Playmobil Set

Sale Price: $34.99 Fees: $4.32

Overall Lot: Bought: $130.00 Profit to date: $89.98

This is one of the sets from the lot of Playmobil I purchased off Kijiji. It is nearly complete, and in good shape. It is "Playmobil 4858: Open Air Pool with Water Slide" and includes a water pump so you can make the shower actually work. These sets are slowly moving and while I haven't yet seen a return on my investment, I still have a handful of sets left and will eventually. 

Play-Doh Cookie Monster

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $25.00 Fees: $3.49 Profit: $19.26

This is the Cookie Monster from the Play-Doh set with the alphabet pieces, but it is just the monster and nothing else. I found him hanging in a bag at VV and recognized him immediately and knew someone would buy him alone. Not a bad profit on this guy, and considering he isn't stamped with Play-Doh, I only purchased it because I knew about it. It pays to do research.

Hallmark Peanuts Frame

Bought: $6.32 Sold: $10.99 Fees: $1.53 Profit: $3.14

This is a Hallmark Peanuts frame with a peanuts joke strip in it. In all honesty, I have no idea why I bought this. It is not something I would buy now. I guess I just wasn't thinking or didn't bother looking it up. Anyways, I am just glad it sold and I recouped my investment (who would pay $6 for this?). 

Play-Doh Mega Fun Factory 50th Birthday Conveyor Belt

Bought: $20.00 Sold: $60.00 Fees: $6.46 Profit: $33.54

This is a Play-Doh set from 2009 released in celebration of Play-Doh's 50th birthday, and it contains a conveyor belt powered by batteries. It was pretty expensive when sold new, and it is still rather pricey. People consistently ask for over $100 for these, and that is why I paid $20 for this one. I've had a listing for this for at about $125 for months now with no offers or interest. I subsequently picked up two others for much cheaper ($5 and $7) and so I lowered the price to $75 to try and sell them considering I will still make a pretty good profit. Out of nowhere yesterday and today I got a whole bunch of offers, although all of them really low and despite counter-offers only sold one so far. I am not sure what spiked the sudden interest, but I'm hoping that by being the lowest price on eBay and with another 2 to sell that maybe I'll move them soon. 

Commission sale: Dr. Strange Marvel Essentials

Sale Price: $124.99 Fees:$18.36 Profit: $106.63

My 50% cut of the Profit: $53.32

These are some more trade papberbacks (bound comic books) that Chris asked me to sell for him when he moved. With the Dr. Strange movie coming out in October, I am not surprised at all that these sold. These four volumes are all now out of print, and are the only four Marvel Essential volumes so far created for Dr. Strange and they collect his first appearances. They would make a great starting point for someone interested in the character ahead of the movie. Chris and I both bought a lot of Marvel Essentials when we first started reading comics and getting into characters because they are the cheapest way to get a whole lot of issues of one character. While Chris is a big fan of Dr. Strange, he has moved on to collecting the actual issues and having read this wanted a return on his investment while cleaning out some space on his bookshelf. 

Star Frontiers Alpha Dawn RPG

Bought: $7.50 Sold: $49.99 Fees: $6.05 Profit: $36.44

Another board game from the lot I bought on Kijji. This is an RPG game from TSR (people who make D&D) and it is in relatively good shape (minus some damage to the box). Anything made by TSR is likely worth looking up, or grabbing if you can find it cheap enough. This lot continues to do well. I've sold 5 of the games from it, with sales totalling $370, and I still have 11 more to sell. 

Money made off the lot as a whole so far: Spent: $120 - Sales: $370.95

Ski Gammon Board Game

Bought: $2.00 Sold: $99.99 Fees: $9.95 Profit: $88.04

I picked this up at the Glebe garage sale. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was worth money. A vintage board game, with an interesting and unique premise (skiing) and not from a very popular manufacturer. I bought it for $2, and when I got home researched it and found that their were none on eBay and one had sold recently for $100. So I listed mine for the same and it has sat all summer, and I've received a number of lower offers ($30-60) but I held tight, and while I made many counter-offers of $80 no-one took them, and today it sold for full price. I continue to do quite well with board games.

Apple Mighty Mouse

Bought: $3.15 Sold: $14.99 Fees: $2.24 Profit: $9.60

Nothing too fancy here, just an Apple optical mouse. Apple things tend to sell, although some things like this aren't overly profitable, but should still sell. They are small, easy to list and store, and bring in a bit of money. I usually grab any Mac mice I see. 

Lot of 10 TOMY Handheld games

Sale Price: $130.00 Fees: $12.62

Overall Lot: Bought: $36.05 Profit to date: 98.64

This was all the non-electronic handheld games from the lot of bags I picked up at VV. This is the second sale from this lot, and this was a great sale. I was asking $150 and I had a number of watchers. With a few hours until the listing ended I got an offer of $130 which I accepted. I knew when I found these that this would be a good flip, but this was a lot better than I expected. I still have two listings from this lot each listed for $50, so I should hopefully make another $100 on this lot.

More Geotrax sales

Sale Price: $30.00 Fees: $2.70

Sale Price: $30.00 Fees: $2.70

Sale Price: $30.00 Fees: $2.70

Overall Lot: Bought: $50.00 Profit to date: $102.36

The woman who bought the other two Geotrax sets emailed me saying she didn't realize I was in Ottawa, and asked if she bought more if she could pick them up. I was actually planning on emailing her once she received them and offering her a discount on anymore with free delivery, but she beat me to the bunch. I was originally asking $110 for these three sets but gave them to her for $90 and I told her I'd deliver them tomorrow. I've now made twice as much profit as I put into the lot and I still have three sets on eBay. Always nice to make a number of sales to the same person.

PS3 Guitar Hero Dongle

Bought: $1.57 Sold: $14.99 Fees: $2.24 Profit: $11.18

I totally forgot I had this for sale still. This is another one picked up by Chris who loves grabbing these. They do tend to sell decently for $15-20, and are often only a few dollars to pick up. I believe this is the last dongle I  have for sale, but I am sure Chris will find more soon enough.

Easy Come... Easy Go...

Loss to Profits: $136.19

Cost to me: $45.10

So the Starbucks I sold a few weeks ago for $150 arrived broken... I'm heartbroken. I thought I packed it really well, but I guess not. In the future, all fragile items are being double-boxed. So, the buyer requested a refund, and so I have to pay back his purchase price, but also his shipping costs ($30). I'm almost out my initial purchase price ($2.25) along with the fees from the sale ($11). So overall, instead of making $150 I'm out of pocket $45.

I'll still keep an eye out for these mugs, definitely worth buying to flip, I just need to package them better. It's a frustrating lesson, but all I can do is learn from it and move on.

CANON AV-1 SLR

Bought: $11.29 Sold: $49.99 Fees: $3.72 Profit: $34.98

The best part of going to court out of town is being to hit up thrift stores I don't normally get to go to. I got this at the VV in Cornwall last fall. I've only been to the Cornwall VV twice, and both times only managed to find one thing. I'm not sure I'd have bought this camera if I came across it today. While it is a good brand, Canon, and included a lens and flash, I had no way to test it, and so had to sell it "As Is / For Parts." While I am sure it does work, I couldn't confirm that in the listing and so it sat for almost a year. Thankfully someone bought it! I hope that it does in fact work and that they are happy with their purchase. 

Shook Designs Motorcylce Speed Pac Backpack

Bought: $15.81 Sold: $60.00 Fees: $5.94 Profit: $38.25

Chris picked this up at VV and it has had a lot of interest, though due to its size and weight shipping to the States is rather high (this buyer paid $38 shipping) so most interest was for very low offers. It is a hard-shell motorcycle backpack. I was really hoping that someone in Canada would want to buy it and pay my asking price of $75 and not have to deal with the high shipping, but after a number of low offers I finally took the first reasonable one of $60. This is part of the problem with selling on eBay from Canada - shipping is just so expensive! Oh well, it was still a good profit and a big item is out of inventory - room for more now!

Two Fisher Price Geo-Trax Sets

Sale Price: $39.99 Fees: $4.52

Sale Price: $39.99 Fees: $5.00

Overall Lot: Bought: $50.00 Profit to date: $20.46

I picked up a huge box of Fisher Price Geo-Trax train sets off a guy on Kijiji. The box included about 8 complete sets. I've had them listed for a while, and while Geo-Trax stuff sells and they aren't being made anymore, the issue is that there are over 2,000 listings for this stuff on eBay. This is why I don't like selling things with lots of competition, your stuff sits forever. These two sets sold to the same person, and she is from Ottawa. She clearly bought mine because shipping was the cheapest. The only way I'll move the rest of the sets is if someone finds that my listings have the cheapest shipping. That being said, I've already recovered my investment and made a profit, so even if the other sets sit for months it will all be gravy once they sell.

TSR Knights of Camelot Board Game

Bought: $7.50 Sold: $38.00 Fees: $4.31 Profit: $26.19

This is another board game from the lot I bought off that guy on Kijiji. This one is a TSR game (the company that made D&D) from the 1970's to the theme of the Knights of Camelot. I had never heard of this game, but typically vintage TSR games sell. This was a nice sale, and it continues to push the profits from the lot up. I have now sold 3 of the 16 games from that lot and have made an overall profit of $170. I am eager to see what the total profit for this lot will be.

Money made off the lot as a whole so far: Spent: $120 - Sales: $320.96

Three TI-83 Calculators

Bought: $13.53 Sold: $99.99 Fees: $6.59 Profit: $79.87

I picked up these three calculators at the VV in Kingston (a nice thing about doing trials out of town is being able to hit up stores I don't hit that often). Each was in a bag hanging on the wall for $3, which is a ridiculous price for Texas Instruments graphic calculators. All three of these were missing their covers, and they are all the older 83 model, so I decided to save time and shipping and listed them all together as one lot. I figured they would sell close to September for back to school. Not a bad profit at all. Any TI graphing calculator is worth picking up if you see it.

Two D&D Planescape Books

Sale Price: $49.99 Fees: $5.74

Sale Price: $49.99 Fees: $4.82

Overall Lot: Bought: $146.89 Profit to date: -$1.65

A guy bought one of these books at full price of $50, and made an offer of $50 for the other which I was asking $75. I normally would have countered, but in consideration that he bought the other one I accepted. A quick $100 is always nice. These two sales brings my profit on this lot almost into the positive. The rest of the sales will all be profit. These were the highest selling books from the lot, but there are still a number left, and I expect to make $300 - 400 in profits once all of them are sold. 

Flipping Experiment #1: Comic and Anime statues, comics and posters - Month #4

August 20 - Kotobukiya Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny

Sold for: $45.00 Fees: $5.60

Another figure has sold. I was asking $50 and took a best offer of $45. I'm glad that these continue to sell. They aren't flying off the shelves, and with only 19 sales in 4 months it is taking a while to make our investment back, but still a lot of room for profit on this lot and we have started to list the comics which will help. I am very hopeful that Q4 and Christmas shopping will help sell a lot of items from this lot.

The Numbers:

Initial Cost: $2,000

Number of items sold in August: 3

Number of items sold overall: 19

Gross Profit for August: $92.98

Fees to eBay: $14.53

Net Profit for August: $78.45

Net Overall Profit: -$577.02

Chris and I have each recouped $711.49 of our initial $1,000 investment so far.

August 02 - Sandman The Dream Hunters HC (1999 Vertigo) Storybook Edition

Sold for: $44.99 Fees: $7.44

This is a trade paper back that was still sealed and unopened. This was one of the first things we posted from the comic section of the lot, which we started to list last week. Glad to see some of this stuff selling shortly after being posted. The statues are slow to move, which I knew would happen, so I am hopeful that we will be able to move the trade paperbacks or comics faster. While they will bring in less money, sales are good and it will add up.

August 16 - Ascension Wizard 1/2 Comic

Sold for: $2.99 Fees: $1.49

Chris has been photographing the comics from the lot and I have been listing them slowly, and this was the first one to sell. Not a huge profit on it. We have almost 300 comics from the lot, and while some are $10-20 comics, most are $3-5 comics. The profit will add up over time, but they will be slow sellers. Considering that fees have a minimum, they really eat into small dollar items. We paid 50% of the sale price in fees on this comic. I am thinking that we may switch our tactics and list low dollar comics together as a lot to save from being killed on fees. It is all part of the learning curve, but I am very excited to have sold our first comic from the lot!

Meccano lot

Sale Price: $60.00

Lot: Bought: $45.00 Sold: $113.46 Fees: $15.25 Profit: $53.21

One of the very first things I bought when I started flipping was a box of Meccano off a guy on Kijiji, and over the last year I've been slowly selling them. Finally I got tired of selling them in small lots and just put the remaining pieces in a giant lot (this picture is only part of the lot, there was 5 photos of different pieces). This lot sold for $60, bringing my total profit for the entire lot to about $50. It was probably more work than worth in the end, but it was a learning experience. I am a bit weary of this sale. I was asking $75 and someone made an offer of $15 which I rejected. He then offered me $30 which I countered with $65. He countered with $60 and then sent me a message saying "my friend told me that these aren't Meccano, What is your best price?" Which sent up a red flag. I responded saying that almost every piece was stamped Meccano, and while some of the screws may be from other sets I was confident that the vast majority was legit (really who fakes Meccano), and said that I would be willing to accept $60 but I would prefer to deal with any concerns he had first and if he felt they weren't legit to not buy them. He wrote back a very odd message that didn't make much sense but that indicated he was willing to buy them at my proposed $65. I accepted the $60 offer to just be done with it. I am hoping that he isn't a problem buyer and tries to come back and claim they are fake once he gets them. Fingers crossed.

Party Mania

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $30.00 Fees: $4.48 Profit: $22.14

This is a board game from the 80's that has a VHS tape as part of it. It still amazes me that VCR-centric board games still sell, albeit not very well or for a lot, but it's always nice to turn $3 into $30. Another vintage board game sold, and while not a huge profit on each, they add up.

Rings on your Fingers

Bought: $3.15 Sold: $30.00 Fees: $3.62 Profit: $23.23

This is a child's board game that I had never heard of, but apparently sells quite well. It is rare to see this game complete on eBay, as it is often missing some of the rings. Mine was missing one of the rings, but it still sold. You could get a lot more if it was complete. It is a pretty basic matching game, but I guess it has some nostalgic value for some buyers. 

Vintage Globetrotters board game

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $37.99 Fees: $4.90 Profit: $28.58

This is a vintage board game that I had never heard of but when I looked it up I saw that it sold for a fair price, so bought it. It has sat for months, I guess not an overly popular board game, but it finally sold, and I made a decent profit on it. Board games continue to be my bread and butter. They are always the first thing I check in any store and where I've had the most luck. 

TI-84

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $59.99 Fees: $3.32 Profit: $52.16

I've been on the lookout for these calculators - any Texas Instrument graphing calculator - since I started flipping over a year ago, and finally came across my first one about a month ago. These are sure fire sellers. Texas Instruments has a monopoly on graphic calculators, and they have barely changed at all in the last 20+ years, and a lot of university classes require them. The monopoly allows TI to keep the market price for new ones over $100, so the used market is quite active. You can usually get between $50-70 for one of these, so they are well worth keeping an eye out for it. This is the time of the year when they sell best - leading up to and into September. A great flip with great profit, and always something to be on the lookout for.

Commission sale: Lot of 25 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines

Sale Price: $60.00 Fees:$9.54 Profit: $50.46

My 50% cut of the Profit: $25.23

These are a series of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine from 1974-1976. These were originally my mom's, and she gave them to Chris to see if he could sell. He never got around to it, and then pawned them off on to me to sell when he moved. I'm not quite sure why he is getting 50% of these since all he did was store them, but nonetheless it was a good sale. I could have them sold them individually, but that would have taken too much work and they only seem to be worth $2-3 each, so much easier to sell them as a lot. 

Play-Doh Cookie Monster

Bought: $3.94 Sold: $120.00 Fees: $11.88 Profit: $104.18

This is probably the most consistently high-selling Play-Doh set I've seen. I'm not quite sure why, but I think it is the combination of the Cookie Monster in addition to molds for all 26 letters of the alphabet. Most of these sets, when used, are missing some of the letters, but this one actually had them all, which allowed me to get a great return on it. I was asking $150, but when I got an offer of $120 it was pretty hard to turn down $100 profit. I have another box set of this with no letters, and another cookie monster by himself. I am hopeful they will both sell, but clearly not as well as this version. 

D&D Player's Handbook

Sale Price: $14.99 Fees: $2.63

Overall Lot: Bought: $146.89 Profit to date: -$91.07

Another D&D book from the VV lot. My second today. This is the essential Player's Handbook, but since there has been two versions of D&D since 2nd edition, and TSR published 1,000s of these they are not in high demand. $15 is still a good price though.

D&D The Magic Encyclopedias

Sale Price: $14.99 Fees: $2.48

Overall Lot: Bought: $146.89 Profit to date: -$103.43

These are two books from the D&D lot I got at VV last week. They are volumes 1 and 2 of the Magic Encyclopedia. Both had a lot of wear, but were complete. Not a huge profit, but it contributes to the overall profit from the lot. 

Malcolm in the Middle Board Game

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $40.00 Fees: $4.55 Profit: $30.94

This is a trivia board game based on the TV show Malcolm in the Middle. When I saw it at VV, I looked it up and there was only one on eBay and they wanted $100. I figured it couldn't hurt to buy and list at $50 so that if anyone actually wanted this they would buy mine first. It sat for months but I got an offer for $40 and took it. I'm rather shocked it sold, but not complaining at all.

Starbucks Mugs are apparently collectible - who knew?

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $150.00 Fees: $11.56 Profit: $136.19

I've heard and read a number of times that Starbucks are collectible and worth picking up. Since I've started I've come across a few, and I've picked them up and listed them on eBay, and so far none have sold, and they are listed for about $10-20. Not amazing, but not terrible if you can get them for a buck. I came across this one and was floored when I looked it up, I couldn't believe it. I quickly bought it and when I got home I finally did some research - which I probably should have done in the first place. Now while all Starbucks mugs have some collectiblility, there is a specific line of mugs that people really want, and this is one of them. They are sepia-toned and each feature a different city on them. These were released in 2009 and was the first series of "collectible" mugs Starbucks released. I am assuming a combination of not a lot of people buying them originally, combined with the fact that they were only sold in certain areas, made these scarce to start with, and now people are trying to get all the cities. Some cities go for even more than this, but I was more than glad to see this sell. Now that I know which Starbucks mugs sell, I will be on the hunt for these ones.

Playmobil Play set

Sale Price: $24.99 Fees: $3.20

Overall Lot: Bought: $130.00 Profit to date: -$78.21

I picked up a large lot of Playmobil sets in the early spring and slowly got around to cleaning them and putting them together into specific sets - I have 9 in total - and finally got around to listing them late last month. This was the first to sell, and it sold for a good price. This was one of the smaller sets from the lot, and a lot of the other ones should bring in more money. Between this sale and the three carrying case sets I sold last month I have almost recovered half my investment. 

McFarlane Sports Figure

Bought: $7.90 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $3.38 Profit: $8.71

Another one of these sport action figures that I picked up back in the fall sold. I originally had 8 of these, and after this sale I have only 2 left. I am making much less profit on these ones, since they I guess are just not as popular. That being said. still great to move old inventory, especially if I'm making some profit as well. 

Dungeons & Dragon Book

Sale Price: $34.99 Fees: $4.04

Overall Lot: Bought: $146.89  Profit to date: -$115.94

I was at VV last week and they had a large stack of Dungeons & Dragons books and magazines in the display case. I looked at them and they were priced individually for about $250 before tax. I knew they would all sell, and that some were more valuable than others, and I was trying to decide if I should get them all or just ones I knew would sell for a lot (like this one) and I decided to ask if they could give me a deal if I bought them all. Normally I would never ask at VV for a deal. Other places for sure, but VV prices are set and they really don't like haggling (from what I've seen), but I figured I'd ask. The woman behind the counter was super nice, and she called the manager who "did some math" and said I could have them for $135 + tax which I quickly accepted. I've listed all of them now - spent this past Sunday morning doing that - and if all the books sell for my asking I'll clear $500, so not a bad haul. This is the first to sell, and sold in two days of me listing it so that is nice. 

Lot of 4 Groo Comic Trade paperbacks

Bought: $20.96 Sold: $85.00 Fees: $8.57 Profit: $55.47

This was four trade paperbacks collecting Groo comics. These were all first printings and they are now out of print. Groo is not a particularly popular comic strip, but it has its fan base. The age of these trades and the fact that they have been out of print for a while helped with their value. 

Commission sale: Wacom Intuos3 6x8 Tablet PTZ-630

Sale Price: $124.99 Fees:$16.50 Profit: $108.49

My 50% cut of the Profit: $54.25

This is a Wacom tablet used by artists to draw digitally. Chris had this from year ago when he was doing design work, and it has been sitting in his house ever since. Something else he asked me to sell when he moved, and this was one of the more expensive things I sold for him. It ended up being a quick sale for a good price. These are worth buying if you can find them, but anytime I've seen them at thrift stores they have way too high of a price tag on them.

Vintage Goldilocks and the Three Bears Picture Cubes

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $2.15 Profit: $15.59

This is a box containing picture cubes of Goldilocks. Inside the box is 12 cubes with patterns all six sides, and they can be arranged to form 6 different scenes from Goldilocks. The blocks were quite worn around the edges, and the box had a lot of wear, but it looked cool and it was vintage. It doesn't sell for a huge amount, but not bad for a few bucks. I actually found another one of these - the same Goldilocks pattern - but in a wooden box at a different VV, so I still have that one up for sale. 

Chez Geek House Party Edition Game

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $2.72 Profit: $12.77

Picked up this game at VV, and figured it would sell do it being a Steve Jackson game. It sat for a while, most likely also because it was missing a few of the point counters, but finally sold. Not a huge profit, but sales have been slow so far this month so it is nice to have a sale. 

Vintage Batman Forever Towel

Bought: $1.57 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $2.51 Profit: $15.92

This is a towel from Batman Forever. It looked to have never been used. It took a while to sell, but I figured there was someone out there who would want this. I thought it might sell earlier in the summer, but I guess in the heat of August is a good time as any to buy a towel.

1980's TMNT Handheld game

Sale Price: $20.00 Fees: $2.69

 Overall Lot: Bought: $36.05  Profit to date: -$13.36

I was in VV a few weeks ago and came across 5 or 6 bags hanging filled with vintage handheld games. There was 10 non-electric ones and about 6-7 electric ones. Clearly someone's collection, and they were all in good shape. I bought all the bags I could find. I've listed the 10 non-electronic ones in a lot together and asking $150, so I will make a large profit once that sells. A few specific ones I sold by themselves, with this being one of them. This is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game from the 1980s, and it has never been used - the screen protector is still on it. I made back half my investment with this first sale, but I expect to make a lot on this lot once all is said and done. 

Commission sale: Dungeons & Dragons Battle Mats

Sale Price: $60.00 Fees:$0.00 Profit: $60.00

My 50% cut of the Profit: $30.00

These are battle mats for Dungeons & Dragons. You can draw on them with erasable markers, use them to play a campaign and then erase them and re-use. They are not essential for playing D&D, but they come in handy. Chris had these from when he used to play, but now he plays online and has no use for them and they were taking up space. Sold them on the Facebook board game group, so no fees. 

StarSoldier: Tactical Warfare in the 25th Century Board Game

Bought: $3.34 Sold: $45.00 Fees: $5.00 Profit: $36.66

Picked up this vintage board game at VV. It was not only complete, but most of the pieces were unpunched. I've had this for a few months now, but it is an older game from a less well known company, SPI, and isn't particularly well known itself, but I knew it would sell eventually. I really enjoy selling vintage board games - they are easy to identify, easy to tell if complete or not, and they tend to sell well. I will continue to expand my knowledge bases and look for other areas to make money, but board games continue to be my bread and butter.

Commission sale: Nikon L35 AF Camera

Sale Price: $99.99 Fees:$9.20 Profit: $90.79

My 50% cut of the Profit: $45.40

Another item I sold for Chris. When my grandparents moved a few years ago they let us take anything we wanted from stuff they were going to donate. I didn't take much - I wish I had been flipping then, could have made some good money off it - but Chris grabbed a few things with the intention to eventually sell them. He never got around to it, so asked me to sell it. It is a working Nikon 35MM camera. I know next to nothing about cameras and no idea why this one has some value, but it sold in less than 24 hours which is always nice. 

Hamburger Game

Bought: $9.02 Sold: $74.99 Fees: $6.75 Profit: $59.22

Robin and I stopped at the VV in Cornwall on our way back from vacation. Robin never wants to go to VV with me, so it was a rare treat. She wandered around the store and at one point came running up to me with this game, asking if it was a good buy. A good buy indeed! It was actually the only thing in the store that I bought. I had bought a copy of this game earlier but it wasn't complete so held it until I could get a second copy to complete it. The one we found in Cornwall was almost complete, only missing the instructions and one of the tiles which I took from the earlier game. The cost here reflects both games, which is why it is so high, but I knew it was worth it with how much this sells for. This is a Canadian game from the late '80s that I feel everyone in my generation had and played, but Robin says she never played it. It is a basic game where you flip over tiles to try and complete your hamburger. It was a quick sale, took less than 24 hours. This is a game to keep an eye out for sure.

Commission sale: Mad Magazine DVD

Sale Price: $80.00 Fees:$12.00 Profit: $68.00

My 50% cut of the Profit: $34.00

While helping Chris move we came across this in a box that he totally forgot he had. I quickly looked it up on eBay and told him it was worth selling. It is a DVD that contains every issue of Mad Magazine from the first issue up to 2005 as PDFs. For a while Chris was really into MAD and had a large selection of old issues that he recently sold before the move. Not a bad profit for something he forgot he had.

Harry Potter Game

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $24.99 Fees: $3.87 Profit: $16.61

This is an interesting Harry Potter board game. There is a ball that "levitates" (there is a air blower underneath) that rotates around the course and you need to work it through various obstacles. It is pretty impressive and rather fun, but doesn't seem to sell all that well. I've had this for months, so nice to see some older stuff move. 

My first year flipping

I have now been selling on eBay for 12 months. I have learned a lot in this last year, and have expanded my store each month. During this last year I sold 362 items for a profit of $9,970.17. That -is just shocking. I made almost an extra 10 grand last year from this hobby. That is just crazy. I came a long way from when I started. When I first started I took $500 from my saving and invested it into my hobby, and was able to pay myself back within the first two months. Since then I have been reinvesting most of my income back into the hobby. My eBay store currently just has over 400 items, which is slowly growing each month, and my store has inventory worth just over $19,000. I am hopeful that my next 12 months will be even more successful than my first.

July Recap - The end of my first year selling on eBay!

I sold 36 items.

I spent $283.23 on those items.

I sold those items for $2,167.72

I paid $205.11 in fees to eBay.

I made a profit of $1,679.38

I sold 3 things on commission and made $47.38

From my Flipping Experiment with Chris:

We sold 6 items

We sold these items for $386.93

We paid $51.14 in fees to eBay.

We made a profit of $335.79 - meaning $167.90 each

My total profit this month was $1,894.66

This was a great month! The first month of Q3 is typically slower than the later part of Q3, but I will gladly take this as a "slow month"! While I nearly broke $2,000 overall, a large component of that was a single auction sale of almost $600, which will hardly be a regular occurrence, but even without that sale I still made well over $1,000! Chris and I made some headway in listing some more of the items from our experiment lot, and while sales have been slow we are slowly making back our investment. I've also started to list a number of things I've been asked to sell on commission - something I do not plan on doing regularly at all - and some have started to sell. 

Perhaps even more importantly it was been a full 12-months since I've been selling on eBay. It doesn't seem that long, but it has been quite the adventure to this point. If you told me a year ago, when I was just selling sheets, that I would have a sale for $600 in less than a year's time I'm not sure I would have believed you. I am pleasantly surprised to see the growth I've made in this first year, and hope to enter my second year with even higher hopes for the future.