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So you want to flip used items and make cash? Cool!

G

Guest34764

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I didn’t know bicycle blue book was a thing, thanks for sharing! I’d always shied away from flipping bikes because I thought the liquidity would be low.

How long does it take for you to sell a quality bike?

Impossible to say because it depends entirely on your market, but with a good high-end bike and an okay market should be sold within a couple weeks, It's all about grabbing a profit and taking it as soon as you can because the value of bikes lower significantly the longer they are on the market.I had a bike drop about 250$ in value (as listed on bicyclebluebooks) because It took me a long time to sell it. Your market with high end bikes is going to be people who know their shit, they will use bicyclebluebooks almost always to buy a bike.They know parts, so don't lie or cheat them.

However saying this, I've never lost a profit on a bike, usually I get around 300 to 500$ profit from buying it, cleaning it, and posting a stellar ad. Which all takes about two hours or less.

With bikes you want to have a lot in circulation, ten bikes at a time and you can make a killing versus just selling one at a time, they're quite easy to sell once you get the hang of it and learn all the parts so volume is key.
 
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amp0193

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Impossible to say because it depends entirely on your market, but with a good high-end bike and an okay market should be sold within a couple weeks, It's all about grabbing a profit and taking it as soon as you can because the value of bikes lower significantly the longer they are on the market.I had a bike drop about 250$ in value (as listed on bicyclebluebooks) because It took me a long time to sell it. Your market with high end bikes is going to be people who know their sh*t, they will use bicyclebluebooks almost always to buy a bike.They know parts, so don't lie or cheat them.

However saying this, I've never lost a profit on a bike, usually I get around 300 to 500$ profit from buying it, cleaning it, and posting a stellar ad. Which all takes about two hours or less.

With bikes you want to have a lot in circulation, ten bikes at a time and you can make a killing versus just selling one at a time, they're quite easy to sell once you get the hang of it and learn all the parts so volume is key.


Awesome tips, thanks!
 

Zefty

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is there a way for me to do the buying and the fliping of the product without meeting the seller or the buyer since i live in a different country ? you said i need to go and meet the seller to collect the products. is there a way around this? @B_Mac
@amp0193
 
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scott wisniewsk

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Great post thanks all for the tips . My son and I were doing remodeling at a customers home . She asked me if I know anyone that needs a washer and dryer , they work fine and she had new ones coming . I told her I would find someone . Posted it on Craigslist at 9:30 for $200 and only touched it once to load it into a buyers pickup at 4:00 the same day .
 

minivanman

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Great post thanks all for the tips . My son and I were doing remodeling at a customers home . She asked me if I know anyone that needs a washer and dryer , they work fine and she had new ones coming . I told her I would find someone . Posted it on Craigslist at 9:30 for $200 and only touched it once to load it into a buyers pickup at 4:00 the same day .

You might be the lucky person of the year. Normally when they say... they work fine.... the don't. Almost always there is something wrong. My wife asked me less than an hour ago if I buy things off of Craigslist anymore and I told her no, they always have something wrong and I don't have time to chase them all over town anymore. I'm sure she didn't understand. lol

Funny thing is.... a week later your customer probably wished that she had her old set back, especially if she bought front loaders.
 

LittleWolfie

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@JohnnyAppleseed

This is f*cking brilliant.



Any noobs here looking for a business model, @JohnnyAppleseed just handed it to you on a silver platter.

1) Develop script to repost Craigslist ads on Facebook marketplace at a higher price
2) Determine the most efficient processes for getting the items from Seller A into buyer B.
3) Hire someone to run the process.
4) Iterate to other cities.


This opportunity will last as long as Facebook is mainstream, and Craigslist still has traffic.

Cash flow is king.

Not much traffic on craigslist here, trying with other local versions.

Better to do in a big city of course.
.
I suspect that's why I'm struggling with flipping.


is there a way for me to do the buying and the fliping of the product without meeting the seller or the buyer since i live in a different country ? @B_Mac
@amp0193

I've been trying with using the local country equivleant of craigslist a search to what is [country name] equivleant of craigslist usually helps. I'm interested in finding out if it can be done purely online, as I'm in a small area with limited transport.

I'd imagine if someone was in say Nice or Tallin or Riga. It would be easier to adapt this, than if they are in my situation.
 
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Bryan James

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If you can, I suggest to buy used vehicles from Facebook Marketplace and flip them for thousands in net profit. There are some seriously undervalued prices there in the "vehicle" section. Also, wish.com has some items for way too cheap that can easily be flipped with extremely high margins. Very basic: buy low, sell high. It works as long as there are people who actually want what you're selling and are aware that you're selling it.
 

MJ DeMarco

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exclusives88

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I did something similar...

I had a canon 5d mark iii camera that I bought for $1,100. I ended up upgrading to a Nikon so I put the Canon on eBay and sold it for $1,500 within 2 days.

After eBay and PayPal fees, I probably only made $200.

I ended up going on camera forums and craigslist and guess what... found another canon 5d mark iii for $1,100. I bought it. And ended up selling for $1,450 this time. As I’m scanning around, I see another one for similar pricing...

You can replicate this with cameras and lense. They are also small to ship cheaply and don’t lose much value. A lot of people upgrade after the new model comes but there is still demand for the old gear.

All it takes is some time to search for th right item and some photography skills....

Photography makes a huge difference when selling a used product.
 
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KLaw

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My gf was cleaning out her dressers and closets. Which, by the looks of it, she hasn't done in years. She had bags just full of clothes that she was dropping off at goodwill. And, literally, a bag or two of just panties and bras.
Her daughter, 21 yrs old, asked if she could have her worn panties and bras to sell online. I guess fruit loops pay good money for this stuff.
Got me to thinking, buy some cheap painties and bras, let her wear them a few times without washing and then sell online. Unfortunately, now she thinks im a fruit loop. Lol.
 

minivanman

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Hell, the fruit loop will never know.... I'll wear it and then sell it. The only problem I see is there is no way in hell I'll be able to fasten the bra behind my back. How do they do that?
 
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KLaw

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Hell, the fruit loop will never know.... I'll wear it and then sell it. The only problem I see is there is no way in hell I'll be able to fasten the bra behind my back. How do they do that?
Now, you are talking about a niche market. Fck a bra, just wear a g-string for a day. Premium dollars. Lol. Btw. I won't be hiring you for any plumbing work.
 

Logan Powell

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So people have been commenting regarding having multiple Facebook profiles.

How do you guys go about this?

The reason why I ask, is I am flipping in a small town (13k people) and I am always afraid that people will see that I am reselling their previous product for more.
 

ShamanKing

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Here are some things I've learned from doing this:

Buy from one platform and sell to another
So obviously, you're not going to make much money when buying from eBay just to sell back to eBay. Find where the enthusiasts are and sell to them directly, usually at a mark up, since they know the product and are actively looking for it.

Buy low, sell high
Buy slightly broken things that need a simple fix. These items will sell for less, thus increasing your profit margin.

The rest of the stuff has already been covered, taking good pics, not being a dick when dealing with people (even though people are sometimes dicks) etc.

Have fun!


How about order from AliExpress and resell them on Ebay, CL, ect..
 
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minivanman

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More than 1 profile? Well I have no idea what you are talking about..... :innocent: :halo:

You have to watch Facebook and profiles. They caught on to me back when I was a rookie and booted every name I had. There is also a trick to posting on 40 buy/sell/trade groups a day. Facebook calls it spamming. I'm a member of right at 400 buy/sell/trade groups, or should I say, one of my multiple personality disorder' is a member of right at 400 FB groups. :eek::smile2::humph::p For me, I run a lot of different businesses from Facebook so I need a different one for each. And to keep me straight for which name I'm getting on, I have a different iPad for each. lol Or, if I'm doing something that will take a lot of typing and I really need to see it (I'm getting old and can't see these days) I will get on my Mac. I also have different names for people that sell for me so if that person quits, I still have that name... unless they are a prick and change the password.

We were just talking about this a few hours ago.... my buddy sells what he got for free. But, for example, if someone is giving away a free lawnmower, he will get it, fix what is wrong with it, clean it up and sell if for maybe $125. Now everyone and their grandma gets on his case about.... you got that for free and now you're selling it!!! He explains.... yes, I got it for free, I repaired it so it now works perfect, spent an hour cleaning it up and now I'm selling it. I showed him a way to get around this bitching from people but I'm going to leave that up to you to figure out. I don't like giving up all my secrets.

As for making a new profile name.... just make it. I find that a female name sells better so I think you look like an Allison Davis, or better yet, you look like Allison Davis' brother. Not too popular yet easy enough to maybe remember if they see it again. No sexy picture, be really conservative. Make her homely looking. lol

Potential buyer... Allison, can you give me a call about the tv you have for sale? I'm kind of tied up right now but my brother (your name here) will give you a call.

I am not saying that you should do any of this, I'm just saying what goes on when dealing with people on the internet. Maybe if you are trying to buy something, this is happening to you and you never know....
 

amp0193

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About to buy a pallet stacker from a big used forklift refurbish/flip operation in my city. I bet these guys are killing it.
 

Ecom man

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How about order from AliExpress and resell them on Ebay, CL, ect..
I did it with tablets a couple years back... made a good chunk of change around Christmas time. I did get some weird looks from the bank tellers bringing in thousands in cash after a weekend though lol.
 
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LittleWolfie

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If you use a proxy it will be much harder for Facebook to catch you. Try to get a VPS near your area, then set somewhere in the VPS area as "work" that can also explain why the brother answers the door.
 

JFernandez

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Thanks for sharing these awesome tips, Mr. OP, Appleseed and Omega.

I've been working on this myself, armed with a modest budget and living in nyc, I thought I would have the best chance at succeeding... One week later and bust. I either have no eyes for deals (yet!) or focusing on the wrong items. Again thanks for sharing.
 

miraman

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How about order from AliExpress and resell them on Ebay, CL, ect..
What I have noticed about this is that, the sellers from aliExpress are also selling on Ebay with the same low prices, so not sure how to make a profit like this.
 
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bilkar1985

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I don't flip very often. But my favorite strategy is to take someone's ad from craigslist and post it onto facebook marketplace with a higher price. If I get reasonable offers then I will try and negotiate with the original seller so that I can get his item for a lowball price in order to resell it.

A quick $50 is much more enjoyable than having to work 5 hours as a stock boy. Now I have a ton of free time to build my business.

Is it ok to post it on fb marketplace even if the real seller from craigslist has posted it in fb marketplace too?

I know it may sound silly, but one may not want to sell it to you if you find quicker a buyer for his product.
 

minivanman

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Is it ok to post it on fb marketplace even if the real seller from craigslist has posted it in fb marketplace too?

I know it may sound silly, but one may not want to sell it to you if you find quicker a buyer for his product.

Do you mean.... you see it on Market Place so you try to sell it without buying it first? Then you sell it and if the original seller sees that you are selling his/her product they won't sell it to you?
 

bilkar1985

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Do you mean.... you see it on Market Place so you try to sell it without buying it first? Then you sell it and if the original seller sees that you are selling his/her product they won't sell it to you?

Yes, it was listed on CL, I went to post it on FB and it was posted there too. Will it be a problem if I post it too on FB and the other guy sees it?

I know it kind of sounds like a dumm question and thinks like that don't matter as long as you make $$.
You might have posted it in the same marketplace, but different or find a quickier way to sell it, the guy will take the money anyway for the sale of his item and you will get a difference.
 
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miraman

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Yes, it was listed on CL, I went to post it on FB and it was posted there too. Will it be a problem if I post it too on FB and the other guy sees it?

I know it kind of sounds like a dumm question and thinks like that don't matter as long as you make $$.
You might have posted it in the same marketplace, but different or find a quickier way to sell it, the guy will take the money anyway for the sale of his item and you will get a difference.
Problem I see is if someone bites on your ad and then you go to buy it from the original guy and he already sold it, or worse, you buy it and then the guy that wanted from you changes his mind and doesnt want it. Then you're stuck with it and have to sell it. I don't like this method, seems too tricky.
 
D

Deleted52409

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Problem I see is if someone bites on your ad and then you go to buy it from the original guy and he already sold it, or worse, you buy it and then the guy that wanted from you changes his mind and doesnt want it. Then you're stuck with it and have to sell it. I don't like this method, seems too tricky.

It has to be something that enough people want so that you can get multiple offers in case of a situation like that. But yeah that has happened to me before and I had to resort to ebay. Admittedly I haven't used craigslist the last couple of months partially because of constant lowballs, flakes, and dealing with people who will spend half an hour negotiating with you over a $5 difference.

Also my stable job is funding my current venture and there's just not enough time in the day for flipping.
 

minivanman

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If this is your type of thing, go to a few antique stores to find some things, and put them on the internet. You gotta check back atleast every other day to make sure the items have not sold at the antique stores. IF you choose to sell like this, I'd do it this way and not from 1 ad on Market Place to another. Then if you sell the item, go to the antique store and try to get some type of discount so you end up making even more money. But it kinda seems like a hassle I wouldn't like personally. And by all means.... don't make $10-$15 profit. Choose items that's going to make you $100-$300 profit.
 
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bilkar1985

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If this is your type of thing, go to a few antique stores to find some things, and put them on the internet. You gotta check back atleast every other day to make sure the items have not sold at the antique stores. IF you choose to sell like this, I'd do it this way and not from 1 ad on Market Place to another. Then if you sell the item, go to the antique store and try to get some type of discount so you end up making even more money. But it kinda seems like a hassle I wouldn't like personally. And by all means.... don't make $10-$15 profit. Choose items that's going to make you $100-$300 profit.

and will the antique store let you make pictures of the items just like that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

LittleWolfie

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and will the antique store let you make pictures of the items just like that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You could always use one of those smartphone watches with in built cameras.

Just try not to have a conversation through it unless you want to look like a madman.
 

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