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

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Gear_Junky
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Awesome outliers like Mickey's aside... I have nothing against speculation (flipping), morally speaking, I certainly have that streak in me - I'm a haggler and I can flip things if I come across a good buy. But in my observation this activity tends to be a "race to the bottom" over time. Resale in general. There's a good reason why supermarkets and other retail stores, gas stations, etc. operate on a sliver of a margin - it doesn't take much to buy low and sell high, so competition drives down the prices (and also comes in forms of service perks, etc.). My example - re-selling audiobooks on eBay. They were on a particular narrow field, where people were willing to pay good prices, but it was very easy to copy this idea, so I watched new sellers join the marketplace and drive prices down. I wasn't the first, but I was early and I didn't set out to outsell the others, priced very close to them and chose to compete by better explanation of the product. There was enough business for the few of us. But new sellers quickly undercut everyone (and themselves), so it was just no longer worth it.

I hope it doesn't come across as pontificating, but the only true "business" is creating value - product or service. Producing. Even something as ubiquitous as a restaurant - yes, there's a lot of competition, but your food, atmosphere, location, service - can all create a unique composite "product" that is not easily undercut. It used to be easy to "start a business". Alas, it's been getting harder, by design, in the last decades. No, we won't get into politics and it's not a rant, but I'm just reminiscing and reflecting.

So to anyone who is in position: "don't quit your day job", but by all means flip any chance you get! :D And trade/barter when you can, sometimes that's a way to maximize your finds in a mutually beneficial way. And money you didn't spend on gear acquisition is money you saved and you are richer by that much :)
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mozz
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When you score something like that, you can sell it, make some money, or keep it and maybe sell a few others. I'd probably keep it. What would the value be now?
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honyock
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rrobbone wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 6:50 pm
honyock wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:59 pm
rrobbone wrote:
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.
I understood your point, when I walk into the dealer here to grab parts, I know that I am not among my type of people...the service dudes are cool though and they dig my ride so it is the only thing that keeps me coming back.
10 years, 2 months, and 8 days of blissful ignorance ruined by that snake in the grass Major Tom.
stacks
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I am hopefully about to flip my house 8-)
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Mossman
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I used to flip guitars back in the oughts, but I don't think it's nearly as viable anymore. This was in the days before Reverb, when all there was were ebay and Craigslist... Before the market was saturated and we were drowning in Chinese guitars.

Ebay was on fire as a guitar marketplace back then, and lots of good deals could be had on a daily basis, but now, sellers want too much and buyers want to pay a nickle for everything. I wouldn't want to get back into it, but good luck to you, Rob!
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Partscaster
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Do you already have a cnc router? I was surprised at how affordable they are.
Perhaps the programing side is expensive? I dont know. Or perhaps one can buy software for traditional shapes, and tweak those designs to suit?

If you dont have one, perhaps hunting inexpensive wood blanks of exotic woods to be custom routed could be where a profit margin is locatable. Plus stemming away from guitar bodies to wood carvings of all sorts.

There's not much cnc designing of art into electric body tops that I have seen. How about a Strat body with a 3D relief of Hendrix on the front, for example. Or a mountain range across the front of your Bo-Diddley body, or a relief of someone's old dog or cat!! Or vampire, or car,...etc. Custom routed guitar body art..made to order. I bet there are programs to help transfer images to cnc surfaces. But I dont know. Just a quick thought.
"The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted."
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