Issue #77

What’s up guys, Mat here and guess what? The secrets out, I’m making bank with Facebook Marketplace. The most unbelievable part is that it’s incredibly easy. I’ve laid it all out for you below. Give it a try on the weekend and let me know how you go. You’re welcome. If you want to hear me talk more about the strategy, listen to this weeks podcast here. If you’re not listening to the pod, you’re really missing out.

In This Issue

• What I Bought

• What I Sold

• Secondhand Opinions

• Win a Free $200 Mystery Box

• Podcast

• Social Media

• 100% Free Resources to Help You

What I Bought

As a childhood fan, I can’t believe I missed this show when creating the “100+ Nostalgic 90s Kids Show Ranked by eBay Value” list, or should I say interactive table 2 weeks back. Overlooking this classic when creating the interactive table isn’t the craziest part, the craziest part are the unhinged Google ratings and reviews for this harmless, well-intentioned kids show.

I’m not kidding, and to be honest now that I think about it, I’m not surprised, but Captain Planet, a show that promoted looking after the environment has been targeted by insane people. Before I get into the crazy reviews, let’s get into the resell value. I picked this 18 disc box set up for $15, an unusual price given it’s usually $1/$2 per disc, and the comps are really good. If it wasn’t the 18 disc box set, and the smaller Complete Collection you’d be looking at around $70 and a good sell through rate. But for this special Australian only release?

We’re looking at turning $15 into $250! That’s all well and good, but let’s see what people think of the show in 2025. For context, the show centers around a group of teens who use magical powers, granted by colorful rings, to summon Captain Planet and fight evil villains who want to destroy Earth. It’s basically promoting environmental awareness and responsibility. I know, crazy tell kids to not dump their rubbish in a lake.

A reminder, these are all legit, real reviews and snippets.

As human beings, the reviews are disappointing, as resellers, the reviews wont affect the final sale price. I recommend you pick up Captain Planet if you find it out in the wild, just be sure you’re ready for some interesting messages and comments if your listing gets too much attention. Crazy world we live in, right?

Get ready, I’m about to tell you exactly what I’m doing to score Facebook Marketplace bargains. How I can pick up items for free and sell them for hundreds of dollars minutes later, buy huge lots and get a 10 times return. It’s no longer a secret, it isn’t some expensive paid software, it’s extremely basic yet works for me every single time.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve made with Facebook Marketplace in 2025. It’s a lot. You saw just last week I picked up a $200 Polly Pocket bundle that was worth… conservatively around $1,500. To show you my process, let me take you back to another day and another listing. This is a listing I see:

This is a dream listing. We have 4 digital cameras, low hanging fruit for resellers at garage sales and thrift stores because they sell really quick (just wait) and they’re giving them away for free. I obviously love that these are listed for free, but I also love that the person has taken their time to individually describe each camera and upload photos. In most cases for freebies, you get 1 photo and it’s looking inside a bag or a box.

I see the cameras are all great brands, I see the pick up location is close by and I can see that for whatever reason they need them gone ASAP. I shoot off my messages within only a minute or two if it being live.

We secure the listing and we’re off to pick it up. Below are pictures of the individual cameras including what they’re worth on eBay.

There’s about $600 worth of digital cameras here, absolutely insane for a Facebook Marketplace deal that “wants them gone as soon as possible“. Talking about this with friends and family it’s funny to speculate as to why people need them gone so quickly. What’s the rush?

Why don’t they list them on eBay? I did, and guess what? The Nikon was listed at 7:04pm and Sold at 7:32pm for $175.00.

I could have held out for more but when you get something for free and someone is like “Hey, can I pay you $175 for it?“ you’re gonna say yes. I’d have more sales to report but 2 out of 3 went to friends and family and the remaining waterproof Fujifilm needs a new battery before it sells for $150. Anyway, we’ve already turned $0 into $175.

So what do we need to do.

Step 1: set up text replacement on your phone.

Literal seconds can be the difference between getting a killer deal on Facebook Marketplace and missing out. That’s why Step 1 is before a deal even takes place. On my iPhone right now I have certain phrases I can type that automatically expands into sentences. For example:

yiia = Hey there, yes this is available. Pick up is from {city} or I can post.

cipu = Hey, can I pick up today? I’d be coming from {city} and I can leave now, pay in cash.

It’s an example of personalization without really being personalized and you can send it quickly. It also helps when people are responding to your listings. If someone asks you if an item is available just type in yiia and it’s all pre-filled waiting for the Buyer to ignore it like 90% of people do.

Note: if you don’t know how to set up keyboard replacement on your phone, just Google your phone + keyboard replacement. If you can’t figure that out, I really don’t think you’ll be able to get deals. Harsh, but true.

Step 2: when a deal appears here’s what I do:

1. Immediately click Marketplace’s “Hi, is this available?“

2. Enter my pre-filled keyboard shortcuts.

3. If it’s a really good deal, shoot another text with more personalization, for example, I can see pick up is {suburb}, Google Maps says I can be there in 10 minutes. Is that okay?

Step 3: how to find the deals?

Okay, this isn’t rocket science. It’s not some hack, it’s the only way to get good Marketplace deals.

• Set a realistic radius. I choose 20km, it’s the furthest I would realistically travel on a weekday or weekend to pick up a unique or interesting item. Don’t inquire for items that are too far away, you want the majority of your interactions to resolve in a sale and rating.

• Train your algorithm. If you’re a video game seller, click on video game listings. It doesn’t matter if you’re interested or not, you want to show the algorithm it’s your type of thing. If you only want FREE items, click on only FREE items.

• Don’t bother with saving a listing. If it’s a good deal, it will be gone before you can come back to it. I also suspect you’ll be labelled a window shopper. Window shoppers aren’t shown deals within the first 30 seconds.

• If you’re not seeing your preferred items in your Marketplace feed, use the search bar but don’t click on individual listings. You’re looking for items but they’re not being delivered to you.

From here, you’ve trained your Facebook Marketplace feed. It’s familiar with what you’re after and will serve you relevant results. You can open up Marketplace during the week but you’re going to have the most success on the weekends. Saturday and Sunday are Gold Rushes for Marketplace. These are the days where you need to have your cash ready and be willing to leave your place straight away.

1. Open up Facebook Marketplace.

2. Pull down on the app to refresh it.

3. Repeat every 60 seconds.

4. If you’re not having any luck, close for 5 minutes and then repeat steps 1-3.

You will be surprised by the amount of stuff that is put up for free or very cheaply on Facebook Marketplace every single weekend - it’s new stuff every 30 seconds. On a weekend you will have to choose exactly what and when to pull the trigger on a listing. The most important thing is that you follow through on any deals you create and you’re committed to the process.

Step 4: this all sounds like common sense?

Surprise, there is no “hack“ into a billion dollar company like Facebook. All we can do is test out different scenarios and see what works. For me? This is a solution that works. You need to train your algorithm so it knows what you’re after. You need to message fast, you need to sound like a human and you need to be available right away. At the end of that you receive a nice rating which can’t hurt when it comes to delivering you fresh listings.

A few other tips that help me:

1. If you’re looking for a popular category like video games, you need to get in within only a minute or two. If the item has been up for an hour, it’s been looked over and most likely determined not to be worth it to resellers.

2. I’ve found most good deals come from people who have only a few reviews. A high review count could indicate a fellow reseller.

3. Whole numbers are good indication that the item hasn’t been priced to eBay values. Just think… if you’re at a garage sale and ask for a price, most people will say popular numbers like $1, $5, $20, $50, $100. Again, if it’s a popular category like video games and I see the bundle worth $185, my reseller alarms go off.

4. You need to know your base values. You cannot waste precious seconds looking up what an item is worth. If you’re going to target video game bundles, memorize console prices. If you want digital cameras, research some of the popular point and shoot digicams.

None of this is foolproof, but it’s served me well. Let me know if you have any other Marketplace tips or if you’re able to secure something cool with this strategy.

Moving on, everyone likes to hate on popular mainstream bands and musicians like Taylor Swift and BTS, but they can make us a lot of money… the fan base is insanely dedicated. I should know, I went with my older sister to a BTS concert (in the cinemas) and I regretted every second.

Take a look at these 2 BTS items I found this week in Savers.

It seems BTS have lost a fan. Savers had both of these for under $7 each. They’re a hybrid of a DVD box set mixed with a photo album with a few random extras like stickers and postcards.

If it wasn’t for my older sister I’d be screaming at you to explain what BTS is, so here it is. It’s a Korean pop group. Consists of 5 dudes and people can’t get enough of them. Some of their most popular songs are Dynamite and Butter. If you heard them you’d probably recognize them.

Unfortunately the copies I bought are both missing disc 3 (weird!) so I can’t get top dollar but I should be able to get at least $100 per. The weird thing is that looking at all of the listings, majority are missing at least 1 item. Not sure what it is about these collectors, but they certainly like losing pieces.

A few other things I picked up this week:

When you’re in the thrift it’s important to use all of your senses. They might look like $3 ornaments but they’re actually made of resin stone and are handpainted. They’re a part of the Disney Traditions range and sell for around $30-$50 each. Whenever I’m in the thrift store and I see something like this I’ll always make it a point to quickly pick the item up - I’m determining quickly whether it’s light and cheap or a bit on the heavy side and potentially valuable - especially with Disney.

I mean… I wouldn’t usually buy this DVD set, but the tall box set caught me off guard. I checked the price and it was only $10. I’m thinking… 24 discs, this has to be worth more than $10.

It essentially passes the test. $10 into $100. I think I’m a sucker for a box set that is in unusual packaging. Is the bar that low? I’ve never watched the series but goddamn, enlarge the DVD pearl case by 2, 3 times and I’m all in. I love a novelty.

Here’s a tip for you: if you see Microsoft on the bottom of an action figure, buy it. It’s most likely belonging to the Halo franchise and those figures demand outweighs the supply, even to this day. For $6.99 I bought Didact who is the main villian in Halo 4.

This figure is also a part of the McFarlane Series which at times can be fools gold. McFarlane Toys is an American company creating action figures and it’s becoming more common to find them in thrift stores. Not every McFarlane is worth a ton of money. In fact their toys have a lot more supply than demand (17.33% sell through rate) so unless it’s an in demand item, maybe leave it behind.

Side-note: if you see model dragons in a thrift store, there’s a high chance it’s a McFarlane dragon model. I can’t comment on every single dragon, but I will say that I’ve sat on them for months and even re-donated them back to thrift stores. When it comes to McFarlane, at least for me, the more obscure the better. Generic dragon? Leave behind.

The Wiggles is a gold mine when it comes to media. You want to be looking out for The Wiggles TV Series 1, 2 and 3. There’s around 3 discs per case and you can sell them for a lot of money.

TV Series 1: $139

TV Series 2: $285

TV Series 3: $400

If you found all 3 there’s no reason you can’t list them up for $1,000. Completely insane. Anyway, this TV Series 1 I found was only $2 but once I got it home and took a proper look at the disc quality I could see 1 was completely banged up. I tested all of the discs and Disc 3 would load, and we’d get to the menu but not without a lot of skipping and buffering. The disc seemed completely screwed. I looked up if there was an at home way to fix a scratch and strangely, a lot of answers were toothpaste. Yeah, I’m being real. Toothpaste and a bit of a rub had a lot of people swearing by it.

As someone who obviously trusts everything they read on the internet I went into the bathroom and pulled out the Colgate. Feeling like a complete idiot I put a tiny dab on the back of the disc, rubbed it in with my fingers, and then gently wiped it clean with the faintest bit of water. Looking at the disc I’m thinking… nothing has changed except it now smells minty fresh. I went back into the office, popped the disc back in and was prepared to feel like a moron. Now the disc wouldn’t even load. The experiment failed. You might have been thinking this might end in success… yeah nah, it was a waste of toothpaste. I decided to list the DVD up for $50 with 1 out of 3 discs not working and call it a day.

Will I still believe everything I read on the internet? Of course.

What I Sold

I bought this Chocolate Paddle Pop 2 wick candle back in April (Issue #61) when I went thrifting with my mum. I would not have bought it if she wasn’t with me, I could barely comprehend the difference between a used and new candle (a burnt wick of course) and this thing smelt absolutely terrible. You would think a Chocolate Paddle Pop would smell alright, but I’ll be honest with you, I forgot to mark the SKU and I could still identify the exact storage container I had put this in. I’m not even kidding, the pure whiff of this candle got into every corner of my home and I wanted it gone. It’s not that it smelt like sewage, it smelt exactly like a Chocolate Paddle Pop and that’s what’s wrong with it.

Thankfully it’s sold and with a huge profit margin, we got this for just $10 and its sold for $100. I look back on Issue #61 and we can see that there’s a huge market for this Streets x Dusk x Paddle Pop collaboration and it’s still going to this day. If you happen to find this collab in the future, buy it because everything basically sells for $100.

The Polly Pocket sales roll on and this one will blow minds if you’re not familiar with the category. These mini-figures barely stand 2cm tall, we have 6 in total (4 dolls, a pram and a scooter) and they’ve sold for $80. They’re so small when I was posting them I was asked if anything was in the package. When it comes to old toys, accessories and anything that is small and easily lost is extremely valuable so make sure you don’t throw this stuff out.

I was 10 minutes away from sending a message to this Buyer saying “I’m sorry, your Bop It wouldn’t stop making sounds as I was packaging it up so I yeeted it off the balcony.“ Good Lord this toy was driving me insane - I like to think I’m tech savvy but when I was wrapping this thing up in bubble wrap it would not stop activating the Bop It sound effect. I was thinking the post office and delivery driver would be a bit worried constantly hearing BOP IT so all I wanted to do was turn this thing off. There’s no bloody off switch, I was twisting its head, holding down the buttons. At one point I wrapped it up in bubble wrap completely defeated yet the pressure activated its buttons so as I’m working in the office it’s screaming BOP IT in the other room.

Eventually I had to Google how to turn it off followed by how to remove its batteries before it eventually stopped. I used to like Bop It’s, they have decent sell through rates and the more unusual you find, the more valuable they are but I don’t know after this, I might leave them alone.

You can’t see the logo thanks to this obnoxious sold graphic that needs to be changed, but the Warhammer logo is directly behind the bottom left graphic. Anything Warhammer that you can get for $2, you need to buy. It’s an expensive brand with customers who are used to spending a lot of money on the hobby so when they say a mouse pad of all things for $40 they don’t think twice.

Secondhand Opinions

The concept is simple, we’ll throw up a controversial, or at least spicy reselling topic, I’ll present my argument whether it’s poorly thought out or not and you’ll provide your own.

Last week I asked you “Would thrift stores go out of business without resellers?” and here are the results:

Very, very close but “No, they’d continue to do well” wins with 60% of the votes. Realists have won this poll, you’re probably right resellers wouldn’t be the be all and end all but I have a feeling if it went that way the end would be near. What are they going to do, start checking our phones for the eBay app? If that started to happen then I’d be a bit more worried about the state of the country than just thrift shops.

This weeks topic is: If you had no access to a smartphone, would you still be comfortable reselling?

Let me preface this question by adding some additional context. What I mean by this is if you had no access to Google Lens or eBay to check for comps, would you be confident enough to make purchases to resell? Are you at the stage where you’re don’t even pull out your phone when you’re at a garage sale or thrift store because you know the prices of your category? Or are you still a bit hesitant to spend money on items you don’t know their true value.

How important is a smartphone, or even the internet, in reselling.

Let me know below.

What do you think?

You can vote, you can email in, submit a form on the website or even get in touch via social media with your own thoughts.

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• 100+ Nostalgic 90s Kids Shows Ranked by eBay Value