Issue #41

What’s up, Mat here and I have what may be the biggest Issue of Flip Weekly in our short 41 week long journey. Clocking in at over 4,000 words we have the conclusion of the Garage Sale Trail 2024 and if you thought week 1 was insane, wait until you see what I picked up in week 2. I had low expectations for week 2, I assumed everything would be picked over the first weekend but I was very, very wrong. I scroll through everything that I found on the trail and it legit makes me question whether all of this is real, it feels like an episode of Storage Wars where the producers plant items for the people to find. It feels that way, but this is all 100% organic, the Holy Grail item you’re going to see in this Issue came from pure luck, timing and a bit of knowledge. There’s a lot to digest so clear your morning schedule and get into it below.

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

We’ve just come to the end of a hectic 2 weekends of the Garage Sale Trail - a fortnight where the average number of weekend sales in my local area jumps from 10 to 110. For us it’s a feeding frenzy, to the hosts, a quiet weekend with the seagulls spread out throughout the city. I swear every sale I went to the host commented on how quiet it’s been and I have to agree, majority of the sales I visited I was the only one looking to find some deals. I guess that’s what happens when for 50 weeks of the year people aren’t thinking about making money on the weekend by selling the stuff they no longer use and then are prompted for just 2 weeks to put up a sign and invite their neighbors.

Looking at the Garage Sale Trail, I think it would be better if it was spread out over a few more weeks. Like you, I want to visit as many sales as I possibly can to avoid that fear of missing out, but even I have a limit where I pack it in and call it a day. For the hosts, it would give them more of a chance to make some money. When there’s hundreds of sales on at any given time and the event is growing every year, you’re going to see less and less foot traffic. With all that said, I do enjoy the Trail, I like the fact that the distance traveled between sales is so much less than a regular weekend; if you strike out at one, the next is just up the road (not enough time for me to scream in the car). Just like last week, I scored big.

Let’s start off with something that led to a Holy Grail find. The listing struck out to me when I was doing my route as it was described as “A Goldmine Of Collectibles From Huge Brands Gen X Sale 30 Years Of Stuff“. I decided against making it my first visit simply because of the description. Couple of red flags for me, mostly that the seller had looked up most of the items, they’d employ a “queue system“ and it appeared they were in love with the stuff they were selling. That’s all fair and good, I gave it an asterix on my route and was keen to check it out. When I arrived I saw mountains of cool stuff (all without prices), we had some Simpson and Futurama comics, old maps with illustrations that I legit thought belonged in Tolkien books, binders full of 90’s Tazos, old school Barbies, 90’s Pokemon posters, a wall of VHS and just overall some really cool stuff to look through.

This was all within a small space so as I was digging I could overhear the negotiations going on. A woman had picked out what appeared to be 10-15 Simpson comics and the price that was given back to her shocked me: $80. I tend to buy these sort of comics for anywhere from 10 cents to $1 each so I figure these prices are going to be quite high which is why there’s still so much left in the middle of the day. I also overhear the seller talking to what appears to be a neighbor and they’re making small talk about the Barbies for sale. The seller says that she’s selling them at face value, that you can still buy them from the store and she’s selling them at the same price. I’m thinking I probably wont buy anything here but I decide to continue looking just for the fun of it. In the VHS section I see some titles that would do well in a bulk buy. Things like vintage Hi-5, Bananas in Pyjamas, Action Man. Then I spot Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog.

Whilst I’m not an expert at VHS prices, I do tend to guess correctly which ones will 1) be worth picking up and 2) have a market to sell. Sonic is always something I’ll pick up especially if it’s old and this VHS is from 1993. I ask for the price and the the host says $5. It’s a bit more than I’d usually pay for a VHS but it’s fine, I figure I can resell this for around the $40 - $50 mark. I tell her that I’m always picking up Sonic stuff and the husband overhears and we get into a short conversation about SEGA and Sonic. He disappears inside and I continue looking. Hanging up next to a door is something really cool, and somewhat creepy, it’s a Teletubbies backpack.

This is an official backpack from 1996 in amazing condition. I’ve talked before about vintage Teletubbies, back in Issue #27 I sold a 1996 beanie and the buyer paid $55. This backpack cost me just $10 and we have sold comps going past the $100 mark.

I’ve gone on to list it for sale on eBay for $99.95. At this point in time I’m starting to notice a pattern that everything I’m wanting to buy isn’t priced as high as everything else. I look in the plush and I spot some more Teletubbies.

I could find all 4 but I couldn’t find them in the same size which was annoying. These are from 2003 and you can usually get around $20 for each one but if you have a complete set you can add on a premium. I decided to opt for a (hopeful) quick sale and list them on eBay for $80.00 and Marketplace for $50.00. Someone has said they’ll buy them on Thursday if they’re still available so you’ll see in next weeks Issue if they sold. These only cost me $10 for the lot so I’ll definitely make a profit. As I finish looking through the plush and playing with Teletubbies the husband comes out holding something that I knew was worth a lot of money. After our SEGA conversation he went inside and brought out a Sega World Sydney t-shirt in mint condition!

If you’re wondering why this t-shirt is a holy grail, I’ll remind you of Issue #8 titled “Can A $2 Hat From A Thrift Store Go On To Sell For $250?“. Hint: the answer is yes. In Issue #8 I found a hat in a thrift store for just $2. The hat featured the logo of a now defunct Sydney based amusement park called Sega World Sydney which had a $2 price tag that I went on to sell for $250 barely 24 hours later. This is the sort of merchandise where you regularly see single magnets selling for $200, access cards (the kind that you swipe to get into a hotel room) selling for $800 and plush toys that go for thousands of dollars. Read Issue #8 for my $2 into $250 story and why you should be keeping an eye out for this sort of stuff.

I did my best to hide my excitement and play the perfect poker face. The husband explained to me what this was a t-shirt from a Sonic amusement park that was called “Sega… Sega Island… Sega City…“ I had to interject “Sega World Sydney“. “Yes, that’s it!“ I didn’t even really look at it, I could see the famous logo and Sonic on the breast pocket and immediately gauged whether or not he was open to selling. “Yeah, I’ll take $20“. Without missing a beat and forgetting to show a poker face I immediately told him “Sold!“ and got it in my hands. I was honestly so in shock with the entire deal that I walked out of that sale to my car without even looking at the shirt (maybe a bit nervous that it was too good). I drove to the next sale just repeating in my head “Sega World Sydney, are you kidding?!“. From past experience I knew that this was a home run… no looking up comps, no searching through an eBay profit calculator, I could basically ask for whatever I wanted for this shirt because it was so rare. When you look up Sega World Sydney on eBay for t-shirts, you see only a few results. To give you an idea on the demand, this is the current listed price for just the tag of a piece of clothing.

In terms of actual clothing:

Basically if you find something like this, it will sell and it will sell for a lot of money. I happen to live in Sydney so the odds of me finding this sort of stuff is higher than say somebody that lives in the States however use this a reminder that if spot something Sonic or Sega related at a garage sale, strike up a conversation and see if they have anything else. After all of that, I decided to list my Sega World Sydney t-shirt up for sale on eBay for $299.95 free post. It’s almost $100 cheaper than the nearest t-shirt and my aim is to sell it quick and get it in the hands of a die-hard Sonic fan.

Let’s take a quick step away from Saturdays sales and I’ll take you to the thrift store where I found 2 killer items having spent just $12 but with a listed value of $250. This particular day I was crazy busy but decided to stop in at a local store for 5 minutes whilst doing the post. I struck out at all of the regular areas until I came to the books and DVD’s where my eyes basically were immediately drawn to amazing finds, check it out, do you see it?

This is the paperback version of a video game guide. The video game is called Red Dead Redemption 2 and it was hugely popular. If you haven’t heard of it, you may have heard of Grand Theft Auto which is made by the same company. Game guides are usually a good score, this one was marked for $10 and if you check out some of the comps…

As mine was a paperback I couldn’t ask for the same amount however as Australia is an island almost forgotten about with pop culture there aren’t that many copies of the book out here. I had no problem listing my copy for $150.00 on eBay and I’m highly confident it will sell and sell quickly. Remember that game guides are a good thing to keep an eye out for, this one could potentially turn my $10 purchase into $150!

The next item was from the exact same thrift store and was responsible for the other $2 cost price and the other $100 listed price. We have a multi-DVD pack of an animated show called .

The Milton The Monster Show ran all the way back in 1965 and as you can see was based on these animated characters that got up to all sorts of adventures. The TV show only lasted 1 season and it was brought out on DVD in 2007 but due to low sales they stopped making it which means it is now OOP (out of print). OOP usually means that you’re going to pay a higher price cause they’re not making it anymore. Case in point:

When I’m in the DVD section I spend barely 5 minutes. I’m not scanning each and every movie or TV show with the eBay app, that takes way too much time. I’m honestly just scanning with my eyes to see if anything pops out. It’s like anything, if you’re looking at a consistent pattern you’ll see when something is inconsistent. When I’m looking at the same exact copies of Two and a Half Men and Couples Retreat, a title like The Milton The Monster Show, with its distinct typography stands out. I bought this DVD for $2 and went on to list it for $99.95.

Let’s jump back to Saturday’s sales real quick. I’ve talked about this sort of stuff before but if you want to make some quick money, this is the brand you need to be looking out for.

Look, at garage sales you are going to be spending so little money for high quality brands that it’s impossible to pass up. Take the above. I found two silver Sony Playstation 2 controllers and the seller was asking for $3 each. These sell everyday on eBay for $49.95 each.

The portable radio was picked up for $5 and I’ve actually bought and sold this before which came in handy with the listings. I sold this previously for $50 on Marketplace so I decided to do it again. The thing about this sort of item is that it isn’t that interesting or unique, yet it does crazy good numbers and I’ve never been left with a ton of Sony radios in a pile before. I mean… I buy the “hot commodities“ stuff like video games and 80’s toys and whatever is supposed to go insane online and yet these old school type items are always the ones that sell first.

Even if they’re in beat up shape, as long as they work they’ll sell. The last thing I’ll talk about from this weeks sales was an entire ice cream tub full of vintage records. This is the first time I’ve ever bought records and the reason I bought them was because they were Disney and were a “Read and Hear“ - that is, they contained both a reading book and an accompanying record.

I asked for a price and the number I got in return was $5. I decided to pick them up not knowing their worth or how I’d even test to see if they worked. Like I said I’ve never bought records before, they’re from before my time, they’re not nostalgic for me and I never got into them. I do know however that if you get the right one they can sell for a bit. I decided to look up some comps and to be honest they all seemed to be around the $10 mark. Nothing really stood out as being a home run except for 1 which was Disney’s Haunted Mansion:

The thing is like I said I had no way of testing them nor do I know the category well. I decided to list them in one big lot on eBay for $150 and Marketplace for $100, explaining in the description that they were all untested and in different conditions - not exactly the most inviting way to sell a product but with a purchase price of $5 I couldn’t lose any money.

Jumping back to the thrift, we have a really cool beach towel from the 90’s.

How cool is this?! In 1996 Warners Bros gave the world a combined live action/animated movie called Space Jam. An absolute classic, especially for us basketball fans, it was Michael Jordan joining forces with the Looney Tunes to defeat their rivals the Monstars. This is a beach towel from 1996 that was just $3.99 at Savers. I love looking through the towels, pillow cases, sheets, section of thrift stores for these sort of hidden gems.

I highly recommend keeping an eye out for the full graphic prints on these sort of items. You wont always get lucky, some prints may be modern and basically worthless but if you find something unusual, semi-old and in good shape you can cash in. Speaking of full graphic prints, check out this vintage Bundaberg Rum t-shirt.

Christmas in Australia is hot, so this type of thing is going to be a guaranteed seller. It’s a lightweight vintage single stitch Bundy Rum button up that weirdly reminds me of Christmas. This is the type of thing you expect to see a distance relative wear at a Christmas family gathering. After the print, the tag is what stood out to me. A giant tag with the old Bundy Rum logo. After that grabbed my attention I gave it al ook over and that’s when I could see the stitching and come to the realisation that this thing was not only old, but looked really cool. Comps on similar sort of shirts were good so I should be able to get $65 out of it.

Finally, the next item is something I always see in thrift stores. I’m sure you’ve either seen the movie or found the book on a shelf before, we have The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort.

I honestly see this book constantly and I’m always picking it up just to check for a signature. Why? Finance bros love Jordan and from what I can tell he doesn’t give his signature out to often on his books. If you find his signature on the book you’re likely to get at least $100, more if its a first edition. 1 thing to remember, in my experience, is that authors tend to sign mostly 1st or 2nd editions. So for example, out of the 2 books below you’re more likely to find an autograph on the older one, simply because if its been reprinted a million times it means its more popular and therefore more copies and less time (and incentive) for the author to sign. If your book has a run of 1,000 copies, you’ll sign if people ask just so you can sell (I know from experience, I’ve done that before) however if your publisher has guaranteed you a run of 1,000,000 you have less incentive to sign and sell. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I was happy to find this 2nd edition Wolf of Wall Street book with an inscription from Jordan. It is addressed to somebody but I’ve sold books like that before. Let’s see how it goes, I’ve listed it up for $100.

What I Sold

We did it! We sold the Sega World Sydney t-shirt in just 9 hours and it’s off to the UK! This must have been the sweet spot because it sold quicker than all of the other Sega World Sydney t-shirts. Spending $20 on a t-shirt at a garage sale on a Saturday evening and selling that same t-shirt for $300 a few hours later is honestly insane - this is the reason we hit up the sales, for deals like this. We didn’t get this deal because we arrived at the sale a day early, we didn’t buzz the doorbell at 4am the morning of, we didn’t hound the seller with negotiations or bargaining, we simply had the knowledge stored and used it to make money, that’s what Flip Weekly is all about.

This game guide did not take long to sell. I picked it up for $10 in the thrift, listed it for $149.95 with free postage and it sold less than 48 hours later for full price, no haggling. The buyer messaged me asking to post as soon as possible as it was a birthday present. I was so happy with the sale that I shipped it express and wrapped it up in birthday paper. This little extra mile will get you some goodwill with buyers and it’s always nice to have some positive feedback come in that’s more than 5 words.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret for when it comes to buying sporting t-shirts. I got burnt early on in my reselling journey by buying basically anything that had a sports team logo on it. That’s not what you want to do. Why? If you’re fan of the Los Angeles Lakers you already have a basic Lakers shirt, you want something different. How many shirts with the Lakers logo on it does one really need? Check out the item below that I picked up for $6 in late September.

The reason I picked this shirt up is because:

1. It tells a story.

2. It’s American and hard to find here in Australia.

Yes, it’s a Dallas Mavericks t-shirt but you look a bit deeper and it’s actually a t-shirt that was given away for free to people that attended their home games during last years finals. I’ve bought and sold these shirts before and fans (especially in Australia) go crazy for them, especially if their team won. It wasn’t the case for the Mavs but the story you can tell makes this something that will sell fast. Remember that reselling is just selling and the best way to sell is by telling a story.

In Issue #38, just a few weeks ago I showed you this book collection that was bought from a thrift store for $7. It contained 26 books of Thomas The Tank Engine and was absurdly underpriced. I listed it for sale for $129.95 and it went on to sell for $123.45 + postage in just 3 weeks. Who can complain about $7 into $123? If you want to see how I make more money with Thomas The Tank Engine, check out Issue #37 here.

The sales just keep on coming! In Issue #39 I found this Disney Store Exclusive Winnie The Pooh for $5. Pooh had a Christmas snow globe and looking at him it was obvious this thing looked like it was worth more than a measly $5. Turns out he was because he sold in 2 weeks for $99.95! $5 into $100 in 14 days and all I did was clean off some dust and take some photos.

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