Flipping Experiment #1: Comic and Anime statues, comics and posters - Month #2

UPDATED - June 13

June 13 - Lot of 2 CG CY Girls BBT Blue Box SKY & SHADOW 12" 1/6 Scale Figure

Sold for: $90.00 Fees: $12.02

This was two CG CY Girls, which was a line of dolls featuring an elite unit of female crime-fighters combining the elements of both a doll and an action figure. These two figures were both still in box and unopened, but both boxes had some damage.

The Numbers:

Initial Cost: $2,000

Number of items sold in June: 4

Number of items sold overall: 10

Gross Profit for June: $275.00

Fees to eBay: $36.92

Net Profit for June: $238.08

Net Overall Profit: -$991.26

Chris and I have each recouped $504.37 of our initial $1,000 investment so far.

Original Post

We did pretty well in May, and by the end of the month all statues had been listed. Now that we are in the middle of Q2 I am not expecting these to fly off the shelves, and likely won't see good sales until the fall, but still hoping to sell a few.

June 09 - The King of Fighters '98 Shermie

Sold for: $140.00 Fees: $17.63

This was the last statue I posted, and when I was doing research on it was not able to find a lot - it is one of the oldest statues dating from 2000. I did find some fanpages indicated that the pink dress version was rarer than the white dress version. Chris and I decided to put this for auction starting at $100, and we had a number of watchers and a little bit of a bidding war, but it sold for $120. The winner never paid though, so after waiting the required time, I re-listed it, but decided to list it for $150 BIN OBO and accepted an offer of $140. At the end of the day, no idea what this statue is worth, but very glad to get that price for it.

June 09 - Titans The Heroic Visions Of Boris Vallejo And Julie

Sold for: $10.00 Fees: $2.27

This is a book of art featuring the X-Men as drawn by Boris Vallejo. I was surprised that this book didn't go for more than this, but I am glad it sold. Our first book/comic sold from the lot. The same guy who bought the statue asked if I could combine shipping on this item, so he saved significantly on the cost of mailing this.

June 10 - Kaiyodo Mon-Sieur Bome Vol.19 Yamamoto Isoroku "Kichikuoh-Rance" Figure

Sold for: $35.00 Fees: $5.00

There were a number of these "Mon-Sieur Bome Collection" figures in the lot, and all are stilled sealed. The seller said a lot of people message just trying to buy these figures, and they do seem to be in demand, but there are a lot for sale on eBay and don't fetch  a huge profit. That being said, it is still a sale. It helps a lot that all of these figures were new, always much easier to sell NIB.

Vintage Dungeons & Dragons Box Set

Bought: $22.59 Sold: $70.00 Fees: $5.80 Profit: $41.61

This is a vintage Dungeons & Dragons Box Set. I picked this up at VV in Kingston. I had a hard time trying to price this because while there were a few on eBay, the prices ranged a lot, and I knew mine was an early edition (the book was stamped with 2nd Edition). It was complete, and had some early dice too. It sold within minutes of being listed, which usually means that it was listed too low. I checked out the eBay page of the buyer, and he sells on eBay and currently has two copies of this game for sale. One that looks similar to my edition he is asking $400 USD. I may have sold this too low... While a profit is nice, it does hurt (a lot) to realize how much more I could have made. I am going to follow him and see how much he re-lists this for, since he is clearly intending to flip this.

My first attempt at flipping video games

Bought: $22.00 Sold: $74.99 Fees: $2.96 Profit: $50.03

This is a Playstation 2 Slim with 10 games and 2 controllers. I was at a garage sale last week, and I arrived just as he was setting up. I saw a box for a PS3, and opened it wondering if he was actually selling a PS3. It was actually a PS2 with what you see above. He said he wanted to sell it as a lot, and that he wanted $20 for it all. He also wanted to sell the Dancing with the Stars game pad as well as part of the lot for $25, but I said I just wanted the box. He asked if I would just take it for $2, since he really didn't want to try and sell it on its own. I took it and I will donate it to VV, as it has no resale value. This was a bit of a gamble, since I know, and knew, next to nothing about flipping video games and systems, but I figured for $20 it was worth the risk. A lot of people flip only video games, and make a lot of money on it. The main reasons I don't are because there are high potential for scams and the market is just flooded. I would much rather be one of only 2 or 3 people selling something, as opposed to one of 100s or 1000s. Anyways, I checked out the games and none had great individual value - if they had I would have listed them separately. I checked the system and all the games, and everything worked. So, it was a pretty good profit. I am still not sold on selling video games, and until the buyer receives this and doesn't make a complaint I will still be anxious about the sale.

Bambi Ceiling Light Glass Cover

Bought: $9.03 Sold: $35.99 Fees: $3.43 Profit: $23.53

This is a ceiling light glass cover featuring characters from Bambi. This is the 2nd ceiling light cover I've sold. The concern with these is shipping, but I had no issues with the first one, so hopefully this one goes just as well. VV always seems to price these high - probably because they realize it is vintage and Disney. Still, there is plenty of meat left on the bones and these tend to sell quickly. This will undoubtedly be put up in some nursery somewhere. 

A pair of mugs

Bought: $2.25 Sold: $17.00 Fees: $2.27 Profit: $12.48

This is a set of mugs with the logo from "Saturday Night at the Movies" which was a television program on TVO. I wasn't sure if these would sell, but I figured that they were rare enough and the show ran long enough that someone may want them. They sold within two weeks, which is awesome, and surprisingly are off to Alberta! I was sure that these would stay in Ontario. 

CAT Construction Train Set

Bought: $16.94 Sold: $40.00 Fees: $4.35 Profit: $18.71

I saw this train set (it included tracks) in a bag at VV for $15. I looked it up quickly, and while I couldn't find the exact set, I knew that CAT toys told relatively well and the bag had a number of them in it. Once home and able to research it better, I found the set these were from. Thankfully the set was complete and in good condition. It was selling new on eBay for $50, so I'm content to get $40 for a used set. Not a huge profit, but I'm glad that this gamble paid off and I didn't lose money, and it was a quick sale. 

Home Alone the Board Game

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $17.99 Fees: $2.19 Profit: $11.29

Sometimes I just assume something will be worth money and don't actually look it up. This is a real problem I have with vintage board games. I figure how could a Home Alone board game not be worth selling? Well, it sells, but not for a lot. Also, as much as I love selling board games, vintage board games come in this classic size box - which is a size that is really hard to ship. It is just a large and awkward size that doesn't fit into any modern size box. I am always making my own boxes for these, and so not only do they not make a lot of money but they are also a pain in the ass to ship. Still, this was a profit so I guess I can't be too bitter.