Today we are going to discuss “Flipping” and no, not the slang alternative term for fucking. We are going to talk about flipping as a business opportunity or a cool side hustle. You can flip almost anything so put your thinking cap on and get creative!
What is Flipping?
Flipping is when you buy something and sell it for a higher price. The cool part of flipping is that you can flip low-ticket items or high-ticket items, depending on how much capital you are willing to invest. You can start with stuff around your house if you don’t have money to invest. For our purposes, we are going to focus on low-ticket items and consider anything under $1500 as a low-ticket item.
Set a Budget
First things first, set a budget on how much you are willing to spend to start flipping. Consider the items which you are interested in buying and selling. Do you want to flip jeans or do you want to flip laptops? For ideas, check on eBay and see what items have the most views and bids. Make a note of them so you can seek them out while you’re on your shopping spree. Remember to write down how much the items are selling for so you can compare along the way.
Whatever you do stick to your budget
Ready Set Shop
So where can you buy all these treasures to flip? Here are a few ideas
- Thrift Stores
- eBay
- Facebook Marketplace
- Poshmark
- Garage Sales
- Super bin stores
- Mecari
- Etsy
- Flea Markets
Hyperfocus on 1-5 different types of items and only buy a few of each. Ideally. you do not want to have a bunch of stock lying around your house. This will also allow you to get your feet wet when it comes time to sell the items and you won’t be overwhelmed!
Resell
So now you stayed within budget, right? You have about 20 items to sell, where do you sell them? If you bought them online, list them back up at the place where you bought them! If you purchased them at a store, then list them online. Just remember the key here, mark it up! Before you begin listing your items, make sure you do your research and sell them at a fair price. People are not going to pay $25 for a coffee mug!
You could also sell them on a different site you bought them from. For instance, if you bought a set of coffee mugs on eBay you can list them on Mecari or Facebook Marketplace. You can even list them on all 3 sites and end the listings once a buyer has been found.
Tips
- Make sure the items are clean
- Make sure they are not damaged
- Take good pictures with good lighting
- Write Titles and Descriptions that create excitement
- Disclose any damages in descriptions
- Keep track of your earnings and pay your taxes!
And that’s it! Flipping is one of the easiest gigs to get into. It is not always an easy payout though, and you do have to account for listing fees, etc. Higher-ticket items will garner more money for you but may not sell as well and remember just because you would be something doesn’t mean others will!
Like anything else, it is going to take time and patience for you to learn all there is to know about flipping and for the money to start rolling in. Don’t expect miracles overnight, and keep at it.
What are your thoughts? Any tips for others?