Is flipping a real job? We recently got a comment on one of the Reels we posted saying, “Go get a real job.” It sparked some conversation, so we wanted to talk about it.
Why Would We Want A “Real” Job?
Our first reaction was why would we want a real job when we have a lot of benefits from reselling?
About 10 years ago, I didn’t think flipping was a career choice. I didn’t think you could say “I’m a flipper” and do it full-time. I’d always had something supplementing my income with flipping on the side.
Then we had to jump into flipping full-time 10 years ago after I lost my benefits at my company. We were having our third child and Melissa couldn’t take on any more personal training clients and wanted to stay home with the kids versus sending them to daycare.
I decided to double down on flipping and turned it into a full-time job. Even though I’d made money doing it, before that point, I never thought it was a “real” job.
We love the flexibility that we have with flipping. When the kids were little, it was something that we could do at any time of day. We had done $42,000 in sales part-time flipping the prior year, and the next year we did $130,000 full-time. And we had the freedom to be home with our kids. We could source when it worked for us. The kids went to flea markets every weekend with us. It was the perfect solution for our family and a real job.
Is Flipping Ruining Thrifting Culture?
The other part of the comment was that we’re ruining thrifting culture. We’ve been to many, many thrift stores and they have so much stuff they can’t process it quickly enough. They don’t have the room to store items, so thrift stores need to move products. We also find items from yard sales, flea markets, and garage sales, and what we’re doing is recycling it from one market (the local market), and bringing it to a larger market where people will pay closer to what the item is actually worth.
Now, we are not price gouging. We are not charging more than what it costs retail. For example, a few weeks ago we sold a steamer oven that was brand new, for $15,000. I bought it for $1,000. If you looked up that item at retail price, it would be between $30,000-$50,000. We didn’t charge more than the retail, we actually charged them about half. I went off the lowest retail I could find and charged half of that.
But that’s giving people a great deal, taking it from a market where it won’t sell and bringing it to a bigger market on eBay, where it will sell.
People see resellers and say “Oh, resellers are buying all the good stuff.” They don’t realize there are so many things out there. There is no shortage of items to buy. Even just today my scrapper friend had his trailer loaded and had been cutting stuff down, so he could turn it in at the scrap yard and recycle them there. That happens every day at every scrapyard in the country. When you look at reselling, it’s helping keep items out of the landfills while also making some money doing it.
Trying Other “Real” Jobs
I’ve tried so many other jobs over the years from landscaping and pool maintenance to roofing. I even tried to start a parasailing business. None of them really worked for me, but once we came in and took off with this flipping, it became obvious that it is a career. It’s been amazing for our family and our schedule. Flipping is by far one of the best things you can do as a profession.
Show Notes
Check out our free workshop: https://learn.fleamarketflipper.com/flipping-workshop-new–0b9f0
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fleamrktflipper/
FURTHER RESOURCES
FREE Workshop How To Turn Your Passion of Flipping Items Into A Profitable Reselling Business
Download These 47 Household Items To Resell TODAY!
RELATED EPISODES
What We Sold Last Week To Make $19,000 (Two Sales!)
