There are so many opportunities when we pause for a bit and reflect on it. It’s hard to pause though when our life gets consumed with active work so we remain stuck in the same cycle of I want to do something different but there’s no time so I let my current state continue to consume and dictate my life.
Okay I’m waxing too philosophical. What I’m trying to share is there are so many opportunities we miss out on because we have no time. To be honest, that’s Okay if the 9 to 5 is the focus for now but not Okay for someone like me who is actively looking for a way out if only for a short while.
I follow Maxoutfinance on Instagram and they sometimes share about flipping sneakers and I typically go “how cute, this is definitely not for me as I won’t know where to start”. Well, that changed for me this week as I successfully flipped a shoe for a whopping 70% profit of €135.
I shared some weeks ago about decluttering and selling off shoes I’ve held on to for too long, which is still going well by the way, and this has exposed me to different reselling platforms. My original intent is to use these platforms for my declutter sales only and manage my natural urge to acquire additional items I don’t need.
Well, I’m a sucker for shoes and soon found myself favouriting items for the sake of it. On a random day two weeks ago, I saw a used classic shoe at an unbelievable price point which was 30% of the retail price but it wasn’t my size so I favourited so I can track how it progresses. Two days later, the shoe was still available and I wondered why nobody bought it yet so I made a ridiculous offer to the seller for a 20% discount which was accepted. It was at this point that my brain went into overdrive and I realised this could be a perfect flipping opportunity so I paid for the shoe and also paid extra for authentication as this appeared too good to be true. The shoe got shipped, authenticated and forward shipped to me. I inspected on receipt and it was in a great condition.
Life of cos got busy so I left it lying around for some days. I forced myself to take pictures and list it on another platform last night and the shoe got sold within two hours of me listing it. Before listing, I defined my minimum selling price and listed at a premium to that. When the offers started rolling in, it was easy to counter offer with my minimum selling price and close the sale. After the sale, I had a mini thought that maybe I should have listed higher or target a higher selling price but my rational part was quick to remind me that the goal is to sell at a price I was fine with and to not get distracted.
My key learning from this is two fold “Someone’s junk is another’s opportunity” and “Opportunities are everywhere as long as you are willing to give new ones a try”.
This won’t be my last flip so I intend to spend some time learning how to do this better and then make it a viable income stream. The initial investment and profit from this flip will be the seed capital for my flipping income stream as I do not want to clutter my home again.