What's up, Pro Flippers?On today's episode, we have a special treat for you.We are talking to Flipper University alumni, Gina.
Gina is killing it in her flipping business with these high profit flips.She does the bigger items.She's going to talk to us of how she sold $14,000 in just the last two months and how she really got on this trajectory.
So it's really, it's going to be a fun interview.So definitely check it out. Welcome to the Pro Flipper Show.
We're your hosts, Rob and Melissa Stephenson, founders of Flea Market Flipper and veteran resellers who have been selling on eBay for 27 years.
We're committed to helping you start, grow, and scale your flipping business while still having time to enjoy other things that you love.
Learn the strategies, tools, and tips you need to get ahead.Join us on this flipping journey to success.
So let's go. What's up guys, today we are excited to talk to Gina, a Flipper University alumni who has been killing it in her business recently.So we wanted to get some tips from her, how she's had so much success.
So Gina, thanks for jumping on here with us and talking to us a little bit.
Hey, thanks for having me.Thanks for being here with us.
And so let's dive right in and see, like, give us a little bit of background, how you got into Flipping, like what was the reason you started and where were you kind of before you started in that?
Yeah.So I found out about you guys through my husband.He was watching side hustle nation and he came across your, your interview and he was selling through FBA himself.
And I kind of learned a little about reselling there, but he forwarded the interview to me and I was like, Oh, I like this.Like this makes sense.Your business model, you know?
So that's, that was back in 22 and I joined the course and then it took me a little bit of time to get into it.But once, once I did, I was sold.
Yeah, I think I did remember that you said you joined, but then you didn't really do as much.And now the last like six to 12 months, you've been killing it.So what kind of flipped?
Yeah, what made the switch?What got you all in and going all in into the business?
Yeah.So I joined in, I think it was January of 22.And the next month I found out I was pregnant.So that took me out.I was throwing up until the day that I had my son.I just didn't have the capacity to take something, try something new.
And then it was about a year postpartum.And I just felt bad that I had, I think at the time it was like a thousand or 1500 to join. was like, I didn't do anything with this money.
So I just told myself there was a little bit of fear, but I was like, you need to at least get your money back and sell one or two items at the minimum.And that was the goal.So about a year later is when I was like, okay, let's try this.
And I rewatched all the program videos and I was like, okay, let's just go.And that's kind of where it started.
That's a good excuse.We'll give you that.But then you didn't let it stop you.And I think that's awesome.And because you invested in yourself, you're like, okay, I'm going to do it because of that investment.I think that's awesome.
Because some people, they don't do anything with it.It's like, go and use the information and go and do it, make it happen.
Yeah, we actually had one of our cousins.Is he a cousin?
One of Melissa's cousins just reached out to us today and he's like, I'm going to start taking this seriously.I want to start doing this.I want to start doing this.
And it's like people that you know that are close to you, you want them to be successful.But when they don't have that investment into it, sometimes when something gets harder that way, they can't push past it because they're like, oh, it's too hard.
I'm not going to do it.But you had that investment that you're like, I'm going to make my money back.And then after that, oh, man, you hit the ground running and you've done amazing.So that's so awesome.
Thank you. Yeah, so you jumped kind of right into the bigger value items.So, like, kind of walk us through that mindset.I know that's our business model.
It usually takes people a little while to get comfortable doing some of the smaller items and then they, you know, get the... We talked to Melissa the other day.It took her, I think, four years before she, like, took on the freight shipping.
But you kind of started with it and talk us through kind of how that went and what did that feel like?
Yeah.So in the spring I started on Poshmark.I sold like five items and that was a great little transition because they cover the shipping.You use the USPS boxes.And then I was like, let's do this.
And I just, I don't know when I try something, I want to go all in.I was like, I don't want to make $20.I'm like 2000.
So at the time I was also motivated because my husband and I were moving out West and I was transitioning from full-time work to part-time when I had my son.And then I was going to stay home with him. full time.
So I knew that we were going to transition to, to one W2 salary.And I was like, Oh, I need to do something to help in light of all the moving costs and things like that.And so I just gave myself, I had about four months until we were going to move.
I was like, let me just trial this out.I'll just buy a few items.I don't want to buy a billion and then have to ship the items across the country.So I did that and they sold really quickly.I was like, wow.And that the rest is history basically.Yeah.
That's awesome.What was your first item that you sold it and you're like, okay, there, this is going to be amazing.What was that first item?
So, my first eBay sale was for a Camaro Tonneau cover.It was my husband's.And the crazy thing is the few items we had just sitting around in our closet.I mean, he knew the value of that, I didn't.And it sold a week later.
And so, I remember at first like chit-chatting, I was like, oh my God.So, it sold for $800.Wow.Great item.It was super easy to package because it's rectangular. And then the next day we had another sale for 2,500 and we both were like, what?
It was just crazy.So it just started big and continued to pile off of that snowball.
What was the second item for 2,500?
It was a piece of medical equipment.It was something inherited, and I didn't know the value of it.I'd never heard of it.So I looked on eBay, and I had seen a similar model sell.And I remember being like, OK, let's just post it for this much.
I think we were going to try for $1,700.I was like, let's just put $25.And it sold the next day.
That's awesome.Yeah.I love when that happens.I love that too.I did that recently with the Panini Press and I put it at the top of the market.
I knew I was so high on it, but I did really good pictures and I did all the stuff that I tell everybody to do.And it sold within like a week or two.And I was like, man, I was at the top of the market, still sold.
I can't believe that it sold for that much.So that's really cool.So it is fun when that happens.Absolutely.
And you're also giving yourself wiggle room though, too, so that for offers to negotiate.So when you start at that little bit higher number, you know, you give yourself a little bit of room to dicker with the price if somebody does bring an offer.
Absolutely.So what is a tip that you would give someone who's starting out?
trying to get to their we kind of made $10,000 the goal like a big goal because they're like okay then you've really got this business going like it's moving it's going forward you're making some money and you're learning all the things to make it even better.
So what's some a tip you would give somebody who's kind of starting out to get help them get to that first $10,000?
Um, basically just have to source and find the items in advance.You just have to keep your eyes open and just keep searching on marketplace and then just list them.I think, I think I got the cost of our move was like $8,000.
And just from selling maybe four or five items, we covered the cost of our move out west.And then I hit 10,000 shortly after that.And that was just in a few months and it was just finding a few items.
And at the time I didn't even know the value of some of the items.I was like, okay, I'm taking a chance here, but. As you start doing it, you're like, okay, yeah, this will sell.
You have more confidence, but the beginning, there's this, that fear that you're like, am I just spent wasting money?And I'm going to keep this large item in my garage.So you just kind of have to take a leap of faith.
And in the community, it's helpful because you have all these people who've bought and sold these similar items.So you can be like, okay, well, if they sold it, I can do it too.So just go off of what they've done.
Love it.Such great advice.It is a lot easier when you do see somebody else.You're looking at an item or you find an item that somebody else inside the community has already done, and they give you the tips on that.
It's so much easier to be able to go in there and have their confidence because they've already done it.So I think that's awesome.And utilizing that because a lot of people have access to that community.They don't utilize it.
So I think that's amazing that you're in there and you're utilizing that as well.So that's awesome.
Yeah, I think it does.We've talked about that a lot.It is this boils down to the confidence of doing it.And once you do it, you gain that so much.Melissa, we talked to the other day.I was like, I wish I would have done it sooner.
Like I've waited so many years.And now after doing one, I'm totally doing it again.It was not that hard.But now you have the confidence that you did it once and you can do it again.
So what's maybe an obstacle that you had to overcome to help you get to that first $10,000? Besides having a little kid.I mean, that's a big obstacle right there.Having a baby.
Yeah.But that's what I love about it is like, it's, I do this totally part time.It's something fun for me and my husband during the weekend.Like we'll be like, let's go to this city down the road and get some dinner, eat out.
And then while we're there, we'll pick up an item.So I've always had him support. But I guess just self-limiting beliefs, you know, fear, of course, things like that.And for me, it was like, I really like my home to be orderly.
So for me, it was like, I don't want these things just sitting around and not selling.But I had that motivation of, okay, I need to make some money for this movement.So that's kind of what pushed me towards it.
But I think it's just those basic fears that we have, like, hey, can I do this?Or for me, when I joined you guys, of course, I really was like, is this a scam? Like when, you know, just to invest the money, it was hard for me.
And I was just like, no, it was listening to these interviews and the podcasts and listening to other people's stories.I'm like, okay, I think this is for real.Let's just try it.
And I think everybody faces that to an extent of like, is this just like a money gimmick or something, but it's totally not.It's totally doable.And it's just been fun.
That's so cool.I was going to relate that back to a story.Just over this last weekend, we went and spent some time with some family up in Georgia.And my brother-in-law loves mining, like digging for gold and rubies and all this stuff.
And having that feeling of, like, I think everybody feels that because when we got there, I'm like, he bought this big bucket load of dirt that's supposed to be out of the mountains.
It's supposed to have gold in it.You can purchase different levels or different amounts of dirt that you can purchase to look for these things.
And he bought a tractor load of dirt and the guy plopped it down and he's like, our guys go to work.You're going to be here a couple hours sifting through this, trying to find gold.And at the time I'm like, okay, well, is this a scam?
He just gave us all this dirt.What style, you know, where did he get this dirt from?Is there really gold inside of it?And everybody has those beliefs of a limiting belief of, Hey, is this real?Is it fake?What is it?
and then we started doing it and we started doing it and all of a sudden we see a little nugget inside the dirt and you start that the growth starts to go and then we ended up finding more nuggets or more flakes gold flakes and nuggets and other stuff like that so I think you're natural you're not I mean you're you're totally normal to feel that because everybody feels that and it's just trying to figure out if it is legit if it is true and we did the same thing so that's that's cool and thanks for being vulnerable with that thought process as well that's really cool
Yeah, I love it too, because I love doing these interviews with everybody because it does, it's one thing when you say, okay, well, Rob can do it because he's been doing it for 28 years.So he knows what he's doing.
He can do it, but can other people really do this same business model?And to be honest, when we started our core nine years ago, when we first started, we were like, can other people do it?We know it works for us.We know it works.
We weren't like, it works, but can other people do it?And then just having more and more people being able to do these freight shipments is just like thousands, 2,000, $3,000 flips.
I mean, that a month can totally be life-changing, which was just so exciting.So anyways, so not to go on a tangent. What have you made so far, if you're comfortable talking with numbers?
What have you made, like in the last year, I think you've really been taking this seriously.
Yeah.So it was about, in July would have been a year of like really trying.And I mostly just track the large profit items.I sell smalls, like if I find something free on Marketplace, just to keep the algorithm in my favor, you know?
So I track that stuff, but I don't know off the top of my head with small, but at a year I had sold, I think it was 20 items and I made 21,000. Wow.And around that time actually is when I connected with Jenny from our group.
And I know she had done those road trips along with you guys where you, you make, you turn your, your travel into work.
So I was going back to Florida to visit family and my husband and I were debating like, Oh, should we just fly or should we do a road trip?And we were like, no, let's do this.And Jenny encouraged me a lot.
So thank you to her for that, but that totally paid off.Like it was crazy. We bought like 10 items and within the last two months, I've made 14,000 just selling like eight of them.And I'm like, so just my husband and I, we had family in town.
So they were watching our son and we're like, let's just get out of town.So we went down to salt Lake city.And of course we turned into a little road trip and slash, you know, money-making and we picked up several items.
So my goal now is to make 50,000 this year, which. I'm going to be there in no time, but it's to probably do at least three or four of these road trips a year.It'll just pay itself off.
That is so awesome.You are amazing.That's so cool that you have actually done it and you came down and you're turning the road trips because that's something that Melissa and I started a couple of years ago as well.
and then living into that, isn't it so amazing to be able to go and do something, spend money while you're on the road, but find the stuff to be able to pay, anyways, I love it, I love it.
So you're amazing, I'm so excited that, yeah, you and your husband are doing that.It is, it's so much fun.
And when you figure out those little tweaks, even for just small travels like you did to Salt Lake City, I mean, you can turn a little weekend getaway, we just did it too up in Georgia, a weekend getaway to, you know, a couple thousand to five to $10,000 worth of stuff that you're finding while you're paying for your getaway.
Absolutely.Anyways, that's awesome.So that's an amazing kudos to you.I'm so excited that you guys are doing that as well.
People ask us all the time, too, like, well, how do you guys do so many road trips?I'm like, because they pay for themselves.Like, we're working on these road trips.And it's fun, too.It's a game.So that's awesome that you're doing that.
So you got to keep us posted on all your trips.Absolutely.That's so much fun.
Next time you come to Florida, come check us out.I didn't know you're down here in Florida.That's crazy.
Well, we're moving back, so.Yes.
Jacksonville, St.Augustine area.
Just a little bit higher than us.Awesome.Cool.We'll definitely have to get together for sure.
So yeah.So talking a little bit about Flipper University, who would you recommend the program for?
Just about anybody.That's what's cool about it.It's like literally anybody can do it.You know, you, you can be 70 years old.And I think there's a guy in our group who's paying his way through college, several, you know, stay at home moms.
A lot of people end up doing it full time, but a lot of us are just doing it part time.And so anybody can do it.
How many hours would you say you're putting towards this a week? Like I know it varies, I'm sure.
Yeah.I don't really know, especially with doing like the road trips, like you count that.That's fun too.Yeah.
And then once you start selling, like I've had several freight items go out, I mean, I'm driving to the terminal a lot, so it's hard, but like in terms of sourcing, you know, I'll probably look on marketplace twice a day, three times a day and just scroll a little bit.
And then you'd probably make a trip down to the nearest city. once a week, maybe once every two weeks.It's hard to say, but it's definitely part time.And I fix up items, I clean them while my son's napping or at nighttime.
So during the day I'm with him completely, not worrying about this stuff.And if I did have anything pop up on eBay or, you know, it's all through your phone.So you could do this literally anywhere.
That's awesome.And the cool part is, like you said, this is on your own time.You can do it.You can plan the time to go pick up stuff.You can plan the time to work on stuff, to ship stuff out.
When we do freight shipping, we give ourselves five days, which is all the way through a weekend, which is important because you don't want to, I mean, we don't have a job for a reason.
I don't want somebody dictating what I'm doing every minute of the day.I want to have that freedom to do it.And it sounds like you're living into that amazingly, which is so, so cool as well.
Yeah.Yeah.Yeah.That's really when we jumped in full-time and like we say full-time, but it was still part-time.We do part-time hours now, I feel like in the flipping business because we do a lot of the coaching podcasts and all that stuff too.
But when we had little kids, it was amazing to have this as a business because you do, like you can do it in the pockets when they're napping, when after they go to bed.And I mean, I love that we were able to be present for us.
Not that nothing wrong with going to daycare or any of that, but we wanted to have our kids home with us.And that was a big thing for us, which is why we dove into this as much as we did.So I'm so awesome that you get to experience that.I love that.
Yeah, it's a huge blessing for sure.And I'm making more money now than when I was working 40 hours a week.And treasure hunting.And you have your own schedule.
Somebody's not dictating your 40 hours.You're working when you want to work and it's part-time.So that is exciting.That's really cool.Absolutely.
You're probably never going to want to go back and get a regular job now, right?You're probably ruined.So does your husband still sell on FBA? No, no, he just did that temporarily, but it was cool.
It's what got me into this.And so I'm glad he did it.He focused more on like smalls and you make 30 bucks, 40 bucks.And I was like, why are you wasting your time?
There is something once that, like you flip that switch of like, okay, now you're kind of, it's like, I'm going to sell something for a hundred dollars.Is it even worth my time to list it?And it's like, yes it is, but is it really?
So you kind of get that threshold.It goes higher and higher after you start doing these larger items, which is pretty cool.Absolutely. Awesome.
So anything else you would like to tell somebody who might be on the fence of thinking of doing this as a business or as a side hustle who might have some fears of getting started?What would you maybe tell them?
Let's say you just, you just got to jump in.Like if there's a tug on your heart, you want to try it.Just go ahead.Invest into it and then just jump in.
And luckily this has got a built-in community that you can literally reach out to people, ask questions.And when things do come up, cause they do just things with shipping and refunds, all that stuff on selling on eBay.You've got help.
You've got people who've been through it.They've done that.So you have all the resources and it's just a matter of. believing in yourself and finding the items and then letting them sell on their own.
Now you did, if I remember correctly, you did have an issue when you first started that you were selling too much stuff too quickly.Right.Was that like eBay flagged your account for in the beginning because it was, you were doing too much.
Yeah so I was lucky in that my husband already had an account he was buying things so I didn't have that you can only sell I think it's like 10 items at a time I didn't have that limit and I was like well let's just go with it and yeah the first few items I sold happened to be a couple thousand so yeah they have that rule or whatever where they have to they flag anybody who's reached a certain threshold like 5,000 or 2,000 or something
And so there was a period of like a month and a half, I reached out to her, I was like, what do I do?And I just have to provide all the information like, hey, here's my receipts, here's my license, things like that.
And then they were like, okay, you're good.At the moment, it was a little bit of a scare.Yeah.
but it worked too good.It did, yeah.And eBay's there to protect people.So the biggest thing is they're trying to make sure that you're not- Legit.
Exactly, you're not a fly-by-night, you're not out there selling something that's stolen, something like that.
So in the hindsight 2020, it was not fun to go through, but at the same time, they're just trying to protect both sides of the sale, which is really, really cool.
I just think it's funny that she sold too much too quick that it- Yeah, that's amazing.I'm not funny, because you had to go through it, but you got through it and did all the right things- That's awesome.
And got it all approved, but I think that's just so cool. It works.If you work it, it works.And I love that.
Yeah.Any other questions?Excuse me.
No, I think that's awesome.Gina, you're so amazing.You're such an inspiration to us for sure.So I'm so excited to how amazing you're getting, you know, the results and you're, you're putting the work into it.
So thanks for spending some time with us and giving some tips.I know you're going to help somebody else out there who needs to just believe in themselves to be able to do this.
And you're living proof that that's all you really have to do is believe in yourself and you can get the same results.So it's really, really cool.So thank you so much for your help and your time.
All right guys, hopefully you enjoyed that episode with Gina.She is so amazing and we're so happy that she's in our world.
Yeah, it's so exciting to talk to people who are doing this and following our business model and just running with it.And we absolutely love it.
And if you're interested to see if this type of business model where you're selling these higher value items is a good fit for you, check out our free workshop that we put together and see if it could work for your business.
You guys are awesome and we'll catch you on the next
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