I’ve been collecting (and occasionally selling) figures for almost 3 years now. Within my first two figure purchases I recognized the potential to PAY for your figure hobby while collecting. I was really into Inuyasha at one point and wanted some figures to reflect that new love. I found an auction for $35 that had at least 2 figures of each of the characters listed (there were 3 of Miroku). It was cheaper to buy that auction and get double what I wanted then it was to buy each one individually on eBay. I hate having extras but I bought it and stored the extras under my bed for a while. Then I sold each of the extras off one by one and before I knew it I had paid off my $35 purchase by just selling the doubles/triples and even made a small profit!
I recently pruned off my collection a bit and I’ve listed below the price initially paid and the price sold at. I didn’t take into account shipping because I order my figures in bulk so the shipping to me would be difficult to properly represent (I Pay $15-25 in shipping per haul and sometimes I have many figures in that haul). So what you’re seeing below is inexact, especially when you consider the change in the dollar in the past 3 years. Also eBay charged their corresponding fee for each sale through them. It’s even debatable if I made a profit when you take all those other factors into account. But regardless I think it makes a pretty good point that collecting figures is by no means a waste of money. When selling these I was usually just looking to get most of my money back and cut back on my collection and probably wasn’t as strategic as I could have been. Even if you don’t go out of your way to strategically buy and re-sell figures for profit, if someday you decide to give up your figure collection you probably won’t lose too much money in the end, you may even make an undisputable profit since you’d probably be selling a lot highly desirable gems.
In general as long as you pay pre-order price initially, when you re-sell your figure you should at least be able to make most of your money back. Now there are LOTS of exceptions to that rule but in general that has been my experience (so far). Keep in mind I usually go for figures that are associated with the most popular series and I favor certain figure companies over others. There are some situations where right after a figure is released its value plummets. For example I paid pre-order prices on Meifen and Rize and you can buy them at half off fairly easily these days. Or another example is my Jun Planning Misa Amane, I can’t even sell her at $20 less then what I paid. But she is the only figure I haven’t been able to sell so far of everything I’ve tried to sell.
When I take a loss on a figure I sell to someone else it doesn’t bother me because I’ve usually enjoyed displaying that figure for a period of time. I’d almost consider that loss me renting that time with that figure. So if for some reason I had to sell off my entire collection and I took a minor loss between when I originally bought everything andf sold it I would be fine with that. I spend a lot of time looking at my figures and taking pictures of them. That money would go to the joy they gave me during that time. Although I have absolutely no intentions of giving up figures, but I can’t predict what the future will bring.
I found I took my biggest losses on figures that were relatively unknown characters outside Japan, or ones I sold on my blog/forums at a set price. Although eBay looks tempting from some of the profits shown in the chart they take their piece of the pie if you’re not careful on how you list the figure and how many times you list it. But it should also be taken into account that even though I think almost all the figures I sold are lovely figures, I didn’t sell the figures I care about the most. And it’s the figures I care about the most (and bought at the pre-order stage) that I would most likely get the best profits from.
bluedrakon on 
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#1 by bluedrakon at October 15th, 2009
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I did something like this in my early days. I took it to the extremes by including all the fees (eBay and PayPal), shipping cost to get a final loss/profit.
I noticed you did not take into account the “fees” that eBay so graciously takes out. It would probably have taken your profit to negative numbers, but still not bad return on some of the figures.
It is fun collecting!
#2 by lovelyduckie at October 15th, 2009
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@ Blue – I was going to add up all my eBay fees for the months I’ve sold figures but then I realized I’ve sold a lot of other stuff besides figures (DVDs, clothes, video games…etc). So laziness stopped me from being more exact. So I might have taken a loss if I take into account those fees, shipping, and the declining value of the dollar. But in the end I think it’s a good hobby for getting a return on your money.
#3 by Guy at October 15th, 2009
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Heh. I think if I got two of the limited manga with Otaku Yuki pucchi nendo, I could’ve made money off of her.
Also, some series get so many figures, and people buy them so much, that if you pay pre-order for them you’re unlikely to get your money back on them, even though they’re good figures.
Such as the Kotokubiya Shining Wind/Tears figures, if you pay the Japanese prices, or most Queen’s Blade figures, which you can get on eBay for $20-30 less than the MSRP.
Still, I’m glad you’re not losing money on this. I personally think that “Cycling figures” via eBay is expensive, and would rather pick figures I’d like to keep, instead of cycle them and such. And if I run out of space, each figure bought should replace another one, but not just because I grew tired and want to shake things up a bit.
Maybe when I have too much money
But I might cycle some of my figures, but more because some purchases were impulsive, and because it took some time to properly dip my feet and grow to appreciate figures properly. My weekly post where I analyze figures certainly helps.
And sweet money made on that Kaito nendoroid!
#4 by lovelyduckie at October 15th, 2009
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@ Guy – Ah…I forgot to list the Shining figures I sold! You just reminded me, see the fact that I even forgot I sold some means they didn’t mean enough to me. Ya I don’t want to have to sell figures on eBay too often but most of those purchases I sold were impulsive ones. Luckily I’ve seen the error of my ways and I’m far more selective about which figures work best for me now. That Kaito nendoroid was the one item I sold for the pure purpose of making a profit. I HAD been planning on keeping him but when I saw what he sold for and remembered that I originally hadn’t planned on buying all the Vocaloid nendoroids I decided to let him go.
#5 by Snark at October 15th, 2009
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“For example I paid pre-order prices on Meifen and Rize and you can buy them at half off fairly easily these days.”
Yeah…I bought Rize for what I thought was a really cheap price while I was in Japan, only to realize it was cheap pretty much everywhere…damn that pissed me off >_<
#6 by Guy at October 15th, 2009
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I used to have some books, a small thin RPG book I’ve purchased early, and it was awesome in a popular line, and the $25 book sold on eBay for $120.
I didn’t sell mine, cause I bloody loved it, and there was a reason it fetched that price. Then they re-printed it, and the price plummeted. Had I known when it’d be, I’d have sold mine, knowing I’d be able to get a new copy.
But that’s also why these things fetch such a price: People don’t know if they’ll get reprinted
#7 by meronpan at October 16th, 2009
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i think ‘cuz i’ve wasted so much money on ems shipping it’d be hard for me to turn a profit ^^;
kind of a nice feeling to think of my collection as an investment rather than a money sink but to avoid dangerous spending i’ll prolly continue to view it as money i’ve burned through
#8 by lovelyduckie at October 16th, 2009
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@ Guy – I’m collecting all the GSC Vocaloid figures for sure, and decided that I don’t really NEED to collect the nendoroids as well. I almost let myself get swept up into owning way too much Vocaloid stuff recently and pulled myself back, that really contributed to me deciding to give up Kaito. I have a lot of figures that really spiked in price on the secondary market, but even the ones I see go for 4 times retail I’m not tempted to sell if it’s a figure/character I really love. I only feel temptation if it’s not something I absolutely love. A lot of what I sold was also to end my completionist ways, I was buying figures I only had luke warm feelings for because they were part of a set with other figures I LOVED.
@ meronpan – If I ship something EMS it’s something very special, otherwise that method is way too expensive for me. Although I don’t count on my figures becoming “investments” too much, otherwise every re-release would be like a stab to the heart. I actually like re-releases a lot and I don’t mind them, if there are new fans that want figures from a series they love who am I to stand in their way just because my figure will be worth what I paid for it again?
#9 by Gordanham at October 16th, 2009
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I hope I can make a profit on my figures when that inevitable day comes, but until then I am satisfied with all my purchases. The only thing I hate is that I never really pre-order figures so I end up having to pay a little more than usuall.
#10 by Gordanham at October 16th, 2009
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*Usual. Haha, that was such a huge mistake.
#11 by Blowfish at October 26th, 2009
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Oh I never really thought that way but to be honest I dont even feel like parting with my crappiest figures since there are certain feelings and experiences attached to them. This sounds kinda weird doesnt it?
Blogging about a figurefor example gives me alot enjoyment besides the figure itself
#12 by Persocom at November 7th, 2009
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I’ve thought about this numerous times, but my figure collection seems to small to be pruning it. Mostly it’s the boxes that take up space, and some figures I feel less attached to, but I can’t find it in me to sell them yet. Making a profit would be nice but I doubt I could do that with any of mine. I’m really surprised with your profit on the Kaito nendo. I remember I was going to buy him when he first came out but other things took priority. I do plan on buying some things and attempting at selling them in the future though.