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How I Found the Most Expensive N64 Game in a Wardrobe
I couldn't believe the Sold Listings on this game.
Issue #89
Mat here and guess what? I spent the most money I’ve ever spent on this whole reseller side hustle gig this week. Upwards of $500. You’ve seen what I’ve been able to score before for miniscule amounts of money. We’ve had $20 into $2,000, $5 into $500, what does $500 get us? $50,000? Not quite. Actually, not even close. But still, it’s a really exciting deal.
I had an extended long weekend so I wasn’t able to hit the thrift as much as I should have but man, some of these things are items you’ll want to pick up if you see them out in the wild. The first one looks innocent enough, but man, let’s just get into it.
P.S. Listen to the podcast. Review the podcast. Share the podcast. Be nice to me.
Mat.
In This Issue
What I Bought
Resellers repeat “see Pokemon, buy Pokemon“.
It’s often true.
I’m about to teach you a new phrase. It goes like this. “See Wallace & Gromit, buy Wallace & Gromit“.
$4 price tag via Lifeline.
The box is tattered, the “Retractable Dog Lead“ text makes you think it’s nothing exciting, but when you open it up, you can see something that you just know collectors will bark at.
How cute is this?!
You don’t realize it, but this thing is old, released in 2005 it’s 20 years old. I didn’t comp it at the time but knowing it’s Wallace & Gromit and despite the fact it’s just a dog lead, I knew it was going to be worth money.
The handle is plastic and in the shape of Gromit, the retractable lead fully works and when you turn Gromit’s nose the light turns on after inserting a couple of batteries. Even if you don’t have a dog (of course I was asked at the counter) it’s still a cool display piece and I think it’s going to sell quickly - in fact, I’ve just rejected an offer. How does it comp up?
Recent overseas Sold Comp - $107. Add on the Australia Tax and you have a good sale.
37 watchers, in 4 carts, missing the nose and the torch doesn’t work.
I’m very confident I can sell my fully working, boxed dog lead that I bought for $4 for $99.95. The offer I turned down a few hours after listing was for $55.00 and I can see that it’s currently in 1 persons cart. Let’s see how we go.
Over the weekend I was outside my regular routine. Usually I’d get up early on a Saturday morning and hit up some garage sales and from time to time jump onto Facebook Marketplace to look for a good deal. From Friday until Monday I was staying with my younger sister for her birthday and the opportunity to score a bargain narrowed. You see she has 2 kids under 2 and so I was doing by best to help out whenever I could.
However, that isn’t to say that during naps and limited moments of calm and serenity I didn’t jump on my phone and see what was around. She’s around an hour away from the city so whilst the amount of listings isn’t quite as high, I’ve found you can still get some good stuff.
I jumped on this real quick.
I come across a listing that doesn’t have a price on it. The seller mentions that they were cleaning out their wardrobe and came across all of these games and consoles.
“I have no idea what to do with“
Sell them?…
I sent through a message, briefly introduced myself and asked for more photos. At the time I messaged it had only been live for a few minutes. She replies almost instantly and says that she can send through some photos. The photos don’t come through instantly so I’m starting to get a bit excited thinking that she has to take them now which means that no-one else has gotten in first asking for more photos. These are the photos I receive:
There’s 8 photos in this animated GIF.
When you have a listing like this on Marketplace you have to act fast, you really do. You can’t spend the next 20 minutes comping up everything, you need to… I guess, take a gamble and lean on your knowledge.
I reply with a simple question: “Do you have a number in mind that you would be happy with?“
After all, I don’t want to make a deal where the Seller walks away unhappy.
I don’t hear anything for a few minutes and it gives me a chance to quickly comp up some of the questionable items. I know the base values for most of the consoles however apart from the Wii games (which are all pretty much worth nothing) the games escape me. Of course I’m familiar with games like Mario Kart on 64, you can usually get $40-$50 but I’m searching for a home run.
I then see Starcraft 64. I recognize the art but can’t piece together why I recognise it. Then the comps appear.
Whoa.
This Seller is sitting on a $500-$600 game.
I get a notification and it’s the Seller.
“Helping“
I digest the number for a few seconds. It’s my sisters birthday weekend and I went all out, my bank account isn’t looking the greatest. Then I think… eh who cares. I reply:
“I could do that, cash. I’m close by and can come out now and take a look.“
She agrees, provides the address and I’m off to do the impossible… find an ATM in 2025. One that can give out that amount of cash too.
As I’m on the way you wouldn’t believe the message I get:
Snakes!
When I arrive she tells me she’s had over 50 messages in the past hour and many of them were telling her to ditch me and take their cash even offering up to $1,000. Usually I wouldn’t put too much stock into a comment like this, but I totally believe it - video game resellers are a different breed. This is exactly why I asked if she could mark the listing as pending; the messages would have just kept coming and she might have eventually given in, who knows.
I pay $550 and get back to my home for the weekend. I’m legit considering just re-listing the entire bundle and seeing if that $1,000 offer comes through to me for the quickest and easiest flip but decide against it.
Once the kids are fed and asleep I start to comp up the entire bundle and wow, there’s a lot. We have:
12 x Nintendo 64 games.
1 x SNES game.
3 x Gameboy games.
9 x Wii games.
1 x PS Vita
1 x SNES Mini
1 x Xbox 360
1 x Wii U
1 x Wii
1 x Nintendo 64 Pokemon Console
2 x Nintendo 64 Controllers
Of the games, the 3 best ones were:
#1: Starcraft Nintendo 64
#2: Rocket Robot on Wheels Nintendo 64
#3: Gex 3 Deep Cover Gecko Nintendo 64
In terms of consoles, the Wii isn’t anything exciting nor is the Xbox 360 (120GB) but the Nintendo 64 Pokemon console is a winner and the Wii U and PS Vita can still fetch a bit of money.
The bundle came with this controller + another red one + an expansion pack. Expansion pack alone sells for another $100.
Despite being old tech it still fetches a bit of money.
First time ever buying a PS Vita, I was surprised at the price. I checked the console and it had a FIFA game inside. Wish it was something better.
You add on all of the above plus the other miscellaneous items and it all adds up. I mean, I sell the Starcraft 64 game and I break even, the rest is profit.
So how much does everything comp up too?
A grand total of $2,504.90.
Now look, it isn’t like the Bratz dolls in Issue #87 where I paid just $20 for $2,510 worth of value, but it’s still okay. $550 into $2,504.90. (By the way, I turned down a $700 offer for the $1,000 pair of Bratz dolls over the weekend).
I worked out that after cost of goods, eBay fees and postage I should make around $1,300. Video games are fast movers so let’s hope it’s before Christmas. Oh by the way, the grand total doesn’t include the SNES Mini as it’s missing a cable and I’m unsure if it works. I’ll deal with that later.
UPDATE: I ended up trading in the Xbox 360, Wii and the Wii games at The Gamesmen for $60 in-store credit. The Xbox 360 powered on but the disc drive was stuck. The Wii worked fine but didn’t have any controllers and the games themselves were pretty much worthless. I was just happy to get rid of them and got some credit to use on birthday presents for my niece.
A few other items I bought:
$13.47 for all 3, listed for $99.95
Bought before I realized Margaret Court has some… opinions… Listed for $50.
Not worth a whole lot but this 1976 Happy Days carded figure was too cool not to buy. Listed for $100.
What I Sold
When you have bangers coming and going, it’s often difficult to feature them all. On Monday about 3 weeks ago I found this beauty…
$2 in a Lifeline op shop.
This Royal Caribbean cruise ship was on its way to the tip. The reason I know that is as I was walking to the checkout to pay, each staff member made a comment. I learnt 4 things:
It had just been put out.
No-one out the back thought it would be bought.
The “expert pricer“ - I’m not kidding, that’s what they were referred to as, wanted to throw it out.
If you mention it’s a cool item you’ll get the half-joking suggestions of “should I add a 0 onto the price?“ Hilarious.
So I buy it for $2 on the 29th and it sells for $99.95 plus postage on the 16th. A 17 day sell through rate. These resin cruise shop models are easy to spot, usually pretty cheap and sell for good money. Like the expert pricer said, they’re usually thrown out so go and grab them.
Out the door in 2 weeks.
The next 3 sales aren’t exactly huge scores, but something weird was happening this week. After being untouched for so long, all of a sudden Pokemon plush has all gone out the door.
Ironically the smaller the item, the more it sold for.
Some of these date back to December 2024 when I was a bit loose with what I picked up and followed the “See a Pokemon, buy a Pokemon“ mantra.
Not so much anymore.
Is there a specific reason Pokemon plush sold this week? I’m definitely in the dark about it.
UPDATE: another one just sold, this time on Marketplace for $30. It was a Grookey Build A Bear. Weird!
I thought these were cool. $3 in a Vinnies.
As much as I love a $3 into $50 sale, I still can’t say I like Charmed as a television show.
My older sister loved it and even went out and spent a paycheck on the limited edition Book of Shadows DVD set (keep an eye out for it, sells for around $200 in Australia pre-owned.)
Me on the other hand could never get into it. All I remember about the show was the repetitiveness throughout episodes. 3 sisters dealing with demons, witches and villains for the entire episode. The bad guys look as though they’re going to take over the world only for the sisters to eventually hold hands, chant a spell and the evil would vanish. Boring.
The show still has a pretty hardcore fan base so if you find any sort of pop culture merchandise it’s worth a look.
Bit of a low value sales week…
Good Lord, this listing started in September, 2024.
I remember getting this VHS for free from a garage sale.
Less than 2 weeks STR. Retro jerseys are still bankable.
Secondhand Opinions
The concept is simple, we’ll throw up a reselling question, I’ll present my poorly thought out opinion and you’ll provide your own.
I spent over $500 on a single Facebook Marketplace deal this week. I treat reselling purely as a side hustle so that’s a fair chunk of change for me to be outlaying. Out of sheer curiosity I want to know what’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a single deal?
What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a single deal? |
I’d love to hear your stories, especially if you’ve spent over $1,000… like what are you buying? What sort of return are you seeing? Email in at [email protected] or get in touch via the website or social media.
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