Issue #127

I received my very first negative feedback on eBay.

I’m at fault as the item was damaged in post, but that didn’t stop me from messing with the buyer who thought I was the weird one. Let me explain.

Last week I sold a DVD box set of Pokemon for $72, free post.

The buyer asked multiple questions prior to purchasing, mostly about condition and then sent through a lowball offer.

I refused the offer and the buyer accepted the original asking price. After purchasing he asked “please can u write something nice about me on a note and put it in the package too.”

Unusual? Sure. Weird? Yeah. Deal breaker? Nah.

I wrote him a note, drew a Pikachu. Check that out in last weeks Issue.

On Tuesday he sent me this message:

The buyer gave me some shipping tips.

He’s completely right. If you send an item and it arrives damaged, you didn’t do your job of protecting it from the post.

I should have sent through a message requesting photos to see what the damage was, but without a clear question, request or return it slipped on by and I continued living my life.

Saturday rolls along.

I receive this message late on Saturday night. I think back to how I post items. In most cases, if they’re worth a lot of money I’ll go above and beyond. The Wiggles TV? Heavy duty box, foam, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, butchers paper. Heck, some of the boxes alone I’ve bought this year have cost $100 (true story - you’ll hear about it later this year.)

When the item is $72 with free postage, I admit it could have been packed better. That isn’t to say I expected this to arrive dinged up. Quite often I put books and DVD’s in padded mailers, Australia Posts’ official postage method that flaunts “barrier bubble cushioning“. Some of the items I’ve sent this week have been double and even triple bagged.

I respond almost instantly.

I didn’t want to get into a back and forth. If you aren’t happy with the item, return it and you’ll get a refund. However, the $20 extortion attempt and the threat of negative feedback and a message to eBay just didn’t sit well with me.

He was clearly very agitated and for whatever reason, struggled to get the discs out of the sleeves. He then attaches a photo of the box corner, leaves negative feedback and unironically calls me slow.

Look, he’s not wrong, I’m not over here solving humanity’s greatest problems, but I can say proudly I’ve yet to have physical media cases outmuscle me.

It was sent in a padded mailer but the photos he uploaded to the return request are very different than what he sent to me. If I was to describe the corners I’d say their were minor scuffs. You’d have to really look closely to see that they aren’t 100% perfect, almost like you’re an alt right influencer looking for imperfections in perfection.

This reminds me of when I sent a Pokemon card in a box to the US and the buyer reported it being bent, uploaded photos and I couldn’t see a single thing wrong with it. Was I being gaslit by a 15 year old Pokemon kid?

Is this just Pokemon people that are pedantic about condition?

Anyway, the dude can get a refund, he’s not happy with what he bought. Before I get a chance to rectify the issue, after all it’s midnight on a weekend, he leaves negative feedback.

The guy clearly leaves out he wanted $20 to hold off on negative feedback, doesn’t include any photos or what he wants and makes an assumption I’m going to lie about the condition of the item.

To make matters worse, I sent him a very cute, Walter Goggins lookin’ Pikachu and he’s just ignored it! He hasn’t mentioned it at all! I can’t have that.

Safe to say he didn’t like that message.

At the end of the day, yes it should have been better protected. Maybe it would have been if I wasn’t so pre-occupied buying coloured markers and cardstock to write ‘something nice’ about a boy who lost a game of DVD tug of war with a millimeter of cardboard.

Let this be a lesson: Pokemon buyers are meticulous with condition, heavy items need more than a padded mailer, and cards, no matter how nice your message is or how much effort you put into it, will always be thrown out.

Oh by the way, this guy was seething at midnight on a Saturday. So much so that he went onto my higher valued listings and started sending $1 offers.

The funny part is that this isn’t really a big deal? It doesn’t really affect me. It’s more amusing. It’s like when my girl tries to squeeze me as hard as she can - are you trying to make me laugh or hurt me? I legitimately can’t tell.

I’ll update you when the parcel is returned and if he’s included a note like I asked. Oh, and I don’t recommend you try and annoy your frustrated buyers… unless they start calling you names.

What I Bought

If you walk into your standard thrift store and look for video games, what are you going to find? 10 copies of Wii Fit, an entire decade of FIFA on PlayStation 2, maybe even Brain Training on DS - how lucky!

However, what happens when you make a deal with the devil for killer thrift store finds?

Let me show you.

Strategically placed behind a box of barbies, this is a Nintendo Classic Mini. A miniature Nintendo console that was released in 2016 that was pre-loaded with 30 games. The console differed from the original 80’s release boasting high definition versions of peoples favorite games and a more compact size.

I’ll say up top that thrift store pricing truly baffles me. Just a few minutes earlier I found a small sandwich bag of The Simpsons figures for $60 - you know the ones from Greetings from Springsfield. I’ve wanted to find them for a while but at $60 I cannot see anyone outlaying that sort of cash.

Then you turn around and you have a Nintendo console, complete in box for $30. I’d usually be skeptical but everything inside the box looked good and once I got it home, opened and tested, it all worked. No issues whatsoever.

Although, here is your reminder that if you find something like this, don’t put it down. I was taking photos and videos for Flip Weekly, saw this cute Pluto hat from Disney World and a guy came up and grabbed the Nintendo. I had to politely tell him that my germs were all over it and he quickly backed off.

Don’t put this stuff down, folks! The next person may not be easily dissuaded and you’ll be forced to break knees.

I’ve gone ahead and listed the Nintendo up on eBay for $180 and Marketplace for $150.

We do have a lot of Facebook Marketplace success, but sometimes our gambles don’t pay off. I’m going to tell you a quick story about this next gamble that could have made us $1,000.

Back in June I had the chance to visit my family for the first time in a while. What a does mildly obsessed with deals dude do? They change their location and look up deals for where they’re going to be in the next week.

Facebook’s algorithm fed me this beauty, an Apple iBook G3 Blueberry Clamshell laptop from the late 90’s, early 2000’s.

The G3 line was the 1st of 3 design styles for the iBook during its short 7 year life span. At the time it was a departure from the other designs of similar laptops and personal computers with Apple focusing on very bright neon colors. To any non-tech savvy individual, the laptops weren’t anything special, they had your standard CD drive, USB ports, and operating system, the differentiation was purely the color.

When I saw this iBook on Marketplace for $200 I jumped, even though the description said it wasn’t powering on. I wanted to take the risk, I knew there was a local Apple repair centre in Sydney that could take a look at it, and best case scenario it just needs a new power adapter, something that you can pick up for $99.

I picked it up, it came with an old adapter, mouse and a few different manuals. Attempting to power on the device I could hear a ticking noise in the adapter, online research would tell me that the cord was fried. I took it into the repair center and left it with them for a few days. It would only cost $40 for them to diagnose the issue and then we can move forward with repairs if it makes sense.

Looking at eBay Sold Listings, we can get around $1,000 so we have a bit of wiggle room. We’re $200 in, if we just need a new power adapter that’s $100 leaving us $700 profit. Even if repairs are a bit more, I think we can still make money.

I get a call from the technicians a week later. It’s not good news.

1. Power adapter is fried, as expected.

2. Hard drive is corrupt.

To make matters worse, it’s impossible to tell whether the screen is usable or not until after the initial repairs are made. I’m quoted approximately $500 best case scenario.

I’d be into the laptop for $700 with an expected sale price of $1,000. If the screen doesn’t work after throwing $500 at the problem, it could send me in the red.

I want to get the laptop working, I think it’s an amazing piece of personal computing history and I know Apple collectors would eat it up, but financially it doesn’t make sense. It pains me to say, I rejected the repairs. I brought it home with a future that looks like reselling it for repairs only.

I’m going to end up breaking even. It’s a shame, but it was definitely worth the risk. You don’t see this sort of technology on Marketplace too often but when you do, you should always be interested. Vintage Apple = big money.

I know earlier we found a Nintendo Classic Mini in a thrift store, but apart from that we really didn’t have much luck this week. As the days go by without a killer find, I feel like one of those first responder rescue dogs. They search and search but when they come up empty the morale drops. It forces the trainers to bury an item for them to find just so they don’t give up.

Luckily we can fall back onto reselling via Facebook Marketplace.

First, what I missed out on what was going to be the find of the week.

I’m still not over it - I had a friend over on Saturday for Connor McGregor’s return to the ring and once he left I saw this item which had been up for 40 minutes. If only I wasn’t consumed by the PPV I know I would have snagged it.

This is a Nintendo Game Boy Pocket Star Wars Adventure Pack from 1996. It contained your standard silver Game Boy Pocket and a Star Wars game in a very attractive, long rectangle box.

Everything was inside and the listed price would have been around the $1,000 mark.

Still, I got to see Connor McGregor’s career end in realtime, so I guess it’s worth it.

I’m not usually into buying these next collectible figures but once I saw they had some functionality I had to look them up.

Listed on Marketplace as “Pokemon Light up toys figures“ for $50, it’s a sign that the buyer isn’t too aware of what they’ve got. Scrolling across his photos, these 2 figures, Mewtwo and Charizard look very cool lit up.

Both figures were working, Mewtwo’s entire body lit up whereas Charizard had his flaming tail glow bright orange. I couldn’t find an exact comp for Charizard but Mewtwo is actually a Deluxe Figure by Jazwares and sells in Australia for a lot of money.

Unfortunately your boy was in too much of a rush and didn’t see that he was missing an orb. Damn! Instead of listing him up by himself for $200 on eBay I’ve combined the two on Marketplace for $100 - maybe I’ll double my money. Bad buy, Mat.

The next item is something I’m always buying, you’ll of course know what I’m talking about. It’s for good reason I’m always buying them though.

This is a 1995 Canberra Raiders NRL jersey. I originally messaged within 30 minutes but it went from Available to Pending quite quickly, but back to Available a few hours later. From there I pounced. It’s now listed on eBay for $300.

Next, something else a bit familiar but I got it for a great price.

This is a 2021 AFL Sydney Swans pride jersey BUT it has the GPS pouch meaning at one point in time it was going to be used by a player. The jersey alone is quite rare but then you add in the pouch and you’ve got yourself something worth a lot more than $30. I’m currently testing the waters at $199.95.

What I Sold

After spending up on last weeks huge rare book haul, I was sort of nervous that the interest just wasn’t going to be there. We have 2 storage containers full of these heavy books and the last thing we want is to be holding onto them for months.

My nerves were quashed very quickly. The week started out strong with the first series selling for full asking price.

Cardcaptor Sakura, volume 1-4 has sold for $200. This is the sort of book you can definitely find in your local op shop. I know it would immediately get my attention, it’s thick like an omnibus, has the Dark Horse Comics publisher logo (usually indicates, at least to me, a valuable series) and ticks the box for being very Japanese.

Even if you find just 1 of these books, you’re in for at least a $50 payday, and given how quickly they sold it’ll be a fast payday.

We’ve managed to turn a $30 Facebook Marketplace find into $200 in a very short amount of time. It was really a no brainer when you see what it was.

An Xbox One X that flipped from $30 into $200 in 4 days. This was a dream deal, a fully boxed Xbox, with a controller, a popular game and all cables except for the power cable. No issues picking it up, no issues testing it, a pure, clean flip. Gotta love that.

Next, a trilogy of books that cost me just $8 and sold for $100 cash via Facebook Marketplace.

This is book 1-3 of Steve Jackson’s “Fighting Fantasy“ series. Keep an eye out for this Fighting Fantasy logo on the small sci-fi pocket books:

If you find a huge bundle you’re going to get paid.

So put the name Steve Jackson or Fighting Fantasy into the back of your brain.

Something you don’t want to remember is this next flip.

I remember buying this from a Salvos but didn’t realize it was all the way back in December 2024! Overpriced, bad console (PS3) or zero interest? Who knows. I don’t have the data for how much I paid but it wouldn’t have been anywhere close to $130.

An early 2000’s brand that doesn’t look expensive, but just sold for triple figures.

An intact, never removed Air Hogs Accelerator has sold for $110. I found this in Savers just 30 days ago - such a fast sell through rate for a kids outdoor toy.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, listen to Flip Weekly’s podcast to hear ramblings of a mad man upset about receiving negative feedback on eBay.

Thanks again for reading, I’ll see you next Thursday!

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