Furniture Flipping for FIRE

[frugalfoothills]

I've always had a knack for interior decorating/design, and a TON of stuff in my home is from thrift stores/Craigslist/secondhand market. I also sold a bunch of my own belongings earlier this year to help me pay off CC debt, but until recently it never dawned on me to try to put those skills to work for profit.

So far in July, I've made $250 buy buying cheap (less than $30) outdated furniture off Craigslist, flipping, and reselling. I have 3 other projects in the works that should wrap up by end of July. If those sales go according to plan, I think I will close the month at +$365 (net)! Not too shabby for about 20 hours work, which I actually quite enjoy.

For anyone interested in giving it a shot, tall dressers have been my easiest selling item. Pretty much guaranteed ROI.

[hgjjgkj]

Can you chat more about the process? Are you rehabbing them or what?

[frugalfoothills]

I’m curious, what does “flipping” entail?  I guess that would depend on the condition and material it is made from?

Do you have any before/after pictures of your flips?

I've basically been choosing items that need cosmetic fixes only (outdated looking dressers, desks, etc.) and sanding/staining, painting, or some combo of the 2. Looking for stuff that shows basic signs of wear and tear with clean lines and no structural damage (drawers all work, nothing is falling apart.) I use chalk paint as you can apply with zero prep to the underlying wood.

Buy cheap, invest minimal cash (paint at $17 per quart, has lasted for 2-3 projects), turn around and sell. I do have pictures but I have never been able to get the attachment feature here to work for me! I will try again.

[Adam Zapple]

$18 an hour for a side hustle that you enjoy sounds good to me.  Make sure you factor in fuel and wear/tear on your vehicle.  If you keep at it, I bet you'll find that sweet spot item that is cheap but can be flipped for huge profit.  Keep at it.  Maybe even look for collectible items that people don't realize are collectible.  My friend is doing this with coffee mugs and sugar jars, of all things.  Good luck.  Sounds like fun. 

[jnw]

Cool. :) I make about $23.50 an hour working 30 hours per month flipping stuff .. about $700 per month net profit after cost of goods sold and operating expenses.

I don't flip furniture but I do flip mostly electronics items, cd's & dvd's.   I go to flea market on weekends and salvation army on wednesday (1/2 off sale).   I use my phone to scan bar codes to get last sold price on ebay.  I also look them up by typing in text and doing picture searches.

I sell on ebay, craigslist & facebook marketplace.  I have a current inventory of about 200 items, 50 of which aren't yet listed (death pile).

[MasterStache]

Awesome! I made a lot of our furniture during our house rehab (several farmhouse inspired pieces) and had request to build more for money. I turned my passion for carpentry into a decent side hustle charging $25/hr (which is likely what my pay reduced down to after taxes, etc. as an engineer). It's fun when you can do something you enjoy and make money doing it.

[misshathaway]

There is an HGTV show called "Flea Market Flip" that I like to watch if it comes on while I'm at the gym. It's a reality show where the contestants buy furniture at flea markets, rehab and repurpose the items, and sell them. I can do without the game part but I love watching how some of them remake the pieces. A good part of the show is watching them in the workshop. I get ideas for pieces I already have in my house. Might be enjoyable for somebody here who is interested in this sort of thing.

[bcbaseballman]

I go to auctions the majority of the weekends and buy furniture there. I don't repaint them or anything like that. Just wash them down and then sell them. I normally average a profit of about $500 a month doing this for 25-30 hours a month. I have a large back shed that normally has about 10 different pieces of furniture in it. I really enjoy doing this as well. Will be a great way to make extra money once FIRE'd.

[foobaz]

I used to have videos pop-up in my YouTube feed where people would buy old quality furniture, put in a little bit of work to bring it back to original condition to resell. It was rather entertaining.

[Dicey]

Chalk paint is expensive, but Google will help you save a fortune by making your own.

[Dr.Jeckyl]

This is awesome and something that my wife wants to get into. She really enjoys it.

[Dee18]

I love re-doing furniture, although I’m way too slow to make any money at it.  You might enjoy the blog knackstudios
I don’t think the author is keeping it up, but the old posts are accessible.  She turned flipping furniture into her only job, opened a shop, and published a book or two.

[frugalfoothills]

Chalk paint is expensive, but Google will help you save a fortune by making your own.

I've been using the Rustoleum "Chalked" brand rather than the boutique brands ($40 per quart!? Get outta town!) Only $16/quart and I've got a good enough technique these days that I can stretch a quart for at least 3 pieces, usually. $5 per piece in materials aint too shabby.

[soccerluvof4]

My mom did this for 25 years plus and damn near supported our family on this. Most of the time she would not even do anything or at most throw old english on the furniture. We had a 3 car garage you couldnt park a bike in it had so much stuff for sale. Can be a big gig. Think i never followed up doing it because all those years I would have to hump the stuff. Alot of kitchen sets and bunk bed sets. Over time she learned all the glassware etc.... Wish I had the energy!