For a lot of DIY‘ers, flipping furniture originally starts out as a hobby. Just something you enjoy doing on the side and would display in your own home… but then you started to really realize your talent when people who would visit your home started asking you to work on certain things in their home. You had no problem doing it for them but more and more people started asking for things, which led you to start considering going into business for yourself flipping furniture.
Flipping furniture is more than just slapping paint on an old rocking chair; when you seriously want to sell high-quality refinished furniture, you need to give your clients and customers what they’re paying for, meaning pieces that have been thoroughly examined and refurbished to top standards, especially if you want top dollar for it. This thought can leave you feeling conflicted about your reasoning behind your flips because your talent is shifting from becoming a hobby to a second source of income now.
Just because you will be profiting off of your talents doesn’t mean that your passion and enjoyment has to or will fade. This is something you can do at home and on your own time, still… the only difference is that people now recognize your talent and want your help on certain projects and are willing to pay you for your quality work. There’s nothing wrong with monetizing on your talents. We’re going to take a look at the best platforms to showcase your furniture flipping talents.
Sell at Flea Markets
Although becoming a vendor at flea markets have gone on for years, it wasn’t until the show Flea Market Flip came about and shed a bright light on the hidden gem of retail. The objective of the show is for two teams to search for flea market items in three different categories and refurbish those three items and sell them at their own booth at the flea market. The team that makes the biggest profit wins. Teams have sold their refurbished pieces and made profits of over thousands of dollars. So that just goes to show you that you too can have your own booth at a flea market and profit greatly there.
At flea markets, you can buy anything from pure honey from natural honey farms down to antique Civil War weaponry that was someone’s family heirloom… you name it, you can buy it at a flea market. Now just as you buy just about anything at a flea market, you can also sell just about anything at a flea market. Can you guess what one of the top selling items are in flea markets? Furniture.
With your skill and talents, you have the potential to make thousands of dollars at flea markets if you build up enough inventory to sell. You can give wicker chairs a makeover as well as thrift store lamps and have a wonderful financial outcome of way more than you initially spent.
One way to build up your inventory is to shop at local thrift stores and yard sales to buy different furniture and accent pieces for little to nothing and then put your DIY magic on them and turn it into a big profit. A lot of times, DIY’ers can flip different pieces and make it more valuable than it was in its original, new state. Many DIY’ers have seen great profits from flipping:
- Dinner tables
- Lamps
- Rocking chairs
- Headboards
- Chest of drawers
- Chairs and couches
When it comes to setting up a booth at a flea market, there are a few things you need to do:
- Pick a booth that is in a high-traffic area
- Try to find a booth that is reasonably priced
- Find a flea market that targets a demographic that will buy your furniture
If you need help in getting on how to become a vendor at a flea market, selfgrowth.com has 4 simple steps for you to follow to be on your way to setting up shop!
Open Your Own Online Furniture Boutique
Most DIY’ers do their projects at home, whether it’s in a shed or in their garage, they make their furniture creations without leaving their homes, right? Yes, so why not capitalize on your comfort from home? Before setting up your online furniture boutique, you will need to create a memorable domain name that customers will remember when searching for custom-made furniture pieces.
Your online furniture store will allow you to increase your productivity by making your furniture pieces at home, stage rooms to complement the piece, take detailed pictures with detailed descriptions, and post the pictures with pricing and details on your site… If that’s not a dream job, what is!
Customers will be able to see the craftsmanship of your pieces as well as the time and effort it probably took for you to create such masterpieces. The great thing about having an online boutique is that you set your own prices and can work at your own pace. You can post your pieces as you create them.
*One thing to keep in mind is shipping costs. Shipping furniture can get pretty pricey. Most people furniture shopping will not want to pay $150 for a chair when the shipping fee will be almost $300. But for your high-end pieces that might be $600, a shipping fee of $300 will be worth it, especially to a high-end shopper that lives for unique and one-of-a-kind furniture pieces. Remember…people love custom or personalized works and pieces and are willing to pay for it when they really want it.*
Sell Your Furniture Pieces at a Local Boutique
By selling your pieces at a local boutique, this will allow you to create more furniture pieces and physically get them out of your house. The great thing about selling this way is that your furniture will get exposed to daily traffic. The actual retail workers will be able to interact with the customers and provide them with information about the piece without you physically needing to be there… allowing you time for other things, whether it be grocery shopping or attending your children’s extracurricular activities.
There’s Nothing Wrong With Turning Your Passion Into a Profit
How do you think some of today’s biggest celebrities got their start? By turning their passion into profits. Ree Drummond of Pioneer Woman turned her passion for cooking into a profitable business and Chip and Joanna Gaines turned their passion for flipping houses into a multi-million dollar business. You can definitely turn your passion for flipping furniture into a very profitable business… and just think… it all started from a little hobby you did in your spare time.
