"Flipping"

Flipping is a term I have seen on the web used a lot on bicycle forums. It basically means to buy something cheap - then resell it for a profit. Flipping goods has been common practice for me for the past several years - to the point that is is almost an obsession. Items come from Craigslist, garage sales, thrift stores, junk piles - where ever I can get something that I feel can be sold for a reasonable profit making it worth my time and effort.

Today's flip was a good one I think. I stopped by a garage sale on my way to work and bought 2 items - a 1984 Bianchi road racing bicycle in great shape and a hitch mounted bike rack for car for a total of $25. I was super excited to get the bike because I knew I could easily flip it for at least $250 (maybe more!) and if I decided to keep it and ride it the sale of the bike rack would fund my purchase. I immediately listed the bike rack for sale on the local Craigslist for $60 and sold it within 4 hours. Worst case scenario is that I got a free classic steel road bike and made $35 profit. Not bad right? I am still deciding what to do with the Bianchi but I think I will fix it up and try it out before making my decision.

As a bonus - I also picked up a Senseo coffee maker that looks virtually unused with an unopened package of 16 coffee pods for $5, (worst case scenario here is that I bought 16 cups of coffee for $.32 each) and a Calphalon commercial frying pan from a restaurant that is in excellent shape to use in my camper for $1.

No flipping on the bed!
This past weekend we bought one of my daughters a new "big girl" bed. (Of course it was a good buy from the HOM Furniture Clearance Center saving us around 40%.) The asking price for the metal bedframe was $59 - way more than I wanted to pay given the fact that not only are they cheaper other places ($39 at Sams for example), but I have picked up several for free from various places to use the metal in welding projects. Anyway, today I bought a perfectly usable bedframe for $2 - saving us 97% off the price at HOM Furniture. Not too bad. Man I love a good garage sale!