Issue #111

To sum up this week, we got extremely lucky. We’re talking a single Vinnies find worth $500, a $700 sale that I’m giving myself major props to for thinking outside of the box plus a dim-witted buyer that cost me the opportunity to turn $40 into $1,000.

There’s a lot to unpack so if you don’t fancy reading, jump on over to Flip Weekly’s podcast and give it a listen.

If not, let’s get right into it.

Mat.

In This Issue

• What I Bought

• What I Sold

• Official Flip Weekly Podcast

• Win a Free $200 Mystery Box

• Flip Weekly on Social Media

• 100% Free Resources to Help You

What I Bought

There’s no better feeling than walking into your local op shop and striking it big. You’re in your element, you know the ins and outs, all the nook and crannies. There’s also no long drive which means not enough time to contemplate life choices when you walk away empty handed. Just pure Holy Grail finds. I’m talking about my local Vinnies, an op shop that I overheard volunteers talking about pricing things low just to get rid of them. I love that, keep it up.

This week we came across what appears to be a former aviation enthusiasts collection of model airplanes that are meant to have stands and be displayed on your desk. I guess we’re all different, some of us have photographs and desktop whiteboards, others have expensive airplane models.

The first thing I did when spotting them was pick them up to feel the weight. If they’re light, they’re most likely plastic and cheap. If not, we might be in for a payday. I lifted them up 1 by 1, they were heavy. They felt to be at least 1kg per plane. They have to be metal?

I don’t get my hopes up just yet, I mean just take a look at them. Some are yellowing, others are missing propellers, and by the looks of it they were all meant to be mounted on a base. I take a few photos and use Google Lens as I continue walking through the shop.

I get distracted, right next to these model airplanes was the men’s clothing rack and something that looked to be worth a bit of money.

I haven’t picked up clothing in a long time (besides sports jerseys). In most cases I don’t really know what I’m doing. I understand how major brands go through redesigns and so if you want expensive pieces you should be looking for the older logos.

At the same time I’m hesitant to fully get into clothing because the people that dominate seem to live and breathe the niche. I still have a lot to learn and I’m not sure I’ll ever dive head first. With that said, if a vintage all over print Wrangler t-shirt essentially jumps in my boat wanting to be caught I’m of course going to take it home.

Just from holding this thing, feeling the weight, seeing how it hung on the coathanger, opening and closing the pearl snap buttons and seeing the print on the front, back and sleeves, it screamed BUY ME, I’M EXPENSIVE. Without being able to find Active or Sold Listing’s, I did what you should do too: I consulted a Facebook group.

Since then, close to 100 likes and 20 comments. The comments had some “realistic prices“ ranging from $40-$60. However, this a US group. That’s USD. That equates to around $60-$80AUD.

Knowing what we know about Facebook, you can safely assume that there’s a premium added on top for eBay sales and then we have to add on our Australia tax. This seems like it could be sold for between $100-$150. I didn’t respond to any of the offers on the group only because they were all from the US. I can’t be bothered dealing with the tariff stuff.

Maybe it’s the only market for this shirt but I’d rather take a chance listing on eBay. That’s how much I don’t want to get into US shipping right now.

Now lets get back to the model airplanes.

Some were priced $9, others $18 - the more expensive ones were the planes that had less broken parts. Why’d they price them like this? Google Lens.

Google Lens struggled to properly identify the models. Technology failed Vinnie’s.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me that we bought the most expensive item in the shop, again.

All Vinnie’s had to do was put the phone down and look.

All of these models had been stamped and signed by the creator, Matthys M Verkuyl.

What we have now are heavy airplane models plus a marking. This is looking good.

I’m still in Vinnie’s and search eBay for Verkuyl’s name and the results blew me away.

Like most finds worth over $100 I immediately don’t believe it. I literally leave Vinnies with my Wrangler t-shirt. As I’m sitting in the car I’m doing a bit more research. What’s the sell through rate for these pieces on eBay?

18 Active Listings, lowest price $310.00 in the USA. Sold Listings? 16. That’s a very, very good sell through rate. This isn’t 1 model being sold every 90 days, this is close to 1:1.

Screw it, I’m going back in. I look over all the models and decide to buy the one that I think looks the most expensive. Again, there are no Active or Sold listings for any of these. I take a gamble on the Lockheed Hercules L-100-20 for $18 that comes with a nice tobacco stain colorway.

So who is this guy?

Matthys Verkuyl was a Dutch maker of high-end metal airplane desk models. He wasn’t doing this just for fun, he was contracted by airlines and manufacturers over 50 years ago because they saw just how good his craftsmanship was. To this day, the models are very collectible and if you can imagine the market for this type of item, they’re worth a lot of money. Thanks Matthys!

Without seeing any Active or Sold Listings for this exact aircraft, I literally don’t know if it’s one of the cheaper $200 models or a rarer one worth double or triple that. I see some information that the yellowing is indicative of the age and collectors don’t want that covered up so it must mean it’s quite old. We have to deduct a few dollars as it doesn’t have the original stand but charge a premium considering if it is old it’s survived this long without any damage to it.

I turn to Facebook Groups which I’m weirdly not accepted into. From there, I head to Worthpoint. I know, I don’t want to pay for historical data. Luckily for me if you create a new email address Worthpoint doesn’t care if you sign up using the same credit card. As somebody in the tech industry with unlimited access to email accounts… even better (I just have to remember to cancel my subscription before the 7 day charge).

With both selling for $300USD, regardless of condition, that gives us a pretty good idea of what it’s worth. Are you the type of reseller that would list for $300USD? Discount at $250USD? I’m the opposite, this goes up for $350USD which is $500AUD. Without my listing this doesn’t exist and if a cashed up pilot wants a Verkuyl they’re going to pay it.

EDIT: after 12 hours we already have 5 cashed up pilots watching it.

After looking into the niche a bit more, it’s actually quite easy to buy replacement propellers and stands. They cost a bit, sure, but in hindsight this could have been paying $50 upfront for all of the models in Vinnies, followed by a few hundred dollars in repairs for a return in the thousands. I’m fine with that, but what do you think? Let me know. Would you have bought them all? Left the broken ones behind?

Speaking of planes, let’s get this next thing out of the way.

I’m an uncle now, I know that Fisher-Price’s Little People series is not made for people with little money. It’s made for big people with big money.

Want the farm?

A couple of plastic tractors and trucks?

This stuff isn’t cheap.

First thing I did when I saw the “Travel Together Airplace” was turn it over and look for a date. 2017. Great, this must be worth a bit by now?

I say this not really knowing the market. Are people collecting this stuff? Is it new parents buying toys that resemble their own careers for their kid? Maybe there’s no other Little People airline sets? Who knows.

When I search the set, filtered as brand new, we have 7 Active Listings and 9 Sold Listings. The Sold Listings are bonkers.

Right now the cheapest you can get this toy brand new in the US is for $72.88. If you want it here in Australia? $153.70. The sell through rate is sitting at 128% - people are actively buying this set. For whatever reason, I have no idea. I know a lot of resellers are having good luck with loose Little People figures so I guess I’ll jump onto the bandwagon and hope to turn my $15 into $150.

A few other finds this week:

Man, these shows all blend together to me. We did a break down of one of them, what was that? NCIS? How many spin offs of CSI are they? The irony that a show about murders and crimes only lasts 3 seasons in Nevada, the #1 US state ranked most dangerous by the FBI in 2023.

I got it for $10, seems like I can sell it for close to $100.

I was going to leave this behind as I already talked about a VHS player last week, but Vinnie’s literally wrapped this thing up for me, all I needed was the bow.

With the player, the remote, instruction manual and all cords, with only a $20 price tag how do you leave this behind? When everything is kept in this good of a condition chances are it works.

I couldn’t find exact Sold Listing’s for this model but Active Listing’s priced it around the $100 mark. I tested it out and unfortunately the remote isn’t for the VHS player. It appears to be for a TV/VHS combo unit - imagine if I got that instead?

The VHS player itself fortunately works fine, so I’ve put it up for $150. It’s virtually the same size as last weeks LG VHS player that sold for $200 so why can’t I ask for a similar price? I listed it up for $150 despite 2 or 3 other people pricing their’s at $100.

This book doesn’t break my $100 threshold but I know it’s going to sell so I have to buy it. Plus there’s no Active Listing’s in Australia so I like to be 1st in something in my life.

Always look out for your World of Warcraft books. The logo is so easy to spot. You get more for your hardcovers but paperbacks still fetch decent money.

The overall sell through rate is sitting at 60% however once you go locally here in Australia it triples.

I’ve chucked it up on eBay for $80 and Marketplace for $50.

I thought I was in for a huge payday for this next item but I guess people have caught on. Doesn’t matter, it’s still cool. Actually… cool may be not the right word for it. You tell me.

This is a pre 9/11 t-shirt, printed in the year 2000. I’ve talked to you many times about buying pre 9/11 items if you see them. I’ve sold snow globes featuring the Twin Towers for hundreds of dollars, a NYC skyline puzzle for $100+ within hours, and it’s proof that people are snapping up this stuff.

Maybe it’s different when it comes to t-shirts. I mean, would you be seen as being insensitive if you wore this in New York City?

I still think it’s cool and I think it’s a reminder to you that if you spot New York anything, look for the towers. It’s morbid sure, but it’s nothing worse than going to estate sales or owning items that previously belonged to someone that’s no longer with us. With the amount of scams and bad things going on in the world, selling pre 9/11 items doesn’t even register.

Oh, and in terms of pricing… around $50, but keep an eye out for other New York City collectibles from pre-2001.

Look at that very bottom sale for the diorama, this thing is insane, it’s so unique I’ve never seen anything like it..

Finally, we have what is my favorite find of the week.

In my forever quest to find 1st edition, 1st printing or signed Dr. Seuss books I keep my head in the children’s books section like an absolute creep.

By now it’s easy to skip over the modern Dr. Seuss books. Some times the older hardcover Beginner Books pop-up and they catch my eye but so far no luck. A lot of resellers talk about the “banned” Dr. Seuss books but really they’re not worth pursuing.

Without any editing, these are the 6 “banned” books and their last sold price on eBay within Australia at time of writing:

What does that tell you? It’s not worth pursuing. The only Dr. Seuss books were pursuing are the early 1st edition, 1st printing books.

Or…

And here comes hypocrite Mat…

This Dr. Seuss find from this week is really cool and breaks the mould.

I spotted this at the very bottom of the kids book section. The spine of this folder simply said “Dr. Seuss Style Guide“ and I’m thinking well that isn’t exactly appealing to kids, what’s the deal? I’ve never seen this before.

I open it up in Savers and I get some PTSD. Brand colors, typography choices, margins and graphic choices come flying at me like I’m 20 years old again working in an agency. Wait, are these brand guidelines for Dr. Seuss? That’s so goddamn weird. How have they made their way to a thrift store?

These Style Guidelines from 2005 were made exclusively for licensees of the brand. These were never made for public sale. It’s a behind the scenes look at the Dr. Seuss brand. There’s no Active Listings, no Sold Listings. We have to go onto Worthpoint all the way back to 2023 to see anything similar (remind me to cancel the 7 day trial).

I’ve listed it up for $200. I’m not sure who the potential buyer is. Dr Seuss collector? Brand designer that wants a cool style guide? Regardless, take a look at the pages. I’ve seen my fair share of brand guidelines so looking at how Dr Seuss does it is quite a novelty.

Anyway moving on. There’s times when I can’t stand eBay users and we’re about to see why. Majority are fine, it’s the 1% that I have to bite my tongue at.

You’ll remember in December last year I found this Hannah Montana CRT TV on Facebook Marketplace for $40.

I had it listed up for $1,999.95 with hundreds of viewers, over 50 people watching. On Friday I receive my first 4 figure offer on it.

I think it over and decide to accept it. $40 into $1,000 in 3 months is a win and who knows how long I’d have to wait for it to sell at full price.

What follows is a weekend of torment.

Who sends an offer for $1,000 and doesn’t read the listing description? Why are you asking these questions AFTER you’ve submitted an offer? Seriously, why are some people this goddamn dumb. When I receive a question after a person commits to the product, I know the buyer isn’t going to follow through. It was so obvious that I felt the remote explanation was just to give themselves an out.

Back on the market the TV goes. Thought I had myself a cheeky $40 into $1,000 sale. Jokes on me for getting excited.

What I Sold

What year is it? How are we selling Funkos for $150.

This is a 2017 action figure of Jim from Trollhunters, a TV series created by Guillermo del Toro that ran from 2016-2018. This wasn’t a recent pickup, nor was it a quick sale but apart from my figure, none were available on eBay. 2 have sold in the past 90 days for varying prices:

Looking at Active and Sold Listings for this TV show don’t show anything crazy (apart from the art book) so I wouldn’t recommend going out and watching it to become familiar. If you come across Trollhunters Tales of Arcadia Art Book I’m hoping you pick it up because it’s one of the “art of“ books that I constantly talk about it, not because it’s Trollhunters.

In December last year I came across a Facebook Marketplace listing for “Garfield Comics“.

These were inserts from The Sunday Telegraph newspaper from back in the late 80’s, early 90’s. 38 in total. I was intrigued, not because they of Garfield, but because of what else might be featured. Don’t get me wrong, Garfield is collectible, but I don’t think you’d get much money for them. That’s when I spotted a familiar logo that was featured in every single newspaper.

Footrot Flats.

What if instead of buying these for Garfield, we buy it for Footrot and offer it up to its fanbase.

What a strategy. In just over 90 days the newspapers have sold for $700.

The buyer told me the reason he’s purchasing them and it’s really cool:

I know we’ve sold items before that have been featured in the likes of the Powerhouse Collection, but this will be the first time we’ve sold something that is going to be placed in an actual upcoming exhibit. This is why I love doing this - for the 1 off items that are incredibly rare.

Next, not the most exciting sale, but it took less than 12 hours and validated my pricing strategy.

World of Warcraft books can be hit or miss in terms of value and sell through rate so always do your research. I was luckily enough that this was the only listed within Australia and WoW fans wanted to get their hands on a copy without needing to import it from overseas.

A clothing sale that wasn’t a jersey. I can’t remember exactly how much I paid for this from Vinnies but I doubt it was any more than $10.

I’ve had it for a while and the pricing started at $200 and over time it’s just been brought down. It’s still a decent profit but it’s funny to think that we can regularly find sports jerseys that sell ten times faster for much more money than a vintage 1997 Friends t-shirt.

The next sale is proof you don’t always have to match or follow Active and Sold Listing’s if you know what you’re selling.

This VHS player was bought for $20 and listed for $150. Their was literally the exact same model, with the remote, priced at $75 + $20 shipping and $99 free shipping. Yet it still sold 1st. You can take a guess why that happened but at the end of the day it’s just a guess. My theory is I took an extra 30 seconds to write up an actual description plus an extra 3-5 minutes to test it out and take a photo of a VHS playing on the unit.

Do whatever you can to differentiate yourself from other listings. Find a unique selling point. This unit was smaller than others so I included the fact it was slim and it’s measurements. Nobody else took a photo of the unit playing, I did. Others used AI descriptions, I wrote my own. If you have all the cables, make it a marketable point.

The next item was something I legitimately don’t remember buying even though eBay said it was listed in January of this year.

The weirder thing is that I paid $7. That’s an odd op shop price. Unfortunately after this sale our Average Sale Price for 2026 has dropped and we’re sitting at $138.33. If we’re aiming for an ASP of $200 we’re on the wrong side of $150.

After this weeks $1,000 offer for the TV that never eventuated, you’d understand I was hesitant to accept a $300 offer for another item. Yet, that disappeared quickly when I saw it was a repeat buyer from Canada.

We have sold the knockoff Street Sharks set! This was a toy line called Ocean Warriors and each of these figures walked the fine line of resembling Street Sharks characters. Was IP law a bit more lax back in the 90’s? These figures would have been bought from your discount shops by your Gran’s who knew you liked the shark toys, but not exactly which ones.

We’ve all been on the receiving end of that scenario. Supply would be limited, kids would replace them eventfully with the toys they actually wanted but now once they’ve grown up, they’re reminiscing. If you ever come across an action figure or toy that closely resembles a more mainstream, popular character it’s worth looking up. Old bootlegs and knockoffs can be more valuable.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, don’t forget to check out the podcast for more reseller content and Flip Weekly on social media where I (sometimes) post sneak peaks of new finds and BOLO items. See you next week!

Mat.

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