In this episode we chat with Flipper University member David to learn how he sources, paints, and flips furniture in his reselling side hustle.
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Reseller Hangout Podcast - David Funk
Rob: What's up, guys? On today's episode, we get to interview Dave Funk super, super excited to get to talk to him. He is actually a former university alumni, and he does some really, really cool stuff. So we're very, very excited, to get to talk with him today. So, Dave, we're so happy that you're here, jump in here. Give us a little bit about your background.
David: So, well, my name is Dave and I live in Virginia and, well, I'm a painter by trade. So that is my main source of income. But one of the ways that I got into reselling was, I go into people's homes all the time and, over the years people were giving me stuff. And when it first started happening, I remember the first thing that happened was somebody offered me a grill on father's day.
I was working on father's day, cause I was much younger at that point. And, so I was working and the guy, came out and said, hey, you want a free grill? And I was like, why would anyone do that? And he goes, well, I just got a new one for father's day. So this one's in my way. And I was like, cool man, I'll take it.
So I took it and so the first few years I used, you know, I'd just take the free stuff and leave everything else. But man, when I started realizing that I can take this stuff and sell it. Oh, well that was kind of a game changer for me.
Melissa: Awesome. Yeah, it's crazy. A lot of times people wonder like, well, how do you get it so cheap?
Like, I don't understand why is it so cheap? It's because people want to deal with it. They just want it out. And especially they get a new grill, they redo their kitchen, they redo whatever. They just want it out of there and they don't want to mess with it. And that's where we can come in and make some money.
Rob: Absolutely. And that's a great profession to be into where people are getting rid of stuff and they will give it to you for free because you have no money into it. And then you can turn around and make some money on it. So that's pretty cool how one profession leads into the other. And that's very exciting for sure.
David: Yeah.
Melissa: So then you've been doing this for kind of on the side for awhile?
David: Yeah. Yeah. And so here's the crazy thing. So about five years ago, I decided to go to Goodwill and, and this was before I come across, you guys. And so I went into a Goodwill. I picked up an armoire, think I paid 50 bucks for it.
Again, it was something that I do all the time. Cause we, you know, with my painting business, we paint a lot of kitchen cabinets. So I'm used to taking off doors and hardware and sanding and priming and all the other things. So I saw this piece kind of fell in love with it, took it home. I was like, oh, I wonder what would happen if I painted it and then listed it.
So I put it on Craigslist at the time. Cause I don't think marketplace was around. I put it on Craigslist and it sold the next day for maybe like 400 bucks. But, I was happy with that. I mean, I was actually ecstatic that it sold like that. So I went out and I bought another one and I did it again.
Rob: That's awesome that you also speak to furniture flippers. That is amazing because when you guys do something like this, and this is an art, you are definitely an artist in this aspect that you're creating this. This is a one of a kind piece of furniture. And it's very, very exciting for you to do that and then be able to sell it.
And somebody appreciates the time and the effort that you put into that, so furniture, flippers and you did sell it on Craigslist. We're partial to eBay because it reaches so many more people. But it is cool to be able to have that in your back pocket where you can do this locally, but you can do this piece that it's totally your take on the piece and it's an amazing, unique piece..
Thank you. Exactly. And then somebody can appreciate it. So, no, no, it's very exciting. It's exciting that that's where it's at, for sure.
David: Yeah. And you know, that's kind of the idea. So when I'm looking for something, I need it to be a little bit more unique and it's got to stand out, you know, in some way.
And then of course, you know, I'll paint it and I'll paint it in a way that I believe, is going to be marketable to the general public. Like somebody would look at that and think, man, I'd love to have that.
Rob: Which, well I was going to say, which is really, really important as well as a furniture flipper or somebody looking to get into furniture flipping. Don't paint it like you think it would be amazing for you, paint it towards your audience, somebody who you think would enjoy it. And maybe that's. what's trending right now, whatever it is, paint it to that, if you're willing, if you're in the purpose of selling it, make sure you're appealing to your ideal customer versus something that you absolutely think is amazing.
For sure.
David: Yeah, for sure.
Melissa: You're doing reselling kind of part-time right now. Right. And how many hours do you usually put into that? Because you have a full-time painting business, correct?
David: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So, so it is all over the board and there are like I was telling Stacy that, you know, a little while ago I took a whole week off.
And I ended up- I meant to take the week off to go sourcing and I knew I'd find something and I figured I'd list it. And you know, to me, that's a vacation because this is like the coolest little side hustle in the world. And I mean, literally like sometimes I feel like I'm cheating life. So in any case, there are times where I won't list or do anything for a few weeks.
And then there's times where, you know, like I'll take a couple of days off and I'll work on it. So it's a little hard to gauge for me.
Melissa: Yeah, kind of all over, but that's the great thing is you can do it when you do it and you can make it, it can be flexible. You can work it as hard or as little or whatever you want to do, whatever you need at that point.
Rob: That's it. And the time you put into it is usually the payment that you get out of it. So the more you work on it and you put time into it, usually that's the more money that you will make or vice versa. When you're making more money on your painting business, you know, the, the, the side income can go on the back burner, which is like Melissa said, it's really, really cool to have a business that you can jump into.
And you even said, it's like one of the coolest things ever to be able to buy these things or find these things and resell them. It doesn't even really feel like work because it's so much fun. It's fun to do it. So, and you have that in your back pocket, along with your painting that you're doing for your normal job, which is really, really cool for sure.
David: That's right.
Melissa: So what would you say one of your most memorable flips is right now that you can think of?
David: Well, I'm, you know, I'm going to go back to the, that very first piece of furniture and the reason why is because man, I had no idea. I just had a thought. And so when I went into the Goodwill that day, you know, this is so funny, I went into the Goodwill thinking I could negotiate, but they don't really do that.
And so, anyway, so bought that piece. You know, I went home, I got my trailer, you know, I took it home and, my wife at the time I'm divorced now, but my wife at the time she looked at me and she was like, what are you doing? And I said, well, I, you know, I've got this. You know, I'm trying to think of what it was cause the piece that I bought, I think it was like, some kind of an old dresser, but I was able to modify it and repaint it and I made it like a really cool, like a wine, like a liquor cabinet.
And I just painted it a really super cool gray, but the reason why that that's my most memorable flip is because really I'm going to peg that one as my first one. And I was just so blown away at how simple it was. Now I think when it comes to painting, there's a lot of people that don't really share my philosophy of, hey man, it's simple.
It's actually really simple. It's really not that tough. I would probably encourage anybody out there, to, you know, even just try to paint your own piece of furniture. So it's really not as bad as you might think that. But anyway, so I bought that thing, painted it. And I did it pretty quick because, you know, when you do anything for more than 20 years you get pretty good at it. Right. And so I was able to get it turned around and it dried quick and I took pictures. I listed it. And the next day I was literally loading it for a lady and I just, I just couldn't believe.
Rob: That's awesome.
Melissa: I want to get into furniture. So like I dabble with it and I think it's so fun. It's very therapeutic actually. Like it's cause you just, you and you see something and you see it change and it's, I don't know. It's a very rewarding job. So I've done some of our own pieces.
David: You know what's wild is I take before and after pictures of all my pieces, because I'm used to doing that for my business.
And that's where that comes in. It's kind of like your trophy. You get to keep- the piece is gone, but you get to keep, you know, and showcase your work later on.
Rob: Yeah. That's awesome. Give me, and this kind of switches directions a little bit with it, but you said you spent roughly 50 bucks on it. What did you sell it for? Because that's another thing that I want to get into as well with furniture flippers. Sometimes the time invested into it, and you said you have the experience, you did it fairly quick. Yeah. But do you remember roughly what you sold that, that piece for?
David: Yeah, I sold it for $400.
Rob: Wow.
David: So, and ultimately I just painted it with you know, pink leftover paint that I had. And, you know, when it comes to furniture, really cabinets and furniture things like, obviously I'm going to be picky about, you know, the products that we use, but I just had happened to have some really good stuff.
And, so I didn't have any extra money in it other than the $50 that I paid for it. So it was, you know, about a $350 profit for me, and I didn't even have to deliver it that time. So it was, it was a really good, quick, fast easy money.
Rob: That's awesome.
Melissa: I love it when one business can feed into another. Like, we have a lot of people that also, like I've had people that flip houses and then they have all this stuff because stuff gets left, they want gone and they can resell that. So they're flippers too.
Rob: Or house cleaners. House cleaners always are given a lot of stuff when people are cleaning out their house and they do the same thing. So, no, it's a really cool, it's a cool business to tie into the other one.
Melissa: Yeah. And one can feed into another for sure. Now you mentioned before we hopped on here that, eBay was a newer thing for you. So when did you jump into eBay and how did that play out?
David: Well, I, you know, I'm going to be honest with you. I really haven't done a whole lot with eBay. I think I might've seen, I probably sold a couple of things on eBay and it's been a while. And, my favorite placeto sell is Facebook marketplace because my M.O. what I do is when I get something and I think that it's cool I want it gone as fast as it came. And so I'm keeping that in mind, how I price it. And a lot of the stuff that I get, sometimes I'm buying it, but you know, like listing and everything else that I just told you, I don't really have all the time, a lot of time to even go sourcing. So a lot of the stuff happens to come my way throughout my day, but I, but I'm kind of intentional.
I kind of put myself in the path for good things to happen to me, but Facebook marketplace is... I do like my local market. I like to be able to get something in and get it sold as quickly as possible. I'm probably a lot like you guys. I hate to sit on anything for too long, especially if I'm trying to sell it.
And so, you know, I'm, I'm motivated to, you know, get rid of it as quick as I can. Yeah.
Rob: Yeah. And that's a great point. If Facebook marketplace is, and our Facebook marketplace has changed a little bit within the last couple of years.
Melissa: Have you noticed a change in your area, or is it still been pretty much the same?
Rob: As for views? How many people are actually viewing your items when you get them listed?
David: Well, so, so here's the funny thing, sorry, I'm moving on you guys. Here's the wild thing. You know, if I've got something that I want to sell for $30 or $40, I'll put it on there and I kind of get those same results.
Like not a whole lot of people are seeing it, but I also know that Facebook is changing it up a little bit. You know, they, they want some money, they want you to pay for it. So this new arm, this armoire that I just finished painting, man, I like that. I'll send you guys a picture of it later. It is really cool.
But when I put that on there, I immediately boosted the post. I just kind of put that into the price. I'm boosting the post I, because what I want to know. So as of about two o'clock,it had been going for maybe 26 hours. So since yesterday I boosted the post and it had had, like 213 views and three saves.
And it just kind of gauges a little bit. It tells me where I'm at, you know, do I need to drop the price a little bit or do I need to just wait it out or, you know, what's going to happen. So, interestingly, so I posted. About five hours later. I got a lady who said, man, I want it. I'm pretty sure I got ghosted on that deal, but it's the nature of the beast and nature of the business.
Right. It happens to everybody. So that's pretty good still. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I kind of pride myself, cause most of this stuff, if it doesn't sell inside of a week, you know, I will internalize that a little bit. I'll be like, alright, what can I do here? You know, there's gotta be something else that I can do to like move this piece.
But it also tells me a little bit about, you know, like, is the price too high? Or is this not as popular as I thought it would be? You know, or something like that, but any, any of the bigger ticket items? If I want to get the money out, I want to sell a fast, I'm not afraid to boost a post.
I'm really not. It doesn't bother me to, to give Facebook their cut. Yeah, it's just part of doing business.
Melissa: I know I was just gonna say that it does make sense if it's in your profit, if you already know, like you made it, in your numbers and that you can do that and you're not selling a $5 item so you're going to boost it for $2 and lose everything that you have yourself, you know, your profit's already made.
So you can just put that in. So.
Rob: Also it's a great mindset because you said I have the profit there, I'm in the mindset that I'm going to boost it to move that quickly. And that's the cool thing is you're already know that that's going to get you the results, you know what? It's going to cost you to get you the results.
So that's what you're going to put into it. So that's really, really cool.
People are hung up on not wanting to pay Facebook. I mean, I don't like to pay Facebook either Nobody likes to pay eBay either. You know, they say eBay fees keep them from selling, but we can still make a great profit even after fees. So it's just part of doing business.
David: You guys are a great example of that. Man, you guys are the best example.
Rob: Yeah, your money's always made in the buy or the find if you're getting it for free, if you're getting it as cheap as you possibly can. And then you have a huge markup on it. That's where your money is made.
So it doesn't hurt to pay whatever platform you're using to do it.
I mean, it hurts a little bit, but at the same time, if you want to move an item, sometimes you have to do that for sure.
David: Yeah, absolutely.
Melissa: Do you do what they recommend on Facebook to boost your posts? Or do you have like, do you do a dollar, $2 or do you boost it what they want you to do?
David: Oh man. I do everything.
I mean, I would not. Yeah. I'm not going to let Facebook choose anything. I like to choose, you know, I want to set my, you know, the number of days and you know, the money. I was getting ready to compare, like, because to me it's no different, you know, like in the painting business, I run ads.
I use the landing page software and, you know, everything, everything is so intentional with me that, you know, even when it comes to, I keep looking that way. Cause that's where the dresser is. Right. I'm like sell, it's going to sell today. That's right. But anyway, but yeah, so, so no, I don't like to let Facebook choose anything if, you know, when it comes to all those little detail things, I really truly feel I know what's best for me and for, you know, what I'm trying to do. So I just do it myself.
Rob: That's good. I love that.
Melissa: Yeah. That's good to know and, and try different things and see what works and not always listen to what they have to say. Cause they're going to probably want it to get more money from you and you probably do a lot better with less too, for sure.
So if you tinker around with it. So what would you say would be maybe something you would tell somebody starting in this business, like that has contributed to your success in this business? If there's something that could help somebody out.
Rob: Pointers for sure.
David: Oh yeah. Well, you know, the, the best one is, is to just do it.
For me, a sale is like a hit of dopamine and every single time I get a sale, we all know, man, I smile so big. You could put a banana in my mouth and so sideways anyway, so, but the thing about it. Just doing it. And I, you know, I've had that, that problem with the whole paralysis analysis kind of a thing, and, you know, I can overthink it and you know, but after a little while you figure, man, I'm, I'm never going to get the results, if I don't put one foot in front of the other.
So, you know, my, my best advice is literally just do it, just pick one thing and get that thing listed and don't even think about listing something else before the first one is listed, because I literally I've had that problem where I look at five or six different things. And I'm like, well, gosh, I wonder which one I'm going to list first.
And then I never list any of them. And I let myself get busy. But even just one thing, just listing one thing is so helpful. And believe it or not just listing, it feels like an accomplishment. It's like, oh man, I did that. Oh, cool. Well now all I gotta do is sit back. Wait for this thing to sell. Yeah.
Rob: That's awesome. And that is great advice because everybody needs that advice. You guys, you have to start somewhere, make yourself get started, especially we're in the new year. Right now, make yourself get started so you can see the results. You can't get any results if you don't do anything. So.
Melissa: I like what you said about doing even just one thing, it gives you confidence. It builds your confidence. Cause a lot of times people will look at it. It just seems daunting. I can't do it or I'm going to mess it up. And everything you can recover from. Even if you make a mistake, you sold it too low. You could have made. I just sold something of Brody's for $50, this little Batman set, and I probably could have made more on eBay, but I really wanted to clean out his room.
So, I mean, he still made some money, like 50 bucks. It's not, but it probably could have sold for more cause there's a lot pieces, but you know, it's fine. It's all good. So you just can
keep moving forward.
Rob: But you are right. There is something magical about that cha-ching or the sale of an item it gets ya going and it's absolutely so much fun.
So you get addicted to the sales and it makes you want to list more and sell more and do that kind of stuff. So it's definitely addicting on that aspect.
David: One thing I was going to tell you real quick is that my personal belief is that mistakes, don't just happen but they're necessary. I think the mistakes are absolutely necessary because it's a correcting mechanism. Right. And we just learned not to do that again. And maybe through the mistake, we learn what to do instead.
Melissa: Yeah, I love that.
Rob: That's a great point. And yeah, a lot of people that need to adapt that because it is, you are learning the most in your mistakes. That's where you're course correcting. And you're not going to make the same mistake again, if you do.
Melissa: You get complacent, if you're not making mistakes. You're just coasting.
Rob: Exactly.
David: Yeah. A little wake-up call.
Melissa: Yeah, for sure. Something I wanted to touch on that you said earlier was you put yourself in the position to find stuff like, you're not like you are looking for things, but you're intentional about it. And you put yourself in the position for good things to happen. And I thought that was really cool because if you do have to be intentional about like, about your time and what you're doing and your strategy.
So, so. Okay. So was there anything else that you wanted to add to tell anybody who's thinking about starting this business?
David: Well, I would say, you know, so, maybe this'll help because everybody talks about a niche, right?
Oh, I sell baby stuff or I sell this or I sell that. I'm in your boat, meaning if somebody pulled a big, large pink yacht up to my place and wanted to give it to me, and I thought it would make me some money I'm taking it. And you know, so I don't, I never tell anybody that I have a niche per se, because I'm willing to sell anything if it makes me money.
But believe it or not, that paralysis analysis thing. I was like, well, man, I don't have a niche. And I bet, I bet I wasted six months just sitting there thinking, you know, back and forth. And you know, obviously I've got a day job. You know, so I wasn't really putting a whole lot of time and effort into this, but I was trying to figure out, you know, like what it looked like for me, because eventually I would like to do this full time.
I'd like to transition out of the painting company. So the interesting thing is, is that the more furniture, you know, that I ended up doing, helps me, you know, to do that. And you know, like I'm going to lose a little bit, because I really do come across a lot of really cool stuff in people's homes.
Right. And they will give me the, it doesn't happen all the time, but I do go out of my way to make sure that everybody knows, hey you know, if you've got some things laying around and you don't want it, hey just, you know, just let me know. I even put it on my painting page that, you know, I'm buying stuff, I will take stuff.
And so, you know, I think my, the only thing that I would, that I would ultimately say. You know, you don't have to have a niche. Literally you are going to have to start. Every day that you don't start is, you know, just pushing it off by, you know, another day. I get caught up on a lot of things, you know, I'm trying to, trying to think of, you know, I've got this, I've got this baby.
Well, I do, I got this baby stroller. Right. It has been sitting for two years. I've been staring I'm like someday, that's going to make me some money. I mean, so it happens to me too, but it's like low on my priority list and, you know, I've just got a whole bunch of other things going on. So, you know, I've got my own debt file, you know, for sure.
I've got a lot of things I'd love to get rid of and sell. I've got a 17 year old and he's like, dad, are we ever going to get rid of that? Yeah, one thing, one thing I'll tell you guys is that yeah, right? No kidding. I got, the other day, I was doing a job, this wonderful woman in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and she's just one of my favorite people in the entire world.
I wouldn't even call her a customer. She is a friend. And so we're doing her home and, and I've put a question in the group, because she gave me these two queen Anne style, wingback chairs, and it just blows my mind that people would do that. And here's why. She's such a reliable source. I believe her through and through those queen and chairs were $3,400 brand new.
And that tells me that 50 to 60%, you know, is, is a good resale like what? 1,500, 1800 bucks. Yeah, sure. That sounds pretty good to me. Yeah. And they're, they're just, you know, they're perfect. You know, so, I think that, you know, in the reselling business, I just would not, you know, you don't have to have any preconceived notions.
I think, you know, you go, you find that. Yeah. You find something you think you can make some money on it, list it and make your money or learn the lesson. You know, whichever one it is.
Melissa: What is your future for your reselling business? That you said you do want to eventually go full-time after the painting business.
David: Yeah, for sure. You know, making that transition is, is actually been a little bit difficult because, you know, so like for me, garage sales around here are awesome. They're always plentiful. I'm not as fortunate as you cool peeps, cause you guys are down there in sunny, Florida, and you guys probably get to hit a garage sale all year round, but that's not the way it is up here.
And, when I, you know, get to go to garage sales and get some free stuff or not free stuff, but you know, cheap stuff, I'm just looking for anything that I think will sell quick. I can make some money on. So I don't subscribe to any one particular niche, and I'm not saying anybody is wrong for subscribing, whatever works, you know, like literally whatever works, but you know, my eyeball goes everywhere.
I go to a garage sale and I'm like, oh my gosh, check that out. That out, check that out. And you know, I, I want to buy the whole thing, but, if this, and this is something I meant to tell you guys earlier, because it might help. Here's one other thing that I did to acquire inventory. What a home run and here's the weird thing.
It was awesome, but it was one of those really cool, awesome things that stung a little bit. And so I was going through Facebook marketplace and I was looking for estate sales, all kinds of stuff. But one of the things that I've had, you know, I'm going to call it mild success with is hitting people up that have already had the sale and just saying, hey, you got anything else?
And last year I did. And somebody was like, yeah, we've got a whole house full of stuff, man. I went there, I've got a Chevy, a 2012 Chevy express cargo van. And I've got a five by 10 enclosed trailer. I went there for two days straight and filled it up twice. The whole thing, I just literally, I just couldn't take anymore, but they wanted it gone so bad, but I was so grateful for.
I still gave him 50 bucks. So I got all of that furniture and literally. It took me months and months to piece that out, you know, and to go through it. And it was wild, but that was the part that kind of stung, because I, you know, I got all that stuff. I was so excited about it and I'm like, oh, now where am I going to put it?
Melissa: You've got to list it and get it sold. And you don't know where people are at, at that point, like in just talking to people, you never know, like when we moved into our house, it was fully furnished with this ladies, all of her stuff, all her of her, knick-knacks everything. We had three garage sales to get rid of all of, like, she just had a whole bunch of stuff.
And so if somebody were to come and ask, like, yeah, sure, go look. What do you want? So you never know where people are.
Rob: For sure. And I wanted to go back to your point, which is very, very important because a lot of people do get stuck on, okay. I don't have a niche. I don't know what to start with. I don't know where to start.
And it does put you in analysis paralysis and the way that you're saying, and actually the way that you lived it is pretty cool. You don't care. You're going to try to find anything. You can see what it's worth, see if it's a good buy and buy it and then make the money. But it also sounds like it almost led you to a niche of a, you really enjoy this furniture stuff, doing the furniture, the painting, and the repurposing and all that kind of stuff.
Which is cool because you can have something that you do enjoy, along with you don't really care. What's going to make you money. If they park a yacht in your front yard, you're going to take it and you're going to make money on it. So. Totally agree with that. I think that is a huge, huge point that everybody can take away from it is don't try to over analysis over analyze, analyze.
Thank you. Hey, I don't know exactly what I'm doing. I don't know what to focus on. Don't worry about it. Go find some cool stuff, sell it. That's the biggest thing. And then maybe you'll live into that, that really purpose or that, that niche that you absolutely love and you, and it doesn't feel like work to you because yeah, that's what it sounds like. that you were able to do..
David: Absolutely. Yep. That's exactly right.
Rob: Awesome. Well, Dave, thanks for jumping on here and doing this with us. We totally appreciate your time and this great, great, interaction with you.
Melissa: Awesome tips.
Rob: Yeah, I know it's going to help a lot of people along in their flipping journey. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We greatly appreciate your time.
David: Yeah. Thank you guys both as well.