How We Flipped A Chair From The Trash Into $57,050! (So Far…)

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How We Flipped A Chair From The Trash Into $57,050! (So Far…)

We just hit the 2-month mark for the 2019 flipping challenge! So we thought it was time for an update.

For those who may be new to Flea Market Flipper, we started a flipping challenge at the beginning of the year for ourselves and open to anyone to join in.

The stipulations are to start with one item that is $20 or less, then sell that item and reinvest the money into another item or items. Then sell those items and reinvest the money again.

The goal is to see how far you can get by the end of the year.

That could mean extra bonus money for Christmas.

It could mean an extra savings account for your family.

Maybe by the end of the year you decide to take that vacation you have been dreaming about.

Or maybe you decide to pay off all your debt in one sweep.

Whatever it is, how amazing would it be to have that extra money at the end of the year?!

So far we have $57,050 in inventory – all purchased from money made from a chair we found in the trash! We will jump into that in just a bit.

We decided to take the flipping challenge serious this year. And in doing so we decided to make some pretty audacious goals (and post about them which holds us accountable!). By the end of 2019 we want to buy a house with our profits!

We want to purchase an investment property from profits that came from a chair we found in the trash!

How cool would that be?!

Since we don’t have a 401K, our retirement plan has always been property investment. In the past few years we have gotten a little behind on our goal of 10 properties (we had 3 then sold one, so now we are down to 2), so this will help us grow our retirement funds in the long run, while also providing housing for someone in our area.

We estimate we would need $100,000 – $150,000 to buy an investment property in our area. So our goal is $125,000 in inventory by this summer – and turn all the inventory into cash by November.

Inventory Goal

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So now it’s time to get to work to keep this challenge moving along.

It’s no secret that one of my struggles is getting items listed in a timely manner. Finding items to buy is such a thrill to me, and of course selling them is as well. The part in the middle where you have to take pictures and list them is just the work that goes along with it and has to be done. It’s the part I sometimes procrastinate with.

But not for this challenge! We made a big goal and I think it will be completely doable as long as I keep moving items. 🙂

Flipping Challenge Flips

Here is the timeline of flips for this challenge. So far we have sold 6 items in the challenge for a total of $4,350 in sales and $2,993 in profits!

This was the chair that started it all. We saw it on the side of the road during one of our evening walks, and went back to pick it up.

It needed a small repair (a piece of wood underneath was cracked so I repaired it), but once I repaired it and made it sturdy again, we sold it on Facebook Marketplace for $50.

Then we took that $50 and bought two exercise bikes.

One was an Schwinn Airdyne exercise bike that we bought for $15 we sold on eBay for $500!

The other was a Life Fitness bike we also bought on OfferUp for $30 and also sold for $500.

 

With the money from those I purchased a Murphy bed from one of the flea market vendors for $175. We sold it on eBay for $1,100!

With some of the profits we purchased this medical vest from the flea market for $35. It sold on eBay in about a week for $1,600!

The same day the vest sold we also sold this Oxygen Machine. We picked it up for $35 at the flea market and sold it for $600 on eBay.

 

Breakdown of Profits

Chair

Picked for: $0

Sold for: $50

eBay and Paypal fees:$0

Shipping costs: $0

Total Profit $50

 

Airdyne Bike

Picked for: $15

Sold for: $500

eBay and Paypal fees: $65

Shipping costs: $125

Total Profit $295

 

Lifefitness Bike

Picked for: $30

Sold for: $500

Parts purchased: $28

eBay and Paypal fees: $65

Shipping costs: $190

Total Profit: $187

 

Murphy Bed

Picked for: $175

Sold for: $1,100

eBay and Paypal fees: $143

Shipping costs: $80

Total Profit $702

 

Medical Vest

Picked for: $35

Sold for: $1,600

eBay and Paypal fees: $208

Shipping costs: $40

Total Profit: $1,317

 

Oxygen Generator

Picked for: $35

Sold for: $600

eBay and Paypal fees: $78

Shipping costs: $45

Total Profit $442                                                                                                                                                 

Total Invested: $290, Total Sales: $4,350  Total Profits: $2,993

Now comes the really fun part – spending the profits to make even more! 🙂

In addition to going to the flea market and scrolling through reselling apps, I decided to hop online and check out a local auction to see if there might be anything worthwhile.

And I think it’s safe to say there was a lot of things that were worth looking at!

The auction house is about 45 minutes away from our house so I drove over there to look at some of the items before the bidding started that night. I picked out several items that had good potential for flips and made notes to myself of how high I was going to bid.

Then the auction began.

All online auctions do things a little different, and this one allows an extra 5 minutes once the highest bid is placed to give a chance to bid it up more. That’s a nerve-wracking 5 minutes when you have the highest bid!

I may have gotten a little trigger happy – I ended up spending $1,884 in the 20 minutes sitting at my computer! Ha.

I don’t usually spend that large of an amount at one time, but we needed to spend it to keep the challenge rolling! 🙂

Here is a video we posted last week on all our auction finds:

 

Breakdown of Inventory

At this time this is the inventory we have accumulated from the money in the challenge as of February 28, 2019:

Railroad Jack – Picked for $20, Listed for: $350

Railroad Jack – Picked for $20, Listed for: $350

Paint Sprayer – Picked for $30, Should Listed for: $2,000

Commercial Air Compressors – Picked for $166.66, Listed for: $8,000

Commercial Air Compressors – Picked for $166.67, Listed for: $6,000

Commercial Air Compressors – Picked for $166.67, Listed for: $6,000

Cooktop – Picked for $165, Listed for: $1,500

Cooktop – Picked for $45, Listed for: $800

Hood – Picked for $60, Listed for: $1,000

Cooktop – Picked for $58, Listed for: $550

Camping Stove – Picked for $5, Listed for: $500

Stand-on Ride On Floor Scrubber – Picked for $255, Listed for: $3,500

Stand-on Ride On Floor Scrubber – Picked for $397, Listed for: $5,000

Sit-down Ride On Floor Scrubber – Picked for $617, Listed for: $10,000

Walk Behind Floor Scrubber – Picked for $60, Listed for: $2,500

Vulcan Commercial Steamer – Picked for $245, Listed for: $3,000

Market Forge Commercial Steamer – Picked for $186, Listed for: $3,000

Buffer – Picked for $16, Listed for: $750

Buffer – Picked for $16, Listed for: $750

Buffer – Picked for $17, Listed for: $300

Commercial Ice Maker Parts – Picked for $29, Listed for: $500

Boat Air Conditioner – Picked for $29, Listed for: $500

Commercial Wet Vac – Picked for $17, Listed for: $200

That is a total of $2,787 spent on items, for $57,050 in listed inventory!

Whoa. I actually had no idea we were up to that much until we listed it all out here. And guess what that also means – I still have $206 left to spend!! 🙂

Our goal for the challenge is to get to $100,000 in inventory by July so we can be sure it all sells by the end of the year. Then buy an investment property with the cash.

Since we aren’t letting ourselves touch the money for any other purpose than the challenge, it’s like it’s own separate savings account!

It’s still early in the year and we would love to have you join us in this challenge!

Here are the challenge rules:

Challenge Rules

✔️ Start with an item that is $25 or less and flip it

✔️ Keep re-investing the money it items to flip

✔️ Keep selling your items

✔️ Tally up your profits by the end of the year

And that’s it! It’s that simple!

What could you turn $25 (or less) into in the next 10 months?

Join the challenge and keep us updated on your progress! (This will also add you to our flea market flips and eBay tip updates. You can unsubscribe anytime).

Don’t forget to check out the top 5 reselling mistakes that could be costing you money!

And if you are ready to jump into this flipping thing for a serious side income or more, then check out our FREE Intro Workshop to get started the right way!

 

We want to hear from you!

Are you a veteran flipper or new reseller who wants to get started? Comment below!

Related posts

What We Flipped To Make $12,200 in One Week Of Flipping Flea Market Items

2018 Flipping Income: How We Made $84,985 By Flipping Flea Market Items (In Just 15-20 Hours Per Week)

How To Use OfferUp To Find Items To Resell

2019 Flipping Challenge

Resources

Flipper University

Beginner’s Guide To Selling On eBay

Shoe Flipping Workshop

How We Flipped A Chair From The Trash Into $57,050! (So Far…)

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Robert Stephenson

I grew up in Central Florida and have lived here my whole life. I first got into buying and selling items when I was 16 years old, and have been hooked ever since. It has mostly been a hobby that makes some extra cash, but sometimes it serves as my main income as well. I don't plan on stopping any time soon. I find too many fun toys for my family (or myself), and just love the whole process.

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