Today I want to talk to you about what is, in my opinion, the best side hustle out there – a buy and sell business or ‘flipping’ things for profit.
When I say ‘flipping’ you might think of flipping houses or cars but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about one-off, unique and interesting items.
What if I told you that it’s possible to make a full time income flipping stuff that you find at flea markets, yard sales and thrift shops?
Not only is it possible, it’s how Rob and Melissa of Flea Market Flipper make their full time income. In fact, they made more than $133,000 in 2016 selling stuff that they bought from flea markets, thrift shops and yard sales.
…Say what
That’s right, $133,000. They have built their flipping business into a really impressive income for their family..
I stumbled across the Flea Market Flipper website in January and have since returned several times to learn more about how they earn so much money buying and selling what looks to me like completely random stuff.
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So What Is ‘Flipping’ Exactly
Flipping is simply buying something for a low price in one marketplace, and reselling it for more money in another. Flippers make money by knowing what items are most likely to sell in different marketplaces, and using that knowledge to turn a profit.
Flippers help people by creating a situation where everybody wins. The owner of the thrift shop or flea market gets the price that they wanted for an item, the person that the flipper sells the item to gets access to something that they want, and the flipper makes a profit.
Buying low and selling high is the basis of all commerce. This is just on a small scale.
Now, if you’ve read this post, you’ll know that I’m no stranger to flipping – in fact I think it’s the best way for almost anybody to learn how to make extra money fast. But when I dabbled in flipping, I was selling appliances which are big, heavy and awkward.
I thought the only reason I was able to make money is because I stuck to one thing and got to know the market intimately. Over time, I also built up some diagnostic and repair skills.
Nope. Turns out it’s possible to make very good money selling a huge range of random stuff.
Here are a few of the more interesting flips that I found on Rob and Melissa’s site:
- A prosthetic leg (bought for $30 and sold for $1000)
- A commercial lobster tank (bought for $100 and sold for $1200)
- A stairclimber machine (bought for $40, sold for $1000)
- An arcade game (bought for $100, sold for $1300)
- Outboard motor cover (bought for $20, sold for $250)
Yah, crazy right? There’s some MAJOR money to be made buying and selling interesting, unique and valuable things.
And these are just a few examples. They have made hundreds of deals like these. Over time, it adds up to some serious cash.
Why you should consider flipping as a side hustle
There are a lot of reasons that I think flipping stuff for profit is the best side hustle out there.
First, and most important in my opinion, is that you don’t need much money to get started. How many businesses can you start with $5, $10 or $50 and be profitable within a day or two? Not many.
Second, you probably have some inventory nearby. There are flea markets, thrift shops and local Craigslist sites in pretty much every North American city. Once you figure out how to spot good flips, you can continue using these sources of inventory indefinitely.
Third, once you master the art of flipping, it’s a skill that you can take with you anywhere. It’s something that you can always use to make extra money or fall back on as a full-time gig if you need to.
Want to get a head start on your flipping business and learn the exact method Rob and Melissa use to make more than $130k in a year from flipping? Check out their course, Flipper University to learn how they do it.
What are the best items to flip?
So what types of items are best to flip? In order to answer this question, I thought back to my experiences selling appliances and spent some time on the Flea Market Flipper website looking through their past flips.
First off, there needs to be a enough value in the flip for it to be worth your time. Rob won’t flip anything that he can’t make at least $100 on. It makes sense. You need to invest the time to pick the item up, clean and relist it and then ship. I wouldn’t want to do all of that work for $10-50 in profit.
The best items to flip are things that are not commodities. Odd, unique and rare items that don’t appear to have much value to the average person, but have a lot of value to a small group of people.
The one thing that all of the items I listed above have in common is that they’re all a little quirky and don’t look like they’re worth much. That’s the thing, to most people they’re not worth much.
A prosthetic leg looks like junk to the average person, but to an amputee it’s worth a great deal. A commercial lobster tank seems like a junk to me, but to somebody starting a seafood restaurant, it might be worth good money. See where I’m going with this?
You need to learn how to spot value that others can’t.
How Can I Get Started Flipping Things For Profit?
The great thing about this business, and the thing that I think makes it the best side hustle out there, is that almost anybody can do it. Because you can start flipping with only a few dollars, there’s almost no barrier to entry and you can make extra money within a day or two. You can invest as much or as little money and time as you wish.
If you want to start your own flipping business, I recommend you head over to Flea Market Flipper and subscribe to their email list. They regularly email out interesting flips that they’ve found as well as useful insight and information on how to make the most profit from your flipping hustle.
If you really want to get on the fast track to making money – check out Flipper University. Flipper University is a course developed by Rob and Melissa to walk you through everything that you need to know to get your flipping hustle making you big profits quickly.
Question for you:
What’s been your most profitable flip?
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Flipping items for a profit sounds like a great side hustle, but I’d be a little afraid to get stuck buying something that I couldn’t unload. I guess the key is knowing the market and what you can get for an item elsewhere. I’ve never had a ton of luck selling on eBay or Craigslist, but that was always just selling random stuff around the house.
I read somewhere (and this has been my experience), that everything sells eventually. It’s rare to not be able to sell something at all. Sometimes you might get a little less than you hoped for, but pretty much everything will sell in time. The key is to have enough space to keep the inventory and be in a financial position to be able to sit on stuff for a while if needed.
Wow! $133,000! That’s impressive. It sounds quite time and labor intensive for a side hustle, but my interest is piqued by that number! I’ll check out their site.
When they did the 133k, it was their full time job. About 20-30 hours per week according to the site.
Thanks for reading DYD!