Are you looking for the best items to flip to make extra money?
Flipping items is a great way to not only make some extra money online but can turn into a legitimate business.
In fact, later on, I’ll tell you about one couple who turn their flipping side hustle into a six-figure business.
But, before I get into that, let me explain a little bit more about what flipping items actually means.
What is flipping items?
Flipping is when you buy an item for a low price and resell it for a higher price. The difference in what you sell it for and what you purchased it for will be your profit.
It is the same concept as retail arbitrage—where you buy something from a retailer on sale and resell it for profit on sites like Amazon, Ebay, or other online marketplaces.
Flipping isn’t anything new and there is still ample opportunity for you to start and make money doing it.
How to start flipping items for profit
Getting started with flipping isn’t as hard as you might think. You just need to have the right eye for finding the best items to flip and know where to sell them.
Although I’ll give you some valuable information in this post, I recommend actually learning from a couple who has turned this into a full-time business.
Rob and Melissa Stephenson of Flea Market Flippers actually built a six-figure business by simply reselling items that they purchased from (you guessed it) the flea market…and thrift stores.
They actually have a free training where they help you figure out if flipping items is right for you and teach their strategy for making it a profitable venture. They also have another training on how to make $100/week flipping that you can check out as well.
Though they’ll give more details in their training, in general here are the five steps that you need to follow to start flipping items.
5 Steps to Flip Items for Profit
- Research the best items to flip and look for them on sale (or for free)
- Purchase these items
- Clean and make any necessary repairs
- List the items for sale online
- Package and ship products to buyers
What are the best things to flip?
So, the first step in making money from flipping is to figure out what you can actually flip for profit. The keyword here is profit. You want to be able to make money from whatever it is that you’re flipping.
This means that they need to be items that you can find for low to no cost and are still things that people want to buy. Here are 5 of the best items to resell for profit.
5 Best items to resell for profit
1. Vintage clothing and other vintage items
Vintage clothing is always great for flipping. People will pay top dollar for exclusive items that they can no longer find in stores.
Vintage items are considered things that are from a past generation or era. This means that they are no longer in production and can be rare finds. For example, vintage cars can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. So if you have these items, you can stand to make a significant amount of money.
Asos Marketplace and Mercari are two top places to sell vintages clothes.
2. Furniture
Furniture is another popular item to flip. This is especially true now that a lot of furniture isn’t made from solid wood. If you happen to come across older furniture that is, you can definitely flip it for a profit.
Flipping furniture sometimes takes some work. You may have to repair the items and even do some upholstery work. However, it can be worth it if you’re able to sell for a higher price.
You should always take any labor that you have to do into consideration when it comes to pricing. I will talk about this a little later on.
3. Shoes
Shoes are a very popular item to flip. Though you can stand to make a great profit from flipping shoes, the market has become a bit tougher now that bots are buying shoes.
Shoe flipping is something that I’ve seen since I’ve been a teenager. People would spend hours in line waiting for the latest sneaker to hit the stores so that they could grab one of the limited quantities. Those same shoes would then end up on sites like eBay selling for twice the price. When you have scarcity, you can do that.
Sneaker flipping is a huge industry, so much so, they have their own apps. Here are a few apps for flipping shoes:
4. Websites
You probably didn’t think of a website as something that you can flip. However, website flipping is actually a thing.
In this case, you purchase a website that’s been made for a really low price. You can probably pay someone from Fiverr to create it for pennies on the dollar.
Once the site is created, you could sell it as-is to a business looking for a ready-made website.
5. Domain names
Another thing that you can flip is a domain name. Essentially, you can buy a domain name for a popular niche. When someone wants to use that domain name for their website, you can sell it for thousands.
For example, if I came up with a clever name for a dog food website, I’d buy that domain name on BlueHost or NameCheap. When someone else thinks of that same name and tries to secure the domain, they’ll have the option to buy it from the owner, which would be me. I could then sell that domain name for a much higher price.
One of my blogging friends actually paid $10,000 to get the domain name that he wanted. Crazy!
What are the easiest things to flip?
The easiest items to flips are those that don’t require any labor before selling. This includes things like repairs or cleaning. So think about products like new shoes, websites, and domain names. These are easy flips to make money.
Where to find items to flip
There are several places that you can find items to flip that won’t cost you a ton. Here are some to consider.
Your home
The first place to look for items to flip is your own home! Yes, you may have items that you’re no longer using that can be flipped for profit. In fact, these are the best items to flip because you don’t have to spend any additional money to acquire them.
Do you have any of the above items that I mentioned that you’re not using? If so, consider listing them on an online marketplace to earn a profit from them.
Flea markets
Flea Market Flippers didn’t become a thing for no reason. You can definitely find items that you can flip at your local flea market.
I must say that flea markets have come a long way since my last venture to one. Now, entrepreneurs run their businesses from small flea market storefronts. Either way, you can still find great deals on items that you can then flip.
Thrift Stores
Thrift shops typically sell their items for just a few dollars. The only downside is that you really have to sift through the items to find things in great condition to sell. Sometimes pieces may be missing, but you can also find some true gems.
Our local Goodwill sometimes has brand new items from Target that just didn’t sell. They are perfectly packaged and ready to be sold to someone else at a much higher price than what it’s being sold for.
Retail stores
You may spend a little bit more money, but you can always find items on sale at a retail store and flip them for profit. The best places to look are clearance sales or even store closing sales. You can get things at a steep discount that you can turn around a list online.
Also, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are really big sale days in the US. Use this to your advantage and keep an eye on items that you can possibly purchase to resell.
Garage/Estate sales
Don’t forget about garage or estate sales. Another man’s junk can be your treasure. If you happen to see a garage sale going on in your neighborhood, consider stopping by to see if you can find some of the high-profit items mentioned above.
Pricing your items to flip
When pricing your items, there are a few things that you should consider.
- How much you paid for it
- What it’s currently being sold for by competitors
- Flipping costs (cleaning, repairing, etc.)
- Listing and selling costs (ex. Transaction & shipping fees)
Here’s the formula that you’ll use to determine your price:
Price = Total Costs + Profit
Your profit is how much money you want to make after all of your expenses are deducted. That might be $5, $10, or more! Remember, it needs to be worth the effort. If you don’t think you’ll be able to sell the item for more than it cost you, it’s not a good idea to sell it.
Where to sell your flip items
- Ebay – Ebay the most widely used site for reselling items online. With the open to bid, it makes for a marketplace that has great options for consumers and sellers. Ebay Fees – For clothes that are priced for less than $100, there is a 10% fee. Anything priced above $100 has a 0% fee.
- Etsy – This platform is not just for crafts. You can leverage it to also sell your clothes. Millions of people use Etsy everyday, so you are very likely to find someone to grab your flips. Etsy Fees: Etsy charges a flat rate of $0.20 USD per listing that you publish to your shop. You’ll also automatically be charged a 5% transaction fee of the items sale price.
- Facebook Marketplace – Facebook isn’t just a social networking site. You can leverage its marketplace to also sell your items. Usually, this is meant for sales between locals, but there’s nothing to say that you can’t use it as an online selling platform. Facebook Marketplace Fees: There are no fees
- Amazon Marketplace – You can sign up to sell items on Amazon and a vendor. So many people leverage Amazon to buy products, so you have a strong likelihood of being able to sell your finds. Amazon Fees: Amazon has different fee structures based on the plan that you choose. You can see Amazon selling fees here.
Final thoughts on flipping items
As you can see, there are several items that are great for flipping. These are everyday things that you might have in your home or can find for a really low cost. Either way, flipping is another great way to make some extra money online.
If you really want to learn more about it, I recommend checking out the free training by Rob and Melissa Stephenson of Flea Market Flippers. They do this full-time and can give you some guided support to get your flipping side hustle off the ground.
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As Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI), she has been teaching personal finances to women & youth for over a decade.
Fo is an established writer and expert contributor on the topics of personal finance, budgeting, debt payoff, money mindset, saving, entrepreneurship, investing, motherhood, personal development, and more.