So I started out flipping whatever I could find at garage sales and storage auctions, furniture, tools, the occasional weird collectible. Made decent side money. Then a guy offered me a beat-up dryer for free if I hauled it away. Fixed the thermal fuse for $12, sold it for $120. Now my garage is a graveyard of washers, dryers, and one stove that I swear is cursed. I haven't flipped a single piece of furniture in three months. Is this my life now? Any tips on scaling back or should I just accept my fate as the appliance whisperer?
Appliance Flipping
My flipping business has become a used appliance operation
Lol, the cursed stove got me. Honestly, appliances are more reliable margins than furniture. People always need a working washer. Furniture is fickle. Embrace it.
I flipped a few dryers last year and it was fine until I had to move a side-by-side fridge up a flight of stairs by myself. Never again. Do you have a dolly? That's the real question.
Yeah I got a fridge dolly from Harbor Freight after the second fridge. Life saver. But my back still hates me. The cursed stove is a 1950s Chambers—beautiful thing but weighs as much as a small car. Can't bring myself to scrap it.
Chambers stoves have a cult following. Don't scrap it. Clean it up and list it on a vintage appliance group. You might get more than you think. Also, stop taking free dryers unless you have a trucck and a buddy. That's how you drown.
Second the cult following. I sold a 1940s O'Keefe & Merritt for $400 once. Took six months but worth it.
Six months of tripping over it though? My patience is not that strong. I'd have sold it for scrap by week two.
Not to be that guy but how do you test appliances before selling? I bought a 'working' microwave off CL once and it sparked like the fourth of July. Do you just plug them in and pray?
Pretty much plug and pray for the small stuff. For washers/dryers I run a full cycle with a load of rags. If it leaks or screams, it becomes a parts machine. Learned that the hard way after a washer flooded my drivveway. Anyway, anyone want a cursed stove? Kidding. Mostly.