Happy Wednesday!

A couple weeks ago I was swiping Instagram and I came across this guy Tim who makes six figures a year- working part time and golfing a ton. He's got kids, his wife works, and he has become a master reseller.

He used to be a nurse grinding 16 hour doubles to stay afloat. He was headed toward a mental health crisis and needed something to replace the overtime income without destroying his life.

He’s called the @fulltimeflipper on Instagram, and he flips couches in rural Canada on Facebook Marketplace.

He started with a $450 hitch on a Mazda 5, borrowed his brother's trailer, and made $3,000 in his first two and a half weeks.

I’m going to walk you through how he does it and how you could do the same thing in your city. Remember- you can make money by copying systems that work. Systems that have been proven.

And if you’re interested in this business and want to learn more- we dive into all the details on the full podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts .

His Business Model:

Tim drives from his rural area into the city, where inventory is dense and nobody owns trucks. He buys premium couches from people in Tesla and BMW neighborhoods who just want their stuff gone. Then he hauls them back to his area where he's the only game in town with delivery capability.

That's it. Geographical arbitrage meets truck privilege.

His numbers from 2023: $183,000 in sales, $120,000 gross profit, roughly $90,000 after expenses. Working maybe three solid pickup days per week. His rule? He doesn't put pants on for less than a thousand bucks profit.

How to Find the Deals

Tim's entire sourcing strategy comes down to one thing: positioning yourself to be first when desperation hits.

He doesn't refresh Facebook Marketplace all day hunting for underpriced listings. Instead, he does one big shopping session per week where he starts 30 conversations with sellers. Not lowball offers. Just conversations.

Then he waits.

When someone's situation changes, he gets notified because the price drops, the description changes, or they mark it pending- then suddenly it's available again. That means someone bailed. That's when Tim swoops in.

The questions he asks to qualify sellers are surgical. He's looking for three things: impatience, indifference, and ignorance.
-Impatience means a hard deadline like a move date or new furniture arriving.
-Indifference means they just want it gone.
-Ignorance means they don't realize grandma's hand-me-down Bernhardt sectional was originally eight grand.

If there’s no rush, a “just thinking about redecorating," there's no opportunity. But if someone tells you their new couch arrives on the 20th, that's money.

Green Flags in Listings: You can spot a motivated seller from the photos alone: The couch is already in the garage or driveway? Blocking the foyer? Or you can see the new couch in the background of the photo?

These are the people that need you. They just don't know it yet.

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Okay- Let’s Talk What to Buy:

Tim focuses exclusively on premium couches. (Restoration Hardware. Arhaus. Lazy Boy sectionals...) Anything built to last that originally cost five figures.

His customers are homeowners who bought cheap furniture, watched their kids and dogs destroy it in three years, and now want something bulletproof. They'd rather pay $1,500 for a couch that cost $8,000 new than roll the dice at the box store again.

Tim's ceiling is typically $2,500 per couch. His best flip ever? A Restoration Hardware piece that he bought for $200.. And sold for $5,200. He had six people ready to send money immediately.

FB Marketplace Video

Tim pioneered video inspections on Facebook Marketplace before it was even a feature. When someone messaged him, he'd immediately send a 59 second video showing every flaw, every scratch, every reason NOT to buy the couch. Now you can, and should, put up a video along with your listing photos.

Yeah, sounds counterintuitive but it builds massive trust. Buyers think: if he showed me all that, there's nothing he's hiding. Site unseen purchases with delivery became common.

And building trust doesn’t have to take forever. You don’t have to type the same messages over and over. Tim uses keyboard shortcuts on his phone for everything. Type "yy" and it expands to "Yep, still available. Here's a quick video inspection." Type "ht" and it becomes "Is there someone there to help me lift it? I'll be alone."

You can also batch questions based on the listing. If it says pet free and smoke free, he skips those questions. If it's leather, he asks about repairs. If it's fabric, he asks about stains.

Then he pumps the brakes with a: "Starting to have a peek at options, might get back to you." This does two things. It keeps him from seeming desperate. And it earns goodwill because everyone else ghosted them. When he comes back with a polite lowball offer, they're grateful someone actually followed up.

Your Real Opportunity

You can hop on FB Marketplace today. Very little barrier to entry.

There is opportunity in your own city, maybe your own neighborhood. Tim operates in Muskoka, Canada, which has 66,000 people. This isn't some massive metro area with unlimited inventory. He just positioned himself as the guy with the trailer who actually shows up.

Every market has premium furniture that rich people want gone fast. Every market has buyers who want quality without paying retail. The middle is wide open.

Here’s advice for anyone who hates their job: if you can lift half a couch and you've got access to a truck or trailer, this is a great transition gig to supplement or replace your income while you figure out what's next. Everything is figureoutable.

And again- we dive into all the details on the full podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts if you’re interested in learning more. Also, go follow Tim at @thefulltimeflipper on Instagram. He holds nothing back.

Get out there and take action.

Have a great week!

Chris

P.S. I share deep dives on business ideas and complete playbooks three times a week on YouTube and every podcast platform.