My first try at flipping a new set was a flop

[jaisonline]

I waited too long for buying and listing Dolphin Cruiser sets on eBay / Bricklink (starting this week).    Nevertheless, I can flip just about every older set (Cars, Toy Story, new, old, no box, with box, incomplete) but not a frakin DC.  Now Amazon has them back in-stock for $67.  Thus, I'm done flipping.  Not because it doesn't work (because it does) but it isn't for me. 

 

I compare flipping to my past days as a "for pleasure" daily stock trader. I got killed due to my timing.  Then when I moved into 1-2 year stock investing, I made nice cash for 4 straight years before rolling that money into Lego instead of buying NFLX at $67/share

[justafrog]

I'm in the same boat. The only time I've ever been successful in flipping was by accident (I didn't even know what I was selling was "hot", I just looked at sold prices, priced mine similar, and it was gone immediately).

 

I do much better with steady listing, etc. Now that I'm dealing in some repeatable merchandise (7 Captain America minifigures, 4 Bat Boats, whatever), I do pay attention to sudden bursts of sales so I can raise my prices on remaining inventory, but that's about as clever and spot-on as I can manage.

[brickolodon]

LOL

[cvail8]

Interesting to see how quickly things changed on the DC. I flipped about a dozen within the past 3 days for $120.

[justafrog]

LOL

 

Is there something funny about another site member's misfortune?

[jaisonline]

live and learn, huh

[jaisonline]

Is there something funny about another site member's misfortune?

 

 

no issues with his post.   it was a learning experience for me.  i'm glad it was a minor flop.  my xbox one sales last month was also a sorta flop. only sold one for $680 and had to return 2 units.  no biggie.  hey, no one except a few on this site can flip older sets like me anyway - ha

[Darth_Raichu]

Other than the easy   you were not missing that much.  Order fullfillment was a killer as I needed to pack xx items every. single. night.

[emazers]

Thats why 60-70% Crack and can't make the big bucks selling Lego either Flipping or Long Term, most people think its easy money, for some it is, but knowing what to buy and another key is get those sets boxed up, waiting to the last minute looking for boxes to sell your stuff around Christmas or whenever puts tons of pressure on you, I made about $12,000 since late November every set already boxed, everything went Perfect, I always stop selling on Ebay about a week before Christmas as this way everybody gets there stuff and no complaints. Ed

[TheDarkness]

I waited too long for buying and listing Dolphin Cruiser sets on eBay / Bricklink (starting this week).    Nevertheless, I can flip just about every older set (Cars, Toy Story, new, old, no box, with box, incomplete) but not a frakin DC.  Now Amazon has them back in-stock for $67.  Thus, I'm done flipping.  Not because it doesn't work (because it does) but it isn't for me. 

 

 

Sorry, I can only think of "Oh look at me! I'm a flippin' dolphin" from Finding Nemo....

[Legodog]

I was able to flip 2 Dolphin Cruisers for $99 each. Although I just learned one is on it's way back to me because the guy says he didn't know his mother-in-law already bought one for his daughter. Or put another way he was able to find one and now wants to return the one he paid $99 for on eBay. I bought it on Amazon so now I am stuck with it. What a pain.

 

I only sold about $600 worth of stuff this Christmas with a profit of about $200. Not too bad. I'm hanging on to most of of my sets until at least next Christmas.

[brickolodon]

Thats why 60-70% Crack and can't make the big bucks selling Lego either Flipping or Long Term, most people think its easy money, for some it is, but knowing what to buy and another key is get those sets boxed up, waiting to the last minute looking for boxes to sell your stuff around Christmas or whenever puts tons of pressure on you, I made about $12,000 since late November every set already boxed, everything went Perfect, I always stop selling on Ebay about a week before Christmas as this way everybody gets there stuff and no complaints. Ed

12000 in total sales or just profit...???LOL

[wholovesboo]

It's not TOO late...USPS's cut off date for Xmas Eve delivery is tomorrow (12/21) for 2-Day Priority and Monday (12/23) for 1-Day Priority.

 

Just make sure you're doing BIN and not an auction so that last minute shoppers can buy it right away.

 

And if you hung onto the receipt you can always take it back to the store on December 26

[brickolodon]

I waited too long for buying and listing Dolphin Cruiser sets on eBay / Bricklink (starting this week).    Nevertheless, I can flip just about every older set (Cars, Toy Story, new, old, no box, with box, incomplete) but not a frakin DC.  Now Amazon has them back in-stock for $67.  Thus, I'm done flipping.  Not because it doesn't work (because it does) but it isn't for me. 

 

I compare flipping to my past days as a "for pleasure" daily stock trader. I got killed due to my timing.  Then when I moved into 1-2 year stock investing, I made nice cash for 4 straight years before rolling that money into Lego instead of buying NFLX at $67/share

I got a lot of DC in late November cause I know its will be hot item....around 49-52-56 per item....got total 39-42..listed last week of November and wait....December 16th sold last one total of 39 (in range of 99.99-134.95)....one left for Xmas present to my daugther. Boom! Perfect time....

P.S. sorry about LOL, partner but I remember all my flops ....and I never invest in stocks (ONLY LOW Cost Index Funds) and never will....tooo risky for me....and flipping to risky too....

[jaredseiders]

What I do for flipping is look at Amazon's top sales ranks, especially in November/December. Those items Amazon is going to have a tough time keeping in stock. Even when they get a shipment of 100 or so in, they last most times like an hour tops. I scout those items then. I've been making a killing on the TMNT line (mostly the regular Turtles, and the key villains like Shredder.), Marvel Titan Series (7.99 at Toys R Us this week, I bought every Titan figure at TRU and Target and Walmart using Price Match).

 

I increased my sales by thousands of dollars this week alone. I had run out of items to sell at FBA, and my sales which used to be 3000 to 7000 a day in early to mid December were dwindling to only several hundred a day. After buying up a ton of Turtles and Marvel Titans, my sales are back into the $3000 range. And a lot of that is profit too, almost half. Every day I get more stuff to sell. I had to do this flipping because it's too late to ship into Amazon and sell, so I'm fulfilling myself and I have to say it's been a lot of fun and a lot of work. But definitely worth it and definitely successful.

 

A good scouting app is crucial though. I use Profit Bandit. Tells me my expected profit after factoring in all Amazon fees and shipping. It also tells me the crucial sales rank, so I know what items to avoid.

[lowillsw]

Sorry about that, there's always returns as the last resort.

[Sauromosis]

Is there a Profit Bandit type app for ebay?

[binici]

I have to admit I was a bit sketchy on the flipping, but I did have success with the Minecraft sets. Sold a bundle for $160. It is hard work and you have to be patient and do some research or you will regret it!

 

The safest way of course is to find deep discounts and have everything prepared and organized. Also helps if you deal with reasonable people!

[jaredseiders]

I have compiled a spreadsheet of values of lego sets on Amazon at December 15th. It basically shows the markup over Regular Retail price. A huge majority were going for 2x retail price because Amazon and other major online retailers were sold out. Even if they weren't sold out, I sold the Sopwith Camel for a take home of $140 after fees. It was still in stock on Lego.com and in my lego store. Market research is key. That's why I compiled this spreadsheet. I will be doing an article explaining my findings once the season's over and I have more time on my hands. Many sets were selling at 200% in mid December. If you expect someone to tell you everything you should buy, then you are not going to do well. Market research is key.

If a set is selling for 2 times the retail price (and we're talking small sets available in most stores, not exclusives), and you get a discount of 25% off the set when you buy it, how could you not do well? I think eBay may be the place to sell rare and hard to find sets, but even mundane sets sell for crazy money as I hope that my spreadsheet and article will show.

[Dbroncoboy]

Count me in on the Xbox One flop. The thing weighs as much as an anvil and PS4 demand blew it out of the water.

 

I sold two of the Xboxs for a marginal profit, going to return the other one. Luckily I didnt get as many of them as PS4s

[exciter1]

I was impatient with the Dolphin Cruisers and sold all of mine for $105 - $110, about half and half.  I'm just glad I got most of them around or below $50 each.

[jaredseiders]

I avoided the Xbox One like the plague for a big reason: I sell on Amazon. Amazon has a super-lenient return policy. I had 4 Rebelle Heartbreak bows come back to me because the customer found a better price. I have since resold those bows, so I didn't lose any money, but if the Xbox One was able to be bought between release and January 31st, I could be up the creek without a paddle. It would be past the return period of my purchase. Amazon probably wouldnt even care if they bought a new Xbox with a different serial number and sent it back. Then I wouldn't be able to return it at all, ever.

[Fcbarcelona101]

no issues with his post.   it was a learning experience for me.  i'm glad it was a minor flop.  my xbox one sales last month was also a sorta flop. only sold one for $680 and had to return 2 units.  no biggie.  hey, no one except a few on this site can flip older sets like me anyway - ha

 

Yeah, flipping new sets is no fun!!

[Dbroncoboy]

I avoided the Xbox One like the plague for a big reason: I sell on Amazon. Amazon has a super-lenient return policy. I had 4 Rebelle Heartbreak bows come back to me because the customer found a better price. I have since resold those bows, so I didn't lose any money, but if the Xbox One was able to be bought between release and January 31st, I could be up the creek without a paddle. It would be past the return period of my purchase. Amazon probably wouldnt even care if they bought a new Xbox with a different serial number and sent it back. Then I wouldn't be able to return it at all, ever.

 

It's a restricted item on Amazon anyways, you wouldn't have been allowed to sell it. even as someone who sells 90% on Amazon it was a no brainer from day 1 that eBay is the only way to sell items like these.