One of the biggest stories of 2021 is the disappearing worker. As the economy has been returning to normal in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of workers are not heading back to their jobs. There’s much confusion about exactly where people are going, and how they’re making a living. It’s believed many are finding some alternative way to survive.
This is a story about one couple who ditched their regular jobs, long before the pandemic became a front-page story. They’ve turned to a life and occupation of flea market flipping. It’s possible at least some of those disappearing workers are doing something similar.
You’ve probably heard that saying, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”. But sometimes there’s a lot of treasure in another man’s junk – like six figures worth. And for some, that junk can even turn into a career.
Meet Rob and Melissa Stephenson, professional flea market flippers and hosts of the website The Flea Market Flipper. They’ve not only turned flea market flipping into an occupation, but it’s also given them freedom to build an exciting lifestyle – one that’s free from the constraints of a 9-to-5 job.
They also think anyone can do what they’re doing. In fact, the purpose of their website is to teach others how to do just that.
In respect to this, how many seasons of flea market flip are there?
Flea Market Flip Season 14 Episodes. Two teams compete to find bargain items that they can spruce up and sell for a profit. You can also ask do street vendors make money? If we assume that sales per month are Rs 200000 and profit margin of 60%, we get Gross profit of Rs 120000 per month. Deducting running cost of Rs 60000, we get net profit of around Rs 60000 per month for shopowners on which they again have to pay income tax.
Each episode takes three days to shoot
Furniture store owners and season four, episode seven winners, Sarah and John Trop, opened up in detail on Sarahs popular DIY blog, FunCycled, about what it was like to be on the show. Sarah dished lots of juicy tidbits on the behind-the-scenes filming practices, sharing that each episode is shot over three days. The first day of filming is the shopping day. This takes place at a rotating number of low-price flea markets and antique malls in more rural areas away from New York City, like Brimfield Antique Flea Market in Brimfield, Massachusetts, or Elephants Trunk Flea Market in New Milford, Connecticut.
The second day of filming is the “build day,” where contestants have help from professional furniture builders to make their designs into reality on the quick. As Sarah wrote about her day two, “We had a master carpenter and a welder/builder that helped us most of the day…You have about 12 hours to finish the projects. We arrived at the workshop at 9 am and worked straight until 9 pm.”
The third and last day of filming, the “selling day,” takes contestants and their wares to the popular New York City flea market, Long Island City Flea & Food, where teams try to lure in big city buyers with deep pockets. Sara described “unwrapping” and “staging” their finished pieces, and hustling to sell them for more profit than her opponents.
Flea Market Flipping was Something of a Family Business
The home inspection job isn’t where Rob’s flea market flipping career began. I guess you could say he was kind of born into it.
“I’ve actually been flipping items since I was 16,” says Rob. “My parents had seven kids (I’m the youngest and the only boy), so they were always shopping at thrift stores and yard sales to provide for us. They started buying some things at yard sales and would resell them in the classifieds to make a little extra money.”
At 16, Rob had his eyes on a mustang convertible, so he started flipping NordicTrack ski machines with his sister.
People would move down to Florida from up north and no longer use the machines since they could exercise outside more. Rob would buy them for $5 to $20 and sell them on eBay for $200 to $900, depending on the model. “I even had one sell for $1,700 one time!” he reports.
Melissa married into it and the couple always used flipping as a source of extra money. It was money for vacations, unexpected bills, Christmas gifts, and other expenses.
FAQ
Is Flea Market Flip real or staged?
What happens to the stuff that doesn’t sell on Flea Market Flip?
What are the rules for Flea Market Flip?
How much do you win on Flea Market Flip?
