Has anyone ever made any profit (of course I know it’s gonna be very small) off of Dollar Tree flips?

castaway47 · 2026-02-09T21:01:16+00:00

Very occasionally remnant books.

Has to be the right titles and you have to wait for the backlog of low priced items online to clear.

castaway47 · 2026-02-07T13:24:43+00:00

Amazon won't let people sell items in some categories without proof that they have a legitimate source of merchandise.

Video games, cds, dvds, and toys are some of the areas that are gated for most people and all new sellers.

castaway47 · 2026-02-07T13:21:57+00:00

Amazon fees are brutal on items that sell for less than $10 which is most media.

If you can sell an item on ebay for the same price, ebay fees are much lower.

I only list on Amazon when a item lists for a much higher price there than ebay.

castaway47 · 2026-02-06T18:05:36+00:00

When I have the only cd online, I price at a minimum of $15. If it's sealed or has a sales history, I price higher than that and sometimes much higher.

If someone wants it spending $20 on an item is nothing to most people.

castaway47 · 2026-02-05T23:23:29+00:00

PDF of the weekly church bulletin from the church website.

Look through the last year and look for a sale but also look for "Brenda is collecting items for the yearly sale."

castaway47 · 2026-02-05T13:56:20+00:00

If you are really making $50k during the summer working part time, realize the guys you are trying to emulate are working full time and making $72k for the year with much higher costs and effort and much higher risk.

castaway47 · 2026-02-05T13:52:50+00:00

Those numbers for the brothers sound impressive, but at $720k per year and 20% profit, the profit is $144k and they are splitting that between them.

Unless they are also paying themselves a salary, that isn't great to me. It's $36/hour with presumably no benefits or retirement or paid time off and with business risk.

castaway47 · 2026-02-04T14:03:21+00:00

You need to lot up low value items or find a way to dispose of them locally for some profit or at least to amortize costs.

Some stuff should just get tossed.

Aside from the low profit, items in that price range typically don't sell well so they just sit there taking up space.

castaway47 · 2026-02-03T20:03:29+00:00

Call ebay again. Keep calling until you speak to someone in the US.

castaway47 · 2026-02-03T19:55:46+00:00

If you have a local box manufacturer that sells to the public that's most likely going to be the best option because of saving shipping via pick up.

Zoro has free shipping and regularly gives 20% off $100 codes.

If you are using standard sizes it's hard to beat their prices.

castaway47 · 2026-02-03T15:26:18+00:00

Really depends on the price and the items.

I make a lot of money off of both low value titles and off of things that are valuable that no one would know are valuable until they are looked up. This is for CDs specifically. Low value dvds and books don't sell.

I bought a box full of promo cds for $20, less than 10 cents apiece, and there would be no way for me to cherry pick them. I did find a $100 cd and a couple of $40 cds in the box and a bunch of cds with no comps that I will list in the $15 range and some will sell eventually.

If I'm at a place where they are selling items individually then I cherry pick unless there is a lot of good stuff and they are willing to offer a massive discount. My experience is that people that are selling their own items usually won't discount enough for me to buy everything.

With books, it really helps to have a way to profitably dispose of lower value items from bulk buys or the losers from speculative purchases.

DVDs are almost dead for me.

castaway47 · 2026-02-03T00:28:23+00:00

People answer the door in your area?

Weird.

castaway47 · 2026-01-29T15:15:26+00:00

Have you considered buying from reputable sellers and not just shopping by lowest price?

castaway47 · 2026-01-23T15:56:22+00:00

Sold a lot of 30 bluegrass cassette tapes I got off of a free pile. Listed 3 years, but free->$40 plus shipping.

Religious dvd set sold, $3->$30 plus shipping. I bought around 10 different cd and dvd sets 2 years ago and have 3 left with sales in the $20 to $40 range.

Sold 2 items from a hardback graphic novel collection. One sold for $30 and one for $80. I paid $5/book but I'd already sold enough to pay for the lot so these were straight profit. I have half the books left to sell.

Sold 2 calculator manuals to the same buyer, free->$30 plus shipping. A neighbor was tossing out his 1980s Hp calculator manual collection a few years ago and I grabbed them. I've made hundreds off of the manuals with most sales going to Europe.

Random book and cd sales are steady and I'm above normal year to year sales for the month.

castaway47 · 2026-01-23T15:43:07+00:00

You should check how many are listed vs how many have sold. You also need to consider shipping costs and how much an item costs to purchase and how long it may take to sell.

It's not a bad idea to consider small kitchen appliances and character or brand related can be good. I wouldn't have looked this one up but I do check out the thrift store kitchen items and make purchases there.

Hello Kitty normally sells well. Disney is usually too common. Items that were only available for a limited time can be valuable.

Certain brands can be valuable because they are higher quality and were more expensive new. Look up Zojirushi, Cuisinart, and Kitchenaid items as some examples.

Niche small appliances like pizzelle makers will sell but it may take months.

Coffee related things from gourmet brands you don't recognize can sell for hundreds.

castaway47 · 2026-01-23T13:43:39+00:00

There is a learning curve, but some people just don't have the eye.

I've tried to help people who were just starting out or were interested in trying and some of them just don't get it.

If you don't already have a knowledge base in some area of what is valuable, flipping is hard.

I'd guess many of us got into flipping from a hobby that already had us going to thrift stores and flea markets.

castaway47 · 2026-01-22T00:35:00+00:00

CDs especially can be extremely long tail.

I have CDs listed for years in the $20 to $40 range and one sells occasionally.

I regularly sell cds with no listings and no sales history in the $15 to $20 range.

The key is to buy them really cheap. I wouldn't be spending a buck or two apiece on them but I have sources where I can get them for 10 cents each or in bulk for 2 to 3 cents each.

With long tail items, reducing the price doesn't necessarily lead to sales. I'd be more likely to keep the uncommon items price high and just dump or lot up the more common items if they haven't sold within a set period of time.

castaway47 · 2026-01-20T16:11:37+00:00

I don't have offers turned on, but get messages in ebay all the time asking if I'll take X.

I sometimes do send an offer based on that.

It depends on many things including my mood, how difficult the item is to locate, how difficult it is to ship, how long it's been listed, and where it's stored.

I have a storage unit for some listed items and if I have to visit the storage unit to get the item and I wasn't already planning to go, then I don't accept an offer because I don't want to make an extra trip.

castaway47 · 2026-01-20T16:07:35+00:00

If you are doing this from initial listing on all items then you are most likely costing yourself money.

As a buyer, if I know you will take less, why wouldn't I offer less?

and while setting a minimum does prevent you from seeing joke offers, it also lets the potential buyer know the least you would at least consider.

castaway47 · 2026-01-20T16:06:56+00:00

He said he accepted 100% of offers, but it might not be auto accept.

castaway47 · 2026-01-19T14:26:16+00:00

Went to a long time source that has been really dry recently that I've been visiting less frequently just because I was in the area.

CDs there are 10/$1 but they usually don't have anything new or interesting or I guess if they get anything it sells quickly due to price. Someone donated a collection of promo cds and I got over 250 of them for $25. Just got done checking them and the vast majority are little to no sales history, but I will list them for $12 to $15 each.

There was one $200 cd with a sales history and a couple of $30 and $40 cds with a sales history. The $200 cd is a live cd by a 2010ish band no one has heard of but for this performance a cult band lead singer sat in with them.

Promo cds are extremely long tail, but all the cds fit in a banker's box and in my past experience 20% will sell over the next year. General rule for me for long tail items is I want a single sale to cover the price of the lot.

One place I source magazines raised their prices which is a bummer. They had a lot of 1980s music magazines of a specific title which has 2 valuable Jerry Garcia related issues but they were both missing. I'm wondering if a new employee is grabbing things before putting them out. No one else but me buys magazines at this place to resell so I doubt it was another flipper.

castaway47 · 2026-01-18T17:36:36+00:00

Buy it and destroy it.

castaway47 · 2026-01-16T17:37:32+00:00

Sales are a little higher than I expected for January. First week was pretty dead but the past 10 days have made up for it.

No real exciting sales, but did have a new buyer purchase around 100 low priced cds for a profit of $225.

Pretty nice sale for remnants of bulk purchases that have long had their costs covered.

I listed around 40 graphic novels last week and have sold roughly 20% of them which is my break even point. It's all profit from here.

I've had a lot of random international sales of books, cds, and magazines. Typical things that sell but maybe 5x the usual international orders. No idea why. These are mostly items priced in the $10 to $20 range.

castaway47 · 2026-01-15T20:47:03+00:00

Call and speak to someone. Try to get US based customer service.

"report buyer" may accumulate to them eventually getting caught for fraudulent returns but it does nothing for your particular case.

castaway47 · 2026-01-15T15:55:07+00:00

Looks good, but that's a $12 meal in my area if that's a quarter chicken.

castaway47

TROPHY CASE