If you're taking the Tiktok Challenge, then this is a strategy I'm going to share on the challenge page. If you're new to the site, we are sharing our step by step strategies for making money and hash-tagging it #ilovemakingmoneychallenge (on Tiktok).
My grandma wanted to go antique shopping, and I usually take her once a month. It's a win-win for me because I love searching for deals & I get to spend time with my grandma. This trip was a little different because we had to wear masks & they took our temperature before we could get inside.
Now, it's Sunday morning. The place is empty & we have the full run of the antique mill. I'm looking for deals. Then, I came across this sale sign: 80% off. That means I'm paying 20% of the value, right?
This particular case had a ton of Christmas items but turned out to be a huge collectible case of Hummel Figurines. I knew nothing about the items. I quickly snapped pictures and found a desk to start searching eBay for recent solds.
I'm now turning the antique store into my own office. The visual is hilarious. I can only imagine what it looks like to the … wait, nobody is in the store right now. Nobody is judging me.
The first one that stood out was this one:

This one was listed for $2,500 on eBay, but the recent solds listed this one at around $700. They had theirs listed at $900.
- Price: $900
- x 20% = $180 Steal of a Deal…
If I can sell this for $700 at ‘buy now' price, then I would profit $520 immediately.
But… I don't want to spend any of my money on a no-refund purchase, as the risk would be very high.
I quickly looked up a few more until I found one worth $3500. This one is rather rare and has a buy now price of $3499 on eBay here. I quickly added this to my spreadsheet because I could get this one for:
- Price: $3500 x 20% = $700
- Potential Profit: $2800

Even if I give someone a heck of a good deal, I'm going to pocket over $1500. This cabinet was filled from top to bottom with Hummel figurines. So in order to make the profit without risking my own money, I snapped pictures of the items I wanted to sell.
I'm snapping pictures of the items in the cabinet without buying them. Then, I'm listing those items for sale with a buy now price. I make a profit without ever spending a dime.
I'm making a profit without putting any of my own money upfront. Check out this strategy if you need quick cash. Click To TweetThis sale lasts until the end of July, and as soon as they sell, I can run to the antique store to purchase. That's the only risk. So I put crossposted to let people know that I'm putting this on multiple platforms so they won't be surprised if it sells before them.
So, I post about 10 figurines on eBay and Facebook Marketplace, and before I made it back home, we had our first offer of $1,000. This was for a Hummel Figurine worth $4900. They had it priced at $2100. I got it for $420.
Total profit: $580.
I didn't tell you the best part. Because this is 80% off, they had a ton of $300 to $800 figurines that were selling on eBay like this one or this one. That means I can trade $60 to $160 for $300 to $800 all day long.
Now that the first item sold, I took that money and bought the ones that had recently sold on eBay. All in all, I stand to profit around $3200 after eBay fees and shipping. And we've only cracked about 1/4th into the case.
Once these start selling, then I'm going to list the entire cabinet. These antique ladies have never had this much business in Fort Worth, Texas!
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Have you made money flipping items? What's the most profitable flip you've done?