592: How One Side Hustler Turned $65 into $25k in 12 months

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1:16What's up? What's up? Nick Loper here. Welcome to the Side Hustle Show, a member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network. If you're looking for realistic and creative ways to make extra money in your spare time, you are in the right place. I've got a good old fashioned buy low sell high episode for you today. It's one of the fastest ways to multiply money as my guest really illustrates with her results. The flipping niche in question is furniture of all things. So stick around to learn how you can source profitable inventory, how to relist your items for maximum profit, and how to avoid getting scammed on Facebook marketplace.

1:50From the furniture flip online, Claire McCann, welcome to the side hustle show. Hi, everyone. We're excited to have you here. We're also going to cover the working in public side of your business because you got a bit of a following, a bit of a profile on Instagram, on TikTok about your flips, educating other people about this side hustle. Now, if you're just tuning in, your listener bonus for this week is my list of the best items to flip for a profit. All you got to do is follow the show notes link in the episode description, and then you fill in your information. I'll send that right over. that's at side hustle nation.com slash Claire C L A I R E.

2:26Or you just follow that show notes link in the description to claim that bonus. Again, that's the best items to flip for a profit. So I want to start. So this is last July, a little over a year ago and turning this first$65 piece of furniture into 300 and saying like, okay, this works. I want to do more of this. Lather rinse repeat. So tell me about that deal. Yeah, no, for sure. Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, that deal was our first one that really got me hooked to this crazy world of furniture reselling in the Bay Area. With that one, what happened basically was I went on Facebook Marketplace.

2:58I saw this great Amazon glass table being sold with four translucent chairs. And I bought that whole set for$65. And we sold that same set about a week later for$300. So it was with that moment that I was like, oh, this could be something. If it's this easy to like flip a piece of furniture and like we kind of rented it during the time, like we were able to just like use it while we had it. We like went from there. So I just used the profit from that, which I think was like$235 and just like started spider webbing. We bought a lamp and a nightstand from there and just continued to buy and sell just from that 65 alone.

3:40And now we're at$3 ,500 profit. $3 ,500,$35 ,000. Oh my God. $35 ,000 profit. My bad. It's huge. I mean, just imagine the common advice, buy the S &P 500 and be happy with your 8 % annualized return. It's like, wait, I'm going to almost quadruple my money and I'm going to do it in a week. But if I could just keep finding these deals over and over again. And so that probably becomes the bottleneck. Well, that and the storage space. I'm understanding that you're doing this out of a San Francisco apartment, like not a ton of operating room where maybe that becomes a limiting factor. Or is it these undervalued deals that you can go find?

4:16So you start with the table set and the chairs, then the lamp and you kind of like, well, okay, there's something here. But what happens after that to continue? Yeah, like what happened next? How'd this like traction start and actually work? Like basically like we flip, I and I say we because my partner was like my mover. Me and him, we bought the first hundred pieces of furniture and carried all of those up to our third floor apartment over the first six months. and like we bought stage sold everything from our apartment here and we like use the mentality of renting space so like we've never had a set of nightstands we've only ever rented these nightstands basically thinking of like we've had like six or seven like sets of nightstands over the past year and like some change but we just like rent them until they sell so sometimes our apartment's like really scarce of furniture sometimes there's way too much but after like the first hundred pieces our neighbors, understandably, were kind of like, what is going on?

5:13Yeah. Like why are these people like constantly moving all this furniture? How are they moving this much? And like, what are they doing up there? And like, we had pretty bad back pain at this point. So we knew enough was enough. And I knew I needed like a better system. Who needs CrossFit? Yeah. The furniture muscles were real at that point. By then too, they're like, I had enough funds after this like first six months of sales to be able to rent a garage and be able to use movers. So now we buy and sell most of our stuff and put it in a garage down the street from us and movers drop it off. And we have a whole staging area in that space now for the stuff.

5:51So I rent the garage. Yeah, to take quality photos and stuff. Okay. Yeah, it works great. What's the garage rental cost? Please brace yourself. It's$480 in the Marina District in San Francisco. so like it's the district right by the golden gate bridge the big red bridge so it's very expensive i had no concept of what it would be like just knowing that parking is scarce in the city and but it's like well if it doubles as a storage unit and it's you're making profit on it every month i think that makes sense now i wanted to ask because there's one brand of furniture flipping that's like i'm gonna buy this old dresser i'm gonna sand it down i'm gonna get the whatever the whitewash paint you can do this rustic farmhouse refinishing project and then i'm going to resell it or relist it.

6:36It's like, are you doing that level of fix and upholstering and like that level of rehab on these pieces? No, I'm really not. The most I'll ever do on any piece is just clean it. If there's something that can be like washed off easily with some soap and water or some like cleaner, five minutes or less of work is my mentality for these pieces. It shouldn't take more than five minutes to fix it up because there's enough furniture in our area that's nice to be able to sell it at a higher price. Okay. Yeah. Okay, that's helpful. The less labor-intensive version of this. We've talked with other furniture flippers and that's kind of their jam.

7:13Like I'm going to find these solid wood dressers and I'm going to refinish them to make them more modern and stuff. And a lot of work involved, good profit potential there too. But if that doesn't appeal to you, keep listening because well, maybe you could do it in the five minute or less plan like Claire. So if I'm looking out, what am I looking for on Facebook? I assume sourcing on Facebook Marketplace. Where do you find the stuff to go buy? I buy on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and Nextdoor is actually really good too for like your neighborhood. Why are people unloading this stuff for so much less than you think it's going to be worth?

7:46Right? I know. I honestly think it's because people are very transient, especially post COVID. and just like anybody who's ever moved ever, all of your possessions eventually just become stuff, you know, and you're just like, how do we have this much stuff? And they want to get it out. And that's like their one goal. Like, you know, everyone gets that tunnel mission, like we got to get this out of here either to the next place or someone buy it. And I swoop in and I'm like, hey, you know, I buy and sell furniture as my side hustle. I'm a teacher during the day. at night I buy and sell and go sustainability.

8:22Would you like to sell it at a bundle deal? But I'll come in and scoop up a lot of stuff for you. And people love it. Okay. So not necessarily just sourcing one-off things because that's a lot of labor for one potential sale. But if somebody's trying to clear out their whole house, their whole apartment, now that you have capacity to store some of it, you can say, I'll take it all if you're willing to cut me a deal. Yeah. If you're willing to cut me a deal and we have the same style, I see potential in the buy. Let's make a deal here. Especially if the person's already selling it for undervalue, we can make it even cheaper.

8:55But for the person listening too, it did take me a while to get there. I'd say not until nine months into this, could I pull something like that off? The first 150 pieces or so were exactly what you're saying, Nick. It was buying individual pieces, me, myself going to pick it up and then reselling that individual piece on its own. But a lot of people, yeah, to answer your original question too, I think a lot of people are undervaluing and underselling because they just want their stuff out. They want to get to their next place. They want to move to New York. They want to move to Atlanta, Houston, wherever they're going next.

9:26They want to start their new life and leave this old furniture behind. So they feel good about giving it to someone who's hustling a lot of times too. That's fair. I'm still scarred from our move, even though it was two years ago. And it's just like you described, it becomes heavy. Yeah. we got moving quotes and maybe this is a factor too that we're like 11 grand 12 grand it's insane i don't think our stuff is worth that much i know just start over when we get there and then i'm like i'll come and i'll send my movers for free you won't have to touch it you won't even have to help me bring it out then they love it and it's great in that way and also like anyone who's like used facebook marketplace we all know the second when you post something on there and you're like like, okay, maybe I'll get like three or four messages.

10:09It's going to be fine. And then an hour later, you look at your phone again, you're like, 52 messages? Are you kidding? And like, you're just so overwhelmed that you're just like, I got to move my stuff and I got to answer all these two. This is crazy. So I try to help people that way. Yeah. So you're the person cutting through the clutter saying like, I'll come pick it up for free for this price. Okay. Yeah. Are there any brands or types of pieces that you like to be on the lookout for or that you recommend people start with? Yeah, for sure. So what I would recommend is my favorite brands. The brands that are usually slam dunk sales for people are going to be things like West Elm, CB2, Room and Board.

10:47And then you can actually make a bit off of things like Target or World Market, things like that. Those are slam dunk sales, especially because these are the kind of people who are just going to put it up for sale pretty dang cheap. Those also hold the things that are the most stylish right now. So we all know the buzzwords like mid-century, modern, modern farmhouse. These are the companies that sell this stuff that people love. And the biggest slam dunk sale that you can find as a tidbit, little tip for people would be a West Elm, Acornwood, nightstand, bookcase, the classic mid-century modern one that people love with the bronze knobs on it.

11:25If you can picture this, that whole line sells high quickly for Facebook marketplace. No, that's helpful. Now we know what to be on the lookout for as we look at our local listings here. Do you have probably from doing it for over a year, kind of a sense of what that piece might realistically sell for down the road, but like, is there a target profit margin or spread that you're looking for to make it worth your while? Totally. This is something you'll see me hype on my Instagram and on my TikTok too, on my videos, like I talk about this a lot, like the profit margin you want to be able to reach is like 20 to 40 % more.

12:08So like I always look for things that are in between, like obviously if it's free, that's the best. But like you're looking for things that are like 50 % or below market value. So like when I say that, like let's say, let's go back to the West Elm wood piece I'm talking about the mid-century modern, for example, for example, like one of those bookcases, those narrow, beautiful bookcases that are the mid-century modern, Acornwood. Online, they sell for$7.99. So you're going to be looking for someone pricing it. Oh, like brand new. So you're looking on Facebook Marketplace and you're looking for someone pricing it $3.99 or lower, right?

12:47Like something around there. Or maybe it's a little bit above, but you're like, oh, I could negotiate them down a little bit because people are going to want to buy something like that that's really trendy and people love right now. That piece can sell for 75 % to 80 % market value if it's super trendy. Okay. So you make that profit in there. So that would be like, for example, the price would be, I would sell something like that for$600 to$690 even. I've seen it go for that high. Okay. So you're trying to buy it for$400 or less. And then you're making two, maybe 300 on a really good day in dollars and profit for that piece.

13:26Cause that's the thing. If I'm buying a$25 end table and I sell it for 50, it's like, well, did that justify driving across town and meeting a buyer? You kind of want to have, and we had other sellers kind of mentioned this too. I want to make a minimum a hundred bucks per deal. Otherwise like, what am I even doing here? Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And I think the biggest thing too, that I can tell people who want to start out with this is like, if you drive to work, if you take a bus to work, if you're commuting somewhere to work or somewhere you go frequently, this is what I did when I started. Like I looked at my commute line.

13:57So what neighborhoods do I hit on my way to work? And like, where am I going? And in my car, I would just stop a lot. Anything along the way was fair game for something I would buy. So like you get it on the way back and from commuting. So you save money in that gas anyway. As long as it fits in the car or the back or something. Exactly. More with Claire in just a moment, including how she reaches thousands of potential buyers for free, makes her listings stand out, and how she handles the logistics of this business around her day job right after this. A lot of side hustlers suffer from what if-itis.

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16:19There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. Side Hustle Show listeners get a$75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com slash side hustle show. Just go to indeed.com slash side hustle show right now and support the show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash side hustle show. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring. Indeed is all you need. Okay. So using the suggested retail as kind of an anchor point on the high end and realizing, well, if somebody's going to buy it used, maybe I'll get 70 % of that. And then trying to work downward from there on the buy side.

17:00And you gave some brands to be on the lookout for CB2, Room and Board, West Elm, because people on the buy side are going to be looking specifically for those brands. There's a certain level of trust and name recognition and hopefully an establishment of quality and whatever it's like, but people will be looking for those. So you're not like trying to create demand. Demand is already there in terms of like search volume for people looking for this stuff. That's right. Okay. Any other sourcing tips that we ought to be aware of? Like there's got to be other people like you doing this. How do you get the deal instead of those other 49 people that messaged about the thing?

17:34because they say, hey, that thing sells for 800 bucks. Why are they selling it for 400? Like, I want to jump on this too. You mean like, is there other resellers trying to do the same thing as me or just other buyers? I mean, other buyers, other flippers, there's got to be other people out there. Oh yeah. They're totally, it's such a big space to be able to buy in that. Like, I always say, like, if I had two more garages, four more movers, more capital, like I would be able to do the exact same thing at five times. But I don't. And it's kind of like each reseller, we fill our space with stuff and then we wait for more stuff.

18:11We can't buy more stuff until we sell that stuff. So in that interim, there's lots of other things online. People are always moving, at least in my area they are. And I think it's something that can be copied in other cities and more suburban areas too. Are you the flipper that loves the thrill of the hunt on the deal side? Because it seems to be super common. Like I'm always on the hunt for the next good buy, the next good deal. But then when it comes time to photographing and creating the listings and all the other stuff, they're like, oh, how do I actually get paid for this? Like so far, all I've done is spend money, but it's hard to get motivated to do the other part until maybe that space fills up and you're like, oh shoot, I got to turn this over.

18:51Otherwise I'm not making anything. exactly i try to be extremely cautious with my time so like i right after work after i'm a educator in the day and like after work from 4 15 to 4 45 like i'll do buys and sales and staging all at the same time so like the garage is hopping at that time like there's a lot going on it and there's movers coming in and out and they're helping me stage things before they store it in the back. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. Because if I got to move this two person dresser, like, I need some help. Yeah. I just take a million photos of it right away when it comes in, take video and then put it in the back and ignore it until it sells.

19:29Okay. Yeah. So what do you think makes your outbound messages to sellers stand out versus everybody else who wants that same piece or you get the generic messages? Is this still available or something like that? How do you stand out on the outbound side? So on Facebook Marketplace and on the Facebook app, you can go in and change the thing that's generic that everyone says is a setting. So this classic one that everyone says is, hi, is this still available? And you can click the button to auto say that, which is nice. You don't have to type it every time. I went in and I changed it. And mine says, hi, is this available?

20:05It looks great. That's it. and okay that helps a lot to be able to get people i didn't know you could change that to me yeah once i figured that out i got a lot more responses and the thing too is if you think a lot of people are going to be responding to that person and wanting to get it because it's a super good deal don't be afraid to double text them or triple text them because it pops your thing right to the top of their inbox each time as they're getting these new messages so i'll just say hi this looks great. And then in 15 minutes, I don't hear from them, but they read it. I'll just like send a smiley face and say, I'm super interested.

20:41I can send people today. I'd love to come look at it today. Is there a good time in a nice way? You know, you don't want, you always want to be courteous and kind, but yeah, you can get on the top of the list. I know. I always have anxiety when like I'm selling stuff. Okay. Well, this person fell through. And so now I got to go back to the bottom. Well, they messaged first. So I feel like obligated to. Right. You're like, oh, I got to do this ethically. Yeah, give them first crack at it. I don't know. What do I owe these people? Just get it out of my house in most cases. Exactly. I think the big thing is just be kind, but be relentless.

21:12Yeah. Are you able to set up any sort of alert triggers when something hits Marketplace or hits any of these feeds that would check certain criteria for you? Totally. So if anyone posts West Elm within like a five mile radius of me, I get like an alert on my phone. Well, I used to do this and then it became overwhelming. But for the person starting out who's looking for like individual pieces, it's a really good way to start because you can just quickly like I check my Facebook marketplace the same way people check their social media. If I get an alert that it's up, I'll like check it and put it down.

21:48Is that a setting in Marketplace? You can make alerts on there for certain brands, styles, types of furniture. If you're looking just for a coffee table, if you're looking just for renting nightstands, you can make it so it's like that, which is really, really helpful. I'd say the biggest thing too for people to do who are looking to sell to, I know we're talking about buyers, but I think the biggest thing for once you get the piece you like to get it across the most eyeballs too, is joining a ton of groups right away. You're going to want to join 20 plus groups in your local area because that gives you a ton more people looking at it than just Facebook Marketplace alone.

22:29Oh, these would be local buy-sell groups? Exactly. Or neighborhood community type of things? One in our area that's big is the Bay Area buy and sell group. And it has 130 ,000 people in it. Wow. Okay. That's helpful just to get more views. And on top of that, you're following marketing best practices. You're taking nicely staged photos, which a lot of people selling their stuff, if they have to move, they're like, well, whatever, I'm taking a picture of it where it's sitting right now. And the lighting may not be great. And I'm taking it on my phone and just whatever. I just need a picture versus like taking the time to actually stage it, actually command a premium on that side.

23:07Anything else on the listing best practices, including the dimensions, including the brand name, like all of these type of things. Here's the suggested retail price, but anything else that makes it stand out? Everything you said, Nick, is exactly what you want to put in. You want to gain the customer's trust like right away that you know what you're talking about, but then you also want to give them the link to the item to be able to verify that what you are saying is true. So on my thing, I'll always say like, this is the item for sale. This is the brand. These are the dimensions. This is what it's listed as on the website new, And I always just say plus tax and shipping just to be like a little sweetener.

23:46Like, oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, that's an extra 10 % at least. And then I also add the link to the item so that they can trace it back and verify that what I'm saying is true. That's like the biggest things I would say. And then also like consider adding a watermark at the end to describe the item. So almost like if you think of like hashtags, like you're going to want to put like, if it's a CB2 item, like you might want to put CB2, modern, just these words at the bottom, like CB2, modern, side table. Like it's a water stamp to be able to like know that people, if they look up modern furniture, your piece might bump to the top of the search list.

24:29Just more generic search terms that you want to include in your listing, even if it's. Yeah, exactly. Gotcha. Talk to me about the movers, because I think this is interesting. If I either don't have a vehicle or don't have a partner to come help me move some of these heavier items, how do you connect with them? Are they like on staff part time? It's just like got to be, well, I don't have a pickup today. Am I still paying for these people? Like, I'm curious how that all works. I really like Lugg, L-U-G-G. They're in a lot of cities. They are on demand moving. and like similar to like how you're able to watch like when you order an uber or a lyft when you watch the car come to you and pick you up you're like oh how far are they but you can see them moving on the map they do the same thing so you can watch the movers come to you and they'll give you an estimate amount of time they also will come like within an hour like they're really available and they have like trucks vans big like big trucks too need be depending on the size of move.