A Beginner's Guide to Flipping Goods from Goodwill and Other Sources

Before I started blogging I was a full-time flipper for 6 months of my life.  What is flipping?  In short it is buying low and selling high or at least selling moderately higher than what you bought it for.  It is a very hit or miss business, but if put in the time and have a little bit of cash ($100 is enough, $500 is ideal) it can be lucrative.

It's also a fun thing to do and provides a rush you aren't likely to get from a desk job or a manual labor job.  Of course the best part is you are working for yourself which is the goal of course.  It can also be extremely addicting, which can be dangerous as it can lead to accumulating a lot of stuff you can't sell just because you were intrigued by an item.  With the warnings out of the way let's start.

Where to Buy

-Goodwill/Savers/Salvation Army/Church Donation Stores - I only have experience with Goodwill as there aren't any Savers or Salvation Army's in my area.  Here's the deal with Goodwill, it all depends on if the ones in your area want to move product like they should want or if you have a pricing manager in your area that for some unknown reason prices things like a retail store.  Occasionally a manager will get upset if a flipper is being blatantly obvious and that's when prices start to go up.  So mind your manners and go about your business and what you really want is to make friends with the people working there.

-Yard Sales/Garage Sales/Church Sales - Relaxing weekends are not something that is going to happen if you want to be a successful flipper.  Saturday morning you need to get up early and plan a route.  The key to yard sales is employing a little haggling because an item may be overpriced at first, but the sellers usually want the items gone so make an offer, not an insulting one, but one that you know will net you a profitable flip.

-Online Sales - You probably used to make fun of people who would stay up till 3am to be the first to add items to their imaginary shopping cart, well now that's you.

-Craigslist/Facebook Groups - To be honest these are better places to sell than to buy, but you can find the occasional deal.  The problem is people overvalue their stuff because they don't take the time to research so they post a price and they are unwilling to budge because they think it's a deal.  Also, these places are filled with other flippers.

-Retail Arbitrage - The practice of Retail Arbitrage is going to a retail store and scanning items to see if they are going for more online.  Thus you buy the item and resale it online.  This is more for the established flipper, but beginners can get in on the action too, especially if there is a good clearance sale.  The best example I have for this is I found packs of puppy pads at a Gabe's going for 8 dollars each, the same pack going for 32 dollars on amazon so I bought all of them and they were a quick and easy flip on amazon.

-Estate Sales - You need to find estate sales that are being done by the owner of the home because if they hire a company to do it you can bet it will over priced.


Where to Sell

-Amazon - I will give plenty of resources at the end of this article so you can educate yourself on what it takes to get approved and to be a successful amazon seller.  Amazon is the best place to sell if you find new items or just slightly used items, but always compare prices with eBay to see which place the item is being sold the most for.

-eBay - Older used items sell best on eBay, especially the collectibles you find.  You want to buy some stuff first to get some positive feedback for your selling account.  You want to be diligent in trying desperately to keep negative feedback off of your account.

-Etsy - I never did get on the Etsy train, but it's clearly the new popular kid in town so definitely sign up for an account.

-Facebook Groups/Craigslist - When I was flipping I reserved these two for heavier items because shipping costs would be outrageous.


What to Buy

-Old Video Games - The easiest items to buy, sell, profit, ship, and sell quickly.  The children that grew up playing NES, SNES, and N64 games are now adults with disposable incomes.  Nintendo specific titles and RPGs sell best.  Head over to the Video Game Pricing Guide to see what titles to look for.  It definitely helps to have some knowledge in this arena, but you can certainly educate yourself.

-Guitar Hero Controllers - The key to selling these out of production, but in-demand plastic instruments is to figure out the shipping.  They are plentiful at Goodwill, usually for 1.99 and they will sell, you can bank on that, but they are a pain to store and ship so find a system that works for you.

-Old Starbucks Coffee Mugs - These puppies can go for a lot of coin depending on the year, but even the normal ones can net you a nice little profit.

-Nerf Guns - Another tricky one to ship, but easy to sell and profit.

-Board Games - Rare board games pop up frequently at Goodwill and Yard Sales and can fetch a premium online.  Here are 10 to keep an eye out for.

-Graphing Calculators - TI-84, TI-83....these are things you will become familiar with when flipping.  These calculators are some of the best things to flip because they are small, sturdy, and can fetch up to $100 online, especially during back to school.

-NIB aka New in Box Items - If an item that you find at Goodwill for $1.99 is new in the box, especially video games, your profit can skyrocket.

-Shoes and Clothing - This is where the big boys play.  If you can master the art of selling second hand clothing online you can conquer this business, but it is extremely difficult.  If you have previous experience in the fashion industry and you know what sells this is a great business to get into.  I don't, but I was able to find some good flips with men's dress shoes because I knew a little bit about them.

-Anything and Everything - I could list 1000 more items, but this is a good starting point.  You need to research, trial & error, and develop sort of a sixth sense about what items could be profitable.


Shipping

The most important aspect of this business by far is keeping shipping costs down.  There are online companies out there that can streamline everything for you for a price, but the cheapest way is to just figure out your own system.  Amazon and eBay offer great discounted shipping options.  Don't ever pay for boxes, go to your local walmart or dollar store and just ask for them.


Best Resources

Reddit Flipping Community - Honestly this could truly be the only resource I list and it would be enough.  The information here is staggering and so much of the advice is from flippers who are much more knowledgeable and seasoned than me.  Subscribe to this subreddit, participate and ask questions, the community is amazingly supportive.

Searching eBay Sold Listings - This is the best and easiest way to figure out what your item is worth and will sell for.  Just go to advanced search on eBay and click the sold listings option and search your keyword.

Reddit Fulfillment by Amazon - Fulfillment by Amazon or FBA is a service in which you send items to an amazon warehouse and they handle everything else.  This is the best way to flip items because it takes the potential customer service issues out of your hands.


Bottom Line

It isn't for everybody, but for those who have mastered it flipping is one of the best ways you can earn an income working from home.