As the popular TV series, Flea Market Flip from HGTV shows us, flea market flipping can be lucrative, if done right.
If you’re looking for a fun way to earn money on the side or earn a full-time income, flea market flipping can be an exciting option for you. You can think of it as a cash-making hobby if you want to, but it’s possible to earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month!
Want to learn more? Here are the 15 best flea market flipping items to buy and sell for a six figure profit.
Table of Contents
15 best items to flip for a six figure profit
1. Antiques/Vintage Items/Jewelry
Look for antique and vintage include items such as furniture, lamps, plates, glasses, and jewelry.
The appeal of antiques stems from the fact that many of them are rare and expensive. And there’s a huge market for them by those nostalgic types, and by people who want to use old objects for a good cause.
2. Baby/Children’s Items
Due to the high cost of raising a child, new parents are looking for ways to save money. This leads to many of them looking to buy second-hand items such as clothing, furniture, books, accessories, and toys.
How can you profit the most? You might be able to find many of these items at a bargain basement price or even for free. Look at your local Facebook marketplace to find the best deals.
3. Boats/Vehicles (Parts/Tools)
If you work on boats and/or cars, and you’re familiar with the costs associated with them and the equipment they require, stop! This niche could make for huge flips if you know the market and you buy them at the right price.
4. Books
There are all kinds of books that you can flip for a profit. You can search for recreational books, old books, college textbooks, etc., but you might want to plan ahead and have a customer already lined up for specific-type books.
Otherwise, how-to books or those with interesting titles could sell to anyone who just loves books. But a rare book could turn into huge profits, you just have to know what to look out for.
5. Clothing
Be on the lookout for vintage, luxury, high-end, seasonable clothing, fashionable purses, hats, scarves, or shoes. Some of these could be in-demand and ripe for a 10x profit. Pay attention to sneakers, as some sneakers could be extremely profitable to sell.
6. Electronics/Records/Record Players
You’ll find many low-cost bargains on electronics that have been given to thrift shops. And there’s something to be said about old-school souls who continue to enjoy using records on turntables.
7. Fitness/Sports Equipment
Recent demand for exercise-related sports equipment (like Peloton) came as a result of the pandemic. When things opened up, many people realized they would rather work out at home than at the gym. These are good choices to turn a page if the price is right.
Sporting equipment like dirt bikes, inline skates, golf clubs, bicycles, baseball, football, and hockey equipment (you get the idea), are worth looking into.
8. Furniture/Patio Furniture
Furniture includes pretty much any type of indoor or outdoor furniture you can imagine. Some of these items are easier to turn over than others, but the great thing about furniture is, everyone needs it.
If a piece of furniture needs to be reupholstered, and you know how to do it, or you’re willing to learn, that would be awesome, and profitable.
9. Instruments
If you’re a musician it could be to your advantage when trying to flip instruments. Save yourself some time by skipping the research on it, and simply turn the pages on them if you’re able to.
10. Kitchen Equipment
Kitchen appliances and electronic gadgets are some of the easier items to turn over than others, if in good condition. Who doesn’t want or need a good appliance or gadget to make your cooking experience easier?
11. Lawn Equipment/Power Tools
This equipment can be expensive and a lot of people will buy them second-hand because they’re high in demand which makes them easy to flip. So focus on well-known and brand names and get to flipping.
12. Videos/Video Games
You should concentrate your focus on newer video games that are in high demand. But don’t totally ignore older, nostalgic games that collectors would like to get their hands on. For example, like these guys…
13. Medical Equipment
Keep a lookout for hospital beds, wheelchairs, (especially power chairs), walkers, and canes. Even though the beds and power chairs can run a little high, you might luck up on someone needing to get rid of them for free. You can probably pick up the simpler equipment for little to nothing at all.
14. Memorabilia/Collector Stamps/Coins
Think in terms of collectibles such as rare stamps or coins, championship rings, cards, jerseys, bobbleheads, etc. Vintage shirts and hats are also a good choice. Just make sure the clothing items are in good condition and aren’t smelly.
15. Paintings/Sculptures
Flipping art is good for those who have an artistic eye. Knowing what will probably sell could garner you a cool million if it happens to be a rare missing treasure by Picasso!
Flea Market Flipping FAQ
What is flea market flipping?
Rob and Melissa, from their website “Flea Market Flipper,” would tell you that it’s the best income-making opportunity they could have ever imagined. By simply buying items at a low price, and then selling them at a higher price, Rob and Melissa’s whole world changed.
In fact, they’ve made over $100k a year flipping items.
How do you get started?
To get started, you begin a search to find and buy items from thrift stores, garage or estate sales, auctions, online, and wherever decent items can be found. You can even rumble through your family’s attic, etc., in search of worthy items to sell for a profit.
The items should already be in good condition. And if anything needs to be repaired, or a touch-up is required, you need to be willing and able to do just that.
What type of items should you flip?
There’s a long list of items to consider when flipping. The following are just a few of the many things people will purchase from you.
I’ll go through each item in detail below: Baby and children’s items, clothing, electronics, fitness equipment, furniture, lawn equipment, power tools, and sports equipment just as an example to wet your whistle.
How much should you buy items for?
You need to know the true value of each item before you buy it so you can make a good profit. By doing some research you’ll also be able to get in front of the right people to target for specialized items, i.e., instruments, textbooks, medical equipment, boats, and cars, etc.
You can start with a budget of $20 to $50 to find a variety of items and they’ll be able to make you $100 to $300 profit from the start. Remember Rob and Melissa, as well as countless other people, are flipping while profiting five to six-figure earnings every year!
Where else can you flip items?
You can both buy and sell through flea markets, but you can also sell items at garage sales, on Craigslist and the Facebook marketplace. Additionally, you can list items on eBay, Etsy, Shpock, and vFlea.
How much can you expect to earn with flea market flipping?
You can expect to earn $300 per month when you first start flipping items for profit.
You can probably earn a higher profit by turning over fewer, less expensive items, at least in the beginning. So, take great effort toward finding good items that will sell quickly. And make sure that the prices of your items are within the range of turning the pages.
You should find items that you are familiar with to start, to reduce your learning curve. Look for items like home accessories and furniture that can make you look better with minimal effort. With a few basic DIY skills and a fresh coat of paint, you can increase the value more than you’d think.
For example, you can enhance the value of a vintage glass jar by turning it into a lamp. Or you can turn a cheap old tire into a coffee table. If you can fix it, fix it, but don’t waste your time on cheap items that don’t work and you can’t repair.
Flea market flipping: The bottom line
Go with what you know and concentrate on items that you know will turn a profit because you are familiar with them, or because your research verifies it. And finally, negotiate, negotiate, negotiate!
Not only will these strategies help you to close the right deals for yourself, but they’ll do the same when you’re ready to flip them.
