Flipping Challenge Week 1: $1000+ in 90 Days, Starting With $0

Of all the reasons people give for not being able to start a business, the most common by a landslide is not having enough money.

But the truth is that you can get to work on your business and your goals even if you don’t have any money at all.

That’s what this post – and the Flipping Challenge – is all about.

What is the Flipping Challenge?

The Flipping Challenge is simple:

Make $1000 in 90 days, starting with nothing.

To get started, you pick 5 items you already own and sell them on either Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. You then use the proceeds from these 5 items to start buying, with the goal of making at least $1000 in 90 days.

This is a challenge that goes out to anyone who wants to accept it, and specifically to anyone who is waiting to start a business until they have more money. Since introducing it earlier this year, hundreds of people have already accepted the challenge, and I hope you are next.

The best place to learn more about the challenge and how to successfully flip things is my course Flipping for Profit. It is a quick, text-based course that is packed full of helpful information – plus it only costs $25.

If you don’t have the cash even for that, pick something off your shelf and sell it, then use the proceeds to enroll. With that being said, the course is not necessary to accept, participate in, or complete the challenge.

This challenge can be started anytime, there is no fixed start and end date. Just whenever you do start, your goal should be to reach $1000 in 90 days.

Why take on the flipping challenge?

Like I said above, not having enough money is one of the main reasons people claim they can’t start their business yet.

So they wait and wait and wait, sure that one day they will have an extra $10k to invest in one of their ideas.

As you’ve probably heard before, ideas are a dime a dozen, and execution is what really counts when it comes to business.

The flipping challenge is an invitation to stop delaying and start executing. You may be starting small, but those first 5 items you pick can turn into $1000 very quickly. And that $1000 can be leveraged into more and more inventory, and before long you have a business that is generating a very nice monthly profit.

The odds that you’ll have a successful business in the next year are much, much higher if you use this challenge as a launching pad compared to sitting around and hoping your bank account magically balloons.

And if you still need another reason to take on the flipping challenge, it’s also a lot of fun.

Getting Started

To give you some inspiration (and someone to compete against), I’m having someone who works for me take the course, complete the challenge, and write a weekly blog post detailing everything he is doing.

To make it fair, I’ve picked someone who has 0 experience with buying and selling. His name is Dylan, and he helps me on this site with overall strategy, SEO, building out the pages, and other things like that – but nothing related to selling.

With all that being said, let’s get started…

Flipping Challenge Day 1

Hey everyone, my name is Dylan, and I will be your test dummy for this flipping challenge.

My current experience with buying and selling stuff online consists of:

  • When I get sick of junk, I list it on Craigslist
  • In middle school, I had a bulletproof plan to wholesale PS2s to sell on eBay (surprisingly, Sony said no)

Ryan convinced me to take on this challenge because I represent the perfect test case: someone who is more or less clueless when it comes to this type of stuff. I do consider myself an above-average haggler though, and I like looking for good deals – so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice…

For the next 90 days, I will be posting an update every Friday that includes all the details for what I’m buying and selling, with the goal of making at least $1000. I will be following his new Flipping For Profit course that he mentioned above as a guide but will not get help from him directly.

Today is officially Day 1 of my attempt at this, and I have already gone through the intro lessons in the course and picked the 5 items I will be starting with.

The course gives 3 rules for these first 5 items:

  • The combined value of the items should be at least $100.
  • You have to estimate the value of each item on your own.
  • The items need to be in different categories.

With that in mind, I picked the following five items from my house to sell:

  1. A 63” plasma TV from 2011 that doesn’t work right
  2. A lightweight plastic bed frame for a queen bed
  3. An 18-speed purple bicycle
  4. A double stroller
  5. A pair of brown Chaco sandals, size 12

From what I can tell, these items meet the criteria I mentioned above. They are all in different categories, and I estimate the value of the lot at over $100. I’d be happy to get $50 out of the TV, $20 from the bed frame, around $40 for the bike, $60 for the stroller, and $30 for the sandals.

That’s a total of $200. I don’t know if I’ll actually get this much, but there is plenty of wiggle room here so I should easily reach the $100 goal for these first 5.

Update: I completed the challenge! I ended up making $2457.90, and that doesn’t even include the inventory I still had at the end of the challenge. Click here to get more details, including my best items.

A new update will be published every Friday.

If you would like to be notified about each new post, enter your email to the right.

30 thoughts on “Flipping Challenge Week 1: $1000+ in 90 Days, Starting With $0”

  1. Hi ,
    I am already doing dropshiping on EBay. And also sell my old stuff on there. I am starting this challenge today but I have a question how do I sell a non working Plasma TV ? Will anyone actualy buy it ?
    I am excited to take up this challenge cuz though I have been dropshipping for over 3 months I have had a sale of only 300 dollars . So I want to learn more tricks and tips to enhance my sale. I soooooo want to be self employed. My own boss.
    Good luck to all!!

    1. The plasma TV I sold ended up working better than I originally thought. I had people interested even when I was saying it didn’t work at all though because they knew how to work on them. You won’t get a ton of money, but you might be able to get something if you put it for sale on Craigslist. I personally wouldn’t try selling that on eBay.

      Good luck!

      1. Hi there! I’ve been flipping on Facebook however locally everyone wants garage sale prices and shipping wasn’t an option for me by them so I started adding,
        “Shipping available by seller, FB not responsible nor affiliated.” l ran some posts with some of my item’s shown and shortly after they gave me the option of shipping however its on very few select items, even ones that fit their criteria. Between those two issues I’m ready to move to another platform or something because I’m making 0 to over $200 a week but the pricing is what’s got me. Selling $40 items for $8 is getting ridiculous when i see the same items on Amazon and Ebay. Curious as to is it possible to make my “brand” by flipping a possiblity on my own website or should I switch to Amazon or Ebay? I’m getting more product than I can keep up with. Are there any apps that you can scan & upload items to make posting a quicker process? I’m finding I’m
        researching and getting lost with so many options! Thank you! Janelle

        1. Hi Janelle,

          I missed your comment until now – did you ever work out a solution to this? I would imagine that doing this via your own website would be much more challenging than using FB and ebay. They have all the buyers.

  2. I’m in as well. I do have experience going back to 2015 but my first business went under due to personal reasons (mostly lack of time). I am going to try and rebuild it from scratch. That is new LLC new business insurance book keeper CPA etc. This time I want to raise some substantial funds before starting up the business so I can start it off with all the bases covered. Hopefully by then they will have worked out all the sales tax stuff around the country. I listed 1 toy on Facebook marketplace and 1 Starbucks cup on eBay. I will be adding 3 more items on Craigslist tomorrow and will update. 👍

    1. That is a great plan Bill. I’m not exactly sure what or how I will reinvest the money I make from this yet, but since I am doing it my goal is also to use the money to provide a solid launch to one of my business ideas. I have also been waiting until I had enough funds to start well (bases covered).

  3. This is exactly how I got started almost 5 years ago! I found unused items in new condition around the house and listed and sent them to Amazon. Unused crib sheets, unopened DVD, a couple puzzles, a water gun, and, my first sale, a Washington Redskins Garden Gnome!

    I started hitting up garage sales and discount stores and racks. My highest ROI was an unopened video game bought for $1 at a garage sale and sold for $130! I’ve moved to different sourcing methods now, but have grossed just over $2M since 2014. When people ask how much money it took to get started, I list those items in my first shipment!

    1. Hi Rob,

      That’s awesome, and congrats on grossing over $2M since 2014! That’s great proof of how continually reinvesting can turn into a very sizable business.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

    2. Wow, that is incredible!

      Do you remember what the video game was? I’m guessing it was a classic if it sold for $130!

  4. I am in, but I have a question if I sale my first 5 items, with that money I buy other items or keep the profit and sell other stuffs that I already own?.

    1. Hi Eduardo,

      Great to hear you are in!

      The idea is that the money you get from the first 5 items will be reinvested into more inventory. So the goal is to start by selling things you own, reinvest all of the proceeds, and turn that into $1,000 within 90 days.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  5. I’m in, I love a challenge! I am brand new to EBay as of last week. I’m getting ready to move so I will be listing everything that I don’t need on EBay or Craig’s list. I have never done FB Marketplace mainly b/c of the non-privacy.
    My 5 @$20+
    Brand new men’s wallet – $25
    Book Set-$20
    Acupressure Mat – $20
    Set of Golf clubs – $125
    Boxing gloves – $23
    Ryan & Dylan, Thank you for taking the time to create this challenge.
    Woohoo! Let’s go!

  6. Hi😊
    Is this course just for newbies? I’ve been selling on Poshmark and eBay for just over a year, but want to make more than I am currently (~500/month). Does this course hold any value for more of an intermediate?

    1. Hi Amy,

      Thanks for the comment, and great to hear you’re looking to grow your business. This course is open to anyone, but it is definitely geared more towards individuals who don’t have much experience selling items before. If you already have some experience, my retail arbitrage course might be a better fit.

      Let me know if you have additional questions!

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  7. I’m in. Does this course only show how to sell on Craigslist and Facebook? I’d like to do everything online where I don’t have to meet up with people, if possible. Thanks 🙂

    1. Hi Julie,

      Great to hear you’re in!

      This focuses primarily on Facebook Marketplace & Craigslist as those are 2 of the easiest to get started on. There’s some content on eBay as well, and there’s discussion of how to get other marketplaces, but it’s mainly focused on the ones where you need to meetup in person.

      If you don’t want to meet up in person, and you are looking to mainly sell on Amazon and eBay, my retail arbitrage course might be a better fit.

  8. I’m in, but I have experience. I hope to learn some tips and tricks. I don’t know what I’m going to list yet and that may be for a few days. I will count today as my first day though. Good luck everyone!

    1. Glad to hear you’re in for the challenge! and yes it does cover how to list. Let me know if you have any other questions.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  9. Count me in! I am following your lead and listing 5 items TODAY!

    You mentioned you have sold on Craigslist and had dreams to sell on eBay. You didn’t share where you are listing your stuff. I am really interested to know how many platforms you are listing on and how much time you spend listing those 5 items. I would like to see the cost of time included in the challenge. I have heard many use time as their reason for not being able to get started.

    I will be keeping it simple today and listing on 1 platform. If I am not getting responses, I will add another tomorrow. Thank you Ryan and Dylan for inspiring me to take action!

    1. Hi Monica,

      Great to hear you are taking the challenge!

      Dylan is planning on listing initially on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. He’ll be sharing more details on how it goes for him in future blog posts.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

    2. Like Ryan said, I’m going to be listing on Craigslist and Facebook to start. I also started simple though and went with just Craigslist to start. I’ve never used Facebook Marketplace, so I’m going to go through the lessons in the course tomorrow morning before putting anything up. My understanding is that it is fairly similar to Craigslist, just not private.

      Keeping track of time is a great suggestion, I will make sure to do that. In general, I would expect that the return on time to get progressively better as the challenge progresses due to having more money (able to buy more) and just being better across the board. But I guess we’ll see!

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