Flipping Experiment #1: Comic and Anime statues, comics and posters - Month #1

UPDATED ON MAY 29th!

At the beginning of May, I saw an ad on kijiji of someone selling the contents of a storage locker that he had purchased which contained a number of anime figures, comic book and posters. These were all items that are collectible and with value, and he knew this, but didn't want to sell them online and was looking to sell them to someone who was willing to do the work. He wanted someone to make an offer. I messaged him and we agreed on an amount of $2,000.

This would easily be my largest investment to date, and while I was (and still am) confident on my ability to turn that into a profit, I asked my brother, Chris, if he wanted to split the cost with me 50/50, share the work of listing with me 50/50 and share the profits 50/50. He checked with his wife and agreed.

So, one night after a long day in court, in the middle of a multiple-week murder trial, I drove out to Kemptville and bought it all. The guy was quite nice, he owns a thrift store in Kemptville, but doesn't have any interest in selling online. I spoke to him about eBay, and told him to contact me if had any other finds that he thought would sell better online. After a short chat, and after loading my car to the brim, I made the drive back to Ottawa. My car was so full that I may, or may not, have had to drive back with two unusable rear view mirrors.

Once I got it home, I spent the first few days counting and inventorying what we had purchased. In total we had: 64 statues/figures; 263 comic books, and 71 posters.

Unfortunately, almost all the statues and comic books were manga. These have a market, but it is much smaller and more niche than standard comic book readers. That being said, there is still good money to be made here. Instead of doing a post every time one of these pieces sell, I will do a monthly update on the progress of the experiment. This will serve as the first of such posts.

The Numbers:

Initial Cost: $2,000
Number of items sold: 6

Gross Profit for May: $874.97

Fees to eBay: $104.31

Net Profit for May: $770.66

Net Overall Profit: -$1,229.34

Chris and I have each recouped $385.33 of our initial $1,000 investment so far.

Sales:

May 12 - Black Widow Painted Statue

Sold for: $99.99     Fees: $11.62

This sold within an hour of posting it to eBay. Normally I would take this to mean that it was quite rare and desirable, or that I undervalued it. I don't think either was the case. There was at least a dozen others on eBay, and I only undercut the cheapest one by $10. I think the explanation is that I was selling from Canada, and so by buying mine people avoided expensive shipping from the states combined with duty fees. So, while mine was only $10 cheaper, to Canadians it was likely closer to $40-50 cheaper. It actually sold to someone in Ottawa, about a 5 minute drive. I offered for him to pick it up and save on shipping, but he said that shipping was reasonable and he was fine paying it, so off to CanadaPost it will go.

May 12 - Art of Shunya Yamashita Mirei-San School Girl Figure

                                       Sold for: $40.00     Fees: $5.18

This sold pretty quickly, within a day of posting. This one wasn't rare either, there were a lot of them on eBay. That being said, a lot of these statues ship from Japan, so I assume by shipping from Canada I offer faster and cheaper service. This statue was a bit risqué... For some reason Robin wouldn't me keep it. I really do not understand the appeal of these kind of statues, and this overly sexualized feminine statues are what make up 90% of the ones we bought. That being said, there is clearly a market for them. 

May 15 - Kotobukiya Supergirl DC Comics Bishoujo

Sold for: $199.99     Fees: $21.70

This was the most popular statue we posted, with 4 watchers in less than 48 hours. It sold in only three days. The box on this one was a bit damaged, but wasn't too bad and the figure was in great shape. This was the only DC character. I really wish more had been Marvel and DC, as they would be a lot easier to sell. 

May 18 - Brian Pulido's Lady Demon 

Sold for: $175.00     Fees: $22.83

This statue was one of the larger ones we had - it stands over 15" tall - and it is quite intricate with Lady Demon looking into a mirror with three goblins around the frame of the mirror. This was a limited edition statue released in 2001, limited to 2,000 copies. It is a shame that Lady Demon is not a more collectible or popular character, or this would fetch a lot more. That being said, it is still a very nice sale. I was asking $200, he offered $150, and we settled on $175. This was off to Texas, and due to the size and weight, he paid $60 to ship it. This will be the largest, and most fragile, thing I've shipped to date and it has to cross the continent. I am anxiously awaiting it arriving safely so I can stop stressing about it.

May 28 - Cowboy Bebop The Perfect Sessions Limited Edition DVD Box Set

Sold for: $174.99     Fees: $21.01

This was the only DVD Box set in the lot, but it was still sealed and is a numbered limited edition, which helps increase its value. It is the complete TV series of Cowboy Bebop, which is a popular Japanese anime. This came out in 2001, so there wasn't any on eBay, so I had to pick a price, but I'm pretty happy when someone paid this full price. While still sealed in plastic, it does appear that a lot of dust got behind the plastic, which is understandable after 15 years, some of which was spent in a storage locker and a garage. I am really hopeful that once the buyer received it and opens it that there is no actual damage.

May 29 - Resident Evil 3 Jill Valentine figure

Sold for: $185.00    Fees: $163.03

This is a barbie-esque statue of Jill Valentine from the video game series Resident Evil. This figure has never been removed from the box, but the box was damaged by water/moisture. In mint condition this figure has gone for $400, but considering that collectors want things mint, I knew I had to lower the price. I was asking $200, and kept getting lowball offers for $100 or so. I countered them all with $185, and someone finally accepted it.