Heroquest Expansion Pack

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $149.99 Fees: $14.45 Profit: $133.29

Chris and I recently hit up all the VVs in the city, but it was a disappointing trip and we found almost nothing. We were at the last store and I was complaining about how bad of luck we were having, and while standing looking at the board games for the second time when I saw this, which totally made up for the lack of finds the rest of the day. HeroQuest is a popular board game from the 1980s that fetches high dollars. This is the first expansion pack providing 10 more quests, and it also sells quite well. This one had some damage to the box but the pieces inside had never been punched, so it was unused. Always nice to turn $2 into over $100. This is the ROI I'm always looking for.

1996 Fisher Price Loving Family Hideaway Hollow

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $10.00 Fees: $1.78 Profit: $8.22

Months ago I picked up a few bags at VV of various animal figures. I look them all up and they comprised three different sets of animal figures. I sold the first two already and made back my investment and then some. This was the last set, and by far the smallest. A Fisher Price bunny family from 1996. Not a huge profit, but with no investment it's hard to say no to free money.

Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Armour Update

Bought: $5.64 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $2.67 Profit: $11.68

This is a book to be used with the game Warhammer 40,000. It is apparently an update to a part of the game that came out in 2004. This sat in my store for months, but I knew it would sell eventually, I just had to wait for the right buyer. It is nice to see old stock being sold.

Hotels Board Game

Bought: $5.64 Sold: $75.00 Fees: $8.29 Profit: $61.07

Chris's 5% Commission: $3.05

This is a board game that involves the building of hotels. It includes a number of cardboard 3D hotels. I'm not sure why, though I'm guessing because few copies exist without damaged hotels, but this game sells quite well. I accepted a best offer because I wanted some end-of-the-month sales, but it was still a great profit. This is a game to be on the lookout for.

Sony Discman D-FS601

Bought: $45.67* Sold: $49.99 Fees: $3.82 Profit: $00.50

This was an item that I had previously sold but the buyer opened an INAD (item not as described) case claiming it had no way to turn it off. I sent her the manual as a PDF and explained how, but she claimed it didn't work. I was forced to accept the return and had to reimburse her for the shipping cost to her and had to pay shipping back, which combined with the original price I paid for it cost me $45.67. The item sells for $50. I checked it when I got it back and it works fine. Not sure if the first buyer was just incompetent or had buyer's remorse. Either way, I sold it again, and broke evenly essentially (which is better than being out $45). Hopefully they can figure out a simple power button and have no complains.

Star Munchkin

Bought: $2.36 Sold: $17.00 Fees: $2.77 Profit: $11.87

This is a version of the game Munchkin, which is itself a rather popular card game. I picked this up because it was cheap and unused. It has sat for a long time - likely due to the fact that there are so many versions of this game, and this one is still in print. I took a low offer, but it is a sale and I'm always happy to move inventory.

Tasmanian Devil Mug

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $59.99 Fees: $6.28 Profit: $50.33

This is a Taz Devil Mug, which is pretty cool in of itself, but the reason it is so valuable is because this mug was used in the movie National Lampoon Christmas Vacation (see below) and as such is much more collectible than the other mugs in this line. The person who bought it is from Germany, and the shipping with tracking to Germany was $60! She paid just as much to ship it as she paid for the mug, and paid $120 total for a mug! I really hope it survives the trip overseas unbroken... 

Playmobil 5265 Hotel

Bought: $67.79 Sold: $250.00 Fees: $24.43 Profit: $157.78

I was in Marshall's the other day to buy a new suitcase, and whenever I'm in Marshall's or Winners I always look at the toy section. Oftentimes they get toys that didn't sell, but are still collectable and the price has only gone up. I found this Playmobil set which is huge, and was discontinued in 2012. I don't know if it was sitting in a warehouse somewhere for the last 4 years or what, but there it was. The problem was that there was no price. This would have originally retailed for probably $120-150. I was willing to pay up to $100 as there were only a handful on eBay, the cheapest being $350 with free shipping. I went to the cash to ask, and they couldn't tell me the price. Apparently they don't have a database of their inventory (which makes sense I guess since none of it is theirs originally). So they went and found the next biggest box of Playmobil (which was much smaller) and since it was priced at $30, they said they could sell this one for $60. I jumped on it. Listed it for $300 (wanted it to sell and didn't want to offer free shipping) and it sold within 24 hours for a best offer of $250. I could have sat on it longer and waited for that extra $50, but this is a huge profit with very minimal work, and it has been a slow month, so glad to see the sale. 

Mega Bloks Pieces

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $5.00 Fees: $0.96 Profit: $4.04

I have a listing up of pieces to four Mega Blok sets - none of which are complete. This buyer messaged me asking if I would sell her just 8 of the pieces, which I did. I'm asking $40 for the whole lot, and sold just 8 of the pieces for $5. This is the third time I've done this. I've more than made back my investment in just selling pieces. I would like to just sell the lot and get rid of it, but making a bit of money on small pieces doesn't hurt.

McDonald's Happy Meal Play Set

Bought: $7.90 Profit After Return: $4.10

 Sold: $50.00 Fees: $5.56 Profit: $48.54

After I received this back as a return, I relisted it and it has already sold. I was already at a $4.10 profit after the 20% restocking fee from the first sale, so I was willing to take a best offer of $50. A good sale, and hopefully this buyer doesn't want to return it. 

Vintage Sega Logo Mug

Sale Price: $24.99 Fees:$5.01 Profit: $19.98

My 50% cut of the Profit: $9.99

This is a mug that Chris picked up from VV, used for a while, and asked me to sell when he moved. Chris thought I priced this too high and was worried it wouldn't sell. Well, I guess he was wrong. A nice sale and decent ROI for a mug that I didn't have to buy.

Dungeon and Dragon Book

Sale Price: $14.99 Fees: $2.23

Overall Lot: Bought: $146.89 Profit to date: $32.28

Another sale from the D&D lot I bought from VV. This one is a Master Index and a DM screen. This actually sold to a guy in Ottawa, so he will get it really fast. I wasn't sure if either of these would sell, since they have the least use, but they did, so I'm happy, and this lot continues to turn more of a profit.

The Land Before Time Escape From Red Claw Board Game

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $30.00 Fees: $3.76 Profit: $22.86

A children's board game based on the movies The Land Before Time. I've had this for a while, with an asking price of $40. Someone messaged me on eBay and negotiated to $30, and it took a while for him to figure out how to use eBay and how to make an offer. 

Lot of 3 Warhammer 40,000 books

Bought: $16.92 Sold: $40.00 Fees: $4.52 Profit: $18.56

This is a lot of three Warhammer 40,000 books (three volumes of an index used in the game). They were a bit pricey but I was hoping to sell them for $50. I took a best offer of $40 because I wanted the sale. Only after I took the best offer did I realise that I had a typo in the listing title, which may have meant not everyone who was searching for these was finding my listing. That being said, it was a quick flip and doubled my money which is never bad. 

Playmobil 3151 Viking Longhouse

Bought: $30.00 Sold: $99.99 Fees: $10.39 Profit: $59.60

I bought this off of Kijiji and it was nearly complete. An out of print and somewhat rare Playmobil playset. The issue with playmobil is that they sell better with the original boxes, but for some ridiculous reason the boxes are HUGE and completely unnecessarily so. The pieces fit into about half the box and so there is a lot of wasted space. It just means shipping it anywhere is more expensive than it needs to be, and it also takes up a lot of space in storage. Still, Playmobil sells, so worth looking out for.

Wolf King Warrior 55 Key Keyboard

Bought: $9.03 Sold: $55.00 Fees: $5.90 Profit: $40.07

Anytime you come across an odd shaped keyboard, pick it up. This is a keyboard that allows a user to type with one hand, and it has a ton of programmable keys. It is a gaming keyboard allowing a user to use a joystick with his other hand. I can't imagine the difficulty of trying to learn to type on this. It was pricey to buy, but it was a good sale with a nice profit.

Mega Bloks Dragons

Bought: $10.00 Sold: $40.00 Fees: $3.60 Profit: $26.40

This was a Mega Bloks set that was nearly complete and pretty big. I found it at a garage sale this summer. It was a large box with the instructions and a ton of pieces (I took a risk that it was mostly complete), and I asked how much it was. She told me to make an offer (which I hate). I offered her $10 which she jumped on - I guess she would have taken a lot lower, but I still made a decent profit on it. The buyer was from Ottawa and so we met and they paid in cash and no shipping, which is always one less thing to worry about. 

Returned Item

The person who bought the McDonald's Happy Meal Shake Maker at the beginning of the month messaged me hours after I mailed it indicated that their child had purchased the item "accidentally" and that they wanted to return it. I told them that it had already shipped but to return it once they received it. Once it arrived she opened a return and I accepted it. The things about eBay is that they are pretty good for sellers who offer returns as long as the buyer doesn't try to scam the system and argue it was an Item Not as Described (INAD). If it is an INAD return, the seller has to pay return shipping and reimburse the buyer for the cost of the item and the initial shipping. People abuse this all the time to avoid paying return shipping and getting their full purchase back. If, however, a buyer is honest, and in this case she was, then she has to pay return shipping and gets reimbursed the initial item cost less the original shipping AND less any restocking fee (you can set 5%, 10% or 20%). I have mine all set to 20%. So she paid $60 and $27.60 for shipping, and I refunded her the $60 less 20%, so she got back $47.99. So this mistake cost her the initial shipping ($27.60) and 20% ($12) so shes out of picked almost $40. She was smart in that she didn't pay to mail it back - she just refused to accept it, so it gets sent back to me. It was somewhat risky on her behalf since she had no tracking to prove she mailed it back, but it worked out. I paid $7.90 for this item, but after the $12 restocking fee I've now made $4.10 profit and I get to relist it and sell it all over again. 

Flipping Experiment #1: Comic and Anime statues, comics and posters - Month #6

October 17 - Cutie Honey CG Cy Girls

Sold for: $37.00 Fees: $6.82

Another figure sold. This one is similar to a barbie but is released by a company called BBI Blue Box. We were asking $50 but took a best offer of $37. It is being shipped to a mail forwarder in the States and the buyer is actually from Singapore.

The Numbers:

Initial Cost: $2,000

Number of items sold in October: 3

Number of items sold overall: 27

Gross Profit for October: $221.99

Fees to eBay: $28.25

Net Profit for October: $193.74

Net Overall Profit: -$166.16

Chris and I have each recouped $916.92 of our initial $1,000 investment so far.

October 5 - Lot of 6 Ms. Marvel (2006 2nd Series) TPB

Sold for: $149.99 Fees: $21.43

There was a number of trade paperbacks in the lot we picked up, but this was the only collected series (as opposed to random trades). This was the entire run of Ms Marvel by Reed in 6 trade paperbacks. Some of these are out of print, and it is almost a decade old at this point. If someone wanted to read this series, this is probably the only way it could be read without buying every single individual issue. Got a great value for these, and at the 6 month mark we are almost breaking even with only having sold 25 things.

October 12 - Three Trades

Sold for: $35.00 Fees: $00.00

We had a number of trades mixed in with the comics. We have them listed on eBay, but I also listed them on Kijiji. One guy bought these three for $35. Not a bad sale for these books, and nice to get some of these moving.

Dungeon and Dragon Book

Sale Price: $14.99 Fees: $2.24

Overall Lot: Bought: $146.89 Profit to date: $19.52

I sold another one of the D&D books from the giant lot I got from VV. I've made back my investment and have started to make a profit. These will continue to sell slowly, but I'm confident they will sell in due time. I still have over a dozen books in this lot to sell so there is much profit to be made still.

MiJam B2 Drum Sticks

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $24.99 Fees: $2.39 Profit: $18.09

These are drum sticks with a device you can plug your mp3 player into along with headpones, allowing you to listen to music and being able to drum along and the device creates the sound of the drums. I guess the theory is that it allows you to practice your drumming? Or just for fun? I'm not quite sure. Last fall I saw these in VV a lot and finally decided to buy one and see how they sold. Well, not very well. They sat for a year, and when they finally sold I was shocked. Last week I was looking for something else to ship and found the box for this and was shocked I still had them for sale and actually thought I should just redonate them. I'm glad I didn't and that they sold, but I will not be buying these again.

Stop Thief

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $27.28 Fees: $3.60 Profit: $19.17

This is a vintage board game from the 1980s that includes an "electronic crime scanner" which makes it somewhat unique. It doesn't sell for a ton, but this is the second one I've sold and it sold pretty quickly both times. I had it up for $40 but took a best offer of $27.28 (with shipping it came to exactly $40) because sales have been slow and I wanted a sale. Sometimes it is just worth selling stuff - especially big things.

TMNT RPG Books

Bought: $44.04 Sold: $90.00 Fees: $9.01 Profit: $36.95

I picked these up at VV from the display case (so they were priced pretty high) but I knew they would sell, and they are too cool to pass up. They are role-playing game books featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was somewhat tempted to keep them to try playing them, but don't think I'd be able to find anyone to play with. Not a huge profit, but almost doubled my money and it was a relatively quick sale.

Nighmare and Nightmare III

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $50.00 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $50.00

I sold one of the remaining Nightmares on Kijiji along with Nightmare III (one of the expansions). I actually got the Nightmare III inside one of the Nightmare games I picked up (someone had both in the same box) and so it was free, so that was nice. The buyer is in Toronto so I'm mailing it, but since done through Kijiji no fees. I still have 6 more copies to sell!

Commissioned Sale: Lot of 3 Avengers Essentials

Sale Price: $49.99 Fees:$7.65 Profit: $42.34

My 50% cut of the Profit: $21.17

These are three more Essentials that Chris asked me to sell for him following his move. These are the first three volumes of The Avengers collecting the first 68 issues. Essentials are becoming less desirable as Marvel moves away from this model of reprinting issues and moving towards Epics and Omnibuses. I'm not sure how long these will continue to be sellable. 

Two Copies of Nightmare

Bought: $41.71 Sold: $45.00 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $3.29

Over the last year I have picked up every copy of this game I have come across and before this sale I had nine complete copies. I spend $41.71 on all nine copies. I have an ad up on Kijiji, since there is a lot on eBay and I figure I can get more locally, especially with Halloween coming up. This time last year I sold about 4-5 copies locally on Kijiji. I had a guy interested in buying one, and he mentioned he works at the Loft (a downtown board game bar) and that he was hosting a Nightmare night and was looking to buy a few. I told him I had more than one and would make a deal. He bought two for $45, which not only made me even on all 9 copies but I made a small profit. I now have 7 more to sell at pure profit. Also, interestingly, last year I sold a copy to the owner of Monopolatte (a local board game cafe that just closed last week) for a Nightmare night at the location. So I have now sold this game to the two main board game cafe/bars in the city. Here is hoping I can sell some of the other 7 in the next few weeks.

General MacArthur War Board Game

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $39.99 Fees: $4.63 Profit: $31.98

This is a board game that Chris picked up in the Kingston VV. It is a war themed board game that allows you to play through three of General MacArthur's campaigns. It was released by a smaller publisher - House of Games - and war games are not always the fastest seller, but research showed that it sold for about $40, and I'm actually rather shocked how fast it sold - within a month or so of posting. 

2 Lee Valley NWT Shirts

Bought: $33.88 Sold: $40.00 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $6.12

I picked up these two Irish made Lee Valley flannel shirts, both new with tags. I listed them on eBay, but then thought my dad may want them and offered them to him. He said he wanted them but only wanted to pay cost. I talked him up to $40 so I made a slight profit. 

KRE-O Transformers Autobot Ratchet

Bought: $11.85 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $3.29 Profit: $4.85

I picked this up last fall and the selling price at the time was $40, but it has sat for a year and the price has dropped significantly. I'm glad it finally sold and I recouped my investment, which in hindsight was too much to pay, but I'm disappointed I missed out on getting the value it was selling for last year.

NHL Hockey Challenge

Bought: $3.94 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $3.11 Profit: $12.94

This is an NHL Trivia game. I bought this last winter and am somewhat shocked it took so long to sell, but I guess with the NHL season starting up it makes sense it would sell now. Not a huge profit, but sales are always good!

Lot of fake plastic food

Bought: $15.80 Sold: $30.00 Fees: $3.87 Profit: $10.33

I had some luck last fall selling lots of fake plastic food, and I picked up a couple large bags of them, but they have sat for almost a year. I got an offer on this lot today and I took it. I made a small profit, but I mainly wanted it gone. I'm going to avoid buying this again unless it is a specific theme or brand. This generic stuff doesn't sell as well. 

Dungeon & Dragon Book

Sale Price: $10.50 Fees: $2.29

Overall Lot: Bought: $146.89 Profit to date: $6.50

This was one of the D&D books I picked up in the large lot at VV. I had it up asking $15 with no OBO, but a guy emailed asking if I'd take less and since I knew I would break even on the whole lot with this sale and considering I have another 10 books from this lot still to sell (which will be pure profit) I agreed. 

Swatch Cappuccino Watch

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $40.00 Fees: $4.48 Profit: $32.14

Chris and I were at VV and Chris picked up this watch and said I should buy it. I asked why and he said that Swatches were really popular in the 90's and while cheap, they are all unique designs and very popular with hipsters. I looked it up and he was right. I've since grabbed a couple others that I have for sale. They look cheap and are often $2 or $3, but can sell for $40-100. I wish I knew about these when I first started thrifting, but I'm always learning.

MEC Shoulder Bag

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $24.99 Fees: $3.41 Profit: $18.20

This is another one of the bags I picked up at VV without knowing if it would sell. I knew it was a Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) bag, and was therefore well made and a good company. It is rather small - it is really a purse-sized bag - but it would make a good small hiking bag or a fall purse. I couldn't find anything similar on the MEC site or on eBay. I made up a price that I felt comfortable with and would be happy to get and someone paid it! 

Panasonic RX-SA77 Cassette Player

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $49.99 Fees: $3.75 Profit: $41.73

Another cassette player sold. Normally I stick to Sony, but this one had an interesting look to it and it was Panasonic, which is still a known brand. The main reason I bought it was that it has a 5 band equalizer on it, allowing the listener to have a lot of control with the sound. I figure this was a unique enough gimmick that someone may want it. 

Avalon Hill Wooden Ships & Iron Men

Bought: $5.53 Sold: $39.99 Fees: $4.60 Profit: $29.86

Another Avalon Hill game, this one a marine battle theme. These continue to be one of my favorite things to sell. They always sell well and for a good price, and while counting the pieces can sometimes be a bit tedious, I've found that most people who own AH games tend to take good care of them and I've only once come across an incomplete game. 

Random lot of Play-Doh

Bought: $18.02 Sold: $25.00 Fees: $3.38 Profit: $3.60

These were an assortment of Play-Doh pieces I had picked up over months - some by buying intentionally, and some as pieces left over from bags or boxes I had bought for other pieces. Instead of trying to sell a number of sets as incomplete, I just listed them all as one lot in order to get rid of them and recoup my investment. I wasn't trying to make much profit, just make space and not lose any profit. It finally sold, and one less big box in storage.

Clue and Risk

Bought: $13.54 Sold: $49.99 Fees: $5.73 Profit: $30.72

Parker Brothers released a handful of their classic games in a new wooden "book" style game in the mid-2000s. These are two of them - Risk and Clue. They stand up, and from the spine appear to be a large wooden book. The look nice sitting on a shelf, and are collectible for certain people. Neither of these games are ones I would pick up in their normal box - there has to be something unique or special about them. Even these relatively unique collectible box cases only sell for about $25 each, so not a huge profit. 

McDonalds Happy Meal Magic Shake Maker

Bought: $7.90 Sold: $59.99 Fees: $6.46 Profit: $45.63

This is a McDonald's toy from 1993 that allows you to make McDonald's shakes, and it comes with small McDonald's glasses, lids and straws. Thankfully it was complete - including all the straws and cups. It looks to have never been used. It sold in less than a week, which is always nice. Anything McDonald's sells, the question is just for how much. 

September Recap - End of Q3

I sold 27 items.

I spent $242.57 on those items.

I sold those items for $1,542.25

I paid $166.27 in fees to eBay.

I made a profit of $1,151.12

I sold 2 things on consignment and made $14.21

From my Flipping Experiment with Chris:

We sold 5 items

We sold these items for $215.96

We paid $34.84 in fees to eBay.

We made a profit of $181.12 - meaning $90.56 each

My total profit this month was $1,255.89

September was a slow month with weeks where I only sold one or two things. It was the first month in a while that I actually felt like sales were slow. I sold less than a thing a day, which hasn't happened in a while. Thankfully I still broke $1,000 for the month though, so happy with that. October starts Q4, so hopefully sales pick up leading up to Christmas.