Issue #35

Hi, I’m Mat, an amateur flipper and do I have a big Issue for you today. I had a garage sale pick up where I was blown away by the Facebook Marketplace numbers. I had sales from niches I know nothing about, a buy that will turn $7 into $200 plus to give you a chance to clown on me, I show you my most embarrassing sale of all time. All that and more, but first!

In This Issue

• What I’ve Bought

• What I Sold

• Win a Free $200 Mystery Box

• Flip Weekly on Social Media

• 100% Free Resources to Help You

What I’ve Bought

Over the weekend I spent a total of $35.00 at garage sales which resulted in a listing value of $239.95. Take a look at the items below and take a guess where the value lies.

Here’s what we have:

• 202 matchbooks from the 80’s for $10

• Universal Studios Florida camera strap, sealed from 1990 for $5

• A glass decorative vase on a wooden base with shells for $5

• 80’s gas lighter with the instructions and case for $10

Have you made your guesses yet? Before I show you the listed prices I want to run through my thought process real quick.

The vase I’ve seen similar things multiple times at markets and it looked like an easy flip for Marketplace. The camera strap was brand new and sealed from the 90’s, a cool piece that I wasn’t going to leave behind when it’s only $5. The lighter looked really old, I took out the instruction booklet and couldn’t see a date but I did see phrases plus the ink and typography that indicated this thing was old, including the year long guarantee that said if there’s any issues to “send it back with $2 remittance for postage and handling“. The matchbooks I had no idea, it seemed like something fun to sort through and I spotted a JFK matchbook which made me buy it. I mean, it’s only $10.

Just when I think I have things figured out, the insights on both Marketplace and eBay come through and I go back to realizing I’m still new to all of this. When I’m at garage sales I’m not looking up items, I’m picking solely based on what I think will sell. Based off of these numbers, it looks like the lighter will sell first. It was a good pick up, vintage lighters sell well. If you come across one in the wild, check for markings (especially on the bottom) and give it a few flicks to make sure it isn’t broken. When it comes to the matchbooks, I’d personally stay away. There were some cool individual matchbooks but none that were crazy in value or worth my time to list individually.

The matchbook that made me pick them up, named JFK 1,000 Stamps, does have some comps on eBay ranging from $5-$20 but zero sold comps. Same goes for any of the other casino, hotel and fast food matchbooks. With that said, the number of views this listing received on Marketplace makes me think that other resellers are looking to see if there’s any valuable matchbooks within the collection… maybe I’m missing something.

In terms of the vase, I think that will be a slow seller but I have no doubts it will sell, I’m not even going to bother listing on eBay. In the meantime it can look out of place at my apartment. The last item was the Universal Studios Florida camera strap, there are no exact comps on eBay, only the individual strap overseas which is up for $25.00 with 9 people watching it.

I’m confident mine will sell and even if it doesn’t, I have some old Hollywood clapboards on display so this will fit in quite well. The bottom line is that garage sales can be a bit unpredictable, especially if you’re like me and don’t like looking up comps in the moment. Trust your gut, trust your knowledge and see how you go.

Now here’s a reminder that anything that catches your eye, whether it be because it’s unusual or colorful or different is worth investigating, like this next piece.

When you’re looking at travel and duffel bags, you’re mostly peering endlessly at a sea of black. This multicolored, almost 80’s retro skiing jumpsuit inspired duffel bag immediately caught my eye. It was in great condition with all of the zippers working and it was branded United Colors of Benetton - not something I’ve ever heard of.

When you search the brand on eBay you’ll find a bunch of $14 shirts and $30 sweaters however their vintage stuff goes off the rails. Scrolling past a standard $10 red denim waistcoat we have this:

A backpack for $190 and a duffel bag for $160 - both in similar colors and styles to the one I found for $7.99. If you keep looking through the sold comps and scroll past the $25 skirts, check this out:

If you find a Barbie that has United Colors of Benetton on it, buy it. Now in terms of an exact comparison for the bag I found, the sold comps are in the $200 range.

I’ve listed mine up for $199.95 and have a few people watching it already. A quick tip if you’re selling an item like this… you’re going to want to fill up the bag to give it shape for your photos. I used a couple of spare pillows which worked perfectly, just make sure you clean the inside first.

A few other items I bought this week:

Here’s a clothing brand to keep an eye out for it’s called BAPE or A Bathing Ape. On their website they start at $198 and go all the way past $500. This one I found was new with tags and was a collaboration with a brand called and that resulted in a listing price of a crazy $149.95.

When I’m looking at plush I’m looking for characters or things that look like they come from a franchise. The owl in the plastic bag? Maybe a Hedwig rip off or a regular owl, you’d have to check the tags. The rat looking guy? Looks like it’s a part of some cartoon so it’s worth looking up.

Who is he? His name is Rigby and he’s from a Cartoon Network animation called Regular Show. It ran from 2010 to 2017 and their plushies seem to have developed a cult like following. If you check out the Regular Show subreddit it’s not unusual to see headlines line this:

• “Who would pay $168 for a Rigby plush?” Me. I would.

• Where can I find a Mordecai and Rigby plush? I've been searching for hours and I have yet to find a good plushie that doesn't look mutated and won't cost me my left kidney.

If we look on eBay for active listings for “rigby plush regular show” we have 39 listings. If we look at eBay sold for the exact same keyword we have 36 sold. That’s a sell through rate of 92.31% (thanks to the eBay Sell Through Rate Calculator). I went ahead and listed the plush I bought for $3.99 for $49.99 and it should sell relatively quickly.

Remember: when you’re buying plush, make sure it’s legit! Look for official tags with brand names, don’t pick up plush that just has a “Made in China“ tag (sometimes it has CE before “Made in China“). Also remember that if it has the original tags you can charge a premium or at least get more than plush without tags.

In Issue #33 I picked up a Daffy Duck apron at a garage sale for $1 and it sold within 6 hours on eBay for $20 + post. I decided to double down on Looney Tunes when I came across these 3 items at a Vinnies. We have 2 photo albums for $5 each plus 2 hand towels for $6. Total of $16 and they’ve gone on to list for $139.85. I doubt they’ll sell within 6 hours but we’re taking a gamble on the popularity of vintage Looney Tunes.

This is one of the reasons why I don’t ignore the glassware, despite how boring it can usually be. I came across this frosted glass tumbler and it just so happened to feature Luke Skywalker from Star Wars and you can see a 1996 copyright year. From what I’ve been able to find about this glass, it was a part of a set that included Yoda and Han Solo and released only in Australia.

As it’s a part of a set and they’re hard to find, you can really command whatever price you think is fair. If somebody paid $20 for Han Solo and $10 for Yoda but needs Luke Skywalker to complete the set and you’re the only active listing? That person could be willing to pay up to complete the set. I’ve listed mine for $49.95 with free post and I think a Star Wars collector will pick it up soon as it has already got watchers on eBay. $2 into $50? For just a glass? Let’s see how we go.

What I Sold

Can you believe it.

Sold in 10 days. When I picked up this coffee percolator in Issue #33 here’s what I had to say about it:

I really didn’t know anything about this category or the brand Russell Hobbs. I think looking back the only reason I looked it up was because it stopped me in my tracks. It was such a… for lack of a better word, hideous looking kitchen appliance. I could only find 1 exact comp on eBay which was overseas for $42 so I based my pricing on similar sort of appliances from the same decade. Lo and behold $79.99 must have been the sweet spot because it’s sold in just 10 days. These sort of quick sales for categories outside what I usually look for make me think… I mean, it’s sold quicker than some of my vintage action figures and t-shirts, faster than some electronics and jerseys. I said ironically that I should keep an eye out for “unaesthetic, old kitchen appliances“ but if it’s turning $10 into $80 in just 10 days, maybe I should take it more seriously.

Now if you follow Flip Weekly on Instagram, you would have seen throughout the week my story that said “There’s no money in vintage matchbooks“. I’d just like to say that I was very, very wrong. Even earlier in this newsletter, that I write throughout the week, I was wrong. Let’s get real meta and quote myself from this exact newsletter:

I’m going to take that back. No, I’m not going to edit it out from earlier, it was what I thought at the time and I’m happy to say that I was wrong.

I honestly could not believe the numbers these things did. 3,000 clicks, 40 saves and 4 shares all within 48 hours. For contrast on eBay the listing received all of 9 views. 3,000 clicks resulted in 5 people getting in touch and the person who bought these ended up coming out at 10pm to pick them up. Whilst these numbers are exciting, they do also concern me, I get the feeling, as I said before, that I’m missing something. After selling these on Monday night I continued researching the niche and I honestly couldn’t find anything that I missed. The buyer told me that they weren’t a collector, these were a gift for their father and that “you just don’t see these things that often on Marketplace“.

Here are a couple of the cooler matchbooks within the set:

If I was to now make some suggestions about matchbooks if you find them in the wild:

1. Most individual matchbooks aren’t worth much so you’ll want a bundle.

2. If it’s a bundle, try and see if there’s a theme. Bundling up matches in a singular theme seems to be the best way to sell them.

3. The most value is in crossover collectibles like sports related, famous brand or something else well known.

4. Desirable matchbooks seem to have a full print across the actual matches. So for example you’d open the Playboy matchbook case and you’d see the matches all in black with the gold Playboy logo strewn across all of them.

A few other items I sold this week:

I picked this jersey up in Issue #29 when I ran myself ragged visiting every Noff’s Op Shop in New South Wales in 1 day. I don’t come across many AFL jerseys around me, it’s usually other sports so spotting this with a signature was pretty cool, especially for only $30 brand new with tags. It took just over a month to sell and netted me close to $100 profit.

I picked up this 1981 Garfield Christmas ornament in Issue #26 for about a dollar. It was a part of a huge garage sale haul where I spent $70 on a car boot full of items that had a listed value of over $1,000. Garfield is something I’ll always pick up at the right price as collectors go crazy for it. Christmas is coming up so it makes sense this Christmas ornament would sell albeit took 2 months. However, I think it was my fault that delayed the sale, I had free post in the title and plenty of views, but it wasn’t until I was messaged by a buyer telling me they’d buy the item if I changed the shipping to free post. Yes, I forgot to click free post.

I’m guilty of in the past overlooking kids sports jerseys however of the 3 that I picked up in Issue #28, this was the 2nd to sell with an adults Rugby jersey still sitting. You often get them cheaper and in this case, you can I easily turned $6 into $40.

I have to be honest with you, I do not remember picking this up and or even why I picked it up. It’s the 2012 Australian show program for the musical Annie. I paid a dollar at Savers and I have a feeling I bought it just to fill up my basket. It’s sold in 4 months for $24.95 + $14.95 post which is really high and to be honest makes me laugh. I personally wouldn’t pick up any show programs unless they’re signed by the performer or cast.

Now for my most embarrassing pick up and sale of all time.

The very first issue of Flip Weekly went out on the 15th of February, 2024. I bought this McDonald’s Bop It toy for $0.50 at a Salvos long before than, when I clearly didn’t know what I was doing. $7.95 with $10.95 post - I made a whopping $4.05. Look at me making dollars. Whilst it’s embarrassing on one level, it is motivating to see the difference in my buys between now and then. In thrift stores I picked up anything that was somewhat different regardless of the sell through rate or average sales price. In contrast now we aim for a sell through rate of almost 100% with an average sales price of at least $100 (unless it’s something really unique and cool.) It goes to show that if you stick with something long enough, eventually you’ll get better at it.

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100% Free Resources to Help You

Flip Weekly have created the following resources to help you become a better reseller.

• Ultimate List of YouTube Reseller Channels

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