Your first flip in 5 steps
Never resold anything? That's fine. Here's how we'd do a first one, carefully, with money you can afford to have tied up for a few weeks.
Pick a FLIP call
Start with a drop we've called FLIP on the calendar. Read the comps on its page: VERIFIED SOLD means someone actually paid that price. REPORTED is secondhand, and ASK is only what a seller hopes to get.
Only buy what you can get out of
Buy if the store gives you free returns, or if verified sales are clearly above break-even (the price where you stop losing money after fees). If neither is true, skip it. There's always another drop.
Choose where to sell
Each drop page has a How to sell it box. Generally: eBay reaches the most buyers and protects sellers. Mercari is a simpler backup. Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and people you know are best for bulky or heavy things, since you skip shipping.
Price from sold listings, not asks
On eBay, search the exact item and turn on the Sold items filter. Price near the middle of recent sales. Lots of listings asking $400 means nothing if the sales are at $200.
Ship it or meet up safely
Shipping: pack it well, take photos before you seal the box, and always use tracking. Meeting locally: meet in daylight at a busy public spot (many police stations have a safe exchange zone), bring a friend if you can, take cash or a payment app you trust, and don't hand the item over until you've been paid.
How fees work
When something sells on eBay, eBay keeps about 13.6% of what the buyer paid (item plus shipping), plus 40 cents. What's left, minus what you paid at the store, is your profit.
Our formula: net = (sold price + shipping the buyer paid) × 0.864 − $0.40 − retail.
Example: you buy at $70 and it sells for $150 with free shipping. $150 × 0.864 = $129.60, minus $0.40 is $129.20, minus $70 leaves about $59. Sales tax and your shipping label come out of that too, so the real number is a bit lower.
An honest note
Some of our calls miss. Prices drop, restocks happen, hype fades. We post every result, misses included, on the Proof page, so you can judge us by what actually happened. Start small, and only spend what you'd be okay waiting on.