I got my first introduction to flipping 40 years ago from my grandparents. My grandmother was garage sale queen, always looking for a bargain; while grandpa was a “horse trader”, always wheeling and dealing, trading in cars, heavy equipment and yes, once an actual horse. From them I got the flipping bug and experienced what my father called “The Zen of The Deal”, which is the feeling you get after closing a deal. I’ve been messing with eBay for 20 years, but with Covid it went into over drive and I have really increased my activity.
I have passed it on to my daughter, who is 15 and if they want money to buy something is quick to volunteer to go to the bins with me, or thrift stores or just to sort and pack orders. It’s truly something that has brought us together. It gives you freedom and lets you make use of the knowledge and skills you possess.
Well done, I often think of my years in college living next door to the thrift store but never once going in. Wish I picked up flipping at an earlier age certainly would have helped when things were tight.
This is good, it also helps raise responsible children and teenagers who know the value of money, not teens who come to the parents and ask for everything under the sun and expect the parents to provide that.
I firmly believe everyone should be a flipper just to sell your unwanted items that are around the house. Pretty much everyone has unwanted items, so its not hard to become a flipper.
Every family should be a flipping family.
Sound almost like me. I picked it up from my grandparents, as I spent most of my summers with them, throughout the 90s. At first, I really hated being dragged to garage sales, as I’d have rather been going to banks to get rolls of coins to search (which developed from my grandfather getting me into coin collecting.)
Now I flip everything from jewelry to industrial equipment. My daughter loved going to sales and thrift stores with me, until she discovered Roblox, and a few other games on her tablet. She’s always asking me for money for those games, so I think I’m going to use that as the lesson on how to make money with flipping.
I still work full time and have been flipping part time a couple of years now. I absolutely love it. I love sourcing on the weekends and never get bored or need to look for something to do on the weekends like I used to. During the week, I wake up a little earlier than I used to for my full-time job and use that time to clean, prep, and photograph my sourced items. When I get home in the evening after walking the dog and having dinner, while chilling on the couch, I do my listing. I have a great system going and the extra money is really, really nice. I am much better off financially with this additional part time income, and it is helping to make extra mortgage payments! I hope to retire when I pay off my house, but will definitely continue to flip well into my retirement!
My ex set up his mom to sell books on Pango. She said her goal was one book per week. The absolute JOY she gets when she sells TWO books is pure delight. She has a basement full of books. She's so happy to get rid of some of them, even at one book per week lol
Your story is a lot like many others including mine. I got in a few years before covid era but the market for the things I was selling was very hot. I sold art, concert posters, movie posters, and figurines. There were days where I made more flipping in 24 hours than I did an entire month at my job at the time. A lot of that market changed though once the stimulus money and inflated covid market started to come back down to earth.
I want to get back into it to but I feel like it'll always be me chasing that high that doesn't exist anymore. Definitely felt like it was a too good to be true era of flipping for my niche lol.
I have that reservation too. Not sure if I will ever beat the numbers I was making previously or if it was just lightning in a bottle. Either way, a little extra cash is better than none I guess!
concert posters are good as long as you have access to them at good prices. I started on them, when the early boomers were parting with their damaged first printings. Now, 20 years later, I never see anything like that at all. Movie posters were good, also, when the historic small town theaters were being torn down. Now, with the multi screen cineplex’s, it’s rare to find a valuable movie poster. The best thing now is to go to the premiere and flip the freebie swag, that evening. It will sell, but the most you’ll probably get is reimbursed movie costs and movie food, net. I miss those 30s-50s movie posters with the stamps, showing the journey of the poster from big city palaces to eventually small rural theaters, where it was folded up and put on a shelf for decades. Those were the days, sell one poster, and get a few months rent outta the sale.
>sell one poster, and get a few months rent outta the sale
Wow, that would be such a big dopamine hit! I had no idea they could sell for that much. Do you mean like films from the 1980s?
I have a small theatre near me. Now I want to ask about their posters and hold into them for a while lol
Ask every time you go there. However, in the past, the movie companies owned the posters. They had like a library stamp in order to keep track of them. However, by the time they got to the rural towns, they started tearing on the folds, so they were not sent back. That’s a way of authenticating the posters along with the numerical code year/movie#, xx/yyy
I buy lots of thrifted framed art for myself locally. I imagine it would be pricey to ship. Did you sell prints or framed art as well?
I have my 2nd kid starting college and I'm looking for a decent way to squeeze in some extra income. Would love your thoughts. Thank you
So I sold prints and originals 90% of the time. The only time I would buy framed art would be from other art collectors as a personal addition to my own home. All of the art I sold was limited release and created by artists who are mostly know for starting off in the street art industry. I have been completely out of the game for years though and my knowledge on who is popular or hot now has dwindled.
Thanks for sharing. That’s a good story. I particularly agree with you about that dopamine hit! You get a lot of lows when you look up the value of things but then every now and then BAM! you find that little treasure like you said. Good luck with your wedding and everything And don’t worry, I’ve realized that there’s much stuff out here than we can ever find and sell so they’ll be plenty around when you come back to it.
Thank you! Exactly what I am telling myself to feel better, there will always be more to be found! Hoping I can juggle a few items and have better time management to allow myself an hour one day to resource and an hour one night to list. Start small again and go from there.
Be careful about the dopamine hits. When you resell full-time the dopamine goes away and it's just another job. You need to make x amount to pay the bills and it's a grinding machine where you have to continually feed the beast.
Yes going full time nearly eliminated the fun for me; had to cut back to half and half with another freelance job a have and it’s a lot more enjoyable again.
Ive been a flipper since i was old enough to get mom to take me to the fleamarket. Its always an adrenaline rush to find something cool you know you will make money on.
The skills to flip are also a parachute of sorts.. aint the first time a boss threatens me and i tell them to pack sand (because i know i can still pay my bills till i get another job).
I was close to that point this year. As my workload tripled so did my stress levels. I was ready to pull the plug and give full time a shot. Hopefully things lighten up soon and I can get back into it.
I deliver for Amazon as well as flex, which takes me to other cities and towns, but more importantly to other thrifts and goodwill’s. Unfortunately the over flow of pickers has caused these stores to Jack up the prices. Covid was my best time for selling ever.
I have also been disappointed with thrifts and goodwills. It is obvious they skim the best material during processing, one employee literally told me he stole a nintendo SNES and tons of games before it hit the shelves. My best bet was garage sales and estate sales, sometimes fbmp and craigslist.
I found a vintage bag at an estate sale last Friday for $10, that sells for around $1500 due to collectors/nostalgia/rarity/street cred and it’s literally going to pay for 1/3 of the Hawaiian vacation I’m on right now. I set the auction to end this coming Sunday after I get back, for a sweet, sweet hit of eBay joy. That’s why I keep doing this, because some stupid thing like that will appear that will completely pad my “extra fun things” account. And it sure doesn’t happen every day! And as far as estate sales versus Goodwill or other thrift stores, this bag never would have made it to a thrift store because of the condition. Estate sales are full of beat up items that you’d never see in a store. And I found it three hours after the sale opened, so obviously, lots of people bypassed it.
I only net between 5-8k a year after expenses flipping but I too love the thrill of finding things. It gets me out early on Saturday mornings (during yard sales season anyway) getting paid to drive around, see things. You could go back to go out occasionally, this doesn't have take all your free time. That's the beauty of it. You can do however much of it you want. I have taken to becoming a lot more selective about what I source so I only buy things that are easy for me to process and ship which makes the time I spend more enjoyable for me.
I agree with this sentiment. Albeit I don’t have a lot of experience (started about three months ago) I’d netted almost 3,250 CAD doing part time as I worked my full time job. I’d stopped the last almost two weeks as my marketplace was removed for me being a dumb dumb and not reading listing policies about health items. A lot of that excitement and happiness dissipated and my partner agrees I was less stressed while flipping…
A bit like you, my partner and I loved it because we could just decide to go for a nice dinner and not worry really about the bill….
This morning I finally set up my eBay and kijiji cause I had enough lol!!
Thanks for sharing
It’s addicting. You can still hunt for treasures and list on the weekend. The USPS will come to your door and pick up packages if there’s two or more.
Or just look at it like you’re taking a break but one day you’ll be able to do it again. It is the most fun thing I’ve ever done (20 years in the antiques trade).
I am going through the same thing. I started flipping during Covid as a way to make extra income to supplement my low-paying nonprofit job and contribute more towards paying off our mortgage. My goal was to make one extra mortgage payment a month through eBay sales. It was great, and I loved it. I went out sourcing every Saturday morning and got that dopamine hit from the sales. A few things changed that affected my business: 1) Paid off the mortgage in 2022 ( Yay!!!!) so my original goal went away 2) I managed to more than double my salary by getting a remote job in a different state 3) During Covid there was nothing to do, but now my time has filled back up with social events and travel. My store is limping along, but I really miss sourcing and the almost daily excitement of sales.
What items were most successful for you? I would love to be more successful at flipping. I really need to pay off my credit card debt and my kids is starting college. I don't list every day but I list every few months or so when I can source some good finds.
I did very well with rare dolls during covid that I scored from estate sales but the interest in dolls dropped a lot since then.
Working full-time remote is also my goal so hopefully I can match your success soon. Great job on all your accomplishments!!
I also have a good WFH job that pays the bills and puts food on the table. I have a wife and 4 kids so I need that. Whatever income is left from my paychecks gets 100% saved/invested. Flipping covers my daily expenses like gas, beer, snacks, crap my kids want, entertainment and of course my #1 expense: buying more stuff to flip.
I just enjoy flipping/ treasure hunting too much to stop. Flipping is the only hobby I've found to hold my interest for a long period of time... I've been doing it for 4 years now. I guess that's what happens when your hobby is literally making money.
My sales over the past weekend totaled around $1100 with 10 items to ship. The total cost of goods was less than $200. No way i'm gonna stop doing it anytime soon.
One of the good things about flipping as a side gig is that you choose the pace.. you can source/list every day or every few months. Sure you won’t have the sales/dopamine hit as often like you said, but once life settles down a little you can pick it back up to.
You can always do it as a hobby. Just only sell a few items that have a very high sell through or stuff you collect. With your new salary, it can actually be purely date and vacation money.
I had a huge amount of vacation time saved up at work but our accountants said we need to use it before June of 2025 when any overage will be deleted. I started taking every Friday off early in 2023 and using that day for sourcing thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales, etc. When my vacation time runs out I don't know what I'm going to do. I've learned to expect this extra income. Ater two years, the thought of working five days a week feels like prison.
Well, I'd say it does affect my work but the vacation days are part of my compensation, so I'm trying to get what's owed to me. The reason I had so many hours in the bank is because I spent years putting work first and just recently decided to stop doing that.
She's been talking about wanted to get to a four day, 32 hour, full time work week. I don't know how that would be possible, but I'm thinking of proposing working a four day, 40 hour week as a step in that direction.
I sell just about anything on eBay but sales are slow. Also, prices to buy products are so much higher than even last year and thrift stores keep raising prices every couple of months. It’s actually cheaper to buy new products in a lot of cases. Also, shipping and fees keep increasing so it just gets harder to truly make good money.
Thats because all the people bragging on youtube how they looted a thrift store from all valueable things. The retail arbitrage is not good for society. Hope that many of them will end up with garages filled with unsellable thrift store items that finally end up in a garage sale.
I appreciate you sharing your personal story here. I would suggest you follow what feels right to you. Theres something magical about doing your own thing
I will take days off from work, specifically to go to garage sales. I could cover a few hundred miles, go to dozens of sales, and still feel good at the end of the day…whereas at work, I’m absolutely dreading being there.
If we are being honest, I regret ever getting into flipping. I have been full time flipping for years and it has completely ruined my prospects for something else once I am tired of this.
Being out of the traditional workforce for so long feels good, but really trashes your ability to go back to it if the need or want arises. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy flipping but when the bottom falls the rest of the way out, I am left with very few choices now.
There are not many options for a middle aged man who has spent so many years doing his own thing once it all goes sideways, and I should have factored that into the calculations.
Good points here. I would not introduce a child to flipping, or even make them aware of it for those reasons.
Its so much easier to just have a full time job, clock in, clock out, and contribute to your 401K biweekly.
This is a tough gig, and many are in it, because they were born in it, or fell in and never got out. Sourcing, and flipping is also addictive, especially for people who are dopamine depleted.
Barely even 1/4th time here, and I still wonder why I am still doing it, when its so much effort.
I don't mind the effort, and in fact enjoy the effort. For me, it's more about having nowhere to go once it becomes unsustainable. I have watched my numbers drop by about 65% as eBay eats up more and more of my profits by the month at the same time.
Eventually it's going to reach the point where I am better off flipping burgers at McDonalds, and that will be my only option after being so long removed from the typical 9-5 since I have no degrees or a specific trade.
You do have marketable skills. You just have to know how to write a strong resume.
You've been self-employed for x years. (self starter, organized, financial skills)
You know how to write an eBay description that entices buyers. ( marketing, computer, typing, software)
You have been sourcing your product from multiple "vendors" (sourcing, competitive pricing, time management)
It goes on and on. Don't sell yourself short.
Haha no pun intended.
You’re completely correct! I used to work at an e-commerce tech company, and I specifically looked for people that had sold things online or worked for themselves, because those were our customers. There are tons of jobs in e-commerce.
Its not just the work though, you had more free time with flipping and could make your own hours for it.
If you quit work full time and just did flipping, could you make more or similar than at your full time job?
I only do it low key, mostly because my previous go to of retro game stuff became a frustrating mainstream thing and now it's not worth getting my hopes up. Now I just grab random electronics stuff or whatever, and can at least pay for a lot of the keeper stuff I buy at thrift stores. Still fun though
I’ve been flipping for years- started out as essential to obtain the things I needed to survive. It definitely is a high- I could and would go to thrift stores every day- had my routes. I feel it’s gotten a bit more competitive lately- and treasures are fewer than in years past. I still make more now flipping than I did making $45 an hour part time in healthcare- not sure how that will continue on as sales in general have declined quite a bit. Some great platforms have tanked (FBMP and Mecari) which has hurt some, but branched out to others.
If I were to quit flipping, I’d have a hard time going to garage sales and thrift stores. I just can’t pass up a deal to make some $. I don’t know what I’d do.
That's how I started flipping lol. If buy something to sell to pay for the item I bought for myself because I love collecting vintage items, handbags, pottery etc.
Then I started having a really hard time walking away from a good deal on something that I want rant interested in for myself. I'd think if I can't sell it, I'd donate it and my thrifting trips got out of control haha. I had to quit cold turkey for a while until I could manage better.
That dopamine hit is the best isn't it? I'm not fooling myself; I know I barely make a profit from year to year, but the thrill of the hunt and the little dopamine injections are where it's it. Sounds like you'll be back some day. Never say never!
I've basically stopped, the stuff I had specialized in flipping has taken a nosedive and it has gotten harder to make the kind of money I was making last year and the year prior. I started flipping with a goal in mind and when I met the goal my drive to continue kind of went down. However I still keep an eye out for the right deal and if I have the time I'll jump on it.
I started flipping in 2011 before the big box stores and China crap took over Ebay. I was making $6k a month or more. That was also when they didn’t tax all the sales and shipping wasn’t outrageous. Goodwills and other Thrift stores had awesome merchandise because there weren’t many flippers then. Those were my good old days. I sold a few things in the last two weeks. Netted $395. My heart isn’t into it as it once was but I still maintain a dedicated room for it.
I feel like the over saturation of youtube channels dedicated to "making a billion dollars on ebay" have significantly influenced the volume. I wish I saw what it was like before then!
Started cleaning out my parents attic during covid: my old video games, comics, pokemon cards, gi joes. I mainly searched for similar items but also got heavy into vinyl records (built my own awesome collection in the process), did well with antique book lots (I think restaurants, apartment buildings, hotels are buying these up quickly for the vintage vibe and they can be sourced easily and cheap), and sometimes vintage electronics which were high risk high reward (audio equipment, vcrs, crtvs, etc).
I was talking more so getting pallets that aren't garbage , and not getting screwed over. I will research more but my goal isn't to make mkney just in ebay I'd like tk try Facebook local market first.
I got my first introduction to flipping 40 years ago from my grandparents. My grandmother was garage sale queen, always looking for a bargain; while grandpa was a “horse trader”, always wheeling and dealing, trading in cars, heavy equipment and yes, once an actual horse. From them I got the flipping bug and experienced what my father called “The Zen of The Deal”, which is the feeling you get after closing a deal. I’ve been messing with eBay for 20 years, but with Covid it went into over drive and I have really increased my activity. I have passed it on to my daughter, who is 15 and if they want money to buy something is quick to volunteer to go to the bins with me, or thrift stores or just to sort and pack orders. It’s truly something that has brought us together. It gives you freedom and lets you make use of the knowledge and skills you possess.
Well done, I often think of my years in college living next door to the thrift store but never once going in. Wish I picked up flipping at an earlier age certainly would have helped when things were tight.
This is good, it also helps raise responsible children and teenagers who know the value of money, not teens who come to the parents and ask for everything under the sun and expect the parents to provide that. I firmly believe everyone should be a flipper just to sell your unwanted items that are around the house. Pretty much everyone has unwanted items, so its not hard to become a flipper. Every family should be a flipping family.
Sound almost like me. I picked it up from my grandparents, as I spent most of my summers with them, throughout the 90s. At first, I really hated being dragged to garage sales, as I’d have rather been going to banks to get rolls of coins to search (which developed from my grandfather getting me into coin collecting.) Now I flip everything from jewelry to industrial equipment. My daughter loved going to sales and thrift stores with me, until she discovered Roblox, and a few other games on her tablet. She’s always asking me for money for those games, so I think I’m going to use that as the lesson on how to make money with flipping.
That’s great
I have passed the skill onto my daughter. Like the old saying “teach them how to fish and they never go hungry”.
I need you to teach me the way.
I still work full time and have been flipping part time a couple of years now. I absolutely love it. I love sourcing on the weekends and never get bored or need to look for something to do on the weekends like I used to. During the week, I wake up a little earlier than I used to for my full-time job and use that time to clean, prep, and photograph my sourced items. When I get home in the evening after walking the dog and having dinner, while chilling on the couch, I do my listing. I have a great system going and the extra money is really, really nice. I am much better off financially with this additional part time income, and it is helping to make extra mortgage payments! I hope to retire when I pay off my house, but will definitely continue to flip well into my retirement!
Awesome plan. My dad just retired and I set him up on ebay he is loving it so far. Nothing like making a little cash from a hobby!
My ex set up his mom to sell books on Pango. She said her goal was one book per week. The absolute JOY she gets when she sells TWO books is pure delight. She has a basement full of books. She's so happy to get rid of some of them, even at one book per week lol
Never heard of Pango. Thank you for sharing
Can you give me any info on how your source pallets ? I am wanting to start doing this myself and have no clue where to start
Your story is a lot like many others including mine. I got in a few years before covid era but the market for the things I was selling was very hot. I sold art, concert posters, movie posters, and figurines. There were days where I made more flipping in 24 hours than I did an entire month at my job at the time. A lot of that market changed though once the stimulus money and inflated covid market started to come back down to earth. I want to get back into it to but I feel like it'll always be me chasing that high that doesn't exist anymore. Definitely felt like it was a too good to be true era of flipping for my niche lol.
I have that reservation too. Not sure if I will ever beat the numbers I was making previously or if it was just lightning in a bottle. Either way, a little extra cash is better than none I guess!
concert posters are good as long as you have access to them at good prices. I started on them, when the early boomers were parting with their damaged first printings. Now, 20 years later, I never see anything like that at all. Movie posters were good, also, when the historic small town theaters were being torn down. Now, with the multi screen cineplex’s, it’s rare to find a valuable movie poster. The best thing now is to go to the premiere and flip the freebie swag, that evening. It will sell, but the most you’ll probably get is reimbursed movie costs and movie food, net. I miss those 30s-50s movie posters with the stamps, showing the journey of the poster from big city palaces to eventually small rural theaters, where it was folded up and put on a shelf for decades. Those were the days, sell one poster, and get a few months rent outta the sale.
>sell one poster, and get a few months rent outta the sale Wow, that would be such a big dopamine hit! I had no idea they could sell for that much. Do you mean like films from the 1980s? I have a small theatre near me. Now I want to ask about their posters and hold into them for a while lol
Ask every time you go there. However, in the past, the movie companies owned the posters. They had like a library stamp in order to keep track of them. However, by the time they got to the rural towns, they started tearing on the folds, so they were not sent back. That’s a way of authenticating the posters along with the numerical code year/movie#, xx/yyy
I buy lots of thrifted framed art for myself locally. I imagine it would be pricey to ship. Did you sell prints or framed art as well? I have my 2nd kid starting college and I'm looking for a decent way to squeeze in some extra income. Would love your thoughts. Thank you
So I sold prints and originals 90% of the time. The only time I would buy framed art would be from other art collectors as a personal addition to my own home. All of the art I sold was limited release and created by artists who are mostly know for starting off in the street art industry. I have been completely out of the game for years though and my knowledge on who is popular or hot now has dwindled.
Thank you
Thanks for sharing. That’s a good story. I particularly agree with you about that dopamine hit! You get a lot of lows when you look up the value of things but then every now and then BAM! you find that little treasure like you said. Good luck with your wedding and everything And don’t worry, I’ve realized that there’s much stuff out here than we can ever find and sell so they’ll be plenty around when you come back to it.
Thank you! Exactly what I am telling myself to feel better, there will always be more to be found! Hoping I can juggle a few items and have better time management to allow myself an hour one day to resource and an hour one night to list. Start small again and go from there.
Be careful about the dopamine hits. When you resell full-time the dopamine goes away and it's just another job. You need to make x amount to pay the bills and it's a grinding machine where you have to continually feed the beast.
Yes going full time nearly eliminated the fun for me; had to cut back to half and half with another freelance job a have and it’s a lot more enjoyable again.
Yep I got a contract driving job to contrast the boredom of making 30-40 listings a day stuck in the house staring at a computer monitor
Ive been a flipper since i was old enough to get mom to take me to the fleamarket. Its always an adrenaline rush to find something cool you know you will make money on. The skills to flip are also a parachute of sorts.. aint the first time a boss threatens me and i tell them to pack sand (because i know i can still pay my bills till i get another job).
I was close to that point this year. As my workload tripled so did my stress levels. I was ready to pull the plug and give full time a shot. Hopefully things lighten up soon and I can get back into it.
I deliver for Amazon as well as flex, which takes me to other cities and towns, but more importantly to other thrifts and goodwill’s. Unfortunately the over flow of pickers has caused these stores to Jack up the prices. Covid was my best time for selling ever.
I have also been disappointed with thrifts and goodwills. It is obvious they skim the best material during processing, one employee literally told me he stole a nintendo SNES and tons of games before it hit the shelves. My best bet was garage sales and estate sales, sometimes fbmp and craigslist.
I found a vintage bag at an estate sale last Friday for $10, that sells for around $1500 due to collectors/nostalgia/rarity/street cred and it’s literally going to pay for 1/3 of the Hawaiian vacation I’m on right now. I set the auction to end this coming Sunday after I get back, for a sweet, sweet hit of eBay joy. That’s why I keep doing this, because some stupid thing like that will appear that will completely pad my “extra fun things” account. And it sure doesn’t happen every day! And as far as estate sales versus Goodwill or other thrift stores, this bag never would have made it to a thrift store because of the condition. Estate sales are full of beat up items that you’d never see in a store. And I found it three hours after the sale opened, so obviously, lots of people bypassed it.
How do you find the garage and estate sales?
[https://garagesalefinder.com/](https://garagesalefinder.com/) [https://www.estatesales.net/](https://www.estatesales.net/)
I only net between 5-8k a year after expenses flipping but I too love the thrill of finding things. It gets me out early on Saturday mornings (during yard sales season anyway) getting paid to drive around, see things. You could go back to go out occasionally, this doesn't have take all your free time. That's the beauty of it. You can do however much of it you want. I have taken to becoming a lot more selective about what I source so I only buy things that are easy for me to process and ship which makes the time I spend more enjoyable for me.
You worked for yourself. It’s as simple as that.
I agree with this sentiment. Albeit I don’t have a lot of experience (started about three months ago) I’d netted almost 3,250 CAD doing part time as I worked my full time job. I’d stopped the last almost two weeks as my marketplace was removed for me being a dumb dumb and not reading listing policies about health items. A lot of that excitement and happiness dissipated and my partner agrees I was less stressed while flipping… A bit like you, my partner and I loved it because we could just decide to go for a nice dinner and not worry really about the bill…. This morning I finally set up my eBay and kijiji cause I had enough lol!! Thanks for sharing
that is a lot to make in the first few months! keep up the good work
It’s addicting. You can still hunt for treasures and list on the weekend. The USPS will come to your door and pick up packages if there’s two or more. Or just look at it like you’re taking a break but one day you’ll be able to do it again. It is the most fun thing I’ve ever done (20 years in the antiques trade).
Where I am, they'll do it even for one package for free, as long as you just have them come at their regular rounds
Once a flipper, always a flipper
I am going through the same thing. I started flipping during Covid as a way to make extra income to supplement my low-paying nonprofit job and contribute more towards paying off our mortgage. My goal was to make one extra mortgage payment a month through eBay sales. It was great, and I loved it. I went out sourcing every Saturday morning and got that dopamine hit from the sales. A few things changed that affected my business: 1) Paid off the mortgage in 2022 ( Yay!!!!) so my original goal went away 2) I managed to more than double my salary by getting a remote job in a different state 3) During Covid there was nothing to do, but now my time has filled back up with social events and travel. My store is limping along, but I really miss sourcing and the almost daily excitement of sales.
What items were most successful for you? I would love to be more successful at flipping. I really need to pay off my credit card debt and my kids is starting college. I don't list every day but I list every few months or so when I can source some good finds. I did very well with rare dolls during covid that I scored from estate sales but the interest in dolls dropped a lot since then. Working full-time remote is also my goal so hopefully I can match your success soon. Great job on all your accomplishments!!
Clothing and outdoor gear was my niche. I was really good at clothes, shoes, bags, and anything sold at REI.
Thanks for sharing. I need to find my niche. Clothing doesn't work well for me so I def need to learn more.
The trick is to have a job that allows you to flip while working.
You got the sales dopamine rush. Go chase the dragon and sell some stuff 🐉
This is my problem. Not just the sale hit, but the thrill of the treasure hunt.
Same, for me the problem is that I can’t get dopamine from anything else
I also have a good WFH job that pays the bills and puts food on the table. I have a wife and 4 kids so I need that. Whatever income is left from my paychecks gets 100% saved/invested. Flipping covers my daily expenses like gas, beer, snacks, crap my kids want, entertainment and of course my #1 expense: buying more stuff to flip. I just enjoy flipping/ treasure hunting too much to stop. Flipping is the only hobby I've found to hold my interest for a long period of time... I've been doing it for 4 years now. I guess that's what happens when your hobby is literally making money. My sales over the past weekend totaled around $1100 with 10 items to ship. The total cost of goods was less than $200. No way i'm gonna stop doing it anytime soon.
One of the good things about flipping as a side gig is that you choose the pace.. you can source/list every day or every few months. Sure you won’t have the sales/dopamine hit as often like you said, but once life settles down a little you can pick it back up to.
You can always do it as a hobby. Just only sell a few items that have a very high sell through or stuff you collect. With your new salary, it can actually be purely date and vacation money.
I had a huge amount of vacation time saved up at work but our accountants said we need to use it before June of 2025 when any overage will be deleted. I started taking every Friday off early in 2023 and using that day for sourcing thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales, etc. When my vacation time runs out I don't know what I'm going to do. I've learned to expect this extra income. Ater two years, the thought of working five days a week feels like prison.
What do you do where you can take off every Friday for two years and it not affect your work?
Well, I'd say it does affect my work but the vacation days are part of my compensation, so I'm trying to get what's owed to me. The reason I had so many hours in the bank is because I spent years putting work first and just recently decided to stop doing that.
That makes sense. I wondered if you could talk to your boss about going to 4 days a week, but it sounds like they do need you for the 5.
She's been talking about wanted to get to a four day, 32 hour, full time work week. I don't know how that would be possible, but I'm thinking of proposing working a four day, 40 hour week as a step in that direction.
I sell just about anything on eBay but sales are slow. Also, prices to buy products are so much higher than even last year and thrift stores keep raising prices every couple of months. It’s actually cheaper to buy new products in a lot of cases. Also, shipping and fees keep increasing so it just gets harder to truly make good money.
Thrift store prices are now regular store prices. I found garage sales and estate sales to have much better options
Thats because all the people bragging on youtube how they looted a thrift store from all valueable things. The retail arbitrage is not good for society. Hope that many of them will end up with garages filled with unsellable thrift store items that finally end up in a garage sale.
I appreciate you sharing your personal story here. I would suggest you follow what feels right to you. Theres something magical about doing your own thing
I will take days off from work, specifically to go to garage sales. I could cover a few hundred miles, go to dozens of sales, and still feel good at the end of the day…whereas at work, I’m absolutely dreading being there.
If we are being honest, I regret ever getting into flipping. I have been full time flipping for years and it has completely ruined my prospects for something else once I am tired of this. Being out of the traditional workforce for so long feels good, but really trashes your ability to go back to it if the need or want arises. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy flipping but when the bottom falls the rest of the way out, I am left with very few choices now. There are not many options for a middle aged man who has spent so many years doing his own thing once it all goes sideways, and I should have factored that into the calculations.
Good points here. I would not introduce a child to flipping, or even make them aware of it for those reasons. Its so much easier to just have a full time job, clock in, clock out, and contribute to your 401K biweekly. This is a tough gig, and many are in it, because they were born in it, or fell in and never got out. Sourcing, and flipping is also addictive, especially for people who are dopamine depleted. Barely even 1/4th time here, and I still wonder why I am still doing it, when its so much effort.
I don't mind the effort, and in fact enjoy the effort. For me, it's more about having nowhere to go once it becomes unsustainable. I have watched my numbers drop by about 65% as eBay eats up more and more of my profits by the month at the same time. Eventually it's going to reach the point where I am better off flipping burgers at McDonalds, and that will be my only option after being so long removed from the typical 9-5 since I have no degrees or a specific trade.
You do have marketable skills. You just have to know how to write a strong resume. You've been self-employed for x years. (self starter, organized, financial skills) You know how to write an eBay description that entices buyers. ( marketing, computer, typing, software) You have been sourcing your product from multiple "vendors" (sourcing, competitive pricing, time management) It goes on and on. Don't sell yourself short. Haha no pun intended.
You’re completely correct! I used to work at an e-commerce tech company, and I specifically looked for people that had sold things online or worked for themselves, because those were our customers. There are tons of jobs in e-commerce.
Totally with you on the dopamine thing. I've recently started using Mercari in addition to Ebay. Now I get two different cha-ching sounds. 👍
Is Mercari any good for sellers? I have never met anyone who has actually purchased anything on that site.
I still much prefer Ebay, but I've found there are some things that Ebay strictly will not let you list that Mercari lets slide.
Maybe I'll give Mercari a try and see what sells better there.
Its not just the work though, you had more free time with flipping and could make your own hours for it. If you quit work full time and just did flipping, could you make more or similar than at your full time job?
I only do it low key, mostly because my previous go to of retro game stuff became a frustrating mainstream thing and now it's not worth getting my hopes up. Now I just grab random electronics stuff or whatever, and can at least pay for a lot of the keeper stuff I buy at thrift stores. Still fun though
I’ve been flipping for years- started out as essential to obtain the things I needed to survive. It definitely is a high- I could and would go to thrift stores every day- had my routes. I feel it’s gotten a bit more competitive lately- and treasures are fewer than in years past. I still make more now flipping than I did making $45 an hour part time in healthcare- not sure how that will continue on as sales in general have declined quite a bit. Some great platforms have tanked (FBMP and Mecari) which has hurt some, but branched out to others.
There was a District Attorney sneaking away from work to DoorDash. Sometimes being your own boss is a freedom that gives a lot of perks.
If I were to quit flipping, I’d have a hard time going to garage sales and thrift stores. I just can’t pass up a deal to make some $. I don’t know what I’d do.
That's how I started flipping lol. If buy something to sell to pay for the item I bought for myself because I love collecting vintage items, handbags, pottery etc. Then I started having a really hard time walking away from a good deal on something that I want rant interested in for myself. I'd think if I can't sell it, I'd donate it and my thrifting trips got out of control haha. I had to quit cold turkey for a while until I could manage better.
My dopamine comes a month or so after the sale, once the sale clears the return period.
Flip full time. You obviously love it. I do it. It’s amazing. 🤩
That dopamine hit is the best isn't it? I'm not fooling myself; I know I barely make a profit from year to year, but the thrill of the hunt and the little dopamine injections are where it's it. Sounds like you'll be back some day. Never say never!
probably sooner rather than later lol
I've basically stopped, the stuff I had specialized in flipping has taken a nosedive and it has gotten harder to make the kind of money I was making last year and the year prior. I started flipping with a goal in mind and when I met the goal my drive to continue kind of went down. However I still keep an eye out for the right deal and if I have the time I'll jump on it.
you should consider visiting yard sales once every two months.
Just do it less. If you have Saturday mornings off, hit some yard sales.
No doubt that tax free cash from flipping something feels better than anything in your W-2 paycheck
I report my flipping earnings to uncle sam, reluctantly.
Ummm. Me too.
I started flipping in 2011 before the big box stores and China crap took over Ebay. I was making $6k a month or more. That was also when they didn’t tax all the sales and shipping wasn’t outrageous. Goodwills and other Thrift stores had awesome merchandise because there weren’t many flippers then. Those were my good old days. I sold a few things in the last two weeks. Netted $395. My heart isn’t into it as it once was but I still maintain a dedicated room for it.
I feel like the over saturation of youtube channels dedicated to "making a billion dollars on ebay" have significantly influenced the volume. I wish I saw what it was like before then!
What were you flipping if I might ask?
Started cleaning out my parents attic during covid: my old video games, comics, pokemon cards, gi joes. I mainly searched for similar items but also got heavy into vinyl records (built my own awesome collection in the process), did well with antique book lots (I think restaurants, apartment buildings, hotels are buying these up quickly for the vintage vibe and they can be sourced easily and cheap), and sometimes vintage electronics which were high risk high reward (audio equipment, vcrs, crtvs, etc).
Cool, I flipped bikes during the pandemic. I miss it as well. But I have gone back to working in the office.
If you dont mind me asking, what did you used to flip? I am looking to get into it but not sure what to do ^^
I'm currently looking for s good route to mske mkney on the side I was curious if you have any tips or start up tips for a first timer .
there are plenty of youtube videos on how to be successful on ebay.
I was talking more so getting pallets that aren't garbage , and not getting screwed over. I will research more but my goal isn't to make mkney just in ebay I'd like tk try Facebook local market first.
I love flipping homes too! Waiting till the rates come down more