How’s it going, my fellow hustlers?
If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you already know that I love to make money by buying and reselling stuff.
It’s also one of the first side hustles I ever tried, and throughout the years I have bought and resold everything from $5 T-shirts to $150 office desks.
I think it’s one of the best side hustles for literally anyone to start with, because:
a) there’s no upfront investment required. You can start by selling stuff you don’t need, or get cheap stuff from thrift stores and sell them for a profit.
b) you can scale up. Once you get the hang of flipping, you can go on to bigger and bigger things. (Who says you can’t be flipping cars and real estate in a couple of years?)
c) you’ll learn invaluable skills (like doing market research, listing your items online, talking to clients).
So, I’m glad we reached the conclusion that buying and reselling is great.
What now?
Well, now you can pick which types of items you want to start flipping. And this blog post is here to help you decide what you want to go with.
Without further ado, here are the 9 best items to buy and resell.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Clothes
2. Electronics
3. Sneakers
4. Furniture
5. Books
6. Baby gear
7. Collectibles
8. Musical instruments and equipment
9. Vehicles
CONCLUSION
1. Clothes
I have been flipping clothes online since I was about 13, and let me tell you, it’s one heck of a side hustle if you know what you’re doing.
I have developed quite a few strategies in my years of buying and reselling clothes online which I want to share with you right now.
First strategy is to go to your local thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, and wherever else you can find used clothes for a small price.
This is my absolute favorite way of going about flipping clothes, because there’s a high chance you’ll find quite a few hidden gems for a small price.
So, go to a second hand shop or a yard sale, have a look around, and if you spot any good deals, BUY ‘EM! (Oh and also, I have a guide on how to detect good deals on used clothes!)
Another strategy is to find a place you can get new brand items on discount. This could be a brand’s warehouse, a wholesale store, or just spotting good deals in supermarkets and online stores.
You can usually sell new brand clothes quite quickly, but also for lower profit margins.
For example, let’s imagine you find a warehouse where you can get a pair of Vans for 50 bucks, and you discover they sell on Amazon or eBay for 60 bucks.
As you can see, the profit margin is quite low, so you’d have to buy and resell maaany pairs of Vans to actually make a decent amount of money for your time.
After having acquired ze clothes, there are tons of websites where you can list them. Amazon, eBay, Poshmark, Depop, ThredUP, Facebook Marketplace.
If you need any help choosing which platform for selling clothes suits you best, check out NerdWallet’s article on the 5 best sites to sell clothes online.
2. Electronics
Are you a techie?
Well, that certainly does come in handy if you want to buy and resell electronics – you have a head start!
But, even if you’re not the most tech-savvy person in the world, you can still make some extra 💸💸 with this side hustle (provided that you take some time to learn a bit about the items you want to sell!).
So, what do I mean by electronics? Generally, the most in-demand used electronic devices to sell are Apple products.
I myself have sold quite a few used iPhones, iPads, and some Apple Watches.
What I like about buying and reselling tech is, the profit margins can be high as hell!
For example, I bought a used iPad on Facebook Marketplace for 70 euros, took nicer pictures of it, and sold it online for 120 euros (that’s a pretty damn high profit margin if you ask me!).
Of course, flipping devices and electronics is a bit riskier than, say, flipping clothes – when buying a used device, you have to make sure that it works well and doesn’t have any hidden flaws.
It’s possible the seller might be trying to hide a problem from you, so beware and always know your stuff to avoid getting ripped off!
If you want to buy a used iPhone 11, for example, then before meeting up with the seller, search on Google or YouTube “how to check if iphone 11 is original” and “what to check when buying a used iphone 11“.
Other electronics you could buy and resell include items like smartphones (from other popular brands aside from Apple), laptops and tablets, gaming consoles, and maybe even kitchen appliances, smart home products, drones, etc. Basically – anything you think you might be able to profit on.
When it comes to listing electronics online, the most commonly used sites are Amazon, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace.
3. Sneakers
Okay, I gotta be honest here – reselling sneakers is not something I’m too familiar with. It’s a whole world on its own.
But, I know that it’s a way you can make a serious income if you know what you’re doing (I mean, just look at all those headlines like “teenager makes a fortune selling sneakers“).
If you’ve got a thing for sneakers then this might be the right gig for you!
Typically, sneakers flippers find their stuff at sites like eBay and through Facebook groups, or from at authorized retailers like FootLocker.
Then, they sell the sneakers on eBay, or apps like GOAT and StockX.
There are definitely a few risks that come with reselling sneakers – as the prices of branded sneakers are so high, there are also a lot of fakes out there.
If you’re interested in flipping sneakers, I definitely recommend to read JV Orvitz’s post on how he went from flipping $1 T-Shirts to $1000 sneakers.
4. Furniture
This is one of my other favorite categories of items to flip.
It’s just so cool to find a piece of old, crappy furniture and fixing it up to look as good (or even better) as new.
If you’re artsy-craftsy and like restoring old things, then you should definitely try doing a few furniture flips!
Know what else I like about fixing up and reselling furniture? You can start small and cheap, like with a shelf or a chair, and move up to bigger and more expensive furniture, like vintage desks etc.
You can usually find good deals on used furniture at garage sales, second hand shops, and sites like Facebook Marketplace.
Keep an eye out for furniture that is either in good condition but underpriced (like maybe an almost brand new coffee table) or furniture with some wear-and-tear that you are able to fix (like an antique desk that needs some repainting).
Then, it’s time to get creative!
Make any changes you want to, repaint it, restore it, whatever you wish. (Psst! Pinterest is great for getting ideas for restoring furniture. And, when it’s time to start restoring, check out videos on YouTube to help yourself out!)
After you’re done, take pretty pictures of the restored furniture and list it online!
If it’s a big item, your best chances are to sell it on locally available marketplaces (Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist etc.) to avoid huge shipping costs (yeah, it’s probably not the cheapest to ship a table from the US to the UK).
You can also use Etsy, eBay, etc. for selling smaller pieces of furniture.
Don’t know if furniture flipping is for you?
What I recommend before heading out to resell furniture is, take a piece of furniture that’s already in use in your household and try to make it better!
For example, maybe you’ve wanted to give your closet a new look? Repaint it, change out some of its details, if it has some broken pieces then replace or repair them, etc.
By working on something you already own you can get a better idea of what it’s like to actually restore furniture.
From there you can make your conclusions and decide whether you want to start flipping furniture for profit (or if it’s too much work for you and you’d rather just stick to flipping other stuff).
5. Books
Textbooks, fiction, scientific literature, dictionaries, vintage books – you name it!
While not every book you find can be flipped for a good profit, it’s not uncommon to find books that you can sell at 5-10 times the price you bought them for.
Now that’s what I call business.
The good thing about flipping books is, it’s been made easy as hell with modern day technology.
You can download an app like ScoutIQ or AbeBooks to find what a book is selling for on Amazon in seconds, just by scanning the barcode on the book. Amazing, right?
These apps make it so simple to go out to a garage sale or a thrift store, easily scan a hundred books in an hour (or, idk, how long does it take to scan books?), and chuck all the good deals into your basket.
Aside from Amazon, you can sell books on auction sites like eBay, or websites specifically made for buying and selling books, like AbeBooks.
Before choosing a site to sell on, definitely check out the fees and shipping costs to avoid any surprises!
Also, when listing the book, make sure to provide all the necessary details, like the condition of the book, the year it was released, photos of any ruined pages, etc.
6. Baby gear
Most people who list baby gear online are just trying to quickly get rid of stuff they don’t need anymore, to make room for the new gear that’s necessary in the next stage of their kiddo’s growth.
That’s you opportunity to act as the middle-man and take it off their hands, list it online for a higher price, and make some profit.
So, what should you look for when buying baby gear to flip?
Here are some ideas: strollers, cribs, baby carriers, high chairs, and playards tend to sell pretty well.
(Psst! Selling used baby clothes usually isn’t a great idea – nobody wants to buy a used bodysuit (unless it’s maybe a high-end brand) if they can just go to the store and buy a new one for a few dollars.)
Also, high-end brand names tend to sell a lot quicker, so keep an eye out for stuff made by NUNA, UPPAbaby, Babybjorn, etc.
When it comes to selling baby gear, you can list your items on Facebook Marketplace (or Facebook baby groups), OfferUP, eBay, etc.
Of course, when listing the items, remember to take good pictures, write a good description, include the condition, and price it fairly.
7. Collectibles
Collectibles of different sorts are also great to flip, and there are collectors for almost any items you can think of.
You could flip comic books, retro consoles, video games, action figures, vinyl records, sports memorabilia, etc.
The best way to go about this is to choose a niche you already know about (or want to learn more about), and start doing your market research.
See what items are high in demand, what prices they’re selling at, etc.
Next step is to think about where you could get underpriced collectibles: from garage sales and thrift shops? Maybe from online auctions?
Hunt down good deals, make sure they’re in good condition, and then list them online on sites like eBay.
8. Musical instruments and equipment
You could flip any musical instruments like electric and acoustic guitars, violins, ukuleles, (and maybe even pianos if you have an idea of how the heck to transport them), etc.
Of course, you should know your shit before deciding to flip, say, a violin, because it’s crucial for musical instruments to be of certain quality and condition.
So, if you’ve been playing an instrument for quite some time already, this may be a good flipping business idea for you!
You could try searching for used instruments on Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Craigslist.
It would be best if you got to actually see the instrument in person and try playing it to make sure the condition is good.
If that’s not possible, then make sure you have some guarantee that the instrument works (like a return policy on the site you bought it from).
For more tips, check out this post by the Last Minute Musicians Blog on buying and selling used musical instruments.
You can also buy other music equipment, like amplifiers, tuners, pedals, etc.
This is stuff that you can buy from sites like Aliexpress or Amazon, or some clearance sales, and then list it online for a higher price.
This isn’t going to make you a millionaire, because (like with clothes) the items are usually quite cheap, so you have to buy and resell a lot of items to make some decent money.
9. Vehicles
Flipping vehicles is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid and saw the Fast and the Furious for the first time.
I just wanna get a garage and buy an old piece of crap car and fix it up and make it awesome.
That’s what I want to move on to soon.
It’s a big step up from most of the other items listed in this post, because vehicles are indeed more expensive (and for that reason, they can also make you a lot more money per flip).
When people talk about flipping vehicles, they usually mean cars.
But, you could also start by flipping non-motorized vehicles, like bicycles (which is what I did), or smaller motorized vehicles, like mopeds and motorcycles.
Again, starting small is a good idea here, because it’s usually necessary to repair a few parts of a used vehicle if you want to sell it for a higher price.
So, if you’ve decided you want to flip vehicles, check out listings on sites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to find underpriced vehicles in your area.
When buying a used vehicle, it’s crucial that you do research about the exact model beforehand and check its condition to avoid getting ripped off.
After you’ve bought the vehicle, clean it, repair it, and take great pictures of it, and then list it online.
If you want to learn more about automotive mechanics and try to fix up a vehicle (or take it to your friend or relative who knows how to) then definitely go for it, and tell me how it goes!
CONCLUSION
Yup, that’s it. My top 9 items to buy and resell.
As you may have noticed, the list goes from easiest/cheapest flips to more expensive/complicated ones.
Of course, you don’t have to follow the list and start by flipping clothes, like I did. Not at all.
Start flipping whatever the heck you want. The idea of this post was to introduce the aspects of the various items you could buy and resell.
And I hope it helped you, my dear hustler.
Peace out, and see you in the next post!