Bicycle hustling for fun and profit

[vulcansx]

Thanks for the comment, vulcansx. On your bread and butter items, what kind of return are you looking for? For example, are you looking to double your money on an iPhone? Make $100?

Unfortunately doubling on an iPhone Is extremely rare I go for 40-80$ profit on them but they sell FAST I can buy 3 and have them gone in 2 days. I choose a quick flip over a long hold for an extra 20 bucks any day. Anything over 500$ I'm lookin for about 40% return, the key is low balling, 80% of people will tell you to go to hell if you can't stomach that you won't make any real money.

 

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[leveragehacker]

This has been discussed in another thread, but the point is some people are starting from almost $0 (or less, if you're in debt). These flipping threads offer concrete advice on how to make something out of basically nothing.

Most people say "Do this, do that, do the other thing, and then you'll make money like me." Other people go so far as to talk about their success, but give no real data. "I make $10k a month reselling on ebay! Just go look something up, buy it, and then sell it!" They don't tell us their name, or show us their profile on ebay, or tell us what they sell. It's all nebulous. They may as well say "Work hard and you will make money."

This guy is saying "This is what I did today. This is how much money I made." I respect this information 100x more.

I've been thinking a lot about this whole subject--reselling, flipping, etc. I really was skeptical of it. I didn't want to go buy a bike for $50 and have it sit there, or sell it for $60 and put 2 bucks in my pocket after shipping. But having this guy's posts pop up in my e-mail all the time have finally spurred me on. I have $20 in the bank. I'm working on an app, but I need money between now and when it's done. I'm going to jump into this.

Thanks @adamhenry.

Fair call man - I guess my only word of warning is - be careful of how long you do this for. Once it's gotten you to $1000 profit that's probably enough to start dipping your toes into another venture but with the opportunity to scale your results. Just don't want to see people misallocating their time.

 

[Blhhi]

If I can help at all, let me know.

I'm interested in discussing the system too, or the meta-game, or whatever you want to call it.

Right now I'm just looking for things. I found an xbox 360 in the closet (forgot I had it), all nice in its original box and everything. I threw it up on ebay for auction and "buy now" set to $100. It sold in less than 8 hours. That makes me worry I didn't price it high enough, but it also makes me wonder if I can't flip xboxes.

A lot of broken consoles are sold for <$10, and the repair fees don't typically cost more than $30 - $40. If I can sell them at $100, that's a $50 profit at least.

I searched around for bikes, but didn't find anything promising in my area. There's a kids bike for $10 I found in my area, but I don't know if I can make anything from it. Mind taking a look? http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4549557002.html

I looked for the bike online but didn't find much. The brand seems pretty famous, and there's another model selling for about $170 at toys r us, but I couldn't find that particular model.

 

[adamhenry]

Right now I'm just looking for things. I found an xbox 360 in the closet (forgot I had it), all nice in its original box and everything. I threw it up on ebay for auction and "buy now" set to $100. It sold in less than 8 hours. That makes me worry I didn't price it high enough, but it also makes me wonder if I can't flip xboxes.

A lot of broken consoles are sold for <$10, and the repair fees don't typically cost more than $30 - $40. If I can sell them at $100, that's a $50 profit at least.

I searched around for bikes, but didn't find anything promising in my area. There's a kids bike for $10 I found in my area, but I don't know if I can make anything from it. Mind taking a look? http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4549557002.html

I looked for the bike online but didn't find much. The brand seems pretty famous, and there's another model selling for about $170 at toys r us, but I couldn't find that particular model.

Ignoring price for a moment, the bike itself isn't a good bike. As a rule of thumb, you want to avoid department store bikes, and instead look for bikes that would've been sold at a bike shop (I can provide a quick list of brands if helpful).

On the other hand, $10 isn't a large investment. The visible rust could easily be cleaned off for the most part (tinfoil on seat post, oil the chain). I would think, shined up, that you should at least be able to double your money. The shining would only take about ten minutes.

If you do decide to try it, make sure the seat post will go up and down, and otherwise that the brakes seem to work ok.

 

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[adamhenry]

Right now I'm just looking for things. I found an xbox 360 in the closet (forgot I had it), all nice in its original box and everything. I threw it up on ebay for auction and "buy now" set to $100. It sold in less than 8 hours. That makes me worry I didn't price it high enough, but it also makes me wonder if I can't flip xboxes.

A lot of broken consoles are sold for <$10, and the repair fees don't typically cost more than $30 - $40. If I can sell them at $100, that's a $50 profit at least.

I searched around for bikes, but didn't find anything promising in my area. There's a kids bike for $10 I found in my area, but I don't know if I can make anything from it. Mind taking a look? http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4549557002.html

I looked for the bike online but didn't find much. The brand seems pretty famous, and there's another model selling for about $170 at toys r us, but I couldn't find that particular model.

Here's an example of what you could probably sell it for: http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4549391084.html

 

[adamhenry]

Browsing ads in your area, here is a potential flip:
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4544637305.html

Could be sold like this one:
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4553335312.html

No, the two bikes aren't exact matches, but then they're not far off. I'd say the cheap one is probably more attractive too - notice how you can't exactly see the bike, since it's placed in front of other bikes in the photo. This is a case where you might not get $375 for it, but should do better than its asking price.

 

[adamhenry]

Browsing ads in your area, here is a potential flip:
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4544637305.html

Could be sold like this one:
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4553335312.html

No, the two bikes aren't exact matches, but then they're not far off. I'd say the cheap one is probably more attractive too - notice how you can't exactly see the bike, since it's placed in front of other bikes in the photo. This is a case where you might not get $375 for it, but should do better than its asking price.

It's probably closer to this ad:
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4544659832.html

So with these examples, there's a bike posted for $70, with a crummy photo, that appears to be an equivalent of some other bikes posted for sale in the $300 range.

Keep in mind that the bikes in the $300 range might be priced too high and might never sell, so maybe you'd get $150 for the same bike.

Also keep in mind that $70 is the asking price. Could you get it for $50? Less?

Maybe you go and ask the seller what their lowest price is, and they say they'd be willing to let it go for $50. Well, now the new asking price is $50, and you're going to negotiate it from there, maybe getting it for $40 in the end. You might be able to sell it quick with some nice photos for $100, and pocket an easy $60.

Note that these are just quick guesses based on 3 minutes of browsing ads in your area, but it's an example of the kind of thinking you want to do when looking for flips. Bikes, iPhones, or goats.

 

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[adamhenry]

As far as my progress goes, no sales today but I traded a Samsung Galaxy Gear watch for an iPhone 4S. From what I can figure, the watch was worth $100 in my area, and the iPhone conservatively $150, so at least in theory I'm up $50.

Have the iPhone posted for trade so will let you know how it goes.

 

[firmwear]

I may have missed this if it was mentioned already, but how about: make youtube videos of bike repair as well as bike-flipping and collect advert-monies from users?

You already fix a lot of the bikes you flip so the videos might make an added (and persistent) income stream.

After a quick search, the most interesting titles read something like, "fix a bicycle tire in 3 mins" instead of just "patch a bike tire." So it might also help your copy skills at the same time.

 

[Blhhi]

It's probably closer to this ad:
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/4544659832.html

So with these examples, there's a bike posted for $70, with a crummy photo, that appears to be an equivalent of some other bikes posted for sale in the $300 range.

Keep in mind that the bikes in the $300 range might be priced too high and might never sell, so maybe you'd get $150 for the same bike.

Also keep in mind that $70 is the asking price. Could you get it for $50? Less?

Maybe you go and ask the seller what their lowest price is, and they say they'd be willing to let it go for $50. Well, now the new asking price is $50, and you're going to negotiate it from there, maybe getting it for $40 in the end. You might be able to sell it quick with some nice photos for $100, and pocket an easy $60.

Note that these are just quick guesses based on 3 minutes of browsing ads in your area, but it's an example of the kind of thinking you want to do when looking for flips. Bikes, iPhones, or goats.

Thanks for the help! I didn't look into those because I don't have a car, so I wanted to stay local. NJ Transit is pretty reliable if you need to get to shopping centers, or Manhattan. But I'd like to avoid testing my luck with a ride out to a suburban town in a different county.

I still haven't gotten paid for my xbox yet, and I've got $50 coming in for some work I did. Every dollar I make will go into hustling. I'm not gonna hijack the thread, but I'll update you when I make something happen.

Until then, keep it coming. This is probably the best thread on the forum right now.

 

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[adamhenry]

Thanks for the help! I didn't look into those because I don't have a car, so I wanted to stay local. NJ Transit is pretty reliable if you need to get to shopping centers, or Manhattan. But I'd like to avoid testing my luck with a ride out to a suburban town in a different county.

I still haven't gotten paid for my xbox yet, and I've got $50 coming in for some work I did. Every dollar I make will go into hustling. I'm not gonna hijack the thread, but I'll update you when I make something happen.

Until then, keep it coming. This is probably the best thread on the forum right now.

You can try having things delivered to you too.

My only free time where I can go pick something up by car right now is between 8:30pm and 9:30pm. In a few cases, I've been surprised that a seller is willing to deliver an item.

I'm in town, so if I see something a little further out of town then I want to drive, I'll email the seller and say "I'll buy this if there's a way you could bring it to me". Often people who live outside of town come in to town anyway for work or groceries or whatever anyway.

If you know xboxes, and can transport them by transit, one opportunity can be package deals. Sometimes you'll see someone selling an Xbox with 20 games for the same price another is going for with two games. You can pick up the package and then sell off the game individually before selling the system itself.

I do this with bikes - if I get one with fenders, pannier rack, seat cover, etc. these items can be pulled off the bike and be sold for $5, $10, $20 a piece, which reduces how much money you have invested in the bike.

 

[adamhenry]

Quick update, I'll elaborate more tomorrow, but tonight I traded the iPhone for an air compressor and $50 cash.

 

[adamhenry]

So I'm at +$155 as of July 5

 

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[Rickson9]

I love hustle threads. I never did this full time like some other individuals, but I always thought that it was a very clever way to make money. I also find it fun to browse the various marketplaces to see what people are selling. The attached image is one that I did last week.

A guy was selling $500 worth of Starbucks gift cards for $250. We met at Starbucks. I verified the value and paid him. I then asked if he had any more. He said he had a single $100 card left. I asked if he wanted to sell it. After some thought, he said 'sure'. I gave him another $50 and took the $100 Starbucks card.

Honestly, I think he didn't sell as fast as he could because his post was terrible. His post was listed on Jun 27, 2014 and by all rights it should have been gone an hour later.

In short, I paid $300 for $600 worth of Starbucks gift cards. I then re-posted and sold the entire bunch for $500. I took the $200 and ate a lot on Canada Day (Jul 1st). Sorry, I'm Canadian. Otherwise I would have spent it on July 4th

PS: A week earlier I also bought a $250 Tim Hortons gift card for $190 and a $250 Harry Rosen gift card for $200. I just stayed in those respective stores until a customer came around and flipped them for $30 and $20 respectively.

PPS: Keep in mind that I don't do this 'professionally'. I just keep tabs on gift cards (because they're easy for me to value) and I only focus on sellers who happen to live near my home (because the amounts are just not worth it for me to travel to do this).

PPPS: My apologies to the OP for derailing this thread. Hopefully it offers some motivational value to keep going! Good job!

Oh, and if you're still reading this, and you live in Toronto, and you're good at hustling, I would be willing to talk to you to bankroll you for some shits and giggles

 

[Silverhawk851]

ohhhhhhhhhhh That kind of hustling. haha in that case, good work.

I was about to be like dude...you don't post about these things...

Onwards with the thread.

Oh, and if you're still reading this, and you live in Toronto, and you're good at hustling, I would be willing to talk to you to bankroll you for some shits and giggles

+1 I'm in on this too

Lol

 

[adamhenry]

Canadian too - originally from Midland, Ontario, but now out in Victoria, BC

 

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[adamhenry]

Ok, maybe a few minutes now to tell my latest story.

So I had posted the iPhone 4S for trade, and this guy emails me that he wants to trade a Windows phone. Of course, I don't want a Windows phone, nobody does, so I asked what else he had to trade. He emails me a link to his classified ads, has a few things for sale, and I poke through the listings.

He has a brand new air compressor for sale. I look it up, and it appears to have been about $250-$275 new. I could actually use a compressor for a few things, but am also interested in it for resale, so I pitch to him that he should give me the compressor + $50 for the iPhone. I also offer to come get the compressor for that deal.

He writes back that he'll give me the compressor and $60 (?) for the phone. So he's negotiated himself up $10 at this point.

I agree, and the plan is for me to bring it to him after my kids are asleep.

After dinner, I'm resetting the iPhone, when I suddenly realize it's an iPhone 4, not a 4S. The guy that sold it to me has given me an iPhone 4, with a manual for a 4S, and I hadn't been careful enough to double check that it was what he said it was.

So I email compressor dude, and apologize that it's only a 4, not a 4S, and ask if he is still interested.

I almost suggested we just do a straight trade, phone for compressor, but held my tongue.

He writes back that he's still interested, but that he'll give me the compressor and $50, not $60, which was my original offer in the first place.

So I traded a $100 smartwatch for an iPhone 4, which I thought was a 4S, which I then traded for a $250 compressor and $50.

 

[adamhenry]

Sold bike fenders for $15, so July = +$170 (and an air compressor)

 

[adamhenry]

I love hustle threads. I never did this full time like some other individuals, but I always thought that it was a very clever way to make money. I also find it fun to browse the various marketplaces to see what people are selling. The attached image is one that I did last week.

A guy was selling $500 worth of Starbucks gift cards for $250. We met at Starbucks. I verified the value and paid him. I then asked if he had any more. He said he had a single $100 card left. I asked if he wanted to sell it. After some thought, he said 'sure'. I gave him another $50 and took the $100 Starbucks card.

Honestly, I think he didn't sell as fast as he could because his post was terrible. His post was listed on Jun 27, 2014 and by all rights it should have been gone an hour later.

In short, I paid $300 for $600 worth of Starbucks gift cards. I then re-posted and sold the entire bunch for $500. I took the $200 and ate a lot on Canada Day (Jul 1st). Sorry, I'm Canadian. Otherwise I would have spent it on July 4th

PS: A week earlier I also bought a $250 Tim Hortons gift card for $190 and a $250 Harry Rosen gift card for $200. I just stayed in those respective stores until a customer came around and flipped them for $30 and $20 respectively.

PPS: Keep in mind that I don't do this 'professionally'. I just keep tabs on gift cards (because they're easy for me to value) and I only focus on sellers who happen to live near my home (because the amounts are just not worth it for me to travel to do this).

PPPS: My apologies to the OP for derailing this thread. Hopefully it offers some motivational value to keep going! Good job!

Oh, and if you're still reading this, and you live in Toronto, and you're good at hustling, I would be willing to talk to you to bankroll you for some shits and giggles

Great post. I've flipped a Michael's (craft store) gift card before for good profit (forget the details), and bought a Walmart card for a good deal that we then used for groceries. I watch the gift card postings, but they don't come up too often. However, now that you mention it, I'm going to post a gift card wanted ad - have had surprisingly good success with wanted ads in the past.

 

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[adamhenry]

I love hustle threads. I never did this full time like some other individuals, but I always thought that it was a very clever way to make money. I also find it fun to browse the various marketplaces to see what people are selling. The attached image is one that I did last week.

A guy was selling $500 worth of Starbucks gift cards for $250. We met at Starbucks. I verified the value and paid him. I then asked if he had any more. He said he had a single $100 card left. I asked if he wanted to sell it. After some thought, he said 'sure'. I gave him another $50 and took the $100 Starbucks card.

Honestly, I think he didn't sell as fast as he could because his post was terrible. His post was listed on Jun 27, 2014 and by all rights it should have been gone an hour later.

In short, I paid $300 for $600 worth of Starbucks gift cards. I then re-posted and sold the entire bunch for $500. I took the $200 and ate a lot on Canada Day (Jul 1st). Sorry, I'm Canadian. Otherwise I would have spent it on July 4th

PS: A week earlier I also bought a $250 Tim Hortons gift card for $190 and a $250 Harry Rosen gift card for $200. I just stayed in those respective stores until a customer came around and flipped them for $30 and $20 respectively.

PPS: Keep in mind that I don't do this 'professionally'. I just keep tabs on gift cards (because they're easy for me to value) and I only focus on sellers who happen to live near my home (because the amounts are just not worth it for me to travel to do this).

PPPS: My apologies to the OP for derailing this thread. Hopefully it offers some motivational value to keep going! Good job!

Oh, and if you're still reading this, and you live in Toronto, and you're good at hustling, I would be willing to talk to you to bankroll you for some shits and giggles

Great post. I've flipped a Michael's (craft store) gift card before for good profit (forget the details), and bought a Walmart card for a good deal that we then used for groceries. I watch the gift card postings, but they don't come up too often. However, now that you mention it, I'm going to post a gift card wanted ad - have had surprisingly good success with wanted ads in the past.

 

[adamhenry]

Unfortunately doubling on an iPhone Is extremely rare I go for 40-80$ profit on them but they sell FAST I can buy 3 and have them gone in 2 days. I choose a quick flip over a long hold for an extra 20 bucks any day. Anything over 500$ I'm lookin for about 40% return, the key is low balling, 80% of people will tell you to go to hell if you can't stomach that you won't make any real money.

Vulcansx - what's your strategy for lowballing? Do you just send a basic "take $50?" kind of an email or is there more strategy to it?

 

[Edwin C]

It reminds me of the game kids use to play "Bigger and better" where they start with a paper clip and they go door-to-door to see what they could exchange it for. By the end of the game, it could get really ridiculous from bikes to washing machine and such.

 

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[adamhenry]

So no $ change today, but I did trade the air compressor for a GT bmx and a Norco bmx. The GT bmx's are popular, so I should be able to get about $150 for it and maybe $50 for the Norco.

Being conservative, I figure the trades so far went:

Galaxy Gear ($100)
IPhone 4 ($140)
Air Compressor ($125) & $50 cash
GT bmx ($125) & Norco bmx ($30)

Since I started by putting $100 cash in the watch, and got $50 cash out already, I only have $50 invested total in the GT and Norco.

Hard to say what they will go for,and I may have to do some minor repair, but the GT bmx's usually get listed around $170-$200 here. The Norco bmx is inferior, but might turn out to be $30-$50 anyway. Would be cool if I get $50 for the Norco, that way the GT is pure profit, having extracted my initial $100 investment.

 

[adamhenry]

Amazon paid out $15 today, so July = +$185

 

[adamhenry]

I'm thinking a lowball script could increase the percentage of positive replies vs. a "take $50?" email.

What do you folks think of something like the following?

"Hello!

I'm very interested in your (goat/iPhone/bicycle) and would take it for sure! I'd be able to give you $x cash for it (50-60% of listed price) - I know this is kind of a lowball offer, but I thought I'd see if you were flexible on the price.

If you're interested in a quick sale let me know! I could pick it up (tonight/tomorrow) at (time) if that works for you.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks!
Adam"

A strategy might be to go through old ads and try this approach - people might be willing to drastically reduce price on items that haven't sold. Also could work with people that are moving and have to get rid of an item quickly. Just thinking a script like this might reduce the automatic *delete* response when someone sees your lowball email.

Might try it out soon, but let me know if you have any comments!

 

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[adamhenry]

No $ change today exactly, but was able to trade a $40 book store gift card (wasn't using) for a $40 Starbucks card (will use).

 

[adamhenry]

Sold vintage 10 Speed Apollo for $200, so July = +$385.

That makes up for a couple quiet days.

 

[NetNinja]

Ahh Bicycles. Yeah I loved them so much I wanted to buy a bike shop. I think I visited everyone in Eastern North Carolina. I was semi serious racer. Serious about ridding but sucked in races.
I think I was ridding about 250 miles a week when I was stationed in Okinawa. Dear lord some of those hills.
Craigslist lurks a close second to Pawn shops. A lot of gear is stolen. Bikes and Tools being a top contender.
I love when someone posts pictures of Sears craftsman tools and they still have the plastic hangers on them. Seriously?

You will swear you will make a million dollars selling bikes and trying to find the holy grail. The time it takes for you to fix one up and sell for a profit is slim margins. Kind of like traying to sell a used car. lots of tire kickers and people who will waste your time. Don't even try shipping them. It will take you an hour to pack the darn thing up right so that the Gorillas at UPS don't crush it.

I have even built up my own road bikes. 2 Cannondales and a Aluminum Motobecane frame I bought from FleaBay (eBay).
Bought some Campy C-record parts from eBay and made a hybrid using old school Campy parts, Especially the Delta Brakes.
I hadn't built a road bike in over 15 years. It was fun. I should take a picture of it and post it here. I bought a cheap indoor trainer. I can't ride the rollers anymore. I used to ride it for about 15 mins while Game of Thrones was on and my perineum was on fire! Dear lord these racing saddles are hard!

 

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[adamhenry]

Ahh Bicycles. Yeah I loved them so much I wanted to buy a bike shop. I think I visited everyone in Eastern North Carolina. I was semi serious racer. Serious about ridding but sucked in races.
I think I was ridding about 250 miles a week when I was stationed in Okinawa. Dear lord some of those hills.
Craigslist lurks a close second to Pawn shops. A lot of gear is stolen. Bikes and Tools being a top contender.
I love when someone posts pictures of Sears craftsman tools and they still have the plastic hangers on them. Seriously?

You will swear you will make a million dollars selling bikes and trying to find the holy grail. The time it takes for you to fix one up and sell for a profit is slim margins. Kind of like traying to sell a used car. lots of tire kickers and people who will waste your time. Don't even try shipping them. It will take you an hour to pack the darn thing up right so that the Gorillas at UPS don't crush it.

I have even built up my own road bikes. 2 Cannondales and a Aluminum Motobecane frame I bought from FleaBay (eBay).
Bought some Campy C-record parts from eBay and made a hybrid using old school Campy parts, Especially the Delta Brakes.
I hadn't built a road bike in over 15 years. It was fun. I should take a picture of it and post it here. I bought a cheap indoor trainer. I can't ride the rollers anymore. I used to ride it for about 15 mins while Game of Thrones was on and my perineum was on fire! Dear lord these racing saddles are hard!

Well, I don't think millions on bicycles alone will happen. Definitely have to be careful with time and margins - My current plan is to try and buy less than $100, quick tune and clean up and sell for $200+.

So far I haven't had trouble with tire kickers - I think this is a pricing issue - if you price too high you will get tire kickers and take longer to sell. Key is to buy very low, then sell at a price where people are still getting a deal, and are in a hurry to buy. I price at a point where I will get multiple inquires, then can cherry pick the guy that says "I want it and will buy it tonight" vs. "I want to come take a look at your bike".

Easy cash, good bootstrapping method. Goal at this point is to use craigslist flipping to free myself up from nine to five career - by increasing net cash each month higher than the last month. Could lead to flipping higher value items (cars? real estate?). At this point my next move will be to drop to for days a week at my day job, as profits from flipping increase, hopefully in a few months.

 

[SBS.95]

I'm thinking a lowball script could increase the percentage of positive replies vs. a "take $50?" email.

What do you folks think of something like the following?

"Hello!

I'm very interested in your (goat/iPhone/bicycle) and would take it for sure! I'd be able to give you $x cash for it (50-60% of listed price) - I know this is kind of a lowball offer, but I thought I'd see if you were flexible on the price.

If you're interested in a quick sale let me know! I could pick it up (tonight/tomorrow) at (time) if that works for you.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks!
Adam"

A strategy might be to go through old ads and try this approach - people might be willing to drastically reduce price on items that haven't sold. Also could work with people that are moving and have to get rid of an item quickly. Just thinking a script like this might reduce the automatic *delete* response when someone sees your lowball email.

Might try it out soon, but let me know if you have any comments!

Take out the sentence in bold. It's all about making them walk away from the sale with dignity. The types of people who will accept your lowball offers are the types of people who are in dire straits- they need to pay rent or the mortgage or the car payment. Even though these guys are desperate for cash, you don't want them to read the fact that you are lowballing them.

A lot of guys get turned off by the term "lowball". They will say in their ad "no lowballers or craigslist bullshit", yet if you offer them 50% of their asking price I get some "yes" in there.

I always send out a short and sweet-

"Hey, I can give you [$x] for the [x]. I've got cash in hand and can meet you or pick it up today. Let me know if you're interested. -Alex"

Generally if I get a reply, it's a yes. If not, they usually just ignore me, which is no big deal, on to the next one.