February Recap

I sold 24 items.

I spent $170.45 on those items.

I sold those items for $745.41

I paid $86.31 in fees to eBay.

I made a profit of $488.65

Starting into the later half of my first year of selling, with month 7, and it was a very slow month. February is, apparently, typically a slow month for e-commerce, and it was evident. I went over a week without selling anything. I dropped significantly from January, and was down to my September/October levels. It is a bit disconcerting to continually be adding things to your store, and not moving much product. Just have to keep positive, and know that the tide will turn.

K'NEX Big Ball Factory

Bought: $22.59 Sold: $169.82 Fees: $16.94 Profit: $130.29

I've been picking up K'NEX when I see it, and been selling it with mixed success. I have recently decided I'm going to stop picking it up, as it is more work than it is worth. When I have big box sets like this one, it takes hours to count all the 3,000+ pieces, and unless one of the rarer sets like this one, it may not even go for that much. Chris came over a few weekends ago and helped me count and list two of my K'NEX box sets, and I'm hoping to get more listed soon so I can get them out!

This set - the Big Ball Factory - is from 2000 and one of the earliest K'NEX sets. The name Big Ball Factory has been used for two different sets since, but this one is the original one. It is rare to find complete, and with the instructions, and that is why it fetches the price it does. I actually found this at  VV for $20. Normally I would be hesitant to buy anything for $20 at VV, but I quickly checked the box at the store and it had the rarer items (aka, it had all the pieces I couldn't replace from my surplus supply), and so I bought it. It is rather heavy, weighing in at just shy of 7 kilograms, and quite large. These things are a pain to list, and a pain to ship. While I enjoy this sale, and its late-month boost to my monthly sales, I think I am out of the K'NEX game. 

Disney Sticker Book

Bought: $2.02 Sold: $14.07 Fees: $2.32 Profit: $9.73

I found this at the local Goodwill, which now sadly closed. It is a giant (weighing in at 2 pounds) sticker book with both stickers and themed pages to apply the stickers from a a variety of different Disney movies. This was "Treasury 1," and as the name suggests there have been others. When I listed this months ago, until today, I still have not seen another #1 on eBay. I had it listed for $20 USD, and had a lot of people making low offers due to the simple fact that shipping for a 2 pound item to the states starts at around $10 USD. In the states this would cost around $2-3 USD to ship anywhere in the country due to their mail rules and media mail. People who buy this are used to paying that, and were unwilling to pay more, and understandably so. I finally got an offer today for $10 USD, which still left me with some profit, and after a week with no sales I was just glad to see something leave my shelf. It is a shame that if I lived in the states, this item would fetch twice as much. Oh well, parts of the joys, and pains, of selling from Canada. 

Frankendie

Bought: $4.74 Sold: $20.00 Fees: $0.00 Profit: $15.26

Yesterday Chris and I hit up VV first thing in the morning, and I made away with some good board games to sell. This was one of them - a new dice based game. I checked online and saw that it still sells new for $25 at Canadian retailers, so put it up for $25 since I noticed that mine had the bonus kickstarter additional cards. Someone offered me $20, and picked it up today, less than 24 hours later, so it was a quick flip and not bad that I didn't have to take any photographs, list or ship it.

Selling old inventory just to get rid of it

Bought: $5.64 Sold: $13.70 Fees: $2.61 Profit: $5.45

This is the Lost Encyclopedia - a book all about the TV show Lost. I got this at VV on a day when all books were 50% off, and I thought that for sure this would sell. While it does pretty well on Amazon, I couldn't get any interest on eBay. I think a large part of the problem was that it weighs over 5 lbs, so shipping was insane. This past week this guy from Kitchener kept making really low offers, and he finally over me 50% of my asking price, but I was worried I wasn't going to sell it otherwise, and at least it moved some inventory. I have learned my lesson - I am avoiding books. eBay is just not the market for it.

Two things Robin said would never sell

Bought: $15.79 Sold: $27.38 Fees: $2.51 Profit: $9.08

These are two items I've had for quite some time. One is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles child sleeping bag, and the other is a Power Rangers fitted sheet. Robin said that neither would ever sell, and kept urging me to throw them out. Granted, I didn't make a whole lot of money on them, but they did sell! The lack of ROI was mainly that the TMNT bag cost me $11.29 - in hindsight I should have passed on it. Sometimes I am just too nostalgic and feel bad leaving awesome things on the shelf. Thankfully one person bought both, so saved on shipping for them. I'm glad these are gone, and I've learned my lesson - no more sleeping bags. They are too heavy and bulky, and cost a fortune to ship, which eats into any profit. 

Counter for things Robin said that will never sell that in fact did sell: 6

Matchbox Playset

Bought: $4.51 Sold: $13.69 Fees: $2.25 Profit: $6.93

This is a Matchbox Pop Up 360 Play set. It is a play set that comes folded up in a carrying case, and can fold out into a 360 play area. This one is a haunted house theme. Chris picked this one up, not sure I would have it. A few of the interior pieces are bent - someone closed it improperly - and it was missing all the accessories. I was actually surprised it sold. It wasn't a huge ROI, making me even more weary of a possible return, since it would eat any profit. Hopefully the buyer is happy with it.