How to Start Your Flipping-On-Craigslist Career for Free (Buying and Selling Stuff for Profit)

There are now many ways for you to earn money. Being an online freelancer and working as a ghostwriter or virtual assistant, or perhaps doing dropshipping and starting your own career as an influencer are surefire ways to earn good money.

But there’s something better than that, and that’s by flipping.

Flipping is another term for buy-and-sell, however this time, you do it on Craigslist. But what if you don’t have the money to buy something? Well, that’s not a problem either because you can flip with virtually zero money!

Curious as to how? Here’s the answer:

Craigslist Free Section

Craigslist’s “free” section is the first place you need to go to if you’ve got zero cash or just don’t want to spend some bucks for your initial flip. This place is where all the things that people want to get rid of can be found.

This can be anything from old couches, antique vases, or some fancy-looking towel. Whichever it is, the items found in the free section aren’t for sale. Their owners just want to get rid of them. If they don’t like the item, then why not get it?

Not only are you getting something for free, but you also get the chance to refurbish that item, make it look good by getting high-quality photos of it, and selling it back on Craigslist. And it doesn’t matter if you sold it for a high price or low price because, at least, you got something.

You simply pick the item up, repost them and make sure to follow the site’s specific guidelines, and voila, you’re done! You then simply just have to wait until someone finds it interesting and pursues to buy it.

Make sure, though, that you write the ad posting in the best way possible. Take note of your grammar, the adjectives used to describe the item, as well as its details.

And don’t forget to take superb high-quality pictures of the item. You want to make it look appealing so that they become sellable.

Be fast (really fast).

Flipping might sound easy because you basically just buy (in this case get) something and then sell it again at a higher price. While that’s true, it’s crucial that you also need to be fast — really fast.

You can earn $600 in one week or $600 in one month. The reason why there’s this difference is just because of speed.

If you’re fast in finding good deals, you pick up the item in the soonest possible time, do fast but proper work in the refurbishing and rebranding as well as in the posting, then you increase your earning potential. In simpler words, the faster you post, the faster you sell.

You want to keep up with the pace so that you can also keep the flipping cycle continuous for your own sake.

The profit you earn then piles up, so next time you flip something, you no longer have to settle for the free section. This also means that you get better quality items that can bring you higher profits

Consider everything.

If you want to start flipping without spending any cash, then you want to lower down your expectations and just simply — consider everything. Don’t be too picky in getting cool-looking items or something that interests you.

It can either be a simple dishwasher, a worn-down table, or perhaps a CRT TV, the type of TV that looks like a box from the old days.

All items, no matter how crappy-looking or useless you may see still has value. Don’t look at it from your own perspective. Instead, look at it from the market’s perspective. Think if the market needs this or will the item bring value to them.

Are they going to need it for their day-to-day lives? Will this make them more comfortable in carrying about some important task?

Or maybe this has become a novelty item and someone might want to keep it as a collection? The possibilities are endless so you want to think outside the box and see things in a different perspective.

Be creative.

Being creative is another tip you always need to bring with you if you’re a low-key flipper. Because, trust me, you’ll turn out to be a high-baller later on by simply being creative. When choosing an item, check if this has different uses.

Take for example an old-school GPS unit. These aren’t anymore useful these days because all cars have built-in GPS navigator touch screen panels. But that doesn’t mean you’ll just have to pass on this just because they’re very cheap now.

Why? Well, a GPS unit such as a Garmin has a speedometer that shows how fast you are going, along with the time and date. Sounds useless, right, especially in today’s tech-driven world.

But this still has a use, thanks to its speedometer sign. How? Well, as a speedometer for a worn-out car. This is a real-life example that just shows the importance of thinking outside the box and being creative in choosing an item you’re going to flip on Craigslist.

Confidence to buy.

Have the courage and the determination to buy and get something because you believe this is going to sell and you’re going to profit from it no matter how high or low. Never think that the item you think looks bad and useless isn’t going to sell just because you think it won’t.

Be confident in knowing that flipping is one of the easiest ways of earning fast cash as long as you do it right, and of course, fast. And it’s also about proper timing and knowing your target market’s needs.

What do you think of our flipping advice? Are you willing to try it now or you have some other tips you might want to share with us? If so, feel free to voice them out in the comments section below. We would be more than happy to hear from you!

You might also want to check out The Flipping Ninja Blueprint if you want to improve your flipping skills and make more money out of this highly-profitable side hustle.