Flipping furniture

So I've been trying to come up with ways of making extra cash.. One idea was buying old wood chairs, tables, cabinets etc, and fixing up a little and painting and selling for a profit. Has anyone done this or know anything about the possibility of pulling this off? Is it just an unreasonable pipe-dream?

My ex-wife does this. Of course she's on welfare assistance. So yeah, you can do it, just not successfully.

There is business in refinishing furnishings and reselling. The trick is that it has to be furniture that is older and not just reproduction crap you buy at Ikea or Walmart. But you're not going to make much.

Paint stripping seems to work in areas wherein there is a high antique value, not something I would expect in Las Vegas at all.
Wood and upholstery and high discretionary income: King and Snohomish counties in Washington. Boomtown areas with lots of antique stores for fine old pieces, not modern fiberboard junk.

Quote: ewjones080

So I've been trying to come up with ways of making extra cash.. One idea was buying old wood chairs, tables, cabinets etc, and fixing up a little and painting and selling for a profit

In the 80's and 90's I knew plenty of guys
who did this for a living. Some of them made
so much money in the summer that they took
the winter off in FL. Those days are long gone.
You can't give antique furniture away now. The
bottom fell out about 10 years ago. If you have
a real quality piece and got it for nothing, of course
you can make money. But buying it and selling
at a profit is very dicey now.

You see these shows on TV now where they buy
something at a flea market, make it into something
else and resell it at the same market the next week
for 3 times what they paid. I call bullshit. Its a setup,
people who shop these markets are very savvy, they
know crap when they see it.

It's tough to make money flipping cars anymore, and impossible with houses, although the real estate market is finally getting better.

Lots of out of work folks fix up cars and sell them on craigslist.com.

My suggestion, if it's available in your area: deliver daily newspapers by car.

Or, work part time as a school bus driver.

There are so many people trying to make money
on the side now, all the categories are crammed.
Yard sales, auctions, flea markets are all crawling
with people looking for stuff to sell at a profit. Part
of it is the economy, but most of it is all the TV
shows like Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Auction
Hunters, the 8 different storage locker shows, and
umpteen others that have convinced Joe Blow that
there's a treasure around every corner. There isn't,
believe me.

With true unemployment double the headline rate you have everybody and their brother fighting for scraps. The entire country outside a few are looking for a deal. There really are no deals.

Quote: treetopbuddy

With true unemployment double the headline rate you have everybody and their brother fighting for scraps. The entire country outside a few are looking for a deal. There really are no deals.

But there used to be, I was there, I know. I
bought something at an auction in 1998 for
$60 and sold it on Ebay for $4000, and that
wasn't unusual. But as Ebay caught on, those
days quickly vanished. Now everybody thinks
all the crap they have in their attic is made
of solid gold, the bargain days are gone.

Here's an idea....forget the furniture. "Exploit charity auctions for fun and profit" (title of my next book)...... My brother is active in his community and finds himself at charity auctions at least once a month. He bids on items in the spirit of the auction. Ends up with a bunch of crap he doesn't need or want. Charity auctions as a rule are poorly attended these days. Anyway, he posts the stuff on eBay and always makes money. He doesn't need the money but he also doesn't need a garage full of crap.

As others said, it is possible but very, very difficult. I try to find side-gigs that I can work when I want to. Mostly I do the monte-carlo dealing, but I also secret-shop, have been a courrier, and a few other things. If you do not mind a little physical work and getting a little dirty, find something you can do on people's houses. If you have tools you would be amazed at the "handyman market" where you need a few tools and skills but are below what a general contractor does.

If you go the furniture route, remember what they always say on "Pawn Stars" about getting it for the right price. Your profit, if any, will be made on the purchase and not the sale. You need to get the items free or almost free.

Quote: AZDuffman

If you go the furniture route, remember what they always say on "Pawn Stars" about getting it for the right price. Your profit, if any, will be made on the purchase and not the sale. You need to get the items free or almost free.

You also need years of experience to know what
to buy. Its very easy to get burned and lose money.
My advice it forget furniture altogether.

You need an area of expertise and exploit something
in that area. If you don't have that, forget it. Trade
your time for manual labor is about your only option.
I have expertise in the same field as Pawn Stars or
American Pickers, and I would never try it these days.
The competition is unreal.

There use to be an online thing. You read ads and answer questions about them, from all different companies and then you earn something for so much completed.

If I could remember what it's called, but don't. Might be able to find it looking for earning money online, or some search combinations.

I use to play a free online lottery, and won as much as $5 sometimes! Woohoo! I think maybe once I won $10. But I would actually get a check for $2 sometimes. I don't remember what the gimmick was, maybe just the ads on the site.

Quote: EvenBob

I
bought something at an auction in 1998 for
$60 and sold it on Ebay for $4000, and that
wasn't unusual.

Good chance I was the dope that paid 4000

Get creative. Find somebody on Craigs List selling
a snowblower in the summer for almost nothing
and sell it next winter and double your money. There
are tons of desperate people on Craigs List, learn
to bargain and get them down to the lowest price.
Cash will work wonders on people desperate to sell.

Buy low sell high has been the mantra of business
for thousands of years.

Quote: EvenBob

Get creative. Find somebody on Craigs List selling
a snowblower in the summer for almost nothing
and sell it next winter and double your money. There
are tons of desperate people on Craigs List, learn
to bargain and get them down to the lowest price.
Cash will work wonders on people desperate to sell.

Buy low sell high has been the mantra of business
for thousands of years.

Seasonal stuff seems a good bet. Boats, snowmobiles, jet skis (obv depending on latitude). Of course, you need to be at least somewhat versed in that stuff, but it's known round these parts to pick up a sled between March and July if you want a screaming deal. Buy in Sept - Nov and you'll get hosed.

But even that I suppose would be a stretch. I thought about flipping cars, since cheap, southern cars would fetch a mint here in the rust belt. But once you figure gas to go and get it, *poof* goes the profit.

My advice would be to get creative. I saw a guy in Wisconsin that sold furniture, but made entirely of hockey sticks. Just simple chairs, tables and chests, but made of sticks rather than wood slats. Dude was fetching several hundred for a simple chair, damn near a thousand for an end table thingy. Bought retail, the guy would've drowned. But if he could get a load wholesale, discount, or if he was like a coach or something and just picked the broken ones out of the garbage, man, what a steal. Garbage to gold, all with the magic of creativity. Country folk around here buy all sorts of bullshit. I saw a hummingbird perch - it was a damn stick! Like, seriously, a bleeding stick! Trim the burs, sand the rough edges, poof! "Rustic accoutrement" lol!

Quote: rxwine

I use to play a free online lottery, and won as much as $5 sometimes! Woohoo! I think maybe once I won $10. But I would actually get a check for $2 sometimes. I don't remember what the gimmick was, maybe just the ads on the site.

e y

There is a site called Quikert where you scan those QR codes and then spin a wheel to win $.05 to $.50. It might make you about 40 per year but if you have 5 mins a day why not?

Perhaps this could be its won thread, weird ways to make a small amount every day but it adds up?

Crafts always sell well if you have the right ones. 20
years ago this type of birdhouse was hot. I made them
to look like gas stations, general stores, wharf restaurants,
and sold the crap out of them. Lots of fun making them.

Quote: EvenBob

Crafts always sell well if you have the right ones. 20
years ago this type of birdhouse was hot. I made them
to look like gas stations, general stores, wharf restaurants,
and sold the crap out of them. Lots of fun making them.

Looks fun to make, key would seem to be have a simple plan that is the same then just add the custom parts.

Here's another one very similar to what I made.
I got $40-$60 for them 20 years ago.

OK, times are tough for some folk at the moment.
I was made redundant myself six weeks ago, fortunately for me it's not really a problem.
However if you need to make money and want to sell stuff that you get for free here's one that works well in the UK
Scrap household appliances such as ovens, washing machines, mowers and anything metal or mainly metal, except fridges and freezers.
You need a cheap suitable vehicle and an able bodied mate.
It's common practice in the UK to leave an appliance you no longer need on you front and it will be gone before you know it.
It helps if you have some get of PA on your vehicle as people will bring smaller stuff out to you if they know you're coming up their street
It works great for both parties, you get rid of your junk and the guy gets paid from the scrap metal dealer.
Prices are high at the moment for scrap metals in the UK
If you have the time, space and inclination to break the scrap down you will get a much better price for sorted metals.
I know it's not very glamorous but like most things, it can pay well if you put the effort in, it depends on how much you need the cash
And then again, somebody may already be doing this in your locality.

Quote: Jeepster

And then again, somebody may already be doing this in your locality.

Or maybe a dozen are doing it. I know 3 guys
within a mile of me that scrap on the side. Its
huge right now, in big cities they break into
churches and steal all the copper tubing from
the air cond.