Statue flipping cannot be self-sustaining employment

[ChunkyZergling]

I did some calculations about flipping statues and it just cannot be a self-sustaining job.

Spider-man comiquette is the statue I calculated with the greatest price increase.

Recently 10 Spider-man comiquettes were sold on ebay for a mean price of $899 unshipped. It was released for a price of $350 unshipped. That is a 257% increase in value or an increase in value of $549. It was released 3 years ago.

If you were somehow spectacularly able to acquire 52 of those statues for retail price. And quite amazingly sell 1 statue a week for a year, you would earn $16,848 profit after shipping.

Now you would have to be buying 52 statues a year for 3 years until you could first start selling the statues in storage. Storage for those statues I'd estimate would cost $5,000 a year. That's ~<$15,000 after 3 years. You'd also spend a lot of time and money on gas. So you'd have to have that cash. Also you would have to have ~$61,620 to buy and ship the 156 Spider-man comiquettes. So you'd be in the hole $~77,000.

But you'd have to keep buying and selling statues for 2 more years until you sold your first 3 years worth of statues while continuing to buy 104 more statues. That's another ~$41,000 during those years spent on Spider-man comiquettes. But you would have made $74,776. But then more storage. Then ebay and PayPal fees!

**** this. I'm going to stare at my Venom comiquette.

 

[darthviper107]

Um, uh, what?

 

[EVILFACE]

You sound like a poor person.

 

[averone]

LOL

You have too much time on your hands!

I have surpassed this number each year, but I do not consider myself a flipper but a collector of fine art.
And I do not pay for storage, thats $0! How, you ask? I have boxes in my attic and in over the garage storage and some of my statues do not require boxes.

 

[ChunkyZergling]

LOL

You have too much time on your hands!

I have surpassed this number each year, but I do not consider myself a flipper but a collector of fine art.
And I do not pay for storage, thats $0! How, you ask? I have boxes in my attic and in over the garage storage and some of my statues do not require boxes.

You have made ~$16,000 in profit in a year flipping statues?

 

[averone]

You have made ~$16,000 in profit in a year flipping statues?

No read above ^^
I buy more than 200 statues a year!

 

[ChunkyZergling]

No read above ^^
I buy more than 200 statues a year!

Wtf? Are you the CEO of Monsanto? I buy 1 statue a month and I am soon to be living in a card board box.

 

[ChunkyZergling]

You sound like a poor person.

lol

-----

I was a man with a dream, a wonderful dream of buying and selling beautiful statues but a night spent on the Internet and Microsoft Excel showed me that dream could never true.

 

[averone]

Wtf? Are you the CEO of Monsanto? I buy 1 statue a month and I am soon to be living in a card board box.

Take a look at my thread

Im not full of it, but at times I wish I was - LOL
I keep a good record of them and take pics and videos



https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48150

Oh yea, kids dont try this at home! Fair warning!

 

[ChunkyZergling]

Take a look at my thread

Im not full of it, but at times I wish I was - LOL
I keep a good record of them and take pics and videos



https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48150

Oh yea, kids dont try this at home! Fair warning!

Yes, I've watched many of your videos. Good job with that. I have a number of them up myself. I am friends with northern monkey and darthchris

 

[Solarsailor]

Obviously not, but I bet you could easily sustain yourself inside the hobby almost for free after about 2 years of collecting. I'd imagine that's what a lot of flippers actually do and really I don't have a problem with that.

 

[ChunkyZergling]

Obviously not, but I bet you could easily sustain yourself inside the hobby almost for free after about 2 years of collecting. I'd imagine that's what a lot of flippers actually do and really I don't have a problem with that.

Yes. That would be excellent.

 

[NeoDragonKnight]

I flip some items here and there to help pay for new stuff, GI Joe for example, Ill buy a bagged and boxed set and flip the boxed set which will pay for the bagged set.

 

[siren3-4]

I did some calculations about flipping statues and it just cannot be a self-sustaining job.

Spider-man comiquette is the statue I calculated with the greatest price increase.

Recently 10 Spider-man comiquettes were sold on ebay for a mean price of $899 unshipped. It was released for a price of $350 unshipped. That is a 257% increase in value or an increase in value of $549. It was released 3 years ago.

If you were somehow spectacularly able to acquire 52 of those statues for retail price. And quite amazingly sell 1 statue a week for a year, you would earn $16,848 profit after shipping.

Now you would have to be buying 52 statues a year for 3 years until you could first start selling the statues in storage. Storage for those statues I'd estimate would cost $5,000 a year. That's ~<$15,000 after 3 years. You'd also spend a lot of time and money on gas. So you'd have to have that cash. Also you would have to have ~$61,620 to buy and ship the 156 Spider-man comiquettes. So you'd be in the hole $~77,000.

But you'd have to keep buying and selling statues for 2 more years until you sold your first 3 years worth of statues while continuing to buy 104 more statues. That's another ~$41,000 during those years spent on Spider-man comiquettes. But you would have made $74,776. But then more storage. Then ebay and PayPal fees!

**** this. I'm going to stare at my Venom comiquette.

I flip to be able to collect . . . My sale of the Joker Ex funded my Joker Reg . . . after all is said and done my Joker PF cost me about $70

 

[clibman]

As "The Godfather" famously said, "It makes no difference, it don't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, you understand. But your business is a little dangerous."

If you buy something that "doesn't" increase in value, you might get stuck. If you do, then I guess you make money.

I, myself, disagree with the "business" of flipping. I think it hurts the hobby. Those in the business of flipping buy just for the sake of making money off of pour souls who collect for the enjoyment of the item.

I feel the same way about ticket scalpers. They buy as many tickets as they can, even in the cheap seats. So when I try to buy, the tickets are sold out. Then I have to go to them and be gouged.

I'm 42 years old. I know that basically, "This is Life". I realize that people do this to make money, and it's legal. All this, I know. But that doesn't make it right!

So when I hear stories of people are losing money in the ticket business or in selling statues, I smile. I believe in karma. I don't feel sorry when bad things happen to those who I believe do bad things.

Just my opinion. And again, if you want to post that, "Hey clibman, you don't like it, tough!", then that's fine. I still enjoy collecting. But I just don't like the "flipping" side of it. When you do something that you enjoy, and someone else wants to gauge you and make the most money from you, yea, that's capitalism, but I personally don't do that, and I can sleep at night.

Just my .02.

 

[Darklord Dave]

You've proven beyond a reasonable doubt - Flippers are dumb.

Buy what you like, don't buy something because it might go up in value.

 

[jack burton]

As "The Godfather" famously said, "It makes no difference, it don't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, you understand. But your business is a little dangerous."

If you buy something that "doesn't" increase in value, you might get stuck. If you do, then I guess you make money.

I, myself, disagree with the "business" of flipping. I think it hurts the hobby. Those in the business of flipping buy just for the sake of making money off of pour souls who collect for the enjoyment of the item.

I feel the same way about ticket scalpers. They buy as many tickets as they can, even in the cheap seats. So when I try to buy, the tickets are sold out. Then I have to go to them and be gouged.

I'm 42 years old. I know that basically, "This is Life". I realize that people do this to make money, and it's legal. All this, I know. But that doesn't make it right!

So when I hear stories of people are losing money in the ticket business or in selling statues, I smile. I believe in karma. I don't feel sorry when bad things happen to those who I believe do bad things.

Just my opinion. And again, if you want to post that, "Hey clibman, you don't like it, tough!", then that's fine. I still enjoy collecting. But I just don't like the "flipping" side of it. When you do something that you enjoy, and someone else wants to gauge you and make the most money from you, yea, that's capitalism, but I personally don't do that, and I can sleep at night.

Just my .02.

Yeah, I hear you. This site (and I guess the statue/collectible community) is different from other message boards. Other sites (video game message boards) frown upon selling things for "ebay prices". They consider that price gouging. Here, flipping is accepted, even though it's at the expense of the members. I've been curious as to reasons for the difference in attitude.

Different cultures?

 

[ashkanls]

You've proven beyond a reasonable doubt - Flippers are dumb.

Buy what you like, don't buy something because it might go up in value.

LOl close the thread Dave, this is silly.

 

[Colossus]

Raises Eyebrow,Turns and Walks Away

 

[Vitus]

If you have a time machine it can be. I would go back and buy every y-wing and darth talon statue I could get my hands on muahahaha

seriously though how do you define a flipper?
is it someone that buys 2 (1 to flip)?
someone that buys every exclusive and seems to have it for sale right away at a rediculous price?
someone that buys 1 and decides to sell it later on to fund someting new when he sees what it is going for?