To: anybody with a death pile and a HiBid tab open
My apartment was so full of Barbies I could only walk to the kitchen.
Dear fellow flipper,
That is not a figure of speech. Years ago I bought holiday Barbies and toys in bulk, back when Amazon was still new, and stacked them until there were two paths left in my apartment. One went to the kitchen. One went to the bathroom. Then I sold every last box.
I've been doing some version of that most of my life. My eBay account has 1,067 feedback. I've flipped bulk lithium batteries, Ferrari manuals, and digital embroidery designs, which paid me $20,000 to $50,000 a year for about ten years. I've made a couple bucks on things, made a lot on others, and I'm still sitting on a few I got wrong.
What made the difference was never hustle. It was a research tool that showed me what actually sold and how fast. I stopped guessing which markets were good and started reading the numbers. Then eBay banned me once, so I learned to sell direct, and that is how I ended up doing data and marketing for a living.
Now most of the good buying has moved to local online auctions. And the problem is not finding lots. It's that there are thousands of them, every week, and you can burn a whole evening looking up solds one at a time and still overpay on the one you got excited about.
So I'm building the tool I wanted back then, pointed at auctions. Every lot in the metro, priced against sold comps, with the fees added in, ranked, with a number to walk away at. Fewer decisions. Better ones.
It will not catch everything. It is a hot indicator that tells you where the diamonds probably are. You still have to look at the photos, check for damage, and trust your nose when something smells off.
And I'm keeping it affordable on purpose, because I'm using it too.
See you at pickup,
P.S. The closed-auction history is free and always will be. Go look at what lots near you hammered for last week next to what they sell for on eBay. If that doesn't make you want the live board, keep your $2.99.

