Rob and Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about why you need to start your flipping business today.
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Why You Need To Start Your Flipping Business TODAY!
Rob: What's up, pro flippers? On today's episode we're talking about why you need to start your flipping eBay business today. Right now. Today
Rob: Alright, so on today's episode, we're talking about one of our favorite topics. Guys, we love all the topics, but this one very near and dear to our hearts.
Why you need to get started today with your flipping side hustle, your career. Whatever it is, you need to start today because today is the time.
Melissa: Yeah. They... We've had so many people come up to us recently, whether it's, you know, old course members, friends, family. Like, lots of people have been reaching out to us in the last couple months wanting to get started with a flipping side hustle because they've either lost their job, or their spouse lost their job, or something.
And a lot of it has to do with AI replacing jobs, and people cutting back, and companies cutting down. It's kind of a crazy time right now.
Rob: It is. And not only, I mean, we've had people email us. We've had family members lose their jobs. CEO of a big multi-million dollar company, a family member just lost, his job.
It's just one of those times right now. AI's coming in, and it's coming in with a vengeance. It's crazy right now what is going on throughout the world, and this by far is the best time to start your flipping side hustle. We're not gonna get taken over by AI, AI. We're making-
Melissa: And once we do, once reselling gets taken over by the robots, then we're in real trouble. Yeah for a lot of other reasons.
Rob: But we're still a ways off. A lot of other reasons. We still can really have an amazing side hustle or business, with what is at our fingertips right now. There will always be people out there looking for used items, looking for good deals, more now than ever because if people are losing their jobs, they can't afford to go out and finance or pay, top dollar for items.
They're gonna be looking for used items, and this is just by far the best time to be able to really, really make a substantial income from flipping.
Melissa: Yeah, secondhand selling typically does really well in shaky economic times. Like you said, people, you know, if they're moving or they're lost their job or whatever, people need to make more money, so more stuff's on Marketplace. So you can find great deals. It's a great time to find deals. And so that's why we're saying you really need to get started now so you have the skills. It's learning a skill, and once you learn the skill, you, it doesn't just go away. It takes,
Rob: the sky's the limit ...
Melissa: it takes a little bit of time but not a lot of time to get started.
Learn a couple skills, and then you can really grow from there. And then that was the coolest thing, I think. This was our side hustle for so long in our marriage before we went full-time and then started also teaching it. But it was our side hustle, and it saved us I don't know how many countless times 'cause when I left my riding job at the dinner show, we had a couple week period where I just got, like, a base pay as a personal trainer, and I didn't really get hardly anything.
So you stepped it up. We had to bring in more income. And that happened one of the times when you switched something. And so it just has always been there when we needed the extra money, so, anyways. No, it's am- My little tangent.
Rob: It's amazing. And if you have not started yet, this is the time There's no better time to actually get out there and start looking for deals, start flipping deals. For our, if you're new around here, our business model, we don't really do volume. We don't do tons and tons of sales. We really look for those sales that are going to move the needle in our finances. We're looking for those sales that are $500, $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 per single sale. That's what we look for.
We're looking for not volume, definitely quality over quantity, and that's really helps us be able to take control of not only our finances, but take control of our hours in the day, our time to spend with our kids, our time to spend with each other. It allows us to do a lot more, because we're really being intentional with what we're looking for to resell.
Melissa: I also want to... I'm thinking that people out there listening to this, they're like, "Okay, well, if the, you know, economy's gonna end up going..." And I, we're not eco- economists or anything, so I don't really, like not, we're not predicting anything. We just know that it's, it's, it's a very uncharted territory right now with all this stuff happening, but I know people in their mind are thinking, "Okay, well, if people are losing their jobs, then nobody can afford to pay for a $2,000 item or a $5,000 item." And I want to debunk that because the reason why they will still pay is because it's a lot less than what they would be spending retail, and more people do look for good deals, during that time.
So they want to buy used typically more than new. So I don't know if you want to elaborate on that.
Oh.
Rob: Absolutely. And that's one thing, and we've talked about it in a couple other podcasts. Our last big sale was $15,000. That was the last really, really high sale that we did, and it was an item that was new.
I got it from a thrift store. It was a new item, an oven, some type of steam oven. But we bought it from a thrift store. We paid $1,000 for it. We sold it for $15,000. The person who bought that for their restaurant, their other option was buying a brand-new one from the retailer or the, the manufacturer for like $40,000 or save a lot of money and buy a brand-new one from us, from eBay.
They had that option as well, and that's what they chose, and we saved them a lot of money. That allowed them not only, she even told me, the, the lady who bought it reached out and said, "Hey, I could use two more of these. Yeah ... if you have them." And I was like, "Ah, that's the only one that I have right now. But if I come across another, I'll let you know." But she was very, very appreciative for the amazing deal that we gave her on that item versus her having to go out and spend a lot more money for the same exact item. So people will spend money, whether it's $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 on items that have the retail value of a lot higher.
We're not price gouging. We're actually giving somebody a really amazing deal on all the stuff that we're selling. We're giving somebody an amazing deal that they don't have to go out and buy it new. And, a lot of times we're delivering it to their door when we're selling stuff on eBay, which makes it that much more convenient for somebody.
Melissa: And also people will be making more money as well. Like this is the time where there's gonna be a lot more people who are making more money. It's not like everybody is going to lose their job. This is the, the time and opportunity to start something. And I think everybody should have some kind of business.
And obviously we're partial to, you know, flipping and reselling. That's our, our thing. But you could do other things too, like, you know, real estate or what are some of the things I talked about earlier? Buying small businesses. One of the girls I follow, she, you know, teaches to, buy small businesses, and I think that's a great thing.
The only problem is it takes a lot more capital than it does ... flipping does. But I think, you, right now you have to have some sort of small side hustle or business of your own that you own that you're not working for somebody else, because I feel like the times are a little changing, so. Yeah.
Rob: The other cool thing, I just think about, like, one of our kids' teachers.
So our kids are finishing up school right now, and, we talked to one of their teachers, man, it was a couple weeks ago, one of the, presentations that the kids were doing, like the end of the year presentations. And he's like, " I'm not coming back next year." And we're like, "What, what's going on?"
And he's like, "My side hustle's making more money than my teaching job."
Melissa: Yeah, that's probably not hard to do.
Rob: And I'm like, "That's amazing. That's awesome." So, and I said, "What are you doing?" And he told me he was kind of a handyman painter, and he was making more money than that at the teaching, and he's like, "I really have to invest more time, and I know I, I have better opportunities, you know, building this business for myself."
Yeah. And that's what Melissa's talking about. It might not be flipping. Maybe that's not. If you're here, hopefully it is, because we absolutely are partial. We love what we do. I don't know any other business that gives us the freedom to do what we do, travel the world, travel the c- definitely the country, but being able to buy and sell items throughout the country with the kids, seeing this amazing country, but even in our local area, buying amazing, amazing deals and then bringing them to people who really appreciate them, who need them. We're doing a great service to them.
Melissa: Yep. So if you haven't started, now is your, your kickoff to go get started, because I think you really... Everybody should have something to lean back on if something crazy.
And it's better to have something established if something does happen in the future, you know? Like, everything is so crazy right now. It's better to have something established, and what better time than the summer right now to go and start your flipping side hustle, get familiar with it, and then really hit the ground running and soon.
Rob: Absolutely. And we'll give you a couple pointers if you are looking to start right now. Start with something that you have inside your house. Find three to five items that you have inside of your house, haven't used in the last 12 months. Whether it's in your closet, whether it's in your pantry, whether it's in your garage, your attic, something that you have not used in the last couple months, get it listed on Facebook Marketplace, start making some money that way, and then you actually go out and you find some items or use those items to sell on eBay.
Don't lose money. Sell them on eBay. Learn the process. Build the foundations on eBay to where you can learn how the whole thing works to where you can scale up and actually start selling more expensive items. That's the CliffsNotes version, really, really quick ... of how to really get into this business if you have not done it.
If you have not started, we'd love you to start. It's an amazing, amazing opportunity and a business to, to grow to whatever you want. The sky is the limit with this business.
Melissa: Yeah. And recently you've been working on a tool to make it even easier and take less time. You've been working with a developer, and that should be available, gonna be available to our members first, and then, we will release it to the public.
So if you want to get on the wait list, that will be in the show notes below. You can check that out, and we'll let you know. The, it'll be our members, then the wait list will be the second, and then, open to the public, so.
Rob: So don't miss out on that if you are interested. It is a software that we have been developing.
It's been at least 10 years in the making. But now it's actually coming to fruition. Very, very excited about it. But yeah, grab your spot on the wait list if you are interested. It is a tool that, ah, like I said, this is my brain going into software, working closely with a developer to do some amazing, amazing stuff with software. So very, very excited about that coming out soon. You guys are amazing. Thanks for spending some time with us. Hopefully, we've convinced you, that this is an amazing business. Now. This is the time to start it. Do not wait any longer. Start today. You're awesome. Have an amazing day. We'll see you on the next episode.