Issue #24

This week, we visited one of Australia's largest op shops, the ADRA Op Shop in Morisset, and explored every corner of its 2,000 square meter facility. We discovered hidden gems and incredible bargains, from a Sailor Moon VHS haul to nostalgic items that promise big returns. Plus, get tips on identifying valuable finds and learn why some of these treasures are MUST BUYS. Dive right in, but first… follow Flip Weekly on Instagram.

In This Issue

• What I’ve Bought

• What I Sold

• Visiting One of Australia's Biggest Op Shops: ADRA

• Shoutout + Win a Free $200 Mystery Box

What I’ve Bought

Unbeknownst to me this weeks theme was old school VHS. I had plans on Sunday which required an hours drive south of Sydney so of course on Saturday night I was browsing Marketplace to see if there was anything cool and unusual I could buy and potentially profit off of on the way. I came across this listing of Volumes 1-13 of the incredibly popular Japanese TV show Sailor Moon on VHS and surprisingly it also came with the VHS player.

The listing marked both the VHS tapes and the VHS player as tested and working and with a price tag of $150.00 I had a feeling there was some profit to be had. Firstly, anime on VHS, especially to collectors, is something that can be worth a lot of money. Secondly, they were Volumes 1-13; anything sequential like that whether it be a book series, TV show, comics etc is worth a second glance. Thirdly, the deal included the player. I know from last week that these players (if they work) can sell well so the math’s checked out and I moved on to the next stage of looking up comps.

$40 on bid and $90 on a buy it now. If I split the difference at $65 we’re almost half way to recouping the original investment, we just have to hope that the Sailor Moon VHS tapes are worth something. Whilst their are no exact comps for Volumes 1-13, I did see a few listings that looked like this:

This is a 5 volume bundle going for $190.00 with 6 people watching. If I have 13 plus the movie, we’re almost triple the number of tapes. Could I potentially get $500 for these? I decided to pull the trigger and stop in on Sunday to pick them up. My thought process is that if they don’t sell by Christmas time I’ll gift them to my sister who is a huge Sailor Moon fan. Luckily she doesn’t read this newsletter so there’s no chance the surprise would be spoiled.

This VHS purchase came in handy throughout the week because one of the independent thrift stores near me must have received a huge donation of VHS tapes because they were having a 50 cent clearance on all of them and I’m talking 200+ tapes. Yes, I went through them all. There were some sealed (the actual tape not the case) but I decided to leave them just due to storage. I did however pick up these 3, mainly as a nostalgia hit.

Did anyone else watch Hercules or Xena? At $0.50 a pop I couldn’t leave them and I’m sure someone will spend a couple of bucks to buy them. One of the copies is also sealed so that helps with reducing the amount of testing time. Just a reminder that a sealed copy can turn a $0.50 tape into $40.00+ and I do it consistently, including in last weeks Issue.

So here’s a scenario, you come across a huge table full of VHS and you want to make some money. First, identify popular titles that have stood the test of time, have a fan base or cult like following or are even nostalgic. Sailor Moon and Hercules are good examples. Next, you’re going to want to make sure that there’s no mold on the actual tape. Most VHS are quite old and not properly stored so this is quite common. Here’s an example that I came across:

You don’t want to see that, you want a clean tape. If you’re not wanting to deal with opening each case and are only searching for sealed copies, there is a distinct difference in feel and sound. A loose tape will make a lot more noise when rattled around and it will move within the case - you can easily tell that there’s a tape inside. Sealed feels like the tape and the case are one cohesive unit. Here’s an audio clip of me shaking a non-sealed tape:

And a sealed tape:

Anyway, if they sound the same to you that’s fine, just take 2 seconds to open up the case and confirm. That’s enough VHS.

The next item I picked up I’ve actually bought and sold before so I knew instantly this was a winner.

Here’s a tip to you guys: if you see a box set of Lord of the Rings and a mention of the word “Unwin“ you’re going to want to pick it up. These are from 1986 and people can’t seem to get enough of them, they sell everyday despite not being in very good condition. These copies had a name written in each book plus some yellowing and other things but it wont matter. Here’s what the comps look like:

I guarantee if you buy these they will sell quickly. You can hold me to that.

I’m sure most of you will recognise this next item, it’s a Viewmaster 3D found hidden behind some random sunglasses and diapers in a thrift store for just a couple of bucks.

From what I’ve been able to research, these Viewmasters are sort of like doll houses in the sense that everyone wants the accessories, or in this case the reels. That’s why you end up seeing comps like this:

The popular, more expensive reels are what you come to expect nowadays, things like Disney, Marvel, DC Comics and similar sort of franchises. When I looked through the thrift stores plastic bag I could see Peter Pan and Casper with the former having a Disney background so I thought it would appeal to someone.

I do wish I could take a photo of the reels to show you guys because the 3D effect truly works and the stills from the movies look great. I think this $4 purchase should at least give me a ten times return which is what I’m always aiming for.

Here in Australia, we have a thrift chain called Lifeline and from my experience they’re one of the… most aware op shops so it’s somewhat rare for an item to slip through the cracks. They aim for a store aesthetic that resembles high-end vintage and their prices reflect that. I very rarely visit Lifeline unless it’s within walking distance from another thrift store and that’s what happened this week. I was in the mood for a laugh so I thought I’d go and check out Lifelines prices and in between the fits of hysteria I came across what I can only describe as pinball for children from the 70’s.

You can’t see the $15.00 price tag but I was able to look through the thick plastic bag and see a few things that made me take notice. On the bottom right, front of the graphic we have ©1974 TOMY. If you’ve been reading Flip Weekly for a while you know that TOMY is a high quality brand and it being from the 70’s was another green flag. But what is it?

Okay, so it’s pretty straight forward, let eBay Mat describe it for you:

Before iPads and Nintendos, kids entertained themselves with games like this—passing nuts. Honestly, I find it pretty charming. The artwork is sweet, and it functions perfectly despite being older than I am (can't say the same about myself). This $15 purchase should flip into $60 on eBay or $50 on Marketplace.

The following is an example where you just have to trust your gut without using Google Lens or eBay comparisons. I came across these 3 figures in a Red Cross Op Shop - very small store, a lot of people, not enough time or space to look up items.

These are highly detailed, articulated figures and to me looked like they were worth more than $10 each. The only copyright I could see on the bottom was McFarlane Toys which I didn’t recognize and I also didn’t want to move them to much in case I broke them. To be honest, I walked out of the store after looking at them thinking that I didn’t want to buy them however I came back 30 minutes later and decided to take the gamble. I thought, these are detailed action figures that move, I’ve sold similar stuff before surely I can get more than $30 out of them. We have what looks like a cave troll and 2 dragons, people buy this stuff.

What I Sold

I feel like I’m starting every sentence with “do you guys remember these?!“ but I mean… do you guys remember these?

These things were all the rage in the 90’s and I even remember having some myself. I don’t really remember how they were played with but their goofy smiles is quite nostalgic for me. To me these pass the test of looking like they’re worth a dollar but to the right collector on eBay they’re 30 times that. Now whilst these are “Knuckleheads“, if you come across “Crazy Bones“ you’ll want to pick those up.

These would 100% be something you find at a garage sale in a tub with a $5 price tag. Do some research into what they look like and pick them up at your next sale.

This didn’t last long, this week we sold the Scorbunny Pokemon plush that cost us $4:

This Build A Bear Pokemon plush had a sell through rate of under 2 weeks and gave us a ten times return, turning $4 into $44.99. I honestly don’t know why plush is ignored, I’ve made thousands just this year from selling it. It’s not even hard to ship, just chuck that guy into a satchel and you’re good to go. Man, even if you don’t have a satchel, I’m sure you have a garbage bag. Yes, you can post items within garbage bags, although I don’t exactly recommend it unless the item is properly secure inside.

_{For anyone curious, if I was to post this in a black garbage bag I’d have the plush inside of a waterproof / sealed zip lock plastic bag first. A thin black garbage bag can easily tear and you don’t want your item to arrive damaged. If you only have a garbage bag (for whatever reason) use it and then tape all over the bag. The tape can act as a sealant. It’s extremely dodgy but you can still post it. After you’ve shipped it off go out and invest in some proper satchels.}

I forgot to mention this but 2 weeks ago I came across a sealed copy of Lord of the Rings Monopoly at the thrift store. Nowadays if I buy board games I’m only buying sealed and even if it is, I’m still 50/50 just because they can take up lots of space and move slowly.

Lord of the Rings Monopoly seems to be the outlier. Of the 20 results for Lord of the Rings Monopoly 2021 we have 13 sold listings giving us a sell through rate of 65% (thanks to Flip Weekly’s eBay Sell Through Rate Calculator).

I listed mine on the 8th of July and it sold on the 22nd of July (14 days) so I highly recommend picking this up, although I think now the only place you’ll find it cheap will be garage sales. That said, they still sell well pre-owned ($30-$50).

Visiting One of Australia's Biggest Op Shops: ADRA

This week I paid a visit to an op shop that is eerily close to where I went to high school. I didn’t know this store existed until recently which is unusual considering it’s one of the biggest in all of Australia. I visited New South Wales only Savers store in Issue #22 and was completely overwhelmed once I walked inside and saw how big it was. Savers NSW is 1,590 square metres… ADRA is 2,000 square meters, over 25% bigger.

When I walked into ADRA I got the same feeling as visiting Savers… where do I go?

I thought… okay, let’s go from the left and work our way across, the books is a good place to start.

I was pleasantly surprised at the prices.

These are some of the best prices I’ve seen for books, DVD’s and CD’s. Even though it states “unless priced otherwise“ I didn’t find many that had their own price tag. From all accounts this seems to be a volume based thrift store which is good for us resellers.

Just like Savers we have all kinds of wings in this building, from bedding, towels and things like that:

To toys:

No matter how creepy:

And we can’t forget your regular clothes racks:

These prices for clothes may be the best I’ve ever seen for a thrift store here in Australia. $4 for a shirt and $4 for jeans… you guys can make a ton of money here.

That’s not it, this place has space for furniture and bulky items, complete in an animated GIF below.

The last thing I want to say about ADRA is that it isn’t some sort of op shop utopia. They don’t have their head in the sand, they know the worth of most of the bigger items, however they are selling on a volume basis so you can find your barganis. You aren’t going to find Mario Kart on N64, in fact their video games are the exact same as every other thrift store…

However you have thousands upon thousands of items to look at and that’s where we make money, by knowing more than the others, by rocking up and being informed and being subscribed to Flip Weekly!

ADRA Op Shop is located at 19 Gateway Blvd, Morisset NSW 2264 and is open Sunday - Wednesday, 9am - 3pm.

BONUS CONTENT

Sorry guys, I had to jump in here. I grew up near this area so I just wanted to give you some tourist information if you ever decide to visit ADRA. First things first if you strike out at ADRA there are 4 nearby thrift stores in Morisset that you can visit. 3 are independents, 1 is a Vinnies. In order of what you should visit after ADRA, it goes:

• Sonship Op-Shop

• Op Shop Listed Below (call it UNKNOWN)

• Vinnies Morisset

• The Branch Op Shop

The UNKNOWN doesn’t appear on Google Maps but it’s on the main road next to Go Vita.

The first one on the list after ADRA is called Sonship and is actually directly across the road. This is what it looks like:

And from the parking lot you can actually see ADRA, like some sort of dystopian enemy supercenter:

It’s also quite big and resembles an airplane hanger so it’s worth a visit:

I’m going to guess you’ll be hungry by now so I’ll give you 3 options. The first is for a lunch and the second is for a dinner. For lunch I recommend going to Eats on the Creek at Dora Creek, ordering some beer battered chips and sitting on the water. For dinner you can either go full fancy (if you’ve grabbed a lot of bargains and home runs from the thrift) or full casual. For full fancy head out to 8 at Trinity. I hate to say it but this Morisset restaurant is legit. If you’re feeling casual, go to Pauly’s and order the Stephanie’s pizza. You wont regret any of these suggestions, please let me know how you go.

Shoutout + Win a Free $200 Mystery Box

What’s this? Click here for more information on how you can score a whole bunch of free prizes including a $200 Mystery Box!

I want to give a shout out to nmwalters09 who has referred 3 people to Flip Weekly! Thank you so much, you’re on your way to the sticker pack, Vinnies gift card and finally the $200 Mystery Box!