Rob and Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about their largest flip ever.
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Our Largest Flip Ever!
Rob: What's up, Pro Flippers? On today's episode, we are talking about our tallest flip ever!
Melissa: It was a pretty big flip.
Rob: All right, guys, on today's episode it is a fun one we're talking about our tallest flip to date. This is the tallest item that we have flipped and shipped so far.
Melissa: The shipping part is really why it's a big deal because this thing was a 12 foot foot tall, 12 and a half foot tall bus wash.
Rob: So super, super cool. This one, like I said, it was the tallest, but the cool thing about this is it was the tallest wind, the item itself, but we actually laid it down on its back to ship it because most of the items that we ship freight, they cannot go into an 18 wheeler. If they are over I want to say it's over, it's either eight and a half feet, somewhere around there.
It can't be taller than that to go into an 18 wheeler. So we actually had to lay it down and then pallet it like that. I guess. Yes. Still the tallest item, but we laid it down and it was a super, super long pallet that we built for this thing, but it was a really, really cool one.
How tall was the Harley Davidson sign?
I don't, I think that was under eight foot. It had to be, right? Yeah. Under eight foot. foot.
Melissa: That was impressive. Great. We'll have to talk about that another time. But that was a pretty one. So.
Rob: This one was cool. So I bought this item from a local auction. Paid, what was it? $650? $650. So we paid $650 for this item, at a local auction.
It needed a little bit of work and it sat on the back burner. I would probably say I left it on the back burner for a little while, before I sold it. So what actually happened? This is a really cool story. It wasn't even listed. No, it was not listed. So, really, really cool story. So, I bought this one.
It needed a little bit of work, I got the motor, that ran it on the bottom of it. I got it rebuilt, and didn't put it back together. So, it sat for a little while. And we were on our road trip, our first around the country road trip that we did with the company. Two of my sisters, four of my nieces, our three kids.
Melissa: 11 of us in a 15 passenger van. In a 15 passenger van. That's a whole nother podcast.
Rob: It is, but as we are finishing up that road trip, I was looking at items up in. North Carolina, Outer Banks. It was Outer Banks. So we were looking for items in while we were up in Outer Banks on our way back.
Melissa: Because in case you haven't noticed yet, if you've been around for a little while, he loves to find stuff wherever we go.
I do. Does not matter wherever. And we did have, have a trailer with us. It was a smaller enclosed trailer. Enclosed. So we could pick up, we did pick up a couple things. Yeah, but it was a smaller enclosed trailer.
Rob: But at this time on the way back, the trailer was pretty much full and there's no way it would have fit in this trailer.
No, it was too tall. The bus wash that we found. So we're actually talking about two bus washes. So while we were in the Outer Banks, I found this bus wash, too big for the trailer. Outer Banks, I believe it was what, 10 hours from us? Somewhere about 10 hours from Florida. I negotiated the deal on this for $500 while we were on the road trip, we came back to Florida and I got an open trailer that I had. And we drove back up there the next weekend, picked up the bus wash, paid $500 for the second bus wash that we had. Now, this is the cool part. I listed the second bus wash because it didn't need work. It didn't.
It was like brand spanking new. So I listed the second bus wash for $14,500, listed it. And somebody reached out to me and said, hey, what is the overall height of this? And the second bus wash that we bought was only about 10. I want to say it was 10 foot, 10 and a half foot tall. So it was shorter. It was made specifically designed for washing some type of like, what are they called?
Like a van or a bus, just not as quite as tall as like a Greyhound bus or a coach or something like that. Yeah. So we went back up, we picked up the second one in the Outer Banks, brought it back and I listed it on eBay and somebody reached out, asked me the height wise and I told him no. And they said, I really need one that's over 12 foot.
And I said, well, I do have this second bush wash. It needs a little bit of work. The batteries are no good on it. And I haven't replaced the batteries yet. I'll give you a really good deal on it if you want it, and the guy said, absolutely. So we sold this one. We, sorry, we sold the one that we bought from the auction first for $9,000.
Melissa: $9,000, was $8,500 plus $500 shipping. Okay, so. We decided to split the shipping with him. You said $1,000, so cool.
Rob: Yeah. $9,000 total. So we paid $650 for it at the local auction and then we sold it for nine thousand dollars And I didn't do anything to it other than get that motor fix, which we have a local motor shop inside town, I took it to them.
They rebuilt it. I brought it back. I put it on to it That was the only thing that I did once it was laying down We sold it for like I said, I don't remember how much I spent on the motor. It wasn't very much I mean.
Melissa: I didn't, I didn't have. You didn't calculate it. It was that was from 2020 so I didn't.
Rob: Yeah. So a little a little bit back, but I probably paid like $200. The guy usually charges me when I do something like that He rebuilds at golf cart motors and like, starters and stuff like that.
So he's a motor guy, probably paid like $200 to have that done. So anyways, overall, we listed the 10 foot one. I got somebody on the hook for the 12 foot one. And we sold the 12 foot one, which was our tallest flip. Great, because it wasn't ever listed. It was not listed. We ended up getting it sold by somebody who was looking for that specific one.
So that was a really, really cool story. And then we even sold the second bus wash that we bought from the Outer Banks for $14,500. So two bus washes.
Melissa: And they ended up being long. You know, the funny part is we went, we got back, you went, we went back to go buy the bus wash in North Carolina.
And when we go, you can't not fill up the trailer. And that's a big thing that we like to do is anytime you go, even if you drive an hour away or two hours away, make it worth your time. Stop at thrift stores, look for other items that you could find, but when you go and we picked up two more items on that, one was that,
Rob: one was a bust and one was a really good oven.
The oven.
Melissa: Oh, one was a bust.
Rob: Bust. One was not a good one. We've talked about that one before. But the second one.
Melissa: That was the game that we talked about. But the, and the other one was an oven that we got $2,000 for.
Rob: We did. We got $2,000 for, I, I think it was in $2,400. It might have been $2,400. It was a weird oven, a bigger oven, like a 40 inch oven, which is normal ovens are like 30 inches wide or 36 inch.
Melissa: It was beautiful, we got that for $200 and sold it for $2,400.
Rob: I don't know if we should go into that one because it's another story for another time, but. Okay, so that oven was cool when I got to the guy the guy comes out and goes you're flea market flipper And I was like, oh crap. He knows who we are. He's like I watch you guys I followed you guys forever and I was so it was really cool.
So he actually knew who we were He knew what we did.
Melissa: He's like, oh crap I shouldn't be selling this because I could get more money. But the thing is it's the local market and he didn't He got it for free. So he was like, I'm going to go make a quick $200. And he got it for free.
Rob: So they did a remodel and they gave it to him for free.
So he made $200 off the deal. And then we made like $2,400 on it. We sold it for $2,400. But after all, we shipped it and did that stuff as well. Still cleared over $1,500 on the deal, and we picked it up along with the bus wash. So overall we made really, really good money.
Melissa: On the bust we lost $10 on so that we talked about that the other just recently on the podcast.
So.
Rob: If you guys remember it was like a shuffleboard or a bowling game an arcade game. Yeah, we I should have walked away from it. I didn't do it.
Melissa: Walked away from it So it was those three, those three items we came and picked up and but the bus wash obviously was worth it. Yeah, to go back up there and get it and I was gonna this is what I was gonna say The funny part is it was our anniversary.
So this is how we spend our anniversary night. And it was funny because we just ordered pizza at the sketchy. It was a sketchy hotel.
Rob: It was a sketchy hotel. We drove to the hotel and there was a jail, like right beside the hotel. We're like, what the heck are we doing?
Melissa: Cause I usually do a really good job of, cause when we were on the road a lot and I'll go on Priceline and I check the reviews and I make sure, and we do like to stay at Holiday Inn Express.
Like that's our favorite cause they're always so great. Like they're just a really good hotel and you know, like what kind of bed you're going to get there. They're clean, we like them. This was a Holiday Inn Express, I figured. No, it wasn't Express, I think that's what it was. Was it just a Holiday Inn? I don't know, but it was in a sketchy part of town.
And yeah, and you had your trailer. I did. Because, yeah.
Rob: We loaded it up. We had it loaded up with stuff. We got Domino's pizza. That's funny. On our honeymoon! No, not our honeymoon, our anniversary. I'm sorry, our anniversary! Which is crazy! So, ladies, be thankful for your men, because this is what Melissa has to deal with with me, is going and picking stuff up, but it was cool because it was a overall the whole ordeal. I mean we made almost $20,000 on this trip back. I'll take that as an anniversary present. Absolutely. It was a killer killer deal on that. So a couple lessons overall when you are out of town when you're traveling if you guys can look for items, it doesn't have to be big items, but when I find a big item I'll do it.
And another, yeah, so that's the first takeaway is when you're out of town maybe look for stuff that can pay for your whole vacation or your getaway, whatever you're doing. Try and see what you can find. You might be able to fit it in the trunk of your car when you're driving home or your minivan or whatever it is. Try to look for some items while you're out of town.
Stop at a local thrift store or look in the apps, whatever you can do to find something to pay for that vacation.
Melissa: Jenny just did that. Jenny and her husband, what'd they say? Sell it. Was it a turbo chef?
Rob: It was a turbo chef for $6,000. Yeah. Somewhere around there.
Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. And they bought it on while they were on vacation.
And paid, paid for the whole vacation. Paid for the whole vac or more than paid for their vacation.
Rob: So I will say too, but we were up, last year up in, where was the farthest on the east coast that we've ever been. Maine. Maine. We were in Maine and we went to, one of those parks, what was that park called?
Melissa: The one in Maine. What? Arcadia?
Rob: Arcadia. So Acadia. Acadia. So we went to Acadia. On our hotel after we went to Acadia for that day, I looked and there was another bus wash. The problem is that was on the other side of the, well, not on the other side of the country, but so far North. There's no way that I was driving back.
Yes. Yeah, there's no way I was going to drive back from Florida to pick that up. And I couldn't fit it on our trailer that time either because bus washes were really, really big for our enclosed trailers. If it was like a 10 to 12 hour stint, I would make it happen. So we did find another one. So a couple of takeaways, like I said, look on vacation when you're on vacation, look for those items.
We've done that most and I do that all the time. We go. But I'm always looking for something that I can pay for on that vacation.
Melissa: Or just a trip that if you're already going to get something, make it a day or make it, you know, that you can get more inventory on that time where you're traveling to make it worth your time.
Rob: Yeah, do a Google search for Habitat for Humanity's other thrift stores that are in the area. Find other thrift stores that you can actually stop at while you are out of town and look and make it a trip on that. I mean, make it a really good trip that you can buy multiple items that you can bring back and sell.
That's really, yeah. What was your other tip? I don't remember. You had it on I got sidetracked. I get so excited about these stories.
Melissa: You had it on the tip of your tongue. So I did have, so the first bus wash we sold for $9,000. Cool. We paid $650. The second bus wash we sold for $14,500. And we paid $500 for, and, again, like this the whole reason this works is the local market versus offering shipping and that is The biggest reason why people because people like well, why didn't that guy?
Why did he sell it for $500? He got the bus wash for free. He did somebody gave it to him and he made $500 on it yeah, and it had like three hours on it.
Rob: Like it was like brand spanking new brand new batteries everything.
Melissa: But had he put it on a market like eBay, which offered shipping, but not many people are willing to do that.
And so once you figure that piece out, it just is a game changer for your business.
Rob: It opens the doors to make some really, really good money. Yeah. So we love it. So on a single flip, even $8,500 or, you know, $14,000 on single flips, those are game changers.
Melissa: I mean, if you're wondering too, it costs us $800 to ship that bus wash.
The $14,500. I don't have the numbers from the other one because I, it was a while ago. Okay. But I have those numbers. It was $800 to ship the the second bus wash and $598, $598 in eBay fees. And you might be like, okay, that's not right for eBay fees. And that's always the comment I get too, when we sell the bigger stuff, but it's because the percentage drops.
And we talked about this, I think recently, the percentage drops once you're over $2,500, to 2.35%, it doesn't matter which category is
Rob: categories, but the normal categories that we're in as a heavy equipment,
Melissa: 2.3, 2.35 is what we pay. It drops down. And actually, I think it was before this was even before that because they used to say anything over $750.
I can't remember. What was it the cap? They capped it. Like you only had a $350.
Rob: Well $350 was at one point, but that was before management took over. Yeah, it would cap all your seller fees. No matter what you sold at $350, that was where they capped you and those were the good old days. That's what we loved. But then they had
Melissa: If you had a store.
Yeah, you had a store. They would cap you at $350 and we were like, yes, this is amazing
Rob: So when we sell high profit, it really worked out well for us.
Melissa: But it still is good. Anything over $2,500, we pay 2.35%. So that's a nice little break.
Rob: So roughly 13 percent to $2,500. Once it hits $2,500, everything over top of that, it drops down to 2.35%. And that's why people don't really understand how we pay such little fees on a $14,000 sale. It's just because it's a lot less once it goes over $2,500.
Melissa: So then our profit was$12,6522. Over $12,000! I think you need to find another bus wash.
Rob: Absolutely. Let's go.
Melissa: Heck yeah. We need another one of those cha chings.
That's a pretty good one.
Rob: So by far our tallest, but we did lay it down and we laid it on its back to be able to ship it. That's what we had to do for this because it would not fit in a semi, straight up and down. And it was safer to do that way as well, to lay it down and do it. So, we'll see.
Melissa: Both made it safely.
Both happy customer. All happy customers. And it was great. Yep. Great, great transactions. And I was going to say, if you guys would love to learn more about our business model, Rob recently put together a workshop. You can check out freeflippingworkshop.Com and see if this business model is a good fit for you because we love doing these higher value flips.
Rob: Absolutely. You guys rock. Thanks for spending a little bit of time with us today. Have an amazing day and we'll talk to you on the next episode.