February Recap

I sold 24 items.

I spent $170.45 on those items.

I sold those items for $745.41

I paid $86.31 in fees to eBay.

I made a profit of $488.65

Starting into the later half of my first year of selling, with month 7, and it was a very slow month. February is, apparently, typically a slow month for e-commerce, and it was evident. I went over a week without selling anything. I dropped significantly from January, and was down to my September/October levels. It is a bit disconcerting to continually be adding things to your store, and not moving much product. Just have to keep positive, and know that the tide will turn.

K'NEX Big Ball Factory

Bought: $22.59 Sold: $169.82 Fees: $16.94 Profit: $130.29

I've been picking up K'NEX when I see it, and been selling it with mixed success. I have recently decided I'm going to stop picking it up, as it is more work than it is worth. When I have big box sets like this one, it takes hours to count all the 3,000+ pieces, and unless one of the rarer sets like this one, it may not even go for that much. Chris came over a few weekends ago and helped me count and list two of my K'NEX box sets, and I'm hoping to get more listed soon so I can get them out!

This set - the Big Ball Factory - is from 2000 and one of the earliest K'NEX sets. The name Big Ball Factory has been used for two different sets since, but this one is the original one. It is rare to find complete, and with the instructions, and that is why it fetches the price it does. I actually found this at  VV for $20. Normally I would be hesitant to buy anything for $20 at VV, but I quickly checked the box at the store and it had the rarer items (aka, it had all the pieces I couldn't replace from my surplus supply), and so I bought it. It is rather heavy, weighing in at just shy of 7 kilograms, and quite large. These things are a pain to list, and a pain to ship. While I enjoy this sale, and its late-month boost to my monthly sales, I think I am out of the K'NEX game. 

Disney Sticker Book

Bought: $2.02 Sold: $14.07 Fees: $2.32 Profit: $9.73

I found this at the local Goodwill, which now sadly closed. It is a giant (weighing in at 2 pounds) sticker book with both stickers and themed pages to apply the stickers from a a variety of different Disney movies. This was "Treasury 1," and as the name suggests there have been others. When I listed this months ago, until today, I still have not seen another #1 on eBay. I had it listed for $20 USD, and had a lot of people making low offers due to the simple fact that shipping for a 2 pound item to the states starts at around $10 USD. In the states this would cost around $2-3 USD to ship anywhere in the country due to their mail rules and media mail. People who buy this are used to paying that, and were unwilling to pay more, and understandably so. I finally got an offer today for $10 USD, which still left me with some profit, and after a week with no sales I was just glad to see something leave my shelf. It is a shame that if I lived in the states, this item would fetch twice as much. Oh well, parts of the joys, and pains, of selling from Canada. 

Frankendie

Bought: $4.74 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $15.26

Yesterday Chris and I hit up VV first thing in the morning, and I made away with some good board games to sell. This was one of them - a new dice based game. I checked online and saw that it still sells new for $25 at Canadian retailers, so put it up for $25 since I noticed that mine had the bonus kickstarter additional cards. Someone offered me $20, and picked it up today, less than 24 hours later, so it was a quick flip and not bad that I didn't have to take any photographs, list or ship it.

Selling old inventory just to get rid of it

Bought: $5.64 Sold: $13.70 Fees: $2.61 Profit: $5.45

This is the Lost Encyclopedia - a book all about the TV show Lost. I got this at VV on a day when all books were 50% off, and I thought that for sure this would sell. While it does pretty well on Amazon, I couldn't get any interest on eBay. I think a large part of the problem was that it weighs over 5 lbs, so shipping was insane. This past week this guy from Kitchener kept making really low offers, and he finally over me 50% of my asking price, but I was worried I wasn't going to sell it otherwise, and at least it moved some inventory. I have learned my lesson - I am avoiding books. eBay is just not the market for it.

Two things Robin said would never sell

Bought: $15.79 Sold: $27.38 Fees: $2.51 Profit: $9.08

These are two items I've had for quite some time. One is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles child sleeping bag, and the other is a Power Rangers fitted sheet. Robin said that neither would ever sell, and kept urging me to throw them out. Granted, I didn't make a whole lot of money on them, but they did sell! The lack of ROI was mainly that the TMNT bag cost me $11.29 - in hindsight I should have passed on it. Sometimes I am just too nostalgic and feel bad leaving awesome things on the shelf. Thankfully one person bought both, so saved on shipping for them. I'm glad these are gone, and I've learned my lesson - no more sleeping bags. They are too heavy and bulky, and cost a fortune to ship, which eats into any profit. 

Counter for things Robin said that will never sell that in fact did sell: 6

Matchbox Playset

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $13.69 Fees: $2.25 Profit: $6.93

This is a Matchbox Pop Up 360 Play set. It is a play set that comes folded up in a carrying case, and can fold out into a 360 play area. This one is a haunted house theme. Chris picked this one up, not sure I would have it. A few of the interior pieces are bent - someone closed it improperly - and it was missing all the accessories. I was actually surprised it sold. It wasn't a huge ROI, making me even more weary of a possible return, since it would eat any profit. Hopefully the buyer is happy with it.

Vintage Drinking Game

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $34.22 Fees: $4.03 Profit: $25.68

This is a vintage drinking board game - called Chug-a-Lug - which was complete. It looks pretty silly in my opinion, but people love vintage stuff as well as drinking related things. This was a nice sale, with a not-too-bad ROI. Vintage board games continue to be my bread and butter.

DYNAMITE!

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $27.76 Fees: $4.36 Profit: $18.89

Another vintage Parker Brothers board game from the 1980's. I don't even remember playing this one as a child, but it looked really retro when I say it at VV, and knew it would sell. It was complete, which was awesome, especially for a game that involves pieces flying off the board as part of its design. We don't see many board games like this now - where the board is "active" to a degree - and they seem to sell well. I am working on learning more about these types of games, so that come summer and garage sale season I'll know what I'm looking for. 

Yankee Stadium Puzzle

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $34.56 Fees: $4.75 Profit: $27.56

I've read that some puzzles, of which 3D ones are among them, are collectible. I've always been hesitant to buy puzzles, because one missing piece is going to prevent you from selling it. Unlike a board game which can often be sold missing parts, it is much harder with puzzles. Also, there are so many brands and makes of puzzles, that it just something I've generally avoided. That being said I have picked up three Puzz-3Ds now for different reasons - one was super vintage, one was a Lord of the Rings one, and this one which was from 1999 and of Yankee Stadium. I knew that this one would be collectible, and the only ones on eBay were new in the box for $50-75. I listed mine at $25 USD, and it sold in less than a day. I did my best to count all the pieces - which is rather hard with Puzz-3D puzzles as it is often hard to tell if something is a piece or not, but as far as I could tell it was complete. It had clearly been assembled and take apart in big pieces and put in the box. I am quite worried of getting a return because of a missing piece. If I do, I think I'll avoid puzzles ever again. This was an experiment, it had a good profit, but I may lose it all. We shall see.

More Play-Doh

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $13.83 Fees: $2.31 Profit: $8.14

This is another Play-Doh play set, which usually tend to do well. This is a first for me - I cannot remember where I bought this. I usually can vividly remember each purchase. I know I purchased it without another Play-Doh set - the cookie monster one - which has not sold yet. I thought I got them both in a bag from BFM, but since I have an individual price for each that can't be the case. The price ($2.99 + HST) tells me that it came from VV. I am not sure why I bought an incomplete set - because this set was incomplete - but it is probably because it had the box and appeared to be complete from a quick glance. It was only missing one small piece. This play set is just not as rare/valuable as others. That being said, I still made some profit on it. Weird. 

WWE VHS Tapes

Bought: $1.12 Sold: $8.33 Fees: $1.78 Profit: $5.43

This is another VHS that Chris picked up for me. Typically WWF/WWE tapes sell, because often the footage has never been re-released on DVD. That being said, it is still not a huge ROI, and I am not sure it's worth the time of listing and packaging for $5. I have not bought any VHS tapes for a while, and don't think I will be buying any more anytime soon. Just not enough meat on the bone. 

More Avalon Hill

Bought: $3.34 Sold: $27.96 Fees: $3.89 Profit: $20.56

This was one of the Avalon Hill games I scored recently along with the Dune game. I couldn't believe how cheap they had these games for. This one is quite popular, but not overly expensive. That being said, I still made a good profit on it. 

Vintage Polly Pocket

Bought: $2,25 Sold: $27.79 Fees: $3.71 Profit: $21.83

This is another vintage Polly Pocket play set from the 1990's released by Bluebird. This one is an underwater mermaid scene inside a book. These consistently sell, though I have yet to find one with any accessories, so they don't sell for as much as they could. The ones that are most popular are the ones released by Bluebird in the 90's, as opposed to the ones being released today. I've only come across a couple of these at VV, but I am hoping I will be able to score more at garage sales this summer. 

People collect the weirdest things

Bought: $5.63 Sold: $27.96 Fees: $3.49 Profit: $18.84

These are called CUBEEZ and are sold by Hallmark. They are small (3" x 3" x 3") metal tins with the face of various fictional characters on them. They come in different series - Peanuts, Pixar, Muppets, Wizard of Oz, etc. - and they cost $8 USD each. They come empty. I have no idea why anyone would want these. That being said, they sell a lot on eBay, but almost always from the same seller - he must buy from Hallmark's supplier. There were no lots of these on eBay, just individual listings, so I put all 7 up together and priced it low. I wasn't sure if these ever actually sold, or if anyone actually collected these, but someone made me an offer and I was more than glad to get rid of them. 

More of the same

Bought: $4.56 Sold: $41.76 Fees: $4.80 Profit: $32.40

I sold one of these before - it's a Schleich Oracle - and Chris found this one in VV shortly after, and only knew what it was because of my sale. Surprisingly it was complete, despite no box. He the next day found another one - which he thought was complete, but is missing a number of pieces - so we will see if that one ever sells. This is a great sale. I still have no idea why people are buying this, but I'm glad I know that Schleich toys sell, and I will be keeping an eye out for this one again. 

Sealed Audio Tapes

Bought: $39.43 Sold: $55.38 Fees: $4.22 Profit: $11.73

I picked up 10 sealed copies of these Scotch 207 audio tapes for $5 each, with a 30% coupon. The total for all 10 was $39.43. I decided to split them into two lots of 5. Due the fact that the prices for these tapes seem to be rather sporadic, I decided to try and put them for auction, set to end when we got from Cuba. Only one person bid, at the starting price of $20, but then stated that he couldn't pay until he got his pension at the end of the month. Due to the low bid, and the fact that I didn't want to wait 3 weeks for payment, I put in a non-payment claim, and relisted the item, but this time as BIN for $50. Someone made an offer of $40, which I accepted. So, after selling half the tapes I recovered the costs for all 10 tapes, so anything I make on the last 5 will be pure profit. 

Littlest Pet Shop Lot

Bought: $18.13 Sold: $41.53 Fees: $4.98 Profit: $18.42

I picked up three big plastic bags of animal playsets for $6 each, hoping that they would contain parts to the same set(s). It turned out that there were three different animal themed toys in the bag, but the largest collection was these Littlest Pet Shop sets. They all date from the early 1990's, and while there were parts from 12 different sets, none were complete. I painstakingly determined which set each piece was from, and identified them in the listing. I was quite worried that this lot would never sell because none of the sets were complete, but it did! I made profit of this lot, and so when the other two animal sets sell those will be pure profit. 

The Nina is off to Brazil

Bought: $5.64 Sold: $23.53 Fees: $3.14 Profit: $14.75

This is a model of Columbus's ship the Nina, and appears to be vintage, maybe from the 1970's. I picked this up early on in my flipping, before I realized that models take forever to sell. I haven't bought a model kit in months and likely won't be buying any more any time soon. This one was bought by someone in Rio, so hopefully it gets there safely. It is a low enough cost item that the risk isn't that great.

Lord of the Rings Figure

Bought: $9.03 Sold: $27.69 Fees: $4.33 Profit: $14.33

This is another thing Chris picked up for me at VV, it is a Lord of the Rings action figure. It came in the original box, but the figures had been removed at some point, so not quite new in box. This had a higher price tag that I may have bought myself, and I had it listed for about $15 higher than I originally sold it for, but eventually lowered it because it was getting no views. Finally someone offered me $15 for it - I was asking $25 - and I countered with $20, thinking that was a reasonable middle ground. He countered with $17.50, which I thought was just a bit insulting, considering that was a difference of $2.50, and I checked his eBay purchases and he had purchased 11 Lord of the Rings figures in the last 10 days, so I knew he wanted it. I countered back with $20 again, saying it was my best offer and he immediately rejected it. The next day, he made a new offer of $20, so I guess he really did want it. Glad it sold, and shows me to trust my instincts on when I think someone wants something, and to not give up hope when someone rejects an offer. 

Cassette player Walkman

Bought: $2.37 Sold: $20.77 Fees: $1.27 Profit: $17.13

I have no idea why people are still buying cassette tape players, but they seem to bring between $20 to $40 depending on the make and model. This is a very sturdy cassette player, and includes a built-in radio. It was a higher end player at the time when released. I received an offer for 25% of the asking price, which I rejected. I then got contacted by the guy asking if he could do local pick-up since he lived in Ottawa. I said sure. He then made an offer for 50% of the asking price, which I denied - especially since shipping wasn't going to cost him anything. A few days later he offered 75%, which I finally accepted. I still made a good ROI, and I didn't want to keep having to deal with this guy and since local pick-up I don't have to pay fees on shipping so saved a bit of money. 

Who uses napkin rings anymore?

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $52.76 Fees: $5.86 Profit: $42.40

This was a set of 4 pewter napkin rings, still with their original box. They were made by Seagull Pewter, which is a Canadian manufacturer and they were from 1986. I bought them because I know that vintage Pewter stuff sells, and figured the fact that it had the original box would help. I knew that these would take a while to sell - because, really, who uses napkin rings anymore - but I had an offer made, and I countered and he accepted. I checked his buying history and he has bought A LOT of napkin rings off eBay. I am guessing he runs a brick-and-mortar store that sells these things and he gets some inventory off of eBay. Either way, it was a nice sale, and I am always on the lookout now for small pewter items. 

Vintage Polly Pocket

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $21.09 Fees: $2.76 Profit: $13.82

These Polly Pocket play sets from the 1990s are quite collectible. They still make Polly Pocket sets, which are also collectible, but the ones from the 1990s made by Bluebird fetch good money. This set had none of the accessories, so didn't fetch as much as it could, but it's small to store and will undoubtedly sell. Don't see these too often at VV, but when I do, they are usually worth picking up.

Dungeons & Dragons Update

Bought: $18.89 Sold: $27.74 Fees: $4.32 Profit: $4.53

Original Post (November 22nd, 2015)
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. 

Update to Post (February 1st, 2016)

I sold the 2nd book from this lot today, and have made made back my investment and am now $4 ahead. Meaning that when the next 7 books sell, it will all be profit. 

Nov 22, 2015 - 1st sale of The Complete Wizard's Handbook for $6.65.
Feb 1, 2016 - 2nd sale of I, Tyrant for $21.09.

January Recap

It has now been six months - half a year - and the end of the first month of 2016. I am quite happy with my progress so far. Each month so far profits have gone up, and while I am sure that will not continue to happen, it is very gratifying and rewarding to keep seeing progress.

I sold 31 items.

I spent $156.21 on those items.
I sold those items for $1,557.74
I paid $158.26 in fees to eBay.

I made a profit of $1,243.27.

I sold less items than I did in December, but I made much more! Not only was this my most profitable month to date, I surpassed last month's total by about $500. This was largely due to a few very high profit items that sold, which are not everyday sales. I expect February will be a slower, and less profitable, month simply because I don't have a huge number of high dollar items listed right now.

Another milestone this month was that I hit both Top-Rated Seller status and Power Seller on eBay, in addition to receiving my 200th positive feedback. Being rated as TRS and PS, apparently, means your items are seen more often, and it comes with a 20% discount on fees which is nice. I'm slowly building things up!