Rob & Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper share the best places to find items to flip for your reselling business.
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Reseller Hangout Podcast – Best Places To Find Items To Flip!
Rob: What's up, pro flippers? On today's episode, we are talking about the best places to find items to flip.
Rob: All right guys. On today's episode, we are talking about where to find some awesome items to flip for profit.
Melissa: There's so many places
find awesome items. So we are gonna dive into some of the benefits of different ones and some of the best places to find items to flip.
There really are a lot of them, which we'll just dive into some of our favorites that we are regulars at and where we find some amazing deals at. So.
Rob: Absolutely. Years and years ago when I started in this business, you didn't have the apps.
You didn't have all the places, the resources that we have now. I started out with just a local auction. The Salvation Army in Orlando, Florida, they had an auction that was behind the actual retail store and all the donations that they got they, they could not fit in the store because they got so many donations.
They put 'em out back and had an auction every day of the week, that you could go to and buy stuff. So that's where I started, was at that auction.
Melissa: I think when we were dating you took me to them. They were still doing it, but, to the one closer to us. So they were still doing it, but I don't think, I think it was three days a week, not, oh, yeah. Yeah. Not every day when we went, so, but they would, they would auction off just these big tubs of stuff. So like they would put everything in. So you didn't know, like you couldn't, could you go through the tubs?
Rob: You could, you could look in 'em. But they didn't want you pulling stuff out of 'em.
You could look and see what was in 'em. But they also did appliances, they did exercise equipment, lawnmowers. They did single items as well. But the brick, brack. Brick brick, brack, brackish, however you say that. Where you guys in, I. That is, what they would throw the smaller stuff, knickknacks there.
That's a better word. Knickknacks. They would throw into these big bins and they would pile 'em in, and then you'd buy 'em by the bins versus selling small
Melissa: It wasn't just knicknacks electric electronics.
Rob: They did smaller stuff. Yes. Smaller. So smaller stuff. So the bigger stuff they would sell individually. Yeah. And if they couldn't sell it individually, buy one, the auctioneer would go past a couple of 'em. If they didn't sell, he'd throw 'em all together and then he'd auction 'em all for one price. That's it. So, but that's was where, that is where I got my start, where I bought my first Nordic Track that I actually flipped was from that.
Melissa: Five bucks, right?
Rob: Yes. From that auction. So, that got me on my, journey of flipping, was from that in-person auction, not online. You had to go there in person, look at the stuff and then bid with a live auctioneer.
Melissa: So it was $5, and you turned it to $350, right? And that when you were 16. Yep. That's it. So he was like, all right, I'm hooked. I can make more money doing this on this one item versus working at red Lobster.
Rob: Yep. Which, the funny part about this is just last month I sold a Nordic Track, that I hadn't sold one in a while, but I sold one last month for the same price $350, and I didn't pay anything for this one. I got it for free on one of our road trips. Somebody was giving it away. Snagged it for free and then sold it for $350 plus shipping. So they are still selling 27 years later. These bad boys are still selling, so that's pretty cool to know that for sure.
Melissa: So, fun fact, you were the, one of the mascots of, not mascot, what is it? In Red Lobster. They put him in the lobster suit and he would have to go at the road and do back flips to get people to come into the store.
Rob: Melissa was talking about one of my first jobs that I had, and then I had the decision either to keep working that job or start flipping. Yeah. The Nordic Track was what really got me.
Melissa: You're like, I'm done.
Rob: Understanding how much it was, a pain in the butt to go and work an hourly job versus what I could make on flipping. So yeah, at Red Lobster I was a host. Okay. Sorry. At Red Lobster, I was a host and they put me into the lobster suit because they found out that I could do back flips, backhand springs, and they put me outside on the busy road that Red Lobster was on to track traffic and it was pretty cool.
So anyways, that was what Melissa was relaying to on that. So, little side note of me, what, 25 years ago, 26 years ago, somewhere in that area yeah of some of side jobs that I did along with flipping. So.
Melissa: So, but auctions are still a great way to, to still find items. So they have in-person auctions, there's online auctions, if you can find, we've had auctions where certain businesses go online and like a couple of these businesses go and bring all their stuff to one place.
And they have an online auction. And sometimes you can go, they're all different. So you have to learn the different rules of them. Like, so one of the ones that you like, you can go and see the item first. Absolutely. And then come back and bid. But then there's different bidding. So, just like learning some of the different ones that are around you.
Some are in person still and some are online. Yep. So you like the online auction?
Rob: I do. So the best way is do a quick search of auctions Yeah. In your area and see what type of auctions are around you. But there are mostly right, there's all different types. Some of 'em you can go and view the items and then you bid online.
And then once you get the item, you go back, pick it up and pay for it. Some of 'em is all, in person. You go, you look at the item the day of it. They do auctions, usually on the weekends or whatever. Go to it. You look at it, you view it and then, you know, 30 minutes later, an hour later, they actually auction it off while you're there in person with a live auctioneer.
We have multiple places around us that still do that, to this day. But then also you have the online resources that you didn't have years and years ago.
Melissa: The biggest thing with auctions, you should, you can find some great deals. You just have to be prepared to have a stopping number and not get too excited to keep going with your bidding.
So you have to be able to say I'm stopping here. It's not worth it if I don't get it at this price because you have to still make money. So, knowing where you can stop, cuz that's the, that's what they get you. That's how eBay started was an auction site so it's because people get so excited on bidding stuff.
I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get it for such a great, you don't wanna lose it. Great deal. And they don't wanna lose it. So that's how eBay got so popular was because they were just an online bidding site. Yeah. So the next one is where we got our name. The flea market. So yeah.
Rob: Love sourcing flea markets. We, frequently travel around the country. Yeah, and we visit flea markets all over the country as well. It's so much fun. I love the, our local flea market is amazing. It's got a lot of vendors who throughout the week they go and buy stuff from storage auctions. They buy lockers or however you wanna call 'em, storage units. They buy the big bulk like that.
They throw it in their trailer, they bring it out to the flea market, and they sell individual piece by piece. And that's where we get a lot of our cool stuff is from these vendors, who are buying stuff throughout the week and they bring it to the flea market. But, we absolutely love the flea market.
It is a great, great resource, a great place to find some amazing items.
Melissa: Yeah. And that all flea markets are different. So you do have to know. Like the different flea markets, but almost every flea market does have a used area. So a lot of times people think of the flea market and they think of, oh, these all like cheap dollar, $5 items that are from China that are just, everybody's selling the same thing.
Yeah. And a lot of them do have that. So, but there is always, almost always a section of the flea market that is just used stuff. So, if we always gravitate to that section, because that's where the gold is, right? Absolutely. It's not that you can't buy cheap stuff and then try to flip it. Like that's not what we're trying to do, so.
Rob: Nope. Absolutely.
Melissa: So anyways, flea market is one that we definitely frequent and you frequent a lot.
Rob: Yep. Love the flea market. Yeah.
Melissa: All right. Garage sales is one of my favorites.
Rob: So yard sales, and this is how I grew up even before I started my career. And was going to yard sales.
Yeah, my, it is a career . My going to yard sales with my parents, my mom, the majority of the time it was with my mom. Loved yard sales, getting the newspaper Friday., Circling in the classified section with a highlighter. Those, classified those listings or those, addresses for the yard sales that she wanted to go to cuz they had a good description of what they had. We did that Friday night, got up Saturday morning and early before it was light and we would go to yard sales. Had a blast doing that. So as a young kid, that's what I did with my family, with my mom, with my dad. And yeah, we had a lot of fun. Found some really, really cool stuff back when I was a kid.
That's how we had a lot of cool stuff. Yeah. With my parents.
Melissa: And yard sales are great because you can find some really good deals. Like people are usually having a yard sale cuz they just have stuff they wanna get rid of. They're not usually doing it because they're trying to make some extra money.
Yeah. They're just trying to declutter and like make a little bit of extra money while they declutter their house. So, you can usually find some really good deals. Absolutely. People are ready to get, and at the end of the day, I mean, it's good to go in the beginning so you can see what everybody has, but by the end of the day, you can pretty much pick up stuff for free
Absolutely. And like they're ready to go. I know some of my yards, our yard sales are like, all right, take it. So, but I love our yard sales. You like the flea market a little bit more because you're like, it's just one big yard sale of stuff, so. I like to.
Rob: Yeah, yard sales you have to drive around for each individual vendor, I would call 'em vendors, but each individual owner that you might have to drive 10, 20 minutes between locations. The flea market you have hundreds of those people in one location. All you do is walk around and look at stuff. So that's my preference, is definitely the flea market, but we don't ever turn down yard sales either. I mean, we'll stop when we see 'em.
So, absolutely great, great resource to be able to find some amazing stuff to flip.
Melissa: When you're looking for a good yard sale. Always look for like the estate or multi-family or big, you know, lots of items. Those, sometimes the little ones aren't really worth stopping. I mean, you never know what you can find.
Rob: Yeah. But you definitely hit the nail on the head.
People usually with yard sales are looking to liquidate stuff. They're not making money. They're trying to declutter to where you will probably get better deals at yard sales. Where flea market vendors typically are not, they're trying to make money. Yeah. They're not decluttering. They're there to make money so.
Melissa: But they're there to turn stuff too.
Rob: So they're absolutely quickly, they're, yeah, they're trying to turn stuff. Their goal is to get rid of as much stuff in the weekend that they possibly can. So, but it is a good point on yard sales. People are there to liquidate, they're there to get rid of whatever's in their house, their garage that they're trying to get rid of. So don't discount yard sales by any means. They still have amazing, amazing deals there.
Melissa: Okay. So the next one is your, probably now your favorite. Yeah. Would be, the apps like Marketplace, OfferUp, Craigslist, all the online apps that you can find some amazing stuff because you can source from home.
Rob: Absolutely. So, apps are huge. This has changed the, the business, the, the flipping business. When they came out with apps. Craigslist was probably the first to the market. They were the first ones who started selling or had a, a platform that you could list used items and resell 'em and buy 'em and that kind of thing.
So, they were the first to the market and then you came out with multiple other ones. But right now in our area, and there's different apps popping up every single day all over the country, and the world. But in our area, the best three that we deal with is Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, and Craigslist.
Those are the three that I like the best. There's many, many other in our area as well but these seem to be the best for what we buy and sell. Definitely are those three marketplaces that are online or on your app.
Melissa: Yeah. And we, you have noticed across the country that some of 'em are better in certain areas.
Yeah. Like some areas they might have a busy OfferUp and a slower Craigslist or a slower Facebook Marketplace and some have vice versa. Like more people are just using the other app versus the other one. Yeah. So, like when we're listing stuff, we cross post on both of 'em typically. We don't do a ton of local anymore, just when we're trying to get rid of some stuff.
Yeah. But we'll cross post on both of them even though they're not our favorite to sell anymore, but they're great to find items to sell. So.
Rob: Yeah, absolutely. And one thing I would add to the list that you didn't have on the list was contacts. Oh, yeah. Creating those contacts. This is probably the number one place that I get stuff right now, is from contacts that I've created throughout the last seven years.
Melissa: It's relationships, we talk about that all the time, creating relationships.
Rob: So, flea market people that, vendors that, I've gone to the flea market for years and I would go and they would have the kind of stuff that I like to buy. They were attracted to that stuff too, and that's what they would buy. So I would create relationships with them and now I have vendors that will just send me text messages of whatever they find throughout the week.
I don't have to go and compete with a ton of people at the flea market. They send it to me, on demand. On demand I'm getting these texts of items that they have that they just picked up and they're wanting me to go and pick 'em up throughout the week as well, so I don't have to wait till the flea market.
So, contacts is really one of our hugest, building relationships, and having those contacts to be able to buy things from is another great place to be able to get your inventory to source. Yeah. Your sourcing inventory.
Melissa: Which actually leads into my next one, which was friends and family. Yeah.
Because it telling people what you're doing and try, you're say, I'm trying to make some extra money, or like, I started an eBay business or, those kind of things. Like let me know if you have any, whatever the kind of items you're liking to sell friends of telling people what you do. We've made a lot of money just because people know that we sell an eBay and they don't.
Just recently you sold that marine stove. Yeah, somebody gave it to us.
Rob: Somebody gave it to us because. Multiple stoves, and this was just one of 'em that I sold for $440. So yeah.
Melissa: Because, and he knows that we sell and people were asking us before like, well, wouldn't they be mad that you're selling it?
No. Like that's what we do. And they don't wanna deal with it. Yeah. They want it gone and you're giving them the luxury of making it gone and then you make the money for that. Yeah.
Rob: We're not talking about people giving you gifts of, this is a birthday present. No. And then being super upset that you sold it.
No, no, no. Not that kind of stuff. It's the kind of stuff that people know what you do. No. And they'll actually give you stuff because they don't want to throw it away and they don't have any other option to do with the items that somebody will come and pick it up immediately. That's what they're doing.
They're giving us items they know we'll sell it and make money, but they're okay with that. So yeah, those, that's what she's talking about.
Melissa: And every once in a while, like we had a couple friends, you know, like that are in, different businesses where they come across stuff like, like a property manager or like different things where people leave stuff.
We'll give 'em like gift cards, like say thanks, you know, just so a thank you, like a restaurant gift card. If we were able to make a couple hundred bucks off of it. It's just a nice gesture. Not something you have to do, but it's just a nice gesture if, you know, like they could be a constant source of, of somebody who can give you stuff cuz they don't wanna mess with it.
Or maybe they can't mess with it because it's a conflict of interest or whatever, but they're like here, you know, you guys can take it and sell it if you want to. Absolutely. So we've done that in the past and I think that's just, it's just a nice practice and being nice to people and they reciprocate and it's just a, a nice practice.
Absolutely. I did have one other place to source. I know there's still other places, but these are our main items that we source. There's one other place that I wrote down. It is your own house. Woohoo. So.
Rob: The most overlooked place for sourcing ever is the stuff that you have in your house.
Melissa: Yes. So definitely, and this is more if you're first I mean this is anytime, but if you're first starting out, you do not have to jump out there and go and find items to sell. You can just go and start in your house in under the beds, in the closet, in the garage. I am sure there's a bunch of stuff to go ahead and get started.
So that's the best place to get started because you're doing some of your own items. So if you make some mistakes when you're getting going, it's not like the end of the world. You're not gonna be losing a ton of money. You already own the item, you're planning on selling it. So, it's a great place to look for items to sell, especially in the beginning.
Rob: Absolutely. So maybe you're listening to this and you're like, alright. So, how do I get better at this sourcing game? How do I do it? What do you have to say to somebody like that?
Melissa: Well, we do offer, I was gonna talk about this when we do the app. So one of the reasons why, you well, okay, this kind of also helps you with your sourcing.
What is it that you love to do so much? Like he
Rob: treasure hunting. I love finding items. I love finding it.
Melissa: And that is what everybody loves about this business is, is finding items. But sometimes it's harder to find those higher value items that, that's what we gravitate towards.
That's what your eye is goes towards too. So, we created a sourcing membership where we go into your area using the apps and we find items for you and we send you, $500 to $2,000 worth of items that we found in your area per month. Per month. So that's what we created the membership. If it's something you're interested in, you could check out the link.
It'll be in the show notes. Yep, but it's a lot of fun. And you absolutely love, I mean, sourcing is your favorite thing.
Rob: Absolutely. So it is something that I can do from where I'm at in Florida and I can look all over the country. And find awesome high profit items for people all through the country.
So if it's something that you're interested in, go check out the link. Yeah. We love doing it. I absolutely love helping people find those high profit items. And it's just a service that we do offer. So let you guys know about that.
Melissa: The apps is something that we do. Like you started, well, I guess.
It's been several years, but we go on road trips and all the time he's like, okay, what city are we going to next? What can I find? And so he is using the apps all the time to find items wherever we're going so we can load up our trailer. I think last year we found $30,000. Was it $33,000 worth of stuff?
Rob: Yeah, just over $30,000, yeah.
Melissa: For like $1,400 I think. Yeah. Was a total, I can't remember it, but it was close to that. So.
Rob: And it was only like 17 items. Yeah. It wasn't a whole bunch of stuff. No, these were high, high profit items.
Melissa: Yeah. And all just from the app. Yeah. So we're stopping at, we might have stopped at one or two thrift stores too near my mom's house, but, most everything else was Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp.
And just as we're going, we got like 24 hours. All right, we're going through this town. Is it gonna work? Can we meet up with these people? And so it's a lot of fun. It is. So, thank you guys for taking the time to listen. If you have any questions you want us to talk about on any future episodes, definitely check out or go ahead and submit your question at fleamarketflipper.com/question. And we'd love to be able to talk about it on the podcast.
Rob: You guys rock. Thank you so much for spending some time with us today. We absolutely cherish the time we get spend with you. Thank you. We will see you guys on the next episode.