Rob & Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about the importance of having a backup plan and why flipping could be yours.
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Do You Have A Backup Plan?
Rob: What's up, pro flippers? On today's episode, we're chatting about do you have a backup plan?
Melissa: And we're talking really in regards to finances and in your business.
Rob: All right, so today we are talking about backup plans. Do you have a backup plan for your business?
Melissa: Yeah, and we're kind of talking about, I mean, the world is kind of crazy right now, but this really sparked off of a post that was in our members group just recently.
A new member who jumped in said, this is perfect timing because, a division, the division that I'm in, in my, corporation is getting sold. So she doesn't know what that means for her in the future is are they cutting it or whatever. So, so she's excited to, you know, really grow her flipping, her flipping business up to help her.
So we're like, okay, that, that is, that's awesome. And we wanna talk about that because flipping has been a huge, obviously now, like we, we've dove into it a lot over the years, but even back in the day, it was always like our backup plan. So kind of, dive into what that looks like. And without it, I, I mean, we would've had a lot of harder time in a couple different instances. So.
Rob: And if you're listening to this, typically you have the interest. You might not be flipping yet, but you definitely have the interest in flipping. Our goal is for you not to wait until something really happens in your your day-to-day career, your, your business, whatever you're doing now. Your job. Exactly.
For you to have something to fall back on if something does happen, heaven forbid if something does happen and tomorrow or anything like that, you do have some skills that you can totally build into this business.
Melissa: Yeah. Cause there's never, there's never a better time to have a backup plan and learn something than when you do have a job that's you have something stable.
Cuz if you have to dive right in and you a lot more stress is put on you, then it's a lot harder. So, but if you already have things moving and in play, then it's a lot easier to make that transition. Yeah. So, and I would I to bring about whenever we went, had to jump in full-time, I say had to jump in, but we've told this story before, but when we were, what was it?
Your job said that they were gonna cut healthcare and this was an effect from the recession, like it did, your job really didn't get affected till a couple years later. Yeah. And at first they started cutting hours. You cut hours first, and then they made you independent contractors instead of employees, and then they cut health benefits.
And at that point we were already making more from our flipping business. Yeah. And so we're like, all right, well what do we do? Do we jump in full-time or you know, like put some more hours to this business and well, it could, it work, and, but if we didn't have that, like we would've had to go and scramble and look for a new job.
So.
Rob: So we did have the foundations built for flipping, and it was, it had bailed us out so many times in the past, but we never realized, hey, this could totally be a full-time gig. We could totally do it. We didn't realize that until, no, we came down to the line of, okay, what should we do? Should I go out and try and find another career?
Should I go and do this? And that's where we have the foundations and that's all we're trying to have you guys realize right now, if you're at the point where you might be dabbling in this, definitely build it. Build it so you have the foundations to where if something does happen, you can take it to the next level.
You've already built feedback on eBay. You've already, you understand the process of everything going on. So that's the biggest thing is really having something to fall back onto if something else in the world goes crazy and you can't do it, this has already proven flipping, has already proven to, to withstand almost anything that's been thrown at it, a recession, covid, all that kind of stuff, dude, it's been, it's been an amazing business that you're always able to create that income that you want to create just by working and really working smart.
Melissa: Yeah, and really our, this industry really thrives during crazy economies. Like when during a recession or during, like you have to think how many people are well, for one, like in our instances, businesses go outta business. So you can find great deals on stuff. Not that we want anybody to go outta business, but it, I mean, it happens every day anyway. Yeah. But even more so during, you know, economic low times and then, so many more people are looking for deals, so they're gonna buy used over buying new.
So they're wanting to buy some that, that thing. And people still need stuff. It's not like people aren't buying anything, people are still buying stuff, but sometimes people just are a little more conscious of the amount they're spending. Absolutely. So they're gonna buy used over buying new. So yeah. It's always flourished. I mean, you can look at how many value stores just they grow during the time of a recession. So, so yeah, it definitely is a great time right now to jump in if you haven't yet to really dive in and get started. And like you said, build that feedback because if you, something happens and your paycheck stops and you have to really what is it rely on your flipping income, have you grown it to where you can now just start throwing more hours at it and it's, it's a machine, so.
Rob: Yeah, cuz we've talked about it too. If you jump into eBay now, say you've listened to us and you, you're dabbling or you, you know, you haven't gone to that next level, or you haven't jumped in and really, really started listening stuff on eBay.
eBay has criteria to keep scammers off of it. So even if you just create account today, you are limited to how much they're gonna allow you to list dollar amount wise. And I think it's only like 10 items a month until, I mean, you can keep revolving, so if you sell two items, you can go back to 10 items.
You can keep doing that. But they do that for the protectee of buyers and sellers alike. They want to make sure somebody's not trying to come in and scam. So you have to build that. Now, if you're doing that right now, while you still got your full-time income, that's the smartest thing you can do. You're building that rapport with eBay.
You're building your business and you're learning the process of it. So if something does happen, you can jump in and you can start implementing some high profit items. You can get your income back up to what cover, whatever income you had of the job that you got laid off from the job that you lost.
Anything like that. You're building the foundations and like Melissa said, the smartest time to do that is while you have another income coming in. That's, I mean, that's when we built our foundations when we had other jobs and we were using this as a side hustle, but we knew how the process worked. We've honed it in way, way better than we could ever imagine going full-time.
But at the same time, we did have the foundations already there set into play so we could start making really good money quickly in this business.
Melissa: Yeah, and I can't even think about how many times are this side hustle has like saved us financially because I mean, even when we first got married, I switched jobs that first year, and I switched, I became a personal trainer and I didn't get, I, I wasn't paid real.
I mean, you get a base pay, but it's like nothing. So we had an income loss for a little, a couple weeks. And then, so he just did like flip more items. Like we didn't, there was not a hiccup in our income because you just went out and sold some more stuff. It absolutely was just like, okay, we need some money.
Let's go sell some stuff. That's always how it's been and, and we've been to where we've gotten, money's been really tight and it's like, okay, well let's go flip some more stuff. Like, and so it's, it's always this thing we've fallen back on so many times, and then finally one day we're like, oh, we could actually do this for real.
So, which I don't know why it took us so long to realize that it's actually, maybe it's like people ask you what you do for a living. I, I mean, it's selling on eBay. Sell on eBay. So I find stuff people don't want. Reseller. I resell it. So it's a legit thing. We're recycling, so getting stuff back into society, people throw away so much stuff.
Yeah. And I think that's another reason why this business just lasts. So, because people get rid of stuff every single day and you don't know the circumstances of why they're doing it. Maybe they're moving, maybe they're decluttering, maybe they're just buying the next upgrade of what it is. Yeah. And they throw it away.
And we've found stuff in the, so much stuff in the trash. We talked about that.
Rob: I was taking my kids to school today and I drove past at a beautiful table. I mean, this thing probably I could sell for a $100, $150 by the time I got back. It was an hour later after I got back from there, I took Melissa over there cuz I wanted to show her to it.
And it was already gone. So somebody already picked it up, took it. They're gonna either use it or resell it. There is stuff everywhere. And that's not just like one, one off thing.
Melissa: No. Just this week you, you came, we, while we're walking back home and there was a stove on the side of the road, the stove was in not a great shape, but there's parts on the stove. Absolutely.
That you could still use. And so you took the grates off of it? Yep. Right. Is that what they're called? Grates? No, the grates. Yeah. And they're still like a hundred bucks and you should have went back and got the knobs. Yeah. But then the, the garbage truck already came and got it. So.
Rob: A lot of times, even broken stuff on the side of the road has good parts on it that are worth almost as much as the unit together.
Parts are expensive, they're hard to find too sometimes. So, you guys, there's stuff everywhere. There will always be stuff on the side of the road. There'll always be stuff at thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets. There will always be stuff to buy. That is not the hard part. So, yeah.
Melissa: Even last year, I think it was last year we went on, what we were at near my mom's on our summer trip, and we went to the thrift store, I think it was Habitat out there and they have so much stuff and we went to, we bought a whole bunch of stuff and so we had went around back to go pick it up. The amount of stuff that was in the back that they had to sort through and didn't even like, it was double the size that was in the store that they had to, hadn't even, it was outside, gone through and it was outside and there was just so much stuff.
I took a video of it because it was just, it was so much stuff and it's like they can't even go through all this stuff. They don't even have the manpower to go through all this stuff because just people are dropping stuff off all the time. Yeah. I don't know. It was, it was a crazy amount of stuff. It was so much so.
Rob: So our point is definitely there will always be stuff and our whole purpose of this episode is definitely to tell you if you have not started yet, guys, get in there, start.
It's so easy to set up an account and start selling small items. You just get it going so you understand the process, you understand how it all works. You have everything linked together with bank accounts and eBay. Set the sucker up so you can start making money, build the foundations if something does happen in the future, that you have something to fall back on.
Melissa: Yeah, and I think some, like I wrote down like two quick things with people. Why maybe some that people get stuck is, and the first one is like a, maybe you just keep thinking too much about it. You're thinking of all this stuff and we talk about this all the time, but you're not, you haven't taken action cause maybe something's scaring you or maybe, you know, there's just a reason why you haven't acted upon it but you know, maybe you just are afraid of making mistakes, but it's gonna happen. And what better time to happen when you're just getting started and you still have another income coming in? Absolutely. Versus, you know, you're gonna make some little mistake mistakes, sometimes big mistakes, but you don't usually make 'em again.
So usually you learn from, you learn. Absolutely. You learn from 'em. And some of 'em, it's better to do it on the smaller stuff when you're getting started versus, you know, as you go. So, so yeah, that's, that's one way. And another one is that, we've been guilty of for sure is maybe you have 10 different side hustles that you are trying to do and it's hard to focus on any of 'em cuz you have so many things going on and like we get that like you definitely, absolutely. I mean, every day you have a new idea, pretty much. And you have to be like, okay, then we're focusing, we're focusing. Does this lead me towards my goal? I'm focusing. So maybe you have shiny object syndrome and you're like, okay, this could be a great side hustle.
This could be a great extra income. And you don't have to say necessarily flipping might not be it. And that's fine. Absolutely. But you have to pick something and really like let this dive in, grow. Like it can only grow if you put some attention to it. So, absolutely.
Rob: So like Melissa said, it might not be flipping.
You might have something else that you're doing that. Our point in this whole episode is just to get you guys thinking outside the box and thinking, okay, if something does happen, what is my fallback? What am I gonna do? Yeah, maybe it's dog walking, maybe it's blogging, maybe you know what? Whatever it is.
Really start to build the foundations of that so you are ready if something happens, because it does happen. Eight years ago, it happened to us. We came to the crossroads of, okay, you don't have insurance anymore. What are you gonna do? Are you gonna keep working where you're at that you're not making very much money and you're making more money flipping?
Or are you gonna dive into this and really put some hours and really learn the business? Because I already knew the business, but I had to learn how to take it to the next level. Yeah. So whatever that business is for you, this is your push. We want to get you thinking and get you out to the next level.
Get you out of your comfort zone. When you're out of your comfort zone, you're growing. And that's what our goal is, to get you out of your comfort zone and really start building that business. Yep.
Melissa: And we're not here to scare you about something that could happen, but we are here. I It's important to be prepared, aware.
Absolutely. I mean, the world is just, it's a crazy place, so you never know what's gonna happen day to day. So it's a, if you can be more prepared, the better. And I mean, we're not the best at being prepared for stuff, but I feel like that has, I don't know, just having that backup plan of a flipping gig.
To know, you can always fall back on that anytime we needed extra money. I, I wish I, I should have thought of some more times, but it, it's just always saved us, so. Absolutely. Like, okay, what can I sell? We need a thousand bucks. Something just happened. Let's go. What could we go sell? So, absolutely. It's always helped.
So.
Guys, thank you so much for listening. We are so appreciative for all the time that you spend listening and hopefully growing your flipping business. And we are trying to grow this new brand of the podcast and we would absolutely love it and appreciate it if you could leave us a review. We are doing a fun gift card giveaway at the end of the month.
So at the end of May, we're gonna do a gift card drawing for a hundred dollar Amazon gift card for anybody who's left a review. All you have to do is leave a review, screenshot it and send it to rob@fleamarketflipper.com with review in the subject line, and you will be entered in the drawing. So thank you so much. We greatly appreciate you.