Last month was a good month to be a flipper!
But it was a whirlwind with the end of the school year events for the kids, hosting our shipping bootcamp, and planning out the summer with both work and a little relaxation and fun.
We ended the month with total revenue being $20,359!
In this post we will dive into the costs of good sold, our shipping costs, ebay fees, and of course the PROFITS!
To make that revenue we had a total of 9 sales. That’s an average of over $2,200 per sale!
We prefer our business model of high profit/low volume because it frees up more time to spend with our family. It takes the same amount time to clean, take pictures of and list almost any item – whether it’s $5 or $500.
The shipping does take a little more work than the small items, but it’s still well worth it and less time than hundreds of items.
Of course there is nothing wrong with the other business model, this is just what we prefer and works for our family.
So let’s dive in!
Sale 1 – Betco Scrub Cleaner
I picked up a few crates of these commercial cleaners a while back and they have been steadily selling. I sold a lot of them last year when everyone was looking for any kind of cleaner they could get their hands on.
Picked it up for $2. Sold for $35.
Shipping costs were $13, ebay fees were $5
Total profit – $15
Sale 2 – Volvo Window
Alright, so I’ve had this one in my shop for awhile. I actually forgot about it.
Several years ago, my Volvo convertible (a car I had restored) finally went kaput.
The car itself wasn’t worth much anymore, so I pulled off some pieces and sold them off. I had this one sitting for awhile but it sold last month for $255!
Shipping costs were $33 and ebay fees were $30
Total profit – $192
Sale 3 – Vulcan Steamer
This is a kettle/ steamer used in a commercial kitchen. I picked it up from an auction for $120
Sold it on eBay for $3,600!
It cost me $176 to ship, and ebay fees were $327
Total profit – $2,977
Sale 4 – Dixie Chopper
Melissa wasn’t excited when I bought this mower at the end of last season. I spent more than she likes to invest, but I knew it would pay off!
I actually bought two of these mowers for $2,400 (so $1,200 each). I knew we would probably have to sit on them until summer was coming around again, and guess what – they both sold! One in March and one in May.
Funny story with this one is I actually sold it on Craigslist!
The buyer saw it on eBay and then found it on Craigslist. So we ended up selling it through Paypal for $5,500.
Shipping cost was $493, Paypal fees were $160.
Total profit – $3,647
Sale 5 – Commercial Dance Dance Board
Some of you may remember when we picked these boards up on our road trip last summer. We picked up 5 of these from a listing on Facebook Marketplace when we were in South Dakota.
We paid $250 for them and so they were $50 each.
This is the second one we sold for $600.
It cost $56 to ship, ebay fees were $56.
Total profit – $438
Sale 6 – Teak Set
This one didn’t profit as much as I would have liked because the pallet ended up being a little larger than I expected.
But we packaged up this one live for our freight members group and it was fun one to do a demo on.
Picked it for $100 from OfferUp. Sold on ebay for $900.
Shipping label cost $320, ebay fees were $105
Total Profit – $375
Sale 7 – Speakers
These were a freebie given to me so I could resell them.
It can be SO HELPFUL to tell people you are reselling to make some extra money. You would be surprised what people will send your way!
Many times friends and family don’t want to take the effort to list an item to make the money and instead of donating it, they will give it to you so you can make the money.
Sold them on ebay for $150.
Shipping was $20, ebay fees were $14.
Total Profit – $116
So that brings us to a subtotal of $11,040 in sales and $7,760 in profits for our actual resale items.
The next two sales were a little different than our normal items.
We actually sold two of our vehicles.
Sale 8 – Big Bertha!
Last year was a tough year for our family.
My brother in law passed away from brain cancer at the end of April and we spent a lot of time with my sister and nieces.
The timing of Covid was actually a blessing because it allowed all of our schedules to be freed up and we were able to spend every day at their house.
After he passed away, we had the great idea to help everyone get their mind off things and take a road trip to see national parks.
We bought a 15 passenger van for $2,700, loaded it up with our family, two of my sisters and four of my nieces and set on the road for a month!
One of my nieces even painted the van (which got the nickname Big Bertha on the trip) with places we were going to visit!
It was an EPIC 30 day road trip around the United States and we are so thankful we were able to do it. We saw SO MANY cool parks and just being immersed in God’s creation was restorative for everyone. (We got to see the Grand Canyon, walk on the salt flats, hike the Narrows in Zion, hike through the Grand Tetons, watch old faithful erupt in Yellowstone, hike to the most beautiful lake in Glacier, and even stop and see Niagara Falls on the way back home.)
But after the trip the van mostly sat – so it was time to sell it.
We sold the van last month to one of my nephews for $3,500.
I could have gotten more out of it, but he needed a work van and I didn’t have to make any other efforts to sell it.
Sale 9 -Escalade
We sold the Escalade a few days after we sold the van.
We used the car for a couple years and then a cylinder broke on it and I let it sit. It was a pretty big fix so instead of trying to fix it, we decided to sell it and find something else for our family vehicle.
I listed it on Facebook Marketplace and since it was a desirable car I had a ton of messages about it.
But I was firm on my price of $5,800.
Finally came to an agreement with someone and they were coming to pick it up the next day.
Then I made a HUGE mistake.
A $1,000 mistake. 🤦♂️
The buyer had a friend picking up the car because he lived in Georgia.
He was late and we were short on time to make the transaction because I had to pick up kids at school by 3pm.
His friend bought the cash and handed it to me $1,000 at a time – in $20 bills!
So as I’m counting it, in a hurry, he hands me the last $800.
He acted funny but I didn’t think much about it.
He drove off and I put the money in the safe. When I pulled the money out to deposit it in the bank (2 days later – ugh!) I noticed he shorted me $1,000!
I called the buyer and of course he said there was nothing he could do – it was his friend who shorted me.
I lost sleep over it that night, and beat myself up for not counting it at least twice.
But at the end of the day, it was a costly mistake and you have to move on. The guy has to live with the fact that he stole $1,000 that he knew wasn’t his to take.
And we can move on and celebrate the fact that it’s was a good month!
With the $7,760 in profit from our 7 resale items + the $8,300 from the two vehicles, our revenue for last month was $16,080!
Can’t be too upset with that.
Oh, and we can’t forget the kids!
We haven’t been working as much with them to get things listed lately, but Brody sold two items!
The first was a set of training wheels he took from his bike that he got for his birthday. He didn’t need them so we sold them on ebay for $15. After shipping and fees he made $6.
The second was a remote he randomly found in a closet somewhere. He asked if he could sell it so we listed it and he sold it for $19! After shipping and fees he made $13!
@fleamarketflipper The kids are watching 👀 and learning! #ebay #reseller #ebayseller #kidpreneur
♬ Castaways – The Backyardigans
A $19 month when you are 5 years old sounds pretty good to me!
We are also working with the kids to take their profits and split them up in envelopes.
A % goes to savings, to giving, and the rest can go in spending.
If you think flipping used items could be a great side income for you, check out our FREE workshop!
FURTHER RESOURCES
Download Our List of 47 Household Items To Resell
FREE Workshop How To Turn Your Passion of Flipping Items Into A Profitable Reselling Business
Flipper University: Kid’s Edition
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