Sold Cracked iPhone 4S!

This one took weeks to sell and I had no luck on Craigslist; I had to resort to eBay. My advice would be to sell decent conditioned electronics on Craigslist and sell your flawed/broken electronics on eBay. The reason for this is because your narrowing your market when you sell a broken electronic; not everybody wants to to buy a device that they would have to fix. So, advertising on eBay would be the best bet because you have a wider pool of buyers than on Craigslist. Anyways, I sold the cracked iPhone 4S for $250. Little did I know that any item $250 and up you will need to ship with signature confirmation as required by eBay. It cost an additional $2.95 for me to add signature confirmation, when I could've just sold it the item for $249.99 and save $2.94. Here's my profit:


$250 (sold for)
- $50 (bought for)
-$18 (eBay fees)
-$7.55 (PayPal fees)
-$9.85 (Shipping)
= $164.60 Profit

Sold Last Nike Roshe

I sold my last pair of Nike Roshe. I bought it a few months ago for a really good price. Check out the post here. I bought two pairs for $40 each. I sold the first one for $95 and I finally sold my last pair for $108 via eBay.


$108
-$9.48 eBay fee
-$3.43 PayPal fee
-$8.75 Shipping
-$40.00 Cost of item
= $46.34 Profit

Update

Sorry, I have been very inactive with this blog, but it's because I haven't been flipping much as of lately. I've been really getting into stocks and day trading. I've been doing it for a little over 2 months and the results are much greater than flipping on Craigslist/eBay and in a much shorter time. But I do want to get back into flipping(Why not? It's extra cash).

My next flip that I want to attempt is to sell my 2011 Macbook Air for enough money to buy the 2012 Macbook Air. I know that a newer model is coming out soon, so I really want to get rid of my 2011 before it depreciates as much as it already has. Actually, they retain their value pretty well as with more recent Apple products. I'll keep you guys updated. I'm currently looking for a cheap 2012 Macbook Air (~$800-900).

Also, I'm thinking about creating another website and displaying how I make money outside of work, through websites, stocks, flipping, referral programs, etc. But I'm still thinking about it.


UPDATE: The new MBA is out and the 12 hour battery life is really enticing. I might have to settle for that instead...

iPhone 4 Sold!

I bought a broken iPhone 4 as part of a three phone deal a few weeks ago. I finally sold it on Craigslist for $110. My original asking price was $120. I'm satisfied with the result. I find that broken phones are much harder to sell, so unless I get them for insanely cheap price (like I did before), I will not buy it.

Sold for: $110
Bought it for: $50
Profit: $60

Samsung Galaxy S2 Bought & Sold!

So my friend had a perfect condition Galaxy S2 that he wanted to sell for $200 (this is after the S4 came out). You can probably get one for like $175-200 on eBay. Seeing that he was in need of money, I bought from him for $200 (good friend). I posted the phone about two days ago for $250 on Craigslist. I had a few people contacting me. Today I sold it for $240.. I was really hesitant about knocking down the price, but this guy from very persistant (trust me! I usually won't budge). But in the end, I helped a friend out and made an easy $40.

Paid $200 for S2.

Sold for $240.

Profit = $40

Using Craigslist to Upgrade your Electronics

I would like to share that you can also use Craigslist to upgrade your electronics. My plan was to get rid of my first gen iPad (it's super bulky) and buy an used iPad using the money I got from the first gen iPad. The idea is simple, sell the old electronic for as much as possible and buy the newer electronic for as low as possible, and hoping the two prices overlap at some point.

Back story: So I traded an iPhone 4 for a first gen iPad base model a few years ago. I bought the iPhone 4 for $200 and the first gen iPad going price was around $250+. I decided to keep the iPad for personal use.

Recently, I brought my iPad over to a friend's house and compared it to his iPad mini. I fell in love with the Mini because it was so much more portable. So I decided to see if I could sell the first gen iPad and use that money to buy an iPad Mini. I scoured Craigslist for weeks looking for the cheapest price and at the same time listed my iPad for the most expensive price I think I could sell it for ($250). $250 was not very realistic since almost all websites were selling it for much less. The lowest price I saw the Mini go for was $250 and I was too late to catch the deal.

I had to settle with the next best deal I could find; I bought an used iPad mini base model for $260 (it was in almost-new condition minus the finger prints). About a week later, I was able to sell my first gen iPad for $220 on Craigslist. So, I upgraded my first gen iPad to a iPad mini for $40. It was not my intentions to pay anything for the upgrade but I'm happy. (Oh, and I know a new iPad mini is coming out)


I know the same method can easily be done to upgrade cellphones too. Let's say you have an iPhone 4, you can easily sell that for $200 and find an iPhone 4S for that price. (Sorry for all the Apple examples; it's just that they sell like hot cakes)

This was the pristine condition iPad 1 with an otterbox case

Sold Nike Run Roshe

So a couple months ago I bought two pairs of Nike Run Roshe's. I thought I was going to sell them for a lot faster and a lot more than I did, but I finally sold one of them. I sold it through a sneaker forum for $95 via PayPal. I bought them for $40 each. So let's break down the profits.



$95 Amount Received
-3.06 PayPal fee
-7.60 Shipping
-40.00 Cost
= $44.34 Profit

SOLD! iPhone 4

I bought this phone a long with two other phones for $220 total. I will just put that I got this phone for $120, and the other two phones for $50 each. It really doesn't matter, but for calculation purposes it looks better.

Bought Black Verizon iPhone 4 16GB for $120.
Sold for $200. Sold through Craigslist.
$80 Profit.

SOLD! iPhone 4S

Bought Black Verizon iPhone 4S 16GB with box and charger for $225.
Sold for $320. Sold through Craigslist.

Profit: $95

Catching Up!

So I had a big haul from Craigslist today. I need to start catching up for the inactive last month. So today, I landed a pretty great deal. I saw an ad for a fully functional cracked screen iPhone 4S for $150. The ad included their phone number so I sent him a text and offered $110. He declines and offers me a regular iPhone 4 for $120. Seeing that he had two phones for sale, I made an offer of $240 for both phones. He then sends me a picture of the cracked screen on the iPhone 4S and it looked worst than I imagined. I lowered the offer to 220 and he still accepted. I knew this was a great deal; seeing as an iPhone 4S with a cracked screen goes for around $200 or more on eBay and how I sold my previous iPhone 4 for $200.

I asked him if it comes with the box and headphones. This is when he says no but says he will throw in a broken iPhone 4 that I could use to replaced the screen on the iPhone 4S! I was a bit skeptical as this deal seemed a little too good. In the end, everything worked out. I got 3 phones for $220. The broken iPhone 4 seems to be stuck on recovery mode, but if I can fix that I would be able to sell it for $200, and if not I can probably sell it for $100.

So now I have 4 iPhones that I am selling and once they're all sold I will have made up for last month.

Summary: Paid $220 for: 16GB iPhone 4S with cracked screen, 16GB iPhone 4, and an iPhone 4 that's stuck on recovery mode.

Bought iPhone 4s

Sorry for not posting in a while. I've been busy with work and I've also been getting into stocks. Getting into stocks was a natural transition because it's pretty much flipping. With both stocks and flipping on craigslist, it takes careful research and practice. I've been getting into day trading.


Anyways, I've finally made another purchase on Craigslist today. I bought an Black 16gb Verizon iPhone 4s with the charger and box for $225. I couldn't haggle him anymore; I brought it down from $250. But I'm happy. The phone is a great shape. I verified the ESN number through Verizon's website. I'm going to putting it up on Craigslist for $350 and drop it down to $325 as the days go by. I'll update you guys when it's sold.



Summary:
Bought Black Verizon iPhone 4S 16GB with box and charger for $225.

Buyers Beware

This was posted on Craigslist and I thought it would be good to share.

"Beware Craiglist Users..
Some scammers on CL are selling lost or stolen iPhones and it had happened with me 2 times.
How they do it...either phone is already blacklisted or sometimes they sell you phone and later report it lost or stolen to claim insurance, they get double money for the same phone plus new phone but buyer end up with an iPhone which can only b used as a iPod.
So to prevent this scam always ask seller to meet at service provider's store like AT&T, Verizon or sprint which one applicable to your phone service.
Reason to share this experience Is to alarm others before they get scammed like me.. Good luck"

Set a Goal - The $2000 Challenge

I started this blog about a month ago and I have made about $260 profit along with two pairs of shoes that I'm still trying to sell. I want to set a reasonable goal for myself. In six months, I want to make $2000 in profit. That's about $333.33 a month. I set this amount based on what I made this month and I hope to surpass that amount every month. It's a challenging, but reasonable goal.

It's always good to set a goal to push yourself.


Summary:
Target goal by the end of six months: $2000 profit

Fastest Turn-Around Time - Sold iPhone 4

So I bought an iPhone 4 this morning for $120, and I sold it a few minutes ago for $200 through Craigslist. These are one of those rare occasions where everything just went perfectly.


Sprint iPhone 4 Black 8GB
Sold for: $200
- Cost: $120
= $80 Profit

Bought an iPhone 4

I bought an Sprint 8GB iPhone 4 with charger. The ad was posted for $160 and I offered $100, but in the end we negotiated to $120. I didn't really look at the charger, but after the deal I realized it was some cheap generic charger that looked like the real thing from a glance. It's not a big deal though; it would have just gave me a reason to hassle it down to $110 or so. I was going to hassle it down to $110, but he agreed to meet me at my location, which is super convenient since I don't have a car (I live in a city where you don't really need a car). I posted it on Craigslist for $200 and $220 on eBay. But I doubt I can sell it on eBay for that high. I had a free Buy it now listing from before (check previous post), so I just edited the auction and changed it to the iPhone.

Summary: Bought an Spring 8GB iPhone 4 with charger for $120.

iPhone 4 - SOLD!

So I bought an iPhone 4 about two weeks ago for $120. I put it up on eBay and Craigslist. I just sold it earlier today for $180 cash. That's 2 for 2 for Craigslist. I netted a profit of around $60.

Sold for: $180 cash

- Cost: $120

- eBay posting fee: $0.50

= $59.50 Profit

 

P.S. eBay has free listings (including fixed auctions) up until February 21. That saves $0.50 per Buy Me Now auctions you list. I created almost twenty random, 30-day buy me now auctions and will edit them when I pick up something new for sale. Right now, I'm trying to flip the Nike Roshes that I bought. I have listed them for free using this method on eBay.

Summary: Sold the iPhone 4 I bought 2 weeks ago and made $59.50.

Nike Roshe

So a little background history about how I got into flipping things. This story goes back to when I first started college. I had more money (I had a few different scholarships that just deposited money in my bank account every semester/year) and freedom than I ever had in my life at the point. Being a young kid who never had more than a few hundred dollars I started splurging and wasting my money. But one of the things that I bought actually turned into an investment. I bought shoes, more specifically I bought Jordans and Nike SB's. Certain models, which I bought, were actually hard to get and were highly sought after. That's when I realized I could wear them and resell them for more later. So I had amassed a huge collection of shoes, where I could wear a different pair every day for an entire month. At this point, I posted my shoes on shoe forums to sell and I wore them carefully until someone bought them. Yes, people buy used shoes. I bought all my shoes worn, and sold them back for a profit after wearing them. I averaged anywhere from $30-150 profit from each shoe and I had a lot. I would browse sneaker forums and eBay every hour for good deals.

That was then. I have since stopped collecting shoes. However, I still have a bit of a knowledge of what sells. So this brings me to my next purchase. So a deals site I frequent had a posting that Zappos.com was selling Nike Roshes for $49.99 each. These shoes are pretty popular right now and I know certain colors can easily sell for $100+ on eBay. I checked out the site and it appeared the sale had ended as the prices were back to $70 (which isn't worth buying if you're only able to sell them back for $100). So I decided to actually call Zappos and see if they can honor the sale price they were offering earlier that day. I casually spoke with a very nice lady and asked her if they could honor the earlier special price of $49.99. She told me she heard about that deal but don't remember the exact price (even though I told her) and that she remembers it being somewhere around $40, so she'll sell it to me for $40.  I was flipping out with excitement after I heard that. I asked to buy two and she took my order over the phone and even offered free VIP for life (apparently I have free next day shipping for life with Zappos now!). So I bought two pairs of Nike Roshes for $80, which I'm going to list on Ebay for $125 each! 

Here's my receipt:

Zappos.com has the best customer service I have ever experienced before. I was so happy with my experience that I asked her if I could leave a feedback about my experience and she directed me to another associate. I actually went out of my way to leave a wonderful feedback for their service. 

Summary: Bought two pairs of shoes for $80 total that I can flip for $250 (not including fees/shipping). Zappos.com has the best customer service ever!

Be Careful Buying Stuff on Craigslist

I bought another iPhone on Craigslist, a regular black 16GB iPhone 4 for Verizon (just a side note: Sprint iPhones sell for more than the Verizon). I bought it through Craigslist. I emailed a few different iPhone listing with low ball offers (low ball is a term meaning offering a price that is much lower than the value of the item) and only one responded. The price originally listed for $220 and described the iPhone as in perfect condition which included the usb cable and box. However, in the response email he stated that the lock button doesn't work well and he would accept my offer of $130. I know I could sell the phone for around $200+ in the stated condition. We exchanged texts back and forth and I arranged to meet up with him at my apartment that night.

Unfortunately for me, it start raining (which makes things feel rushed because you want to get out of there quicker) and I met him right outside my apartment under a dimly lit overhead. I quickly inspected the phone, checked the ESN, (for Verizon, you can check the ESN through http://www.checkesnfree.com) and checked out the lock button. I couldn't get it to work at all. So I asked him to drop the price down to $120, knowing I could make over $50 on the phone even with the lock button being messed up. He accepted and we traded. As soon as I got in a brightly lit room I could see that the phone was not in perfect condition.

There were scratches on the front and back, dings around the corner, and a very small crack on back of the phone. Also, the box was labeled for AT&T and not Verizon, so I knew it wasn't the original box. It was my fault for not thoroughly checking. So this is my advice to you all who buy from Craigslist, MAKE SURE YOU INSPECT THOROUGHLY! After all these faults, I value the phone for possibly around $160 so it still wasn't a loss but I definitely would not have offered him so much if I knew that actual condition. I probably would've paid $80-$100.

So I put the phone up on eBay for a buy it now of $200 and will drop it down in increments of $10 every time it doesn't sell. I don't expect it to sell for $200, but I'll take my chances.

Here is my eBay description:

"Apple iPhone 4 (Black)

16GB

Verizon - Clean ESN

includes: an iPhone 4 box and official Apple USB cable.

Condition: Moderate scratches around the phone. Small dings around corners. Miniscule crack on top right back of case as seen in the pictures. The lock button also does not work. Other than that it is 100% functional.

Since the lock button does not work, there is another way around it.The fix was really simple and involved invoking a new ‘Gesture’ which made a small virtual button appear on the iPhone screen. To access it, head into Settings > General > Accessibility > Assistive Touch and toggle it to ‘On’. Hit Create New Gesture and a small white button will appear permanently on your screen, until you turn it off of course.

The button gives you a virtual Home button, and if you select Device, then you can Lock the Screen, control volume, shake the device, rotate the screen etc. You can also position it in several areas around the screen i.e. move it to an innocuous location on the screen.

Free shipping and I usually ship next day."

Summary: Bought Black 16GB iPhone 4 for Verizon for $120 on Craigslist.

iPhone 4S - SOLD!

So I finally sold the iPhone 4S on Craigslist for $300 which saves me the hassle of shipping it out. So let's give a break down of the balance:

Sold for: $300 cash

- Cost: $180

- eBay posting fee: $0.50

= $119.50 Profit


Summary: Sold the iPhone 4S I bought 2 weeks ago and made $119.50.

Common Super Nintendo Games That Are Worth A Lot

Top Common Expensive Super Nintendo Games

I've compiled a list of some of the most common valuable Super Nintendo games. This list will not contain any super rare or limited edition promo games. These are common games that I'm sure many of us owned at one point of our childhood and our parents gave away. Now they're worth a good amount of money.

The value is an approximation of this year's going price. The price is for the game itself, no box or manual.

Earthbound - $200

Chrono Trigger - $75

Zelda: A Link to the Past - $25

Donkey Kong Country - $18

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - $15

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble - $15

Super Mario RPG - $50
Super Mario Kart - $25
Breath of Fire - $25
Breath of Fire II - $40
Mega Man X - $30
Mega Man X2 - $75
Mega Man X3 - $150

This post will be continuously updated.

Classic Gems

Look at this deal. Yoshi Island and Super Mario World together is worth over the asking price of this guy. Too bad I live 45 minutes from this guy or I would've bought it. Listings like these are hard to come by because they're old items. These people usually are just getting rid of their childhood games and undervalue their collection. I will make a post about Super Nintendo games real soon. Someone can flip these games on eBay for over $100.

eBay Listing - iPhone 4S

I thought you guys might want to see how I list my auction. The auction cost $0.50 to list because it only has a Buy it Now option. I usually only use Buy it Now's for higher priced items as it requires the buyer to pay immediately. This is my description:

iPhone 4S
Black
16GB
Sprint
Clean ESN
Comes with original headphones and charger.
Also comes with black Otterbox case!
Phone is in great shape! Check out the pictures.
Pictures are of the actual items you'll receive.

The phone is still under Apple warranty until middle of February 2013 confirmed on Apple's website.

I usually ship the next day after payment is received. 

Craigslist Spammers

A majority of the ads on Craigslist are spam. These spammers replicate real listings with a believable description and a picture. There's really no way to differentiate between a real ad and a spam. What happens is you email them and they reply with a variation of..

"Hello

Someone just bought this from me, but I can tell you where I got it from.
I just purchased 3 of these from (insert bs website) and I resold them on here for some extra money.

The trick is to watch for bidding to slow down and then put in a bid.  That's what I do and I win all the time.
Regards

Sent from my iPhone"

Over 50% of the listings that I email to, I will receive a variation of the above spam.


Summary:  Lots of spammers on Craigslist. Don't put too much effort writing an email to buy something on Craigslist as the listing can be fake.

iPhone 4S

This is my first purchase since creating the blog. I actually bought it earlier today (like an hour ago). I bought it from Craigslist. The ad goes something a long the lines of.. "perfect condition iphone 4s for Sprint includes otterbox case, charger, and headphones. $180."

I will text the seller if they include a number otherwise I'll usually send them an email asking for their number so you don't go back and forth exchanging emails. Asking for a number also shows your intentions of purchasing the item. The email I sent him went something like this..

"Hey, I'm interested in the iPhone 4S. Do you think you can do $160 for it? Do you have a phone number I can text you at? Thanks."

I just send a quick email and also include a lower price in the first email. I usually bargain now rather than later so I don't waste time. If they don't respond; I move on.

The guy didn't budge with the price but gave me his number. It was still a good deal in my eye so I texted him. Now, after the first step I want to get to know more about the product. I ask him if it comes with the original box (always ask for the box because you can charge a premium when you flip it if you have all the original packaging and accessories) and most importantly I asked if the ESN is clean. If the ESN is clean, that means the phone is not stolen or have been deactivated from non payment of service. ALWAYS make sure you check and not just take their word for it; like actually call Sprint and give them the ESN to look up. I met him at a Sprint store and checked through them and everything was cleared. If you purchase a phone with a bad ESN number, it drastically lowers the value and it can't be used to make calls, texts, or anything provided by the phone network in the U.S. You're pretty much buying an expensive iTouch if you buy a bad ESN phone.

So I'm putting the phone up on eBay with a Buy it Now for $350, which is the higher tier pricing for the phone. I usually do a quick search through eBay's completed auctions to see what I can get for the product. If the item sells for $350, after the eBay and PayPal fees I will end up with 315.55 and then shipping will bring it down to a little over $300. I should hope to make $120 profit from the phone. Let's see how it goes. I will update once it sells.

Summary: Paid $180 for a perfect condition black 16gb iPhone 4S for Sprint with original headphones, charger, and an otterbox case. It's on eBay now for $350.

Introduction

Hello, I work a full time job by day and on my spare time I flip things for profit. What is flipping? Basically buying low and selling back for more. For example, you buy a TV at Best Buy during Black Friday for $400 and sell it to someone in the parking lot for $600. You just flipped the TV for a $200 profit. I've been actively flipping for years and it has become a hobby and a second source of income. I can't make a living off of it, but I'm able to buy things I wouldn't normally buy because of it. I decided I will document all my new "flips" in this blog. I know the title says Craigslist, but I'm going to post everything I flip from eBay to special deals in stores. I will also give little tips on flipping a long the way.