We recently took a family road trip across the United States and found $26,000 worth of items on the road. Every summer we take our enclosed trailer and our family on a road trip to explore the country while looking for items that we can sell in our flipping business.
We gravitate toward higher profit items which tend to be appliances or exercise equipment because there is money to be made if you offer freight shipping. So many people won’t resell those items outside of their local market because they’re afraid of shipping.
We want to be able to make $2,000, $3,000, $5,000 or even $10,000 per flip, and freight items are where we find that kind of profit. Our goal is to always 10X what we paid for an item. If we spend $50, the item should bring in $500.
This year we went from Florida to California the first week or our road trip and did a 17-day Hawaiian cruise out of Los Angeles so we didn’t find anything the first couple of days. We did pay for our cruise with one flip. We found more flips on our way back.
Bonus Road Trip Item
While we were in Hawaii we actually went to a thrift store in O’ahu and found some LaserDiscs. They are really cool and they came out before CDs did. We bought 15 or 20 of them. I figured I could put some together with the LaserDisc player I have or we can sell them individually. They were only $2 each.
Item #1 – Convection Oven
This was a commercial convection item, something you’d see in a restaurant. The seller was asking for $300-$500 for it and I offered $150 and he took it. We were on a tight schedule so he met me at 9 p.m. at his garage. I stopped by, we loaded it up, strapped it down, spent the night in town, and left at 8 a.m. the next morning.
COGS: $150
COMPS: $5,000 to $7,000
Item #2 Electrolux Cooktop
This was an Electrolux 36-inch glass electric cooktop that I got a great deal on and we’ll be able to ship it in a box because it’s small enough.
COGS: $45
Comps: $1,500 to $2,000
Item #3 – JennAir Double Oven
We were on our way to Florida and we stopped to get this from a guy and it was left in the back of his truck. There were some puddles of water around this one and I haven’t plugged it in yet so I’m not 100% sure about it. But the parts alone are worth over what we paid so I could at least get my money back selling it by parts. If we are able to sell it in working condition once all the water drains, we’ll make more. This is a normal oven you would put in a house, it’s built into cabinets.
COGS: $150
COMPS: $2,000 for a working unit
Item #4 – JennAir Cooktop
This was a 45- or 46-inch JennAir gas cooktop. It’s higher end because a normal kitchen doesn’t have one this big. It had six burners on it versus the normal cooktops that have four. This was from a guy who was redoing his rental property. I noticed it was missing one cover over the downdraft so he told me to take the whole thing for free. I couldn’t do that because I knew even selling it for parts I’d make between $500-$800, so I ended up giving him $100.
COGS: $100
COMPS: $2,000 sold as unit
Item #5 – Hobart Commercial Dishwasher
Then we made the trek up to Michigan and this was the scariest one to pick up because there was a lightning storm about to happen. The guy was outside and we had to quickly load up a big piece of metal in the middle of a field.
Hobart is a good brand. Imagine two of your refrigerators side by side, that’s how big it is. He was originally asking $3,000 for it but had it marked down to $1,000 and I offered him $500. They retail for $35,000 to $40,000 new so I was very excited.
When we got it to Melissa’s uncle’s warehouse to test it, we realized it was missing two electrical boards that were very expensive to replace. We will still be able to sell this for parts though. Once I get the expensive parts out, I can scrap the rest.
COGS: $500
COMPS: $10,000 selling parts
Item #6 – Medical Rehab Machine
We found this one in Michigan. Melissa used to have a similar one so I knew we could sell it for a couple thousand dollars because we sold hers for a good amount when we were done with it. It’s not actually the Total Gym brand, but it’s the same setup and it’s a commercial version. It’s a medical rehab machine technically, so it’s built a lot better.
COGS: $40
COMPS: $2,500
Item #7 – Cooktop
We got a cooktop from a scrapper. It’s a 30-inch downdraft gas cooktop. We hightailed it from Michigan to Niagra Falls and in the middle of that I did some sourcing in Ohio. I set it up that we’d meet the guy and he gave me his address. We were able to set this up to grab on our way. We’ve been successful on these sourcing trips by looking for items for areas we will be traveling through the next day. Sometimes people don’t respond to deals quickly enough if you do it same day, but with a little prep work, you can find some great deals.
COGS: $65
COMPS: $1,500
Item #8 – Viking Microwave
This was a big microwave that was gas powered. It’s a little bit different than a normal built-in oven. It’s super expensive and I didn’t see a lot of comps on it so I was excited. When I told the guy we were coming, he asked how far away and I said three hours. He said if you’re coming three hours, you can have it for free, but I said no. So we settled on $25.
COGS: $25
COMPS: $2,000
We had 8 items total from our road trip, not counting the laser discs and spent $1,075 on them, so $1,100 if we count the discs. With these items, we should make $26,000. We love finding these high-profit flips on our annual road trip. Now it’s time to get things listed and cleaned up to start making profit!
Show Notes
Pay For A 16-Day Hawaiian Cruise
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fleamrktflipper/
You can find us at: https://fleamarketflipper.com/
FURTHER RESOURCES
Let Us Find High Profit Items FOR You!
FREE Workshop How To Turn Your Passion of Flipping Items Into A Profitable Reselling Business
Download These 47 Household Items To Resell TODAY!
