Commissioned Sale: McDonald's Halloween Pin

Sale Price: $14.99 Fees:$2.74 Profit: $12.25

My 30% cut of the Profit: $3.67

I guess with Halloween coming up someone wanted this pin - I don't blame them, it's a pretty nifty pin.

Sterling 694 Decimal Trig Log-Log

Bought: $2.40 Sold: $24.99 Fees: $3.75 Profit: $18.84

I picked this up at VV in Moncton while there for work. Log Log rulers can sell quite well, but others, like this one, sell for about $20. It depends how complex they are. If I can find them cheap enough, $1 or $2, I picked them up. This has been in my store for more than 6 months now, but it sold, and was a cheap investment that was an easy $20 profit.

Banda Board Game

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $3.19 Profit: $13.42

This is a vintage Ravensburger board game called Banda. I picked it up because it was both Ravensburger and it was made in Western Germany. I was a bit disappointed that it didn't sell for that much, and not only that, but it sat for over a year. Still, it sold, and not a terrible ROI for $3.

Crayola Burp'n Monster Sharpener

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $2.44 Profit: $13.04

This is a Crayola sharpener that burps the entire time you are sharpening your pencil. I found this at VV and couldn't find much about it on the spot, but saw that it was labelled Crayola so I took a shot and bought it. Once home I was able to find out it's name, and realized that it didn't sell for that much. I listed it anyways, and it has sat for over 2 years in my store. I've considered just pulling it and donating it a few times, but I'm glad I didn't as it finally sold. Not a huge profit, but a large item off my shelf.

Lot of 150 Canadian Flag Pins

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $14.99 Fees: $3.29 Profit: $11.70

The most recent bag of pins that I purchased had these 150 Canadian Flags in them. It actually made it really hard to tell what other pins were in the bag through all these ones. I bought the bag for the other pins, but I searched and saw that bulk lots of pins sold. I priced them low to just get rid of them. Oddly, I actually got a call from eBay about these. Apparently someone was trying to buy them, but there was a glitch and it wouldn't process. eBay called because they couldn't fix the issue and asked me to cancel the listing and relist it. I did, but it didn't sell that day. It finally sold today, but I have no idea if the same person who tried to buy them a week ago.

Steve Jackson Games TOON

Bought: $1.13 Sold: $30.00 Fees: $4.32 Profit: $24.55

Chris' 5% Commission: $1.23

These are two RPG source books for a cartoon RPG created by Steve Jackson games. I picked these up because they were cheap, and made a decent ROI for the investment. 

Vintage Bob Ross Basic Paint Set

Bought: $11.29 Sold: $39.00 Fees: $5.74 Profit: $21.97

This is a paint set sold by Bob Ross, host of the famous TV show. The kit was unused and in very good condition. I was hoping to get more for it, but despite many watchers, this was the first reasonable offer, and considering I just spent a lot of money on a wedding and will spend more on my honeymoon, I figured I should just accept reasonable offers, so this buyer got lucky.

Vintage Little Tikes People & Accessories

Bought: $15.81 Sold: $26.00 Fees: $4.50 Profit: $5.69

Chris' 5% Commission: $0.28

Chris picked up a Little Tikes doll house at VV which came with a lot of furniture. I saw that the doll house sold well on eBay, but realized it was too big and that I could not ship it to the US. I listed it for Canada only, but after 9 months with no interest, I decided to list the house locally and the furniture alone. I checked Kijiji and saw that people were selling the house for as low as $5 and not getting any interest, so I donated the house back and sold the furniture. I really just wanted to recoup the investment, which I finally did. Not a great sale, but I didn't lose money. 

Vintage Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $50.00 Fees: $6.29 Profit: $43.71

This is the tarot deck that I bought along in a hanging baggie along with the French one that sold last week, and the reason I bought the baggie. I had this listed for $75, but I got an offer of $50 in the uber ride to the airport for my honeymoon, and was feeling in a generous mood - plus it's now Chris who has to find and mail this, not me!

Vintage Gameboy Fanny Pack

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $19.99 Fees: $2.21 Profit: $15.53

I picked this up at the Cornwall VV while there quickly one day. I've never had much success there, but this was too awesome and retro to leave behind, even though it doesn't have the best ROI. I've now sold two of these. 

This is also the last item I am shipping before my honeymoon! It's 2:00 AM and our flight to Hawaii leaves in 4 hours! This is the last thing I'm doing before leaving for the airport. I am leaving my eBay store in the hands of Chris, so hopefully he can manage to find everything and get it shipped out without issue. 

Play-Doh Haunted House Play Set

Bought: $3.15 Sold: $39.99 Fees: $5.25 Profit: $31.59

This is a Play-Doh Haunted House play set that I bought at VV in Toronto while visiting friends. I had not seen this model before and there was none on eBay so I took a chance. I was hoping it would sell for last Halloween, but it didn't, and sat up for another year and finally sold just a month before Halloween. 

Vintage Pétanque Bocce Chrome steel Balls

Bought: $6.78 Sold: $49.99 Fees: $6.53 Profit: $36.68

This is a vintage Petanque ball set (a game similar to Bocce). I figured the vintage nature of the box, combined with the high quality steel balls would make it a worthwhile flip and I was right. Always keep an eye out for interesting vintage items.

Commissioned Sale: 6 Fantastic Four Marvel Essentials

Sale Price: $55.00 Fees:$7.59 Profit: $47.41

My 50% cut of the Profit: $23.71

Another lot of books Chris asked me to sell for him when he moved. This was the first 6 Marvel Essentials of the Fantastic Four. This may have taken a bit longer to sell as the third volume got badly water damaged while being stored, and it is twice as thick now as it should be. 

Genius GX Gaming DeathTaker Mouse

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $32.99 Fees: $4.63 Profit: $24.98

This is a gaming mouse that I picked up almost two years ago. It was one of the first things I bought to flip. I thought it might never sell, but I'm glad it finally did, and it had a pretty good ROI.

Five vintage hockey Pins

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $2.38 Profit: $17.62

These are five hockey themed pins, all from my most recent find at VV. I had these listed individually, but a buyer asked me to combine shipping, which is always awesome. Always love a multiple pin sale.

Commissioned Sale: Nintendo Popsicle Watch

Sale Price: $35.00 Fees:$4.74 Profit: $30.26

My 50% cut of the Profit: $15.13

This is a vintage Nintendo and Popsicle watch that Chris picked up at VV a few years ago for a few dollars. I tried my best to research this, and I wasn't able to find out much about it. My best guess is that this was a prize you could mail in to win as part of the Popsicle point program. Essentially you collected points from popsicle sticks. I was hoping to get more for this, but it's still a good price.

Strat-O-Matic Hockey Board Game

Bought: $7.90 Sold: $75.00 Fees: $8.97 Profit: $58.13

This is a hockey game based on the actual stats of players playing that year, and had a yearly update. This was the 1995-1996 season. $75 for a board game is always nice. 

French Tarot Deck

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $3.19 Profit: $14.56

I picked up this tarot deck in a hanging baggie along with another one. The other one was the reason I bought the baggie, and this was just an extra. The only down side of this one is that it is in French. It still sold and paid for the baggie. 

Elmo's Lunch Bunch Board Game

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $25.00 Fees: $3.80 Profit: $18.95

Picked this children's game up because it was Elmo and it was cheap. It is just a memory game, nothing particularly unique about it. I listed it for $40, but gladly took an offer of $25. 

Lot of pog slammers

Bought: $4.50 Sold: $9.99 Fees: $2.54 Profit: $2.95

This was not my best buy. I was in VV and was having no luck finding anything, and then I came across this very big hanging baggie of Pocahontas pogs. There were just so many of them! I figured for $4, surely someone would want them. Well, apparently despite my strong nostalgic feeling for then, pogs are not money makers. I listed the Pocahontas ones as one lot, and then listed these 40 odd slammers as another. This sale pays for all of them, so at least it wasn't a costly mistake, but not worth it for such a low ROI.

Superfection Board Game

Bought: $3.94 Sold: $29.99 Fees: $4.32 Profit: $21.73

Chris' 5% Commission: $1.09

I've sold this game a few times now, and Chris keeps wanting to buy it whenever he sees it. It doesn't sell all that well, and it is often broken (it no longer pops up), so I think this is the last time I'm selling this. Are you reading this Chris?

Bold Adventure Board Game

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $39.99 Fees: $5.46 Profit: $31.15

Chris' 5% Commission: $1.56

This is an obscure board game that Chris found based on the novel Pilgrim's Progress. There was none listed on eBay, and it didn't look very popular, but it was obscure, and it was cheap so I took a risk. I listed it for $40, a reasonable price for a board game, and it sold at my asking price, the buyer didn't even try to make an offer. Always nice to sell something you took a risk on.

Prince Edward Island Coat of Arms Crest Pin

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $4.99 Fees: $0.83 Profit: $4.16

One of the pins I listed this past weekend, the coat of arms for PEI. This sold to someone in Ottawa, about 2 kms from me. It's always weird to me when items sell to someone so close.

Flipping Experiment #2: Online Auction

September 19th - Rotary Pin

Sold for: $4.99 Fees: $1.04

Initial Cost for this item's lot: $6.22 Profit on this lot to date: $73.80

The pin lot had a lot of pins from the Rotary club - the owner must have been a member. They seem to be selling, so I'm not complaining. 

The Numbers:

Initial Overall Cost: $118.10

Number of items sold in September: 3

Number of items sold overall: 25

Gross Profit for September: $14.98

Fees to eBay: $2.08

Net Profit for September : $12.90

Net Overall Profit: $193.84

September 10th - St. Lawrence Opening Pin

Sold for: $5.00 Fees: $0.00

Initial Cost for this item's lot: $31.08 Profit on this lot to date: $60.82

This is a coin celebrating the Queen's visit to the St. Lawrence for the opening of the seaway. The buyer, who picked it up locally saving me eBay fees, said it was going to be put on display in the St. Lawrence Power Development Museum! It's only a $5 piece, but I'm so pumped that something I sold is going into a museum. Next time I'm in Cornwall I'm going to have to stop by and see if I can find it.

September 13th - Kingston Pin

Sold for: $4.99 Fees: $1.04

Initial Cost for this item's lot: $6.22 Profit on this lot to date: $63.63

Another pin sold, this one of Kingston and sold to someone in Kemptville. 

Barcode Battler

Bought: $5.64 Sold: $75.00 Fees: $9.47 Profit: $59.89

This is a really interesting game. It's a handheld game that allows you to battle against an opponent or the computer, and while it comes with character cards, you can use the bardcode from anything! You scan barcodes to act as the characters or the items. You won't know what you get until you scan the barcode. This apparently caused a bit of a surge on various items in Japan when this came out once people figured out what items had the best bardcodes. An interesting idea, although it was apparently not very successful in North America. This set was complete in the original box, and while it had some corrosion in the battery compartment it worked. It sold to a prof of computing at the University of Calgary. 

Vintage McDonald's Happy Meal toys

Bought: $7.36 Sold: $24.99 Fees: $3.47 Profit: $14.16

These two Happy Meal toys from the 1980s were among the hanging baggies of vintage McDonald's stuff I bought a few weeks ago. With this sale, all the bags are paid for, so the rest of the sales are pure profit, and with another 15 or so lots from these baggies listed I should continue to make good profit off these. 

2 Halifax Summit 1995 Pin 21st G7 Summit

Bought: $5.04 Sold: $9.99 Fees: $1.34 Profit: $3.61

These two pins from the G7 Summit in Halifax in 1995 were among the ones I got this week and listed yesterday. I actually got two of both, and listed them as two sets of 2. With this sale, all of the bins have been paid for, so the rest of the sales will be pure profit. 

Vintage Ski Hill Pin

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $4.99 Fees: $0.83 Profit: $4.16

A couple days ago at VV I picked up a few hangings baggies of pins and buttons, probably a couple hundred. As I was sitting here listing them, this one sold. I guess I may have price it too low, but then again, even if I only get $5 for a 100 pins, that's still $500, so I'm not complaining. 

Commissioned Sale: 2 McDonald's Pin

Sale Price: $14.98 Fees:$5.12 Profit: $9.86

My 30% cut of the Profit: $2.96

I guess this buyer was feeling patriotic as they bought two Americana McDonald's pins.

Commissioned Sale: McDonald's Pin

Sale Price: $4.99 Fees:$2.51 Profit: $2.48

My 30% cut of the Profit: $0.74

Another McDonald's pin sold. This one was bought by a first time eBay user. I can't imagine what prompts someone to create an eBay account just to buy this pin. It's not even a particularly interesting pin. 

Playmobil Advent Calendar

Bought: $20.00 Sold: $89.99 Fees: $11.06 Profit: $58.93

This is a Playmobil advent calendar from 2010. They make one of these each year, and each day the child opens the door for that day and come Christmas they have a whole set. They are limited edition and only sold leading up to Christmas. This one was new, and I bought it off Kijiji last October. I was hoping it would sell for last Christmas, but it didn't and sat for nearly a year. The nice thing about these is that the set is not sold elsewhere, so if someone wanted this set of Santa's post office they need to buy this, and because you get one small piece each day they often get lost, and so complete sets are less common. 

Pokemon Master Trainer Game

Bought: $7.90 Sold: $69.99 Fees: $9.04 Profit: $53.05

Chris' 5% Commission: $2.65

This is a very popular Pokemon board game, and always worth picking up if you can find it. I think this is my second or third one I've sold. Chris found it at VV and it was surprisingly complete. It had a bit of damage, so I sold it a bit under market value, and it sold quickly, in under a week. 

Flipping Experiment #1: Comic and Anime statues, comics and posters - Month #17

September 18th - Cowboy Bebop Statue

Sold for: $330.00 Fees: $55.21

This is probably the most expensive statue in the lot. It's had a number of watchers over the last two years, but on offers until today. I woke up to a long email with a number of questions, and while this would normally cause some concern, this is clearly a collector who wants to make sure they are getting what I say I'm selling. After a bit of back and forth, I accepted an offer. I'm nervous about it making it to Florida in one piece. I'm very hopeful that it will, but I won't be counting this money as in the bank until I hear from him that he received it and that it is in good shape. 

The Numbers:

Initial Cost: $2,000 

Number of items sold in September: 3

Number of items sold overall: 113

Gross Profit for September: $456.99

Fees to eBay: $79.24

Net Profit for September: $377.75

Net Overall Profit: $3584.57

Chris and I have recouped our initial investment, and each made a profit of $1792.26

September 4th - Frank Miller's Ronin Poster

Sold for: $37.00 Fees: $7.64

This was a poster for the comic series Ronin by the famous Frank Miller. I was shocked it took so long to sell this poster, as it is pretty unique and of a rather classic series. I had it up for $45, and asked if I would take $30 USD (which is currently $37 CDN). I was glad to take it and get this poster sold.

September 4th - Banpresto Code Geass

Sold for: $99.99 Fees: $16.39

This was one of the anime statues, and was actually one of the smallest. The box is only about 6" by 4". It was still sealed and the box is entirely in Japanese so I have no idea if it comes assembled or if its a model kit. I priced it at a high price as there were none others on eBay, and it finally sold for my asking. It sold to a new eBay user and is being sent to a freight forwarded, so likely bought by someone overseas. Really hoping there isn't any issue with this buyer.

MOTU Terror Claws Skeletor

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $9.99 Fees: $1.92 Profit: $8.07

Chris' 30% Commission: $2.42

This is a He-Man action figure. Chris picked up a tub of action figures at a garage sale for $2, and said he would pay the $2 but he wanted 30% as opposed to his normal 5%. This figure was one of them, and is a relatively rare He-Man figure of Skeletor. Sadly it wasn't in the best of shape and was missing all of his accessories, but it still sold for $10. 

Batman Graphic Novel

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $22.00 Fees: $3.78 Profit: $15.97

This is a Batman graphic novel. I picked this up almost a year ago (October 2nd, 2016), and when I bought it there was actually two copies of it, so I bought both. This is the first of the two to sell, but I'm sure the other will sell eventually. Not a huge profit, but hard to turn down a $2 graphic novel.

Commissioned Sale: Hallmark Disney Ornament Set

Sale Price: $9.99 Fees:$3.61 Profit: $6.38

My 30% cut of the Profit: $1.91

Another one of the Disney items I sold for my coworker. This is a Hallmark Disney Ornament set that is still new in box. I was somewhat surprised for how little this sells for, but at least it sold, and it's off to France.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

Bought: $10.00 Sold: $18.00 Fees: $2.75 Profit: $5.25

I was at VV and found a number of hanging baggies containing vintage (1980's) McDonald's stuff. There was clearly a collection donated. I did my best to collect as many of the baggies as I could, and it ended up costing me just under $20 and I have almost 20 listings from the items in them. This was the first listing to sell, and so I credited about half the overall cost of the lot for this sale. As soon as I sell one or two more things I should break even. This was a set of four toys released by McDonald's in their happy meals at some point in the 1980's. It is a complete set, and all four are still new in their boxes. It was bought by someone in Germany, although shipped to his Aunt in the US as shipping was cheaper. 

King of Tokyo Expansion

Bought: $19.19 Sold: $37.00 Fees: $4.99 Profit: $12.82

Chris' 5% Commission: $0.64

This is an expansion to the board game King of Tokyo. This expansion went out of print, and the price jumped from $20 to almost $100 on the secondary market. Chris found two copies at Toys R Us, and bought them for me to sell. Unfortunately, shortly after they did they re-released this expansion, albeit with different art, and so the price dropped. There are still people who want the original version, so this has some resale value, but nowhere near what it once did. 

Digi-Comp 1

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $99.99 Fees: $11.72 Profit: $83.76

Chris' 10% Commission: $8.38

This is a really neat "toy" from 1963. It is a "computer" that can solve math problems and output the answer in binary. I wasn't sure what it was worth (none else listed and none sold recently), but I knew it was rare, so I decided to do an auction. Started it at $99.99, which is what it sold for, despite having 7 watchers. This is why I had auctions. I would have been better to put a really high BIN price on this and taken offers. Oh well, lesson learned (again), but still made a decent profit. There is a short Wikipedia article on this if you're interested.

Pooh Latch Hook Kit

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $25.00 Fees: $4.45 Profit: $17.17

This is a latch hook kit that I picked up a few months ago. Normally I wouldn't pick these up, but this one was Winnie the Pooh, and it was complete. Not a huge profit, but not bad for $3.

Fight in the Skies Board Game

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $24.99 Fees: $3.78 Profit: $18.96

A vintage war board game that I've had for quite some time. I'm glad it finally sold. You can tell by the black background that this was photographed when I first started, so this is likely from the fall of 2015. 

Avalon Hill Elric Board Game

Bought: $7.50 Sold: $49.99 Fees: $6.37 Profit: $36.12

This is one of the board games I bought as a large lot last fall. I am shocked this one took over a year to sell, as it is an avalon hill board game. It's nice to see two $50 sales back to back, helps get September moving despite the low number of sales.

Radica Talking Bingo Game

Bought: $3.38 Sold: $50.00 Fees: $6.37 Profit: $40.25

I was first drawn to this because of the bright yellow box, but then I saw that it was a bingo game I figured it wouldn't be worth much but I looked it up and was shocked to see the solds for this game. It was an easy buy, and sold it less than 2 weeks. 

Sesame Street Elmo's Find and Learn Game

Bought: $0.00 Sold: $39.99 Fees: $5.35 Profit: $34.64

Someone was selling these two Sesame Street character children toys on Kijiji and he included, seemingly as an afterthought, a Cookie Monster Play-Doh set. Well, I bought these just for the Play-Doh set which I already sold for $100. I decided to list these two anyways since I had them and they were essentially free. Not a bad ROI on these either, so overall the buy was a very good one. 

Commodore 64 Expander Port

Bought: $7.90 Sold: $24.99 Fees: $1.64 Profit: $15.45

Chris' 5% Commission: $0.77

Chris found this at VV and I told him to get it as it looked vintage, and I figured a vintage computer part may sell well. It turns out that it is an unofficial unlicensed game port expander for the Commodore 64. I had no way to test it, so I sold it as "for parts / as is" so that it could not be returned if it didn't work. Since I had no idea what it might be worth and since there was none like on it anywhere that I could find,I put it on auction starting at $24.99. Despite having 6 watchers by the end, it sold for the starting bid. I'm glad it sold, but disappointed there was not more of a bidding war. This is why I normally don't do auctions, they often don't bring in more than your starting bid, but I just had no idea what this worth. I could have set a really high BIN price and taking offers, and in hindsight maybe I should have. Live and learn. As long as I'm not losing money, it's a lesson to be learned. 

Lemax Signature Collection Spooky Town - Skull River

Bought: $69.09 Sold: $172.50 Fees: $19.51 Profit: $83.90

This one was rarer than the other, as only one had sold on eBay in the last 90 days, and it was used with no box and it sold for $125. With none others listed I started my auction at $125. It had 16 watchers at the end, and sold for $175. A pretty good profit on this one, which helps to make up for the first one. The other two didn't sell at auction, so I've put them up as BIN and I'm confident they will sell closer to Halloween. These two that sold were the two more expensive ones, so I'm glad they sold, and that I'm not a lose on either.