $20 on this game, all of which I refused and then tonight someone bought it at full price! It is off to LA. Always keep an eye out for Avalon Hill games - but beware, some are worthless. Make sure to check them and don't just buy on name alone. 

TMNT Tower of Doom

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $33.40 Fees: $3.96 Profit: $24.94

This is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game from the 1980s. Anything vintage TMNT is pretty collectible. I'm pretty sure I had this game as a kid. It wasn't entirely complete, but pretty close to it. It seems that my best selling area is vintage board games. It is nice that VV and GW never really charge a whole lot for board games, and most people seem to skip them. I really hope they don't catch on and start charging more. 

People love Disney stuff!

Bought: $6.00 Sold: $40.08 Fees: $4.52 Profit: $29.56

I saw this metal tin of a Disney collection and figured it had to be worth something. I quickly looked it up, and saw that it is out of print, and had a limited print run. It is a collection of films made by Disney during the War when the Government took control of Disney to make propaganda movies. It is rather interesting. If this was new, it would go closer to $100, but seeing as it was used (though was in amazing shape) it seems to go for about half that. This was a quick sale. I didn't realize at the time, but I got this at Goodwill which chrages $3 a DVD, and in multi-DVD cases like this one they charge that per DVD, so Goodwill is often not going to be worth it as a place to buy DVDs. Thankfully this one had a large ROI. 

Meccano manuals

Bought: $45.00 Sold: $33.13 Fees: $4.90 Profit: -$16.77*

I bought a big box of vintage Meccano for $45,00 and have slowly been listing parts of it. This is my second auction, with a number more to go. The bought/sold/fees/profits above is for the entire lot, which I will update as I sell more of it. After two sales I haven't broken even, but when all is said and done I expect to make a very good ROI. These three manuals sold for $19.93. 

Vintage talking electronic board game

Bought: $3.94 Sold: $26.59 Fees: $3.53 Profit: $19.12

This is a vintage game that I had never heard of, but when I saw that it came with an electronic component that was included, I knew it was worth picking up. This is the Canadian version of the game, which included a copy of every card in both English and French, and I think this helped with this fast sale as it is being shipped to Montreal. It looks like a fun vintage game. I continue to have success with vintage board games. This one had a very nice ROI. This is the first sale of the weekend, and I am hoping they keep up. 

Child-friendly camera

Bought: $9.03 Sold: $19.93 Fees: $1.79 Profit: $9.11

This is a VTech child-friendly camera. It is sturdy, can be dropped, has big buttons, has a big screen, has a built-in photo-editor and even has 2 games. When I saw this I was sure it would sell. I looked it up on eBay and it seemed to go for about $20, and doubling my investment seemed like a good deal. What I failed to consider at the time was that this is not the only child-friendly camera on the market. Not by a long shot. This was one of the first things I bought, and I was really starting to think it was never going to sell. Not that VTech is not a good company or that the camera isn't good (though it is only 0.3 Megapixels), but the market for this is just overloaded. The only way I was going to sell this if someone was looking for a specific brand or model. I was rather surprised when it sold, but glad it's off to a good home, and off my shelf. 

Anyone remember Harry and the Hendersons?

Bought: $2.00 Sold: $33.34 Fees: $3.84 Profit: $27.50

I was at a Church rummage sale, which are always good places to scavenge, and the only thing that caught my eye was this figure. I recognized it, but had no idea where from. I grabbed it for $2. Once home, I managed to figure out that it was a figure released from the movie "Harry and the Hendersons" from 1987. I have never seen this movie, so not sure why I recognized this figure. Anyway, glad I did. They released four figures from the movie, this being one of them, and it seems that there are people who collect them - why I have no idea. It sat for a while, which is no surprise considering how small the collector market is for this, but I finally sold it for $25 USD, which is a very good ROI. 

An old power cord

Bought: $12.11* Sold: $26.66 Fees: $2.43 Profit: $12.12

Chris had an old Mac Mini from undergrad that he used sparingly and it died recently. He trashed the computer but asked me to sell the power cord for it and we would split the profit. So, I got the item for free, it sold for $20 USD, and we split the profit (the bought amount is Chris' portion of the sale). Mac items always sell well, as they are expensive to buy and people would prefer to buy used working items as opposed to cheap Chinese knock-offs. A quick easy way to make some money on an otherwise useless object. Always nice when I don't have to pay for an item either.  

Yet another Nightmare!

Bought: $0.50 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $19.50

I picked this up mid-October from a garage sale, and sold it on Kijij for $20 (it was missing the coin, so took $10 off my normal $30). I was surprised that this game still sold outside of October, but always nice to make a sale. 

Remote control car charger with extra battery

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $33.31 Fees: $3.87 Profit: $24.95

I found this at VV and thought it would be a great buy. It is a battery pack for a remote control car and the wall charger. If someone lost either of these, their car wouldn't work, so it makes sense that people would be looking for this. I wasn't able to test it, except that the charger's light came on when I plugged it in. So hopefully it works and doesn't get returned. I made a good profit on this. I am going to keep an eye out for these in the future.

Dungeon & Dragons Books

Bought: $18.89 Sold: $6.65 Fees: $1.44 Profit: -$13.68

I picked up nine Dungeons and Dragons books from VV for a total of almost $19. It is just easier for me to keep track of them as one post, so I will update this post as they sell. I won't see a profit until a few have sold, but that too will update with time.

All the books were from "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition" which is an older version of the game from the early 90s. They are currently on the 5th edition, so the books have some value but most people playing D&D today aren't that interested. This combined with the fact that a lot of the books are online as PDFs, means that these may sit for a while. 

Nov 22 - 1st sale of The Complete Wizard's Handbook for $6.65.

Some nostalgia from the 80s - ALF!

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $13.34 Fees: $2.08 Profit: $7.88

This was an ALF flat sheet, and was one of the earlier items I picked up. Robin immediately said it would never sell and has held firm to that belief since day one. They sat unsold for a while, and then two days ago I got an offer for $5 which I counter-offered but they did not accept, and then today someone bought it at the full price of $10! I am still confident this was a good purchase. It is vintage, and hard to come by, and there has to be people out there who love ALF, it just may be a small number. I am going to limit my bedding purchases in the future to vintage things, but if I see ALF again, I think I may have to pick it up.

Counter for things Robin said that will never sell that in fact did sell: 3

Third sale today!

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $53.31 Fees: $5.70 Profit: $43.11

I found this in a bag at VV and looked it up on eBay and Google and didn't find much. There was none on sale on eBay, and all the Google hits took me to french sites. It was cheap enough and a popular brand of children's toys, VTECH, so I got it. It turns out that it is a children's tablet that has games and lessons in French to help kids learn French. As far as I can tell it was only sold in France, but I'm guessing maybe also Quebec which is why it ended up in an Ottawa VV? Anyways, I found the instructions online, printed them out and included them. I listed it for $40USD, because it was the only one on eBay and if someone was interested they could make me an offer. This was one of the first things I picked up, and I was wondering if it would ever sell. It did sell, for full price, to someone in Ohio. I looked up her recent purchases and she bought another French training computer, so maybe she has a child she wants to learn French? Anyways, this was a nice flip, with good profit. It just goes to show being the only one of something, and willing to sit, could turn into profit.

Also, I was talking to Chris the other day and asked him if he wanted to gamble on what the next item to sell would be. He laughed and said it was impossible, but that he would bet what wouldn't sell. I warned him that was a dangerous game to play as Robin as already learned, but he was confident, and said there is no way that French kid's toy will ever sell. Well, Chris, I guess you've earned your spot on this post...

Counter for things Chris said that will never sell that in fact did sell: 1

Building a puzzle in a sphere?

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $17.32 Fees: $2.68 Profit: $11.26

I found this puzzle at VV a few months ago.I grabbed it immediately because it was still factory sealed, and it was a Marvel product which is always collectible. This is actually a really interesting puzzle - it is a plastic spherical puzzle. I was tempted to open it and try it myself, but the profit was more enjoyable. Considering how long it sat before being purchased it doesn't appear to be that desirable, but not a bad profit for a small flip. 

Old plastic goop! What fun!

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $2.69 Profit: $12.80

This is three bottles of never-opened Plasti-Goop for use in a Creepy Crawler maker. You would get molds of bugs, and you would pour in this liquid goop and then heat it up in this machine and it would turn from goop into plastic. It was pretty cool, I remember having one as a kid. Finding this was a very nostalgic moment. I couldn't believe the package wasn't open - it is from 1993! The plastic had serious signs of age, but I managed to clean it all off with no problem. I meant to list this for $19.99 USD but eBay acted up and it listed in Canadian, so I lost the different in the exchange rate which I enjoy on most items. Still an easy flip with a small profit.

DuckTales!

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $33.33 Fees: $4.68 Profit: $24.15

I walked into VV a few weeks ago and saw someone at the cash with this amazing DuckTales comforter in their cart. I was so sad, and was kicking myself for not getting there 5 minutes earlier. I did my round of the store and when I got to the bedding section, it was hanging up! I don't know if there was two, or she decided at the last minute not to buy it or what, but I quickly grabbed it up. Even more shocking was the price - only $4! I excitedly showed it to Robin who had no idea what DuckTales was, which broke my heart a little bit. I guess it's a bit before her time, but I grew up watching this show. 

I had a lot of interest in this, with a lot of offers, but the big issue was shipping. Let me tell you, shipping a comforter is not easy. It is just so big! I even bought a vacuum sealing bag for linen from the dollar store, but even with all the air out of it it was still really big. It fit into a wine box, so it was large and heavy. Shipping to the states was $30. A lot of Americans were asking me to take less on shipping, which I would if that wasn't the actual cost. I send all my items by actual cost - I input the weight and size (which I can do because I box everything when I post it) and eBay charges the buyer the actual price based on their location - but I can see how Americans who have significantly cheaper postage might think I was trying to make some money on shipping. Thankfully it sold for the full asking price, and to Manitoba where shipping was only $15.

The buyer was a brand new user, account created today, which always raises some red flags, but I have faith that I won't get scammed. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I like to think of it as my store having such cool and unique items that it was what made this person decide they finally needed an eBay account because they just needed this item that badly. We will see if I'm wrong, but I've had a number of new buyers buy items and so far had no problems. 

An Archie Pencil Case

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $18.58 Fees: $2.062 Profit: $11.46

I found this Archie pencil case at VV for $4, and I just had to buy it. I couldn't find any on eBay, but it was still a no-brainer. I knew what it was (which makes my life a lot easier), there was no competition on eBay, Archie is collectible, and it had the year on it (1990). So, I had a collectible vintage item, although to be fair its still only a pencil case. I listed it for $20, but took an offer of 14 (because shipping to the states was $6, so he paid an even $20 all in). Overall, it was an easy buy, easy to list, and sold quickly. Robin was rather disappointed, she was hoping it wouldn't sell and that she'd be able to keep it. Maybe the next one I find will be hers. 

More fake food - this time with velcro!

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $13.31 Fees: $2.05 Profit: $7.88

I do not understand why people pay so much for play food, especially when it isn't even complete. These ones are stuck together with velcro allowing you to "cut" them them or peel them. It seems if you can get play food in good condition for cheap, it will sell. 

Who you gonna call? BATMAN!

Bought: $11.30 Sold: $40.09 Fees: $5.09 Profit: $23.70

This was a new in box (NIB) Batman phone. The box was badly beat up, but phone was in good shape. I had one person email me a few weeks ago asking me if it was a real phone or a toy phone, and he didn't buy it. I guess he was hoping it was a toy phone? This is off to Calgary. That is my second sale in the last 24 hours going to Alberta. Not much to say here, except it is always nice to find NIB items, especially when they have a large collectible value to them. It is pretty rare to find a phone that someone wants to pay $40 for in today's world - who even has a land line any more? 

More Better Call Saul

Bought: $48.58 Sold: $80.20 Fees: $21.94* Profit: $9.68

Sold this copy on eBay, but I had it listed with free shipping, and after shipping and fees, I'm not making much profit, and despite being limited to Canada, there doesn't appear to be much demand for these. Don't think I'll be picking up anymore. I was hoping that yesterday's announcement of season 2 come back in February would trigger sales, I'm still sitting on two of them which I plan on returning. 

Bakugan Battler Brawlers... whatever that is.

Bought: $7.90 Sold: $26.66 Fees: $4.35 Profit: $14.41

This is a Bakugan battle mat, trays, and Bakugan playing cards and balls. I had no idea what this was, except I knew generally it was a recent children's fad similar to Pokemon. There was a TV show, and there was this game that was connected to it. I've seen a fair amount of Bakugan items at VV recently, and found it hard to research eBay for sold items because I had no idea what any of it was called. Chris found this at VV, and decided to buy it for me. Since I had it and had paid him for it, I had to figure out what it was. After a fair amount of research, I figured it out and sold it as a lot. I made sure to include a lot of pictures and as much detail as I could. It is off to Edmonton - hopefully this will bring some child hours of enjoyment in an otherwise frozen landscape.

Yet another Avalon Hill game

Bought: $15.00 Sold: $30.65 Fees: $4.00 Profit: $11.65

This was the fourth Avalon Hill game that I bought off one person on Kijiji. This was actually the game that brought my attention to the ad in the first place. I had picked up another copy of King Maker at VV, and had researched it, which is why I knew this was one was worth it. The other copy I have is the 2nd edition which, it turns out, is more collectible, or more valuable. When that other copy sells I will make a better profit, but I have finally sold all four games I bought off that guy, and made money on each one. 

Out of Print Star Wars Trades

Bought: $11.84* Sold: $19.99 Fees: $1.80 Profit: $9.95

So, one of the first things I check at VV is the book section for trade paperbacks. Usually to add to my collection, but also more recently to sell. They are usually on sale for $5, and many trades go for more than than. I was there recently and found a whole stack of trades, and quick grabbed them all, and with a 30% off card I managed to get them for about $4 each. Of those trades, four were Star Wars ones - so the bought total here is for four trades, and I made my money back and a profit after just selling one. When the others sell it will just be gravy! 

So, some nerdy-ness. 

What is a trade paperback? It is what most people would call a graphic novel, though they would be wrong. A trade paperback is a bound (soft or hardcover) collection of comics that were originally published as single issues (floppies) that usually covers a story arc. A graphic novel, on the other hand, is a bound comic collection that was never originally published as a comic, but rather was published only as a bound edition. It is a minor difference, but one worth noting. Prices vary between the two for various reasons. 

What makes a trade paperback valuable? The price of trades vary, with the low end being $10 or $12 and the high end being upwards of $50. So, almost any trade is worth getting for under $5. Or at least as a collector that is true. As a reseller, you'd probably want to do some research. For example, it would be difficult to sell really popular ones like Watchmen just because of how popular it is.

What does OOP mean? OOP - out of print - means that the trade had a print run, and it has sold out at the distributor level and has no plans for being reprinted. Almost all trades go OOP at some point. The major two comic comics - DC and Marvel - are notorious for not reprinting trades when they sell out. Unlike most other books, if a print run sells out they just print another one. That is not always the case with trades. That means that a trade is often more valuable if it is OOP, since a person cannot walk into any store and buy it. It becomes even more valuable if the comics that it collects are desirable and expensive, since the trade is the cheaper of the two options if someone wants to read it. As a collector an OOP book is really annoying as it costs more and is harder to find, as a reseller an OOP book just adds value.

Star Wars Trades - worth it? Star Wars comics have had an interesting past, but the short of it is that for a long time Star Wars comics were being published by Dark Horse, and sold relatively well. Then when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise, they acquired the license, and since Disney had previously bought Marvel, they brought Star Wars into the Marvel franchise. So, Dark Horse no longer publishes Star Wars comics and their trades won't be printed again, meaning they will all go OOP eventually. While this sounds like it means there will be money in the Dark Horse trades, this is not always the case. Disney announced that the Marvel Star Wars comics are cannon, while the Dark Horse ones are not. Cannon means that what happens in the comic is considered part of the official story, so some fans are no longer interested in Dark Horse comics since it isn't official canon. 

It Sucks to Be You!

Bought: $1.10 Sold: $19.95 Fees: $2.74 Profit: $16.11

This is a VHS of Prozzäk's music videos to their album Hot Show. The VHS market is not overly strong or thriving, but when I found this, I figured what could it hurt? There were none on eBay, so I listed it at a ridiculously high price of $25 and turned on OBO. Chris and Robin both told me it would never sell, and laughed at the price. Early this morning - 4 am actually - someone made an offer of $15. For a VHS of music videos from the 90's that can be found on YouTube. I quickly accepted, and made a nice profit. 

People love their Avalon Hill - this time Trains!

Bought: $2.52 Sold: $66.42 Fees: $6.86 Profit: $57.04

This is another Avalon Hill game, this one about railroads. I found this one at my first time going to the Goodwill. I have never really tried the Goodwill before, typically sticking to VV, but I figured I should try it, and I am glad I did. My first time there I grabbed three things - this one of them - that I expect to make some serious ROI on. I was shocked this was being sold for so cheap, and it was complete! I have added Goodwill to my regular spots to check now. Since that first time it has been more lackluster, but I keep hoping I'll find more gems.

A fitted sheet

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $13.25 Fees: $2.06 Profit: $8.94

When I first saw this I grabbed it quickly without thinking. My first thought was that this was the Transformers from the cartoon in the 80/90's and was vintage. I was wrong... This was sheets released for the THIRD Michael Bay film. Who would possibly want this? It sat for over two months, and Robin said numerous times this would never sell. But it did! And I made a not terrible profit - for one fitted sheet. It doesn't even come with the straight sheet. 

Counter for things Robin said that will never sell that in fact did sell: 2

Release day Limited Edition Steelbooks

Bought: $48.58 Sold: $72.80 Fees: $14.77* Profit: $9.45

Steelbooks are the new collectible thing in Blu-Rays today. They are limited edition releases of movies and tv shows, that come in metal boxes with unique collectible designs. They are often limited to a store or country, and some collectors want these above other forms of packaging. This was a Canadian Best Buy limited edition of the first season of Better Call Saul Blu-Ray. I'm not sure how "limited" it is seeing as Amazon.co.uk (the British Amazon) had the same limited Steelbook. Meaning that anyone in Canada or Europe can get this easily. It just leaves our friends to the south unable to buy this easily. It was released yesterday, and I picked up four copies. The nice thing is that I can always return them if they don't sell, so pretty low margin of risk. I listed two on eBay, though haven't sold any there yet. I managed to sell this one on Reddit to someone looking to buy it for his wife's birthday. I charged him $55 USD including shipping, so the "fees" above are not actually fees but the shipping cost. I didn't make a huge profit on this, but $10 for 5 minutes of work isn't bad and it made someone happy. If the others sell on eBay, I stand to make a large ROI. Fingers crossed other collectors are waiting on this. 

ViewMaster Lot

Bought: $5.64 Sold: $66.53 Fees: $7.47 Profit: $53.42

I found this View Master Collector's Case at VV, and I was excited to find that for $5, but even more excited to see that it included two players and reels. I had this listed for $75, but accepted an offer of $50. I probably could have received more had I waited long enough, but this was still a large profit. I will continue to look for View Master things. These players are not vintage and not valuable, but the case and the reels are what made this valuable. 

More McDonald's Fake Food

Bought: $6.78 Sold: $19.94 Fees: $2.98 Profit: $10.18

I purchased this McDonald's play food set when I picked up the Subway one, shortly after I sold my first McDonald's play food set. These sell for some reason, and I have no idea why. They don't sell for a ton, but $20 for plastic food seems like a lot to me for what it is. If I see these at VV, there is a enough of a ROI to make it worthwhile, but I'd much prefer to find these at a garage sale for a dollar or two. So far all the ones I've picked up came in the plastic carrying case, but I have a feeling that these would sell even without that. Anyways, another sale, another dollar. 

More killer bunnies!

Bought: $45.00 Sold: $144.76 Fees: $15.47 Profit: $84.29

My brother was at a geek market the week after I sold my last copy of Killer Bunnies red booster, and said that this person was selling not only the red booster, but also the violet booster which is also out of print, along with the base game and yellow booster. All for $45. I told him to grab it, and it finally sold. This copy was open, so people want to pay less, but helped that I had two out of print versions. Not a bad flip at all. I will continue to be looking out for these expansions. So much profit in these small boosters. 

Who wants to go sailing?

Bought: $11.29 Sold: $32.65 Fees: $3.95 Profit: $17.41

Models seem to be things that can sell, but also can sit forever. I wasn't sure about a sail boat model kit - I had two listed for a few months - and this one had a number of watchers. There was a number for sale on eBay, but I was the lowest by a few dollars. I had a few offers, but nothing reasonable until today when I got an offer of $20, with an asking of $25. There is clearly demand for this model, but not one that has people running out to buy it at the current market price. Oh, well, glad to make another sale, and a decent profit. 

How do you tell time in the dark?

Bought: $11.30 Sold: $52.32 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $41.02

This was an odd find at VV. I had checked the electronics section and found nothing in it, so kept going. I always double back just to make sure I hadn't missing anything, and upon doubling back I saw this at the power table (where you can check to see if electronics work). It was plugged in, and it was working. So clearly someone had found it - not sure where - and had brought it to test, and then left it. To be fair, it did have a bit of a steep price tag, but I grabbed it, and a quick eBay search showed me I was smart to do so. I got home and checked it, and it worked perfectly. This is a darkroom glow-in-the-dark timer. It allows you to be able to time how long photos have been in the various solutions without using a light to display the time, which would alter the photos. A pretty clever and simple design. It is vintage, but works great. It is heavy, and fragile to a degree. I hope that it survives both CanadaPost and the USPS, fingers crossed. Thankfully this was one of the five items I listed under eBay's 5-items-for-free deal, and so had no fees, which made it an even nicer profit. 

First sale of the month - another Avalon Hill game

Bought: $14.68 Sold: $85.05 Fees: $9.67 Profit: $60.70

Having sold this game before, when I saw it sitting in VV I knew I had to grab it. I bought it along with a number of other Avalon Hill games that day, all of them about $15. They were a good grab, and while this was the first of the lot to sell, considering how well I've managed to sell Avalon Hill games in the past I am not worried. Always a good flip and a great way to start off the month!

October Recap

Third month has come and gone, and the first month of Q4 (supposedly the most profitable due to sales for Christmas)

I sold 22 items.

I spent $108.09 on those items.
I sold those items for $601.05
I paid $69.92 in fees to eBay.

I made a profit of $423.34

While I didn't quite break my goal of $500 in October, it was still my most profitable month to date, and the month I sold the most things. I'm almost at one item a day!

Last sale of the Month

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $15.50

I was at VV with Chris who found this bag of beads, all in plastic boxes, for four dollars. He said I would be able to sell them for sure, no problem. Well, once I got home I realized that they would be impossible to sell on eBay. There are 1,000s of listings for beads. No one would ever find mine. So I put them on Kijiji and forgot about them. Every couple weeks I'd get someone interested, but they never worked out until this week. After about 5 weeks of sitting on these, they finally sold. I would NEVER buy this type of thing again. Anything that is generic, with no brand name, even if a lot of it and at a good price, is very hard to sell. If someone can't find it easily, you will not sell it. 

Who is online buying kids toys at 11:30 pm on Halloween?!?!

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $32.70 Fees: $4.41 Profit: $23.79

I picked this up at VV, and was hoping to sell it locally on Kijiji since it was so big. Thankfully the play set was complete in box, but despite this I had no interest on Kijiji. Finally listed it on eBay, and it instantly got a number of views and followers. It sold, and the person paid $25 USD for the item, and $21 USD to ship it. Shipping big or heavy items to the states by CanadaPost is brutal. I'm quite jealous of the American postal rates, and it does make it a lot harder to flip from Canada. I have to lower my prices to compete with their significantly discounted shipping. That being said, I still made a profit, and this large box is gone from my basement.