Make $1,000 a Month Furniture Flipping on the Weekends

Furniture flipping is an excellent side hustle. Why? Because it’s easy, fun, and can make you some serious cash! You see, I got started in this business by accident (I had no idea what I was doing at the time). Since then, I’ve bought and sold over a hundred items to the point where it has turned into a lucrative side hustle for me.

Today, I’m going to show you how YOU can do the same. The process is simple: find furniture that’s cheap online, make a little upgrade to it (paint, new fabric, etc.), and then sell it within the same weekend to make a handsome profit.

The process may sound simple but you will need patience. You see, there are A LOT of furniture flippers out there doing the same thing. Furniture is very easy to get at pretty much any time of the year hence everyone wants to do it during their weekends. This results in ‘competition’ which makes it harder to sell items at a good price.

This is why you need to read this guide all the way through so that you can start making some SERIOUS money on your weekend furniture runs. Let’s get started!

Starting Your Furniture Flipping Business

There are several steps for becoming profitable in furniture flipping.

Start Small and Learn the Ropes

First things first, it’s best to start small. You can’t simply go out there and buy a luxury piece of furniture because you have no experience in this field. What you need to do is learn what works and what doesn’t before putting your money into bigger items from places like estate sales.

What this means is that you should begin with smaller pieces of furniture to flip. You might not make much profit on these smaller pieces but they’ll serve as great practice for when you get better at this business. Here are some examples of the type of furniture I’d recommend buying for your first few runs:

• Smaller couches or armchairs with simple designs
• End tables or accent tables
• Ikea furniture
• Children furniture

You may also want to experiment with random household objects like lamps or decorative items to get practice.

Find Your Local Sales

There are several ways to find inexpensive furniture. The first, and most obvious way is through classified ads and sales online. You can get a lot of this furniture for free or very cheap but you need to be patient and check the listings every day for new posts.

Also, keep in mind that people want quick cash so it’s best not to look at items listed over $100 unless they’re truly worth it (very high quality, rare, etc.). Some online sites to begin looking include:

• Craigslist
• Facebook Marketplace

The other option is to go out there and get your stuff from yard sales, estate sales, or a flea market. This method works better during spring and summer when people hold more sales but there’s also good money to be made towards the end of autumn/beginning of when everyone needs some extra cash.

When you’re starting is best to just look for free furniture and very cheap items. Don’t worry about buying expensive stuff right now as that will come later on when you get better at this.

Sometimes you can even find furniture at retail stores that are heavily discounted. A good example is places like Home Outfitters that have furniture displays. These items are usually slightly damaged but can still be sold for a nice profit if you get them at the right time.

Lastly, do not forget about thrift stores. There are several hidden gems to be found in these places and you can make a lot of money if you get lucky. I once bought a brand new dining room table with 6 chairs for $60 at the Salvation Army and sold it for $500 (the same table was originally listed at Overstock.com for $1000!).

Making Your Repairs/Upgrades

Now, you might be wondering what I mean by ‘upgrades’ since it seems to suggest that you need special skills to do this job. Quite the contrary! If you’re somewhat handy around the house then you already have all the skills needed to make some simple repairs on furniture pieces. Here are some examples of things YOU could easily fix up:

• A new coat of paint (or fabric) to change its color
• Spray painting or re-upholstering armchair’s feet, headrests, or pillows
• Changing the style of a piece (e.g., from modern to antique)

These are all very simple modifications that anyone can do and they don’t require you to be an expert. You can easily get tutorials online for some of these things like spray painting, sanding, etc.

If you’re not handy with tools then there’s no need to worry since you can always ask someone for help (e.g., your roommate, friend, or relative). Just make sure that the person knows what they’re doing!

Mark Up Prices & Make Profit

The last step is making money on items. The way most people do this is by marking up prices by at least twice the amount paid (i.e., a $50 item bought for $25 becomes a $200 item). You might also have to pay for some advertising costs if you choose the online route so that’s something to keep in mind.

Now, this is usually the hardest part of the process since it requires people. This is the same with many types of side hustles, like curb painting. You can either sell furniture pieces on your own or through Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace groups depending on how much you want to make.

A lot of people are happy with making a little bit of money but if you want to make more then you should look into getting helpers (to reduce labor costs). Also, I advise against starting by selling furniture at flea markets as this is too competitive and doesn’t allow room for high margins. Once you get better at this business then it’s time to hit up open markets for your furniture flipping side hustle.

Selling Your Furniture

There are three main ideas to keep in mind when furniture flipping which I will now discuss:

• Type of seller (e.g., antique dealer, consignment store)
• Condition of the furniture piece(s)
• Your marketing plan (online vs. actual sales etc.)

These factors all play an important role in pricing and maximizing profits from your furniture flips. Here is how I recommend thinking about these:

Antique Dealer/Store

This is a popular place to sell furniture pieces because you get the most money and customers expect slightly higher prices here since items tend to be unique. If you’re looking to make more money with furniture flipping, then I suggest selling this way.

Consignment Store

Most people know about these places and it is a good idea to sell here if you want to make some (but not most) of your money back. A piece of furniture sold in these stores typically gets 60-70% of the original price, depending on where you go.

Flea Markets/Garage Sales

Prices for items sold at flea markets are usually low compared to other options but they do give you great exposure since many people go there every weekend for a few hours. This isn’t my favorite place to sell stuff but keep it in mind as another option.

Online

While I recommend using Facebook Marketplace initially due to its popularity and audience, Craigslist can be a great place for a furniture flipper. You can easily find people in your local area looking for nice pieces and this makes it easy to make deals since they’re right near you.

Condition of Furniture

The condition of the real wood furniture is perhaps the most important factor when deciding what to sell them for. If you have solid wood furniture that is in good condition then I suggest selling them for a premium since this is rarer.

On the flip side, if they’re very poor quality then you might want to reduce prices accordingly since most people won’t pay more for items that are falling apart.

How can you tell the condition of a piece of furniture? Here are some things to look for.

• Dents
• Stains
• Scratches
• Broken parts/pieces
• Aged appearance (i.e., look worn out)

Another important factor in this furniture flip side hustle is the age of your pieces which can have a big influence on pricing. The older furniture is, the more valuable they are since fewer people have them nowadays.

Marketing to Flip Furniture

It’s not enough to simply list your items on websites (like your own website) so you need to do some advertising as well. A lot of people don’t bother with this because they think potential buyers will find their listings themselves but I can assure you that this does not happen often. So how do you market your furniture flips? Here are several tips:

• Avoid doing this for free (i.e., don’t post your listings on Facebook groups and Craigslist for nothing)
• Set up a simple website and add links to it in your ads along with photos of each piece (for exposure)
• Advertise online using social media, Google Ads, and other advertising channels.

The best place to get ideas about current market prices is by checking out similar items that are currently listed online. This will give you an idea of what average prices look like so you can set yours accordingly as a furniture flipper.

Keep in mind though that if you do this then you might be undercutting the market so adjust accordingly based on your pricing instincts.

Basic Tools for Reselling Furniture

Keep in mind that the basics of reselling furniture can be done with little money or time investment. With this said, it’s a good idea to invest in some items which will allow you to save time and speed up your process. Here are two such essentials:

• Digital camera/phone (and charger)
• Good reliable truck or van (depending on how far you’re driving to buy and sell things)

The first point is important since having photos greatly increases the chances of someone buying your items. Having no photos is essentially leaving money on the table but more importantly, it lowers buyer confidence since they don’t know if the item is new or used, etc. If no one knows what you’re selling then people won’t buy it regardless of price.

Some other tools you might need to restore furniture include the following.

• Sander
• Glue
• Tape and other adhesives
• Putty knife/sandpaper (to remove dents and scratches)
• Interior paint (for touchups)
• Spackle (for larger holes/cracks in wood)
• Paint/Brushes
• Drill
• Screwdriver
• Hammer
• Vacuum

You can find most of these items at your local hardware store and they all come in handy. For example, a drill may be necessary to put new screws into old pieces of wood or a vacuum helps clean them up.

Tips to Start Flipping Furniture

There are several tips I’ve learned over the years about flipping furniture that you might be interested in following so that you don’t waste time with your furniture flip.

Pricing

Pricing is the most difficult part when starting because you have no historical data to work from. My best advice is to pick a fair selling price then start at that value and reduce in small increments until someone bites. That will usually be the best price (as long as it’s more than your initial cost).

Inspection

Another important tip for new sellers is to inspect every piece of furniture you buy carefully before going through with it. The last thing you want to do is buy items in worse condition than advertised since this will hurt your chances of reselling the finished pieces for more money than what you paid.

Cleaning

Since you’re refurbishing furniture, it’s best to clean each piece thoroughly before you begin restoration. This can be done with soap and water or maybe even something stronger if the wood is very dirty (especially if it’s real wood).

Start by cleaning up all surfaces but focus on any nicks or cuts especially since these are the most likely places for dirt to hide out in. Even if you plan on painting furniture or if you want to refinish furniture, take time to clean it the right way. It might be time-consuming but it’s worth it, especially when you make a few hundred dollars profit.

Choosing Which Furniture Pieces to Flip

There are several ways for choosing which pieces of furniture to flip so here are a few ideas:

• Smaller items that take less time to restore (i.e., nightstands) instead of larger ones like armoires
• Items that have high resale value due to their rarity/style/age (i.e., mid-century furniture)
• Local trends so that you can market to your local community through classified ads, garage sales, etc.

Location for Selling Furniture

This is usually determined by how much market research you do before taking on a project. If there are several competitors around you then it’s more difficult to sell pieces since everyone is selling theirs as well.

The best idea is to find areas where there aren’t too many people selling and start marketing your pieces there (i.e., yard sales, specific consignment shops). Plus if you don’t know enough people to buy pieces, at least you know enough people to help with moving pieces or touching up finishes.

Season of Year

It’s best to avoid selling furniture during the winter months (especially if you live in colder climates) since people tend to stay home more often.

After all, the holiday season is the best time to sell furniture so it might be better to hold off until after that or right when it’s over. Keep track of local holidays and times when people are typically at home/go on vacation so you can plan your sales accordingly.

Timing Your Sales

There are 2 different ways in which you can time your sales with furniture flipping:

Based on weather events

For example, you might want to time your sales right before the winter months when people are staying indoors more often or maybe even time it with a big convention in town so that people will have more money to spend. It all depends on where you live and what type of items you’re trying to sell.

A Note About Local Trends

Some regions tend to have their trends in terms of styles while others are pretty similar across the board. The best thing is to do some research before starting into anything since this can save you time/money if you choose not to invest in something that no one is interested in buying locally.

For example, some furniture styles that are very popular in some regions include Mid-century Modern and Shaker (less contemporary pieces). However, there’s no point in marketing these more traditional styles to a region where people like the not-so-typical.

Things to Watch Out For

It’s crucial to know what you’re getting yourself into before starting this venture. Here are a few things to watch out for:

Furniture that is in much worse condition than what you can/want to fix – it usually doesn’t make sense to take on the extra time and money required if the piece isn’t going to be worth much after fixing it.

Not researching furniture restoration – unless you have previous experience, take time to learn about the different types of stains and finishes so that you don’t ruin something beyond repair or cost yourself more money than necessary.

For example, someone who does wood refinishing might use the same stain color for everything but there’s no point since each type of wood requires a different type of finish.

Knowing when to cut your losses – although this is very easy to say, it’s also something you need to learn how to do if you’re going to be successful in the long run.

The best example would be a piece that doesn’t sell or one that costs too much money/time for repairs and not enough profit left over afterward. This will just end up costing you more time and money so take whatever steps necessary (i.e., selling them at a garage sale) so that you still make some form of profit from your efforts even though it might take longer than usual.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are several factors to consider when flipping furniture for profit, no matter if it’s solid wood furniture, antique furniture from an estate sale, or old furniture from a garage sale that just needs a fresh coat of new paint.

The best thing to do is list each piece on different websites and then track the resulting prices. This will give you a better idea of market value so you can optimize your efforts in the future when you buy furniture and then sell refurbished furniture.

FAQ – Making Money Flipping Furniture