Does anyone regularly do any "flipping" for an additional source of income?

[rrobbone]

I've kinda gotten the bug to do this. Not necessarily with only guitars, but with any and all random objects I think I can turn a reasonable profit on. The job market here (small town) was shit before any pandemic hit, and now it's just in the toilet. I'm doing okay with the guitar bodies, but some extra cash would always be nice. I've seen that some folks even do this for a living, making some decent income in the process.

I'd love to hear anything you might have to say if you have any experience in this area.

[uwmcscott]

My experience has been that it's pretty hard to flip guitars, unless you live someplace like [mention]toomanycats[/mention] where the pawnshops don't have internet access

By the time you add in the transaction fees, shipping costs, etc it is a lot of work for not much money. I suppose it's like anything else though - if you did it as your full time job and scoured the web/cl for cheap items to flip you might make a pretty good go of it, but I think "making a living" off it is a pretty rare occurence. I could certainly be wrong..and have been before

[golem]

No, I flip to make sure it doesn't cost me money (my income technically) to buy guitars. Whether it's possible really depends on where you're at. There are a lot of people in my area who don't want to do all the work necessary to sell online. I'm actually getting tired of it myself after a few years of hustling to own better gear. Especially when, if I have the mental energy, expanding my knowledge of programming can earn me more $$$.

[rrobbone]

My experience has been that it's pretty hard to flip guitars, unless you live someplace like @toomanycats where the pawnshops don't have internet access

By the time you add in the transaction fees, shipping costs, etc it is a lot of work for not much money. I suppose it's like anything else though - if you did it as your full time job and scoured the web/cl for cheap items to flip you might make a pretty good go of it, but I think "making a living" off it is a pretty rare occurence. I could certainly be wrong..and have been before

I have looked into guitar flipping, since I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about the subject. I'm also handy with guitar tech type tools and a spraypaint can. If I selected the right gear, I'm sure that with setups and fresh color I could routinely profit $50 - $100 per flip.... but that's a rather low return on investment for the time involved. If I invested in sourcing nothing less than MIM level gear, giving them my nicer custom paint jobs... maybe I could go a bit higher. The bodies I make have been well recieved by the market, so I'm reasonbly sure I could expand to resale flipping there. I've been tempted.

The flipping pros I'm watching (a good mix of folks I don't know and people I've watched for a while and haven't been full of shit so far) who have tried this are being very selective to things they know they'll pull profit from. There's a formula they use, based on knowledge of shipping costs and hosting fees. There's a feel the noob develops via experience for what's worthwhile, so it's said. I can relate to that - it's very much the same way most of us can look at a FB marketplace ad for a Squier Affinity Strat and know whether or not it's from a short production run, rare color, and/or at a steal of a pricepoint. We have such a feel for it that we often make fun of stupid gear listings.

Labor Day weekend's coming up, I've got a few pieces of silver rattling around in my pocket, and there are lots of yard sales being advertised - and it looks fun to me. Bartering, plotting, scheming, listing, packing, shipping - hunting for rarites in new places using my otherwise useless set of random and trivial information skills... sounds fun! I've already decided to give it a shot on a small scale, see how it goes. I was just curious to see if anyone here does such a thing - maybe get a few pointers...

I think Rokdog mentioned he trades Lego, which I know is looking up because all the new sets are too goddamned expensive to warrant a punt right now. I'm tempted to throw any earnings into the limited sets and shelve them for a few years to sell later. An unopened Batmobile sells for $250 right now, but I bet it'll triple or more after it's been retired a few years.

[glasshand]

I just feel like you'd have to do it in such volume it would be a huge undertaking. These days, with everybody having access to the internet, it's getting harder and harder to find really good deals. To find good deals regularly seems like it would take a huge amount of time and effort scouring everywhere.

To look at it a different way, let's say you wanted to make $2000/month, and you expect to make 15% on each flip on average. If $2000 a month is just your profit, then you're buying over $13,000 in guitars each month. Whether that's you handling one guitar at $13,000 or a hundred guitars at $130, that seems like a whole lot to do. I dunno, maybe 15% is low, but whatever figure you choose, remember that you'd have to be doing it consistently month after month after month. Hm...now you have me wondering if I could find a $13,000 guitar on Reverb (there are plenty!) and sell it for $15,000 within a month...

[rrobbone]

No, I flip to make sure it doesn't cost me money (my income technically) to buy guitars. Whether it's possible really depends on where you're at. There are a lot of people in my area who don't want to do all the work necessary to sell online. I'm actually getting tired of it myself after a few years of hustling to own better gear. Especially when, if I have the mental energy, expanding my knowledge of programming can earn me more $$$.

Earning cash for new gear was the whole point of my selling bodies, so I'm with you there.

That's great, you have programming skill to fall back on. My only real marketable skills involve selling, which involves things I hate doing. For a very long time, I just thought I hated working - full stop. But the Neckbolt venture has shown me that I possess an entrepreneurial spirit that I never knew I had. It's a genuine rush for me when something I made sells. I love that my creativity is appreciated by others (who then use those purchases to be creative in their own way), and I also love the sound of the cash register ringing.

Also, it's a real bummer when you figure out that you just really hate dealing with most people. That tends to hurt sales, or you break off little bits of your soul every day in order to be successful. I've figured out that I don't hate working or earning - I hate working and earning for someone else. The personal cost of that is too high, so I'm looking for some way to employ myself be doing something I like to do.

[rrobbone]

I just feel like you'd have to do it in such volume it would be a huge undertaking. These days, with everybody having access to the internet, it's getting harder and harder to find really good deals. To find good deals regularly seems like it would take a huge amount of time and effort scouring everywhere.

To look at it a different way, let's say you wanted to make $2000/month, and you expect to make 15% on each flip on average. If $2000 a month is just your profit, then you're buying over $13,000 in guitars each month. Whether that's you handling one guitar at $13,000 or a hundred guitars at $130, that seems like a whole lot to do. I dunno, maybe 15% is low, but whatever figure you choose, remember that you'd have to be doing it consistently month after month after month. Hm...now you have me wondering if I could find a $13,000 guitar on Reverb (there are plenty!) and sell it for $15,000 within a month...

I'm sure there are folks doing well flipping guitars, but I'm thinking more along the lines of small shit you find in thrift stores and yard sales. Oh, and I wouldn't buy anything I couldn't triple my cash on. The economics roughly work out to thirds: 1/3 to hosting site/shipping material, 1/3 to original price of item, 1/3 profit (shipping is on the buyer). This is on a normal sale. There are ways to stretch that out and make more depending on the item. Thrity percent and better for profits. As you said, it's a grind, but the money seems to be there.

But: I don't have a boss or subordinates, I deal with people who almost have to be nice to me (if they wanna sell anything, that is), and I won't be doing anything I'm not doing with Neckbolt except shop for shit. Add to this that I can work when I feel like it and take vacay without permission, look after my kids and have a family life, etc...

I'll make at least 30% on each little flip, even if I eat a little shipping like I do with Neckbolt sales.

To do this well, I've read that I need to keep around 1000 listings on ebay at any one point. There's a lady locally (youtuber) who does this part time while she parents her 4 kids - she clears around $2K a month in clothing and shoe sales with around 800 listings average. I've seen her receipts, followed her math, etc - she's very open with her work. It's a real possibility for me, I just need to explore my locality a bit - see if there's pickin's to be had.

[rrobbone]

No, I flip to make sure it doesn't cost me money (my income technically) to buy guitars. Whether it's possible really depends on where you're at. There are a lot of people in my area who don't want to do all the work necessary to sell online. I'm actually getting tired of it myself after a few years of hustling to own better gear. Especially when, if I have the mental energy, expanding my knowledge of programming can earn me more $$$.

Earning cash for new gear was the whole point of my selling bodies, so I'm with you there.

That's great, you have programming skill to fall back on. My only real marketable skills involve selling, which involves things I hate doing. For a very long time, I just thought I hated working - full stop. But the Neckbolt venture has shown me that I possess an entrepreneurial spirit that I never knew I had. It's a genuine rush for me when something I made sells. I love that my creativity is appreciated by others (who then use those purchases to be creative in their own way), and I also love the sound of the cash register ringing.

Also, it's a real bummer when you figure out that you just really hate dealing with most people. That tends to hurt sales, or you break off little bits of your soul every day in order to be successful. I've figured out that I don't hate working or earning - I hate working and earning for someone else.

I know for a fact that I could cruise into Larry Miller's dealership and make $150,000/yr if I could bring myself to bend over for well-to-do douchebags who are interested in Mercedes automobiles (even if they didn't know exactly why...). Just as simple: I could walk on at Karl Malone's place and sell jet skis, motorcycles, and snowmobiles all day - clearing at least six figures - - It's just that I hate fucking doing that shit.

*No offense intended to those of you who drive Mercedeses. I just don't want to deal with those buyers again. In sales, going where the money comes in is how you earn the most - and that usually involes the wealthier client. Most (not all) of those people treat any service level individuals as less than human.

The personal cost of that is too high, so I'm looking for some way to employ myself be doing something I like to do.

[Gear_Junky]

In early 2000's I used to buy used pedals at local music stores and post them on eBay. Even kept a spreadsheet as history of what sold and for how much. The problem with flipping is finding stuff to flip. Used gear shops and pawn shops used to be fun, but nowadays they look up prices online and generally sell high. And mostly only have crap. I was unemployed at the time, so I had time and it was fun. But it's more hobby and hobby financing, not really income. One bad buy can undo your profit on many items.

Now, during that time I've also become a power seller on eBay on three different occasions (off-lease computer server/network gear, off-lease laptops and audiobooks). It worked great for a while but there's a tendency for these things to pull you down gradually. Like those failing restaurants where the owners take on additional mortgages thinking they can salvage the business, only to end up deeper in the hole, because it's so gradual. At one point things snowballed on me where even a local detective stopped by (due to a buyer complaint). He was cool and explained that if everyone had their money returned, there'd be no issues and that's how it happened - I never defrauded anyone, things just snowballed and my merchant account was frozen, which caused the main problem. Don't get over-invested and don't overreach. That's my caution

[Flatline]

Too many people in my area doing it to be worthwhile. There are 4-5 guys constantly posted stuff on CL/FB and they're always trying to scoop up the deals as fast as they can. It make trying to buy anything to flip too much hassle to mess with unless you can spend 24/7 watching the online marketplaces.

[voodoorat]

i'm not sure.

depending on your market it wouldn't take many other people doing the same thing to destroy any chance you have of making much. i think it'd be pretty easy to buy things for $300 on local markets and sell them for $400, but that doesn't add up very quickly and you're investing time in the listings, meeting people, negotiating, etc. i think it'd be tough to make a profit that way using any service with fees because you basically have to sell for significantly more (and depending on what you're selling you're opening up the whole country or whatever as an audience but you're also competing with a lot of sellers, some of whom are probably just trying to get rid of something and not to turn a profit). pawn shop pricing isn't great, i think the best would be just people who are selling on local markets but you'll have to weed out fraudsters and those who literally have no idea what they have (in which case you have to spend time researching, etc).

it's fun as a sort of hobby and to try out gear but at some point i think it wouldn't be fun if it was sort of a job, even if you were your own boss. and, as someone pointed out, if you move on to the pricier stuff that could actually make you some money with relatively little effort a) the deals are going to be fewer and far between because people will be much more likely to realize what it is they have and what it' worth and b) one bad deal and you're screwed.

on the other hand, it seems like if there was a big enough local market that you have both sellers (who are too lazy, desperate, impatient or whatever to get the value for what they are listing) and buyers (who are too slow or otherwise don't connect directly with those sellers) then it might be possible without too much effort. and if it was low effort maybe a few hundred dollars a week for a side hustle isn't bad.

[Rollin Hand]

Robbone, is it that you hate selling, or hate selling for someone else? Maybe the answer is to beat the Millers and the Mailman yourself.

Maybe real estate? Helping people realise their dreams through property ownership and massive, crushing debt?

[honyock]

I used to buy Goodwill guitars for minimum bid, and sell them on Craigslist or eBay for 50-75 per guitar profit. This was while unemployed, going to school full time and getting money from the GI Bill so I didn't really mind not paying myself for my time as it was basically minimum wage when everything was taken into account.

Now I wouldn't waste the time, but I've got kids and not enough time in the day as it is. It would be fun to do if I were a retiree. However, as the price of MIM guitars has gone up, people now think things that were built before the new models are now worth that much, so it is a lot harder to find those $150-$200 MIM strats from the 90s up to the early 2010s like I once did.

Though I don't go righty shopping like I did, so maybe I just miss them all.

[honyock]

No, I flip to make sure it doesn't cost me money (my income technically) to buy guitars. Whether it's possible really depends on where you're at. There are a lot of people in my area who don't want to do all the work necessary to sell online. I'm actually getting tired of it myself after a few years of hustling to own better gear. Especially when, if I have the mental energy, expanding my knowledge of programming can earn me more $$$.

Earning cash for new gear was the whole point of my selling bodies, so I'm with you there.

That's great, you have programming skill to fall back on. My only real marketable skills involve selling, which involves things I hate doing. For a very long time, I just thought I hated working - full stop. But the Neckbolt venture has shown me that I possess an entrepreneurial spirit that I never knew I had. It's a genuine rush for me when something I made sells. I love that my creativity is appreciated by others (who then use those purchases to be creative in their own way), and I also love the sound of the cash register ringing.

Also, it's a real bummer when you figure out that you just really hate dealing with most people. That tends to hurt sales, or you break off little bits of your soul every day in order to be successful. I've figured out that I don't hate working or earning - I hate working and earning for someone else.

I know for a fact that I could cruise into Larry Miller's dealership and make $150,000/yr if I could bring myself to bend over for well-to-do douchebags who are interested in Mercedes automobiles (even if they didn't know exactly why...). Just as simple: I could walk on at Karl Malone's place and sell jet skis, motorcycles, and snowmobiles all day - clearing at least six figures - - It's just that I hate fucking doing that shit.

*No offense intended to those of you who drive Mercedeses. I just don't want to deal with those buyers again. In sales, going where the money comes in is how you earn the most - and that usually involes the wealthier client. Most (not all) of those people treat any service level individuals as less than human.

The personal cost of that is too high, so I'm looking for some way to employ myself be doing something I like to do.

I am probably the anti-Mercedes driving Mercedes driver. I only bought it because it was a station wagon, a V8, looked good, and actually fun to drive. Mercedes drivers look down upon those who drive older models as well in my experience. They are more concerned about the symbol on the hood. It is not a status symbol since it is 15 years old and a depreciation has hit them hard. I also do all of my own mechanic work...

Same token, I also ride a Harley, but I just like it because it is dependable, makes loads of torque, and is easy to find parts. I didn't specifically buy it because it is a Harley and I am not a snob about Japanese motorcycles (or European for that matter).

The same type of people purchase those things new from a dealer, neither will be something I will do...

[glasshand]

I'm sure there are folks doing well flipping guitars, but I'm thinking more along the lines of small shit you find in thrift stores and yard sales. Oh, and I wouldn't buy anything I couldn't triple my cash on.

I dunno what the market is like in your neck of the woods, but around here you would have to work very hard to regularly find stuff that you could resell for 3x what you paid for it.

To do this well, I've read that I need to keep around 1000 listings on ebay at any one point. There's a lady locally (youtuber) who does this part time while she parents her 4 kids - she clears around $2K a month in clothing and shoe sales with around 800 listings average. I've seen her receipts, followed her math, etc - she's very open with her work. It's a real possibility for me, I just need to explore my locality a bit - see if there's pickin's to be had.

Having a working example is very informative! If somebody has 800 - 1000 items for sale at any given point, TBH I doubt that they got them all by driving around looking at thrift stores and yard sales - or they spent an awful lot of time doing it. My own wife has dabbled a bit in this herself, buying vintage clothing in one city and reselling it online. It was tougher than we'd thought. Then again, I readily concede that sales is probably not either of our strong points! You may have better luck with it!

[rrobbone]

Don't get over-invested and don't overreach. That's my caution

Great advice, but I'll be dealing in things I pick up rather cheaply - that's the whole point. Yard sales for household stuff, toys, collectables, etc. Low risk, decent reward.

[rrobbone]

i'm not sure.

depending on your market it wouldn't take many other people doing the same thing to destroy any chance you have of making much. i think it'd be pretty easy to buy things for $300 on local markets and sell them for $400, but that doesn't add up very quickly and you're investing time in the listings, meeting people, negotiating, etc. i think it'd be tough to make a profit that way using any service with fees because you basically have to sell for significantly more (and depending on what you're selling you're opening up the whole country or whatever as an audience but you're also competing with a lot of sellers, some of whom are probably just trying to get rid of something and not to turn a profit). pawn shop pricing isn't great, i think the best would be just people who are selling on local markets but you'll have to weed out fraudsters and those who literally have no idea what they have (in which case you have to spend time researching, etc).

it's fun as a sort of hobby and to try out gear but at some point i think it wouldn't be fun if it was sort of a job, even if you were your own boss. and, as someone pointed out, if you move on to the pricier stuff that could actually make you some money with relatively little effort a) the deals are going to be fewer and far between because people will be much more likely to realize what it is they have and what it' worth and b) one bad deal and you're screwed.

on the other hand, it seems like if there was a big enough local market that you have both sellers (who are too lazy, desperate, impatient or whatever to get the value for what they are listing) and buyers (who are too slow or otherwise don't connect directly with those sellers) then it might be possible without too much effort. and if it was low effort maybe a few hundred dollars a week for a side hustle isn't bad.

I'm not averse to flipping guitars when I come across a decent find, but that won't be my focus.

As for researching, listing, pics, etc: I've seen some rather impressive techniques/gadgets to become rather fast at those tasks. If I decide I like this enough to continue to hustle it, I'll make the appropriate investments.

[rrobbone]

Robbone, is it that you hate selling, or hate selling for someone else? Maybe the answer is to beat the Millers and the Mailman yourself.

Maybe real estate? Helping people realise their dreams through property ownership and massive, crushing debt?

I don't necessarily hate selling. It's the quotas and dirty feeling techniques and traps involved in convincing a client to buy shit they don't need. I don't respond well to sales tactics at all. As a customer I'll walk away if I detect a "pitch." I don't need a deal or a bogo, or a percentage off ploy to get me to purchase things. I do research and know what I'm after before I get there. If I'm in your store, you had the best price posted. Just help me get to the exact thing I need and I'll pay a fair price for it, end of story. I don't need a mutherfucker to dance with me, whisper in my ear, buy me a drink, or sing me a song.

So that's the type of "salesman" I was. I'd make sure I was selling things I genuinely thought were good products in the first place, so I didn't have to be misleading. I worked for Sony, Oakley, Carmax, and in video game stores - inventories for most of which were things I believed in. I became very knowledgable about those products, and I told people the truth as I saw it. If someone asked me about a product I thought was stupid, I'd tell them so - and why. I'd much rather be well versed in a product and be available to answer questions a buyer might have rather than convince anyone of anything.

For example: many times in the game stores people would ask my opinion on games they were considering. I'm a fan of gaming, so I'd usually spend a few minutes of downtime trying every game that came across the desk - new or not. If I thought it sucked, I'd say so.

"Hey, is this Shrek game any good?"

"No, not even for the kiddos who like the franchise. The controls are terrible and there's a bug in it that makes it kill itself about 2/3 of the way through. Try Spyro or Crash Bandicoot instead."

The customer would usually buy it anyway, then try to return it two days later - because most licensed games suck, and because all Shrek games suck. They'd be upset at me (no returns, only trade value), but then they'd see I was being sincere with the opinion and come back to our store. Maybe I lost a sale, but they'd become loyal over the long run because I wasn't bullshitting them. I did this everywhere, in every job.

That's how I sold stuff, and I did well. I hit quotas and had higher ratings everywhere I went - but that was never fucking good enough. They always wanted me to sell shit their way, which invariably involved tactics ranging from merely slimy to straight out lying to people.

Not to mention all the fucking annoying and endless point-of-sale upsell bullshit everyone has to endure everywhere. There are places I won't shop because of that crap (looking at you, Gamestop). I hated doing it, and I hate hearing it.

That's why Reverb works for me so well. If someone needs a question answered, they send me a message. I always answer within the hour, and usually within ten minutes. No wasted communication.

"Will you give me a $150 discount?"

"No, but thanks for your interest."

"...*crickets..."

No bullshit, no wasted communication. Those who see value in my work will happily pay what I ask, though I do grant small percentages off for nice folks.

I'm genuinely glad that my stuff sells and people are interested, but at the same time - I really don't care if someone doesn't buy it at all. I had my fun making it, and I know eventually that it will be sold. I have infinite patience for online sales, and I'll pay attention if something sits on a shelf for too long - I simply won't make that type of thing again. The market will tell me.

I sold a certain guitar a few months before Covid fucked everything, and this guy is still sending me pictures of him jamming on it at gigs. I love that he loves it and uses it to entertain others. He is a happy customer, and I truly care about that. Most retail places/workers don't.

That's the enjoyable part for me, someone was happy with what they got and I helped them get it.

Also: you're right - I don't like working for other people/companies. They usually don't have anyone's best interests at heart - yours or the customers'. Only theirs. Employees and customers get jobbed in most retail stores. No one wins.

Real estate is normally a good idea - but it's bananas here right now. I live in a charming little town with plenty of space - space that won't be there in a few years. Building is so nuts that if you need a plumber or electrician, you might have to wait two weeks or more for an estimate - if they even agree to show up for your little pissant job in the first place. They literally might not even return your call. I see more CA and TX plates on cars in town now than I do the local Utah plates. We are seeing spillover from the wealthy looking for homes near Park City's snowy playgrounds. There's a lot of people shifting between CA, TX, CO, and UT - mostly leaving CA. It's good and it's bad. The city's getting full and the utlilties are getting stretched thin.

There's plenty to go around in real estate here, but the competition here is extremely fierce. We were talking about the Mormon lifestyle last week, well... real estate is the perfect gig for a stay at home mom, so it's really hard for a new agent to get any traction here.

Nah, as of several years ago when I realized what I could potentially turn Neckbolt into... From then on, if I'm hustling, I'm hustling for me.

[mozz]

I've been doing it for years. Buy stuff cheap. Sell on Ebay. Sometimes on CL.
I think currently i have about 50 things for sale, most have been there for a while and aren't moving. I try to keep all items in a few boxes in the corner of the garage. Not only musical but old stuff in general. Flea market i am there at opening at 7am, but there are many there before me loaded up carrying stuff out to their cars already. Bought boxes of electronic stuff at a hamfest. $20/box. It was from Lucent, must have been bulk or auction items or bankruptcy. Little 50 pin connectors, thousand of them. They list for $10, i sell them at $5. Often times they sit on Ebay for months, then someone buys 100 and i'm already at $460 profit.

At one time i paid for a stall at the other flea market, $100 month only open on sundays. I sold a lot of household goods, clothes etc that we never use. It all went pretty quick then it slowed to a crawl after a few months. I always search out new vendors or people who i have never seen sell before. That is where you get the deals, if you get there early. I avoid all the regular weekly sellers except a few who bring new stuff each week.

[slowhand84]

I've kinda gotten the bug to do this. Not necessarily with only guitars, but with any and all random objects I think I can turn a reasonable profit on. The job market here (small town) was shit before any pandemic hit, and now it's just in the toilet. I'm doing okay with the guitar bodies, but some extra cash would always be nice. I've seen that some folks even do this for a living, making some decent income in the process.

I'd love to hear anything you might have to say if you have any experience in this area.

I'm the same as [mention]golem[/mention] in this regard, I buy a lot of gear, keep my absolute favorite/highest-end stuff, and end up moving the rest to other homes down the line and the profits from that basically often make the stuff I keep for myself practically free. I almost never buy a guitar with the specific INTENTION of flipping it (aka I never buy something I wouldn't be comfortable keeping myself at the price I paid, or a guitar I don't like), so I don't do it as an additional source of income really but more so that I don't have to use my own income to buy gear .

The thing is you have to be very knowledgeable on gear, be ready to pull the trigger fast when you come across something you know is a killer deal, and know where and how to get stuff for really great prices to make even the occasional flip I do remotely worth it, much less trying to do it as a full-on "side gig". I've found GC and Sam Ash to be goldmines...lots of stuff priced way below market value because oftentimes they just have no idea what it is. I've grabbed many a guitar from those places for hundreds of dollars less than its actual value, and in one or two cases about $1000 less.

My experience has been that it's pretty hard to flip guitars, unless you live someplace like @toomanycats where the pawnshops don't have internet access

By the time you add in the transaction fees, shipping costs, etc it is a lot of work for not much money. I suppose it's like anything else though - if you did it as your full time job and scoured the web/cl for cheap items to flip you might make a pretty good go of it, but I think "making a living" off it is a pretty rare occurence. I could certainly be wrong..and have been before

I agree that with Reverb/eBay it can be more trouble than it's worth, especially since these days a buyer will try to return a guitar or negotiate an extra discount because they took a magnifying glass to the guitar and found a little hairline millimeter-long scratch that "wasn't disclosed" or some other nonsense. The fees aren't a huge deal really except on very large ticket items, but dealing with buyers and shipping and all that is a huge pain especially given the various problems with Fedex/UPS/USPS lately.

However, local sales are also an option (FB, CL, various apps like LetGo, etc) and are much easier to deal with. Of course if you live in a city with 3 guitar players you won't do very well but for anyone living in a major city if you price things fairly they move quickly. I've sold 6 guitars during the course of this pandemic no problem in the course of trying to clear up some space, and all but one for full asking price (and the one that wasn't, I took like $40 less than I was asking). With local buyers there is minimal BS/headache, in that you meet 'em somewhere public, they check the guitar out, give you the money if they like it, and then it's see you never. I've sold a few pedals and pairs of pickups online, but guitars I always sell local pickup only.

[rrobbone]

No, I flip to make sure it doesn't cost me money (my income technically) to buy guitars. Whether it's possible really depends on where you're at. There are a lot of people in my area who don't want to do all the work necessary to sell online. I'm actually getting tired of it myself after a few years of hustling to own better gear. Especially when, if I have the mental energy, expanding my knowledge of programming can earn me more $$$.

Earning cash for new gear was the whole point of my selling bodies, so I'm with you there.

That's great, you have programming skill to fall back on. My only real marketable skills involve selling, which involves things I hate doing. For a very long time, I just thought I hated working - full stop. But the Neckbolt venture has shown me that I possess an entrepreneurial spirit that I never knew I had. It's a genuine rush for me when something I made sells. I love that my creativity is appreciated by others (who then use those purchases to be creative in their own way), and I also love the sound of the cash register ringing.

Also, it's a real bummer when you figure out that you just really hate dealing with most people. That tends to hurt sales, or you break off little bits of your soul every day in order to be successful. I've figured out that I don't hate working or earning - I hate working and earning for someone else.

I know for a fact that I could cruise into Larry Miller's dealership and make $150,000/yr if I could bring myself to bend over for well-to-do douchebags who are interested in Mercedes automobiles (even if they didn't know exactly why...). Just as simple: I could walk on at Karl Malone's place and sell jet skis, motorcycles, and snowmobiles all day - clearing at least six figures - - It's just that I hate fucking doing that shit.

*No offense intended to those of you who drive Mercedeses. I just don't want to deal with those buyers again. In sales, going where the money comes in is how you earn the most - and that usually involes the wealthier client. Most (not all) of those people treat any service level individuals as less than human.

The personal cost of that is too high, so I'm looking for some way to employ myself be doing something I like to do.

I am probably the anti-Mercedes driving Mercedes driver. I only bought it because it was a station wagon, a V8, looked good, and actually fun to drive. Mercedes drivers look down upon those who drive older models as well in my experience. They are more concerned about the symbol on the hood. It is not a status symbol since it is 15 years old and a depreciation has hit them hard. I also do all of my own mechanic work...

Same token, I also ride a Harley, but I just like it because it is dependable, makes loads of torque, and is easy to find parts. I didn't specifically buy it because it is a Harley and I am not a snob about Japanese motorcycles (or European for that matter).

The same type of people purchase those things new from a dealer, neither will be something I will do...

Dude, I love Mercs. They are really great cars, no issues with them at all. I was trying to state that selling expensive shit to rich folks is how you make real money as a salesperson. Well, that and drug dealing (legal or illicit, doesn't seem to matter where the money's concerned). Mercedes is what came to mind since I have experience selling cars and I know Mercs are good stuff. I could've just as easily said BMW or Ford.

I think it would be okay working in a HD dealership. I'd be sniffed out and labled a fraud pretty quickly, I'm not into bikes or that lifestyle.

[rrobbone]

I've been doing it for years. Buy stuff cheap. Sell on Ebay. Sometimes on CL.
I think currently i have about 50 things for sale, most have been there for a while and aren't moving. I try to keep all items in a few boxes in the corner of the garage. Not only musical but old stuff in general. Flea market i am there at opening at 7am, but there are many there before me loaded up carrying stuff out to their cars already. Bought boxes of electronic stuff at a hamfest. $20/box. It was from Lucent, must have been bulk or auction items or bankruptcy. Little 50 pin connectors, thousand of them. They list for $10, i sell them at $5. Often times they sit on Ebay for months, then someone buys 100 and i'm already at $460 profit.

At one time i paid for a stall at the other flea market, $100 month only open on sundays. I sold a lot of household goods, clothes etc that we never use. It all went pretty quick then it slowed to a crawl after a few months. I always search out new vendors or people who i have never seen sell before. That is where you get the deals, if you get there early. I avoid all the regular weekly sellers except a few who bring new stuff each week.

I don't mind being the early bird. In fact, in just means I've got the rest of the day for myself.

Your connector score is exactly what I'd be looking out for. It's not within my knowledge base, but that's the type of score I'm talking about that can really extend your ROI over time.

[mickey]

I've been doing it for years. Buy stuff cheap. Sell on Ebay. Sometimes on CL.
I think currently i have about 50 things for sale, most have been there for a while and aren't moving. I try to keep all items in a few boxes in the corner of the garage. Not only musical but old stuff in general. Flea market i am there at opening at 7am, but there are many there before me loaded up carrying stuff out to their cars already. Bought boxes of electronic stuff at a hamfest. $20/box. It was from Lucent, must have been bulk or auction items or bankruptcy. Little 50 pin connectors, thousand of them. They list for $10, i sell them at $5. Often times they sit on Ebay for months, then someone buys 100 and i'm already at $460 profit.

At one time i paid for a stall at the other flea market, $100 month only open on sundays. I sold a lot of household goods, clothes etc that we never use. It all went pretty quick then it slowed to a crawl after a few months. I always search out new vendors or people who i have never seen sell before. That is where you get the deals, if you get there early. I avoid all the regular weekly sellers except a few who bring new stuff each week.

I paid $100 for this at the 1984 Chattanooga Hamfest....

[rrobbone]

I paid $100 for this at the 1984 Chattanooga Hamfest....

ES-335TD.JPG

Yeah, but you're keeping that.

One does not make money that way.

[mickey]

I paid $100 for this at the 1984 Chattanooga Hamfest....

ES-335TD.JPG

Yeah, but you're keeping that.

One does not make money that way.

Nope, it is long gone.
I made $1600 on it.