The Friday Flip Vol. 1

When I was a kid my dad had a friend named David. One of David's favorite hobbies was buying and selling watches. Periodically I would hear him say he wanted to "buy low and sell high". That was his mantra when it came to moving a watch.

Years later, when I was in my early 20s and had far too much time on my hands, I got into flipping as a hobby. I would drive around the Chicago suburbs, hitting up a circuit of Goodwills, Savers, and other thrift stores, looking for anything that interested me. Eventually I settled on toys from the 90s. They made me feel nostalgic, and finding something out in the wild was akin to finding buried treasure.

That's what I love most about flipping: The Hunt. It's that feeling of triumph that wells up when I come across something exciting. The discovery itself is actually more fulfilling than whatever profit is made from flipping it. It's getting to say "yeah I actually owned one of those things at one point". It's the accrual of random, trivial knowledge about a niche. It's the satisfaction that comes with knowing you found a great deal.

Some of my favorite flips I've ever done are:

• Lego Maersk Container ship $50 into $400
• Yu-Gi-Oh duel disks $30 into $200
• Commodore 64 computer $50 into $350

I recently decided to get back into flipping and thought I'd write about my experience here. I've already sold some old tech I had lying around to get a bankroll started, and am currently sitting at $413.54 in operating funds.

Welcome to the Friday Flip!

Each Friday I'll write briefly write about my experience for the past week. Documenting anything interesting I found, learned, or did. I'll try my best to have two consistent features - flip of the week and find of the week. With that here are this weeks entries.

Flip of the week: Patagonia men's shorts. Bought for $9, sold for $18.

Find of the week: Women's Allbirds Tree Dashers. Bought for $10. They're in great condition, and I expect them to sell for $60-$70.

That's all for volume 1 of The Friday Flip. I'm excited to see where this weekly report goes and the things I'll learn along the way.

Happy hunting!

• Micah