Flipping Furniture for Money in 2022 (The Ultimate Guide)

“What is trash for you can be a treasure for someone else”. This can best define flipping furniture for money in 2022.

Just google “Flipping Furniture for Money” and head over to the “News” section, you will get to read some amazing stories of people flipping furniture and making money selling used furniture of others lying around (regarded as JUNK).

People are paying off their debts and making massive profits doing it from the comfort of their homes.

So there is definitely something worth talking about, right?

But what exactly is flipping furniture for money and how can you get started as a beginner.

That’s exactly what we will be covering today. 

In this ultimate guide to Flipping Furniture for Money in 2022, you will get to know about:

• What is furniture flipping all about? 
• How much money can we make from furniture flipping? 
• Is furniture flipping really a good side hustle to start in 2022?
• How to start a furniture flipping business as a beginner? 
• 9 Best platforms to sell used furniture and make money online

Feel free to navigate to any section of the content with the help of the “In this Guide” section.

Let’s get started…

What is furniture flipping?

The term flipping means to buy something with an intended objective to sell the item in a short period of time and make a profit out of it?

This defines furniture flipping as an act of selling a discarded piece of furniture for a profit considered junk.

But how do people do it?

It all happens with a vision to bring the furniture back to life by giving a new look and feel and putting a price tag upon it for the interested buyers.

Okay now we understood what is furniture flipping all about, but there’s another question popping up.

Why do people prefer to sell their used furniture?

There are several reasons why you can get your hands on used furniture from others besides depreciation (7 years):

Loss in value

What value would you place on that old TV lying around in your house? Or what about that outdated computer gathering dust for a while.

It’s quite simple we don’t see any value in those assets and simply consider those in the category of junk. (myself included🤚)

Around 25% of people in the US have a major cause of concern biting on to their finance and that is the clutter in their house.

And what does this clutter mostly comprise?  You guessed it right.

It’s the furniture serving us for quite a while gathering dust for a long. It’s time to sell it off.

This is the reason people want to get rid of the items asap and breathe free.😊

Generally, people sell these items together, which is popularly called garage sales or yard sales.

Moving into a new place

Shifting into a new place can be tedious and needs and has its own set of things to worry about.

Furniture lying in the house can be a big cause of headache when it comes to shifting stuff.

So people tend to sell stuff to clear out their space.

Urgent need for cash

Sometimes an urgent need for cash can be a factor necessitating the sale of old furniture.

Whatever might be the reason, this can be a huge potential to start a business and make some good money.🤑

Okay, we have got a fair enough idea of what is flipping furniture all about and why people sell their furniture.

Let’s talk about the most important thing, i.e. “money”.

How much money can we make from flipping furniture?

TikTok user @furnitureflippingteacher says she flipped a couch for a profit of over $800.

Another couple Tiktoker Cameron and Sadie have made money flipping furniture for around $400 in 3 days’ average time.

YouTubers Jamie and Sarah McCauley have revealed making around $1000 a month with their hobby of flipping furniture.

There are more such stories of people who have found success with this business model.

These are strong indications that one can make around $400 – $1000 each month flipping furniture in 2022 or even higher.

But, we need to address the following questions first to gauge the profitability aspect of flipping furniture for profit.

• Factors that contribute to making money selling furniture online.
• How do you decide the buying price of the furniture
• How to determine the value of the selling price for flipping furniture.
• What goes into the restoration of a furniture

Factors that decide how much money we can make from flipping furniture in 2022

Flipping furniture for money like any other business can be dependent on several factors, such as

The Timing of purchase

The timing of when you decide to buy the furniture to flip it for sale matters a lot.

Buying furniture from a garage sale can give you the price of the same furniture at 2 different rates as follows:

1. If you reach the opening hours at the commencement of a yard sale you will get more varieties of furniture preferably listed at a higher price
2. While at the other hand when you get in at the closing hours of the yard sale, the seller would be willing to negotiate terms to get the furniture at your desired price.

A good place to look around your locality for Yard Sales happening would be by:

• Going through classified ads from local daily news.
• Getting in touch with friends and family enquiring about yard sales.
• Visiting the yardsalesearch site to get to know when is the next sale happening around.

Selection of the best asset for flipping and more

Okay so now you have got an idea of when you are about to purchase, but you can find all types of furniture at your end.

What do you buy exactly?

Here comes selecting the right furniture within your budget.

But how would you know which ones are would have more demand? 

Well, there are several ways to do so, such as

Trending Furniture

Follow what’s been trending along at the time you buy the furniture. 

This can give you a guide to what you need to have on the list of items to buy.

You can look into forum discussions on Facebook groups, Quora, or even Reddit to know what people are interested in.

The more you dig deep the more you can get what you would need.

Another place to Google Trends which gives you an idea of what’s currently in the trend

Have a reference to other sites

Look into the categories of “Top Picks” or “Trending Now” section of sites such as AptDeco to discover what buyers are interested to buy.

Have a keen eye for ads

Its obvious people will try to promote those stuff through ads that they believe can be sold.

So when you see a specific advertisement, this can be a good indication of which category to look in for getting the best furniture for flipping.

Here’s a list of the best furniture for flipping in 2022:

Furniture	Brands
Dressers	CB2, West Elm, or Restoration Hardware
Nightstands	CB2, West Elm, Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, PotteryBarn
Dining Tables	CB2, Ashley Furniture, Bob’s Discount Furniture, B&B Italia, WayFair, West Elm
Sofas	CB2, West Elm, Ashley Furniture, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware
Coffee Tables	West Elm, Wayfair, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware
Stools	CB2, WestElm, Wayfair
Entryway Tables	WestElm, Wayfair

Negotiation skills for purchasing the asset from the seller

One needs to be able to haggle with the seller to get the best deal from buying the furniture.

As this directly has an effect on the cost involved, a good deal buying cheap furniture can make the whole process profitable in the end.

Many times negotiating the price of something can significantly bring the value of getting furniture.

However, if you have your hands on an antique piece asking for a price well below its 50% value is not worth a shot.😐

Mode of transportation available at your end

This is one of the major reasons why people need to be careful while buying a used asset.

While you are out buying furniture to flip it up, transportation of the asset from the seller’s point to your place is a key factor.

If you have got your own mini truck or a car, then you can transport some furniture with yourself.

But if there are no modes of transportation available then you can hire a local transport agency to help you out in the process. 

AptDeco is one platform where you can go with buying and selling stuff without taking any worries about transportation.

Here’s a ready reference of how much furniture can be transported at once for flipping that can be in the specified vehicles as per their dimensions(starting guide):

Furniture	Car (55 cu ft)	Truck (77.4 cu ft)	Van (140.5 cu ft)
Dressers (24.19 cu ft)	2	3	5
Nightstands (8.85 cu ft)	6	8	15
Dining Tables (37.25 cu ft)	1	2	3
Sofas (61.62 cu ft)	–	1	2
Coffee Tables (11.28 cu ft)	5 (max)	7 (max)	12
Stools (10.23 cu ft)	5	7	14 (max)
Entryway Tables (23.12 cu ft)	2	3	6

Here are the dimensions of furniture used for reference:

Furniture	Dimensions
Dressers	Width: 55 inches, Height: 38 inches, Depth: 20 inches
Night Stands	Width: 30 inches, Height: 30 inches, Depth: 17 inches
Dining Tables	Width: 37 inches, Height: 29 inches, Depth: 60 inches
Sofas	Width: 87 inches, Height: 34 inches, Depth: 36 inches
Coffee Tables	Width: 50 inches, Height: 15 inches, Depth: 26 inches
Stools	Width: 25 inches, Height: 34.5 inches, Depth: 20.5 inches
Entryway Tables	Width: 18 inches, Height: 37 inches, Depth: 60 inches

Storage space used to carry out the furniture restoration work

If you have got a separate room to carry out a restoration that’s really great for your restoration.

If there is no such room available and you are looking to rent out a space to carry out the work, then the scenario is different altogether.

In either case, there are costs associated with it, such as:

• Electricity expenses for the space rented out,
• Rental expenses incurred for the space rented out.

Note: Even if you carry out the restoration work in your own space, still there would be imputed costs (hidden costs) associated with using your own space as discussed above.

Get an estimate of the rental expenses in your neighborhood for the same space and you can find the electricity expenses for the appliances used for the purpose used as well.

Determining the right resell value of the furniture

Before you start restoring the furniture, a major part comes in finding out the right value for your furniture.

This will give you a rough idea of the profitability of flipping the furniture for profit.

So how do you find the resell value of the furniture that you would flip?

Here’s how…

Age of the asset

A furniture depreciable life is for 7 years at max.

Something which has been used for 2 years will hold more value than something which has been used for 5 years.

So get this information from the seller while buying to determine at what rate you are going to buy and sell it off at a profit.

Generally, you can reduce around 2.5% for each year of use of the asset.

This means if an asset’s original cost is $1000 used for 3 years would have a resale value of $1000 * 92.5% = $925 considering other factors remaining the same.

Note: This can be a guide while purchasing a piece of used furniture.

Condition of the asset

This is quite correlated to the age of the asset. 

Generally older the furniture lesser the value associated with it.

As you buy the furniture assess the condition of the furniture to get a rough idea of its value of it.

A dresser that is 5 years old with only minor scratches has more value than> A dresser which is just over a year old but with dents and paints scrapped off.

So be thorough in this to judge correctly for this.

Brand of the furniture purchased

A quality brand has much more significance than something which has been purchased from a local market.

Strong joints, sturdiness, and weight of the furniture are associated with the brand attached to it.

This can also be a key factor to decide on the price.

Lookup for the value of the asset online

Source: AptDeco

This can be a quick-step approach to assess the resell value of the furniture.

Several places online can help you find resell value of the furniture such as:

• Craiglist, 
• AptDeco, 
• Facebook Marketplace, 
• Instagram, or even TikTok 

Having a quick search online can help you figure out what would be the ideal price you would place for determining the selling price.

Seek an expert’s help to add fairness to the valuation

This can always be the last option to get help from an expert who knows how to value furniture around.

An expert can see those things which you can’t see as a beginner start.

Points to Remember while determining the value of furniture:

• A fair valuation for an asset is given @ 70-80% of the original cost as per normal norms of practice.
• You need to factor in the restoration expenses discussed below to determine the resell price of the furniture. 
• Determining the selling value of furniture is a matter of experience and expertise which would need some time as a beginner.

Quality of restoration will determine the value of the selling price

Okay now you have got the furniture, here comes the crucial thing which is about what to do to help restore a piece of used furniture and give life to it.

The quality of restoration will help to determine whether your asset will sell for $100 or $1000.

Well, I am no expert in this😑, but I found a great YouTube video to help you out.

If you are short on time watching the video, here are some of the key things related to how to help restore a piece of furniture:

Start with vacuuming the furniture

This is pretty basic and we all follow this when we try to clean off something. 

Start with removing any hair strands, dusting off the furniture, and using a vacuum cleaner to get a clear picture of what we are about to do.

Determine which furniture you are restoring

Every piece of furniture is different and needs different treatment when it comes to restoration.

As an example, a sofa may need some dusting and change in the fabric used in it.

While a dresser may need an application of some paint stripper to remove the paint and subsequent use of sand dresser, stain dresser to give it a proper finish in the end.

So the next step is to find out what kind of furniture you are restoring and act according to that.

Look for smaller areas to fix first and gather the materials

Some of the pretty common issues related to furniture restoration lie in the following:

• Fixing the knob of the drawer, 
• Getting missing leg support for the table or sofa.
• Screwing up some places which are missing.
• Fixing the glue in the right areas, especially in the joints which need work.
• Surface scratches would need some touch-up markers to get it done.
• Lighter stains can be removed with the use of discoloration products.

As you scan the furniture correctly you will be able to find all material you need to address the issues at hand.

Other restoration guidelines for furniture

If there is anything besides all suggested above then it has to be:

• Removing the paint using a paint stripper,
• Application of the spirit or soap solution mix onto the wood will make it clean and get rid of any paint stripper uses
• Apply sandpaper onto those areas which are gotten rough texture to even out the surface.
• Give a final coat of finishing oil or even wax to add shine to the surface of the furniture. This can be done post dry out of the furniture from the application of stain used.

Important notes related to restoration: 

1. If you are not sure about a specific issue on how to fix things, better to consult a specialist in town who knows how to deal with stuff.😃
2. Always use facemasks, gloves, and safety goggles before you get started fixing used furniture
3. Do the restoration in a well-ventilated area as this helps to make the wood dry faster.
4. Remove any hardware attached to furniture such as doorknobs, screws, etc before you begin the restoration process.

Selection of the best platform to sell used furniture (flipping furniture online)

Now you have determined the sales value and you are looking to sell the asset, but where to sell it?🤔

This is one of the major decisions when it comes to flipping furniture for-profit online, i.e. listing the asset for sale on the right platform.

If you are only interested in selling vintage collection furniture, then I would recommend heading over to RubyLane.

When you are looking for a low-cost alternative to start with, Facebook Marketplace is the way to go.

If you are looking to set up an entire business around flipping furniture which is our entire objective, then Bonanza is a great place to start with.

So every platform is different when it comes to meeting the needs of the seller.

Here’s a complete guide looking for an in-depth article covering the 9 best platforms to sell used furniture online in 2022 to help you out.

Head over to the article above to get all you need to know about where to sell your used furniture.

I will catch up with you guys in a while while you go through a summary of what we discussed in this section so far.

Summary

• First find the cost of furniture by looking at several factors such as the timing of purchase, wear and tear of the asset, negotiation with the buyer, and more.
• Determine the resell value of the furniture factoring in several things such as restoration expenses, imputed costs, and demand of the asset on other platforms.
• List the asset onto the right platform to get the best resell value as per your need.

Coming back to the original question where we started how much money can we make flipping furniture in 2022?

Here’s how Jamie and Sarah are flipping furniture as a hobby and showing how much they make from flipping furniture online.

But, let’s discuss the profitability aspect in the long run with an example.

Is furniture flipping profitable in 2022?

To give a short precise answer, yes this is profitable in 2022 and beyond?

Why is it so?

We are all living in a world where we are buying stuff every day that would be discarded one day.

Meanwhile, someone else will see value in the discarded asset if it has a new breath of life to it.

So there is always a market in this form of business.

You can be the person who can restore the furniture and resell the furniture for a price in return for earning your profit.

There has been an up and onward trend going on for “flipping furniture” since 2004 as you can see in the screenshot above.

This shows the interest of people in this business model.

The best thing about this is it is environment friendly and is really satisfying experience as well.

Let’s run a scenario upon things discussed so far to get an idea of the profitability of furniture flipping.

Example of flipping furniture for money in 2022

Let’s say you looked up at yardsaleseach or came across a classified advertisement for a garage sale happening in your locality.

You reached the location and got your hands on the best furniture you have been eyeing for.

You got the best deal on the purchase price for the used furniture at $10.

For transportation, let’s say there was a cost of $5-$10 as it’s nearby your spot.

Now you bring the furniture back to your storage space and work on it to give it the restoration.

Here are all the costs related to restoration:

• Materials = $25,
• Imputed Costs (Rental Costs + Electricity Charges) = $10,

Key Note

Let’s say you incurred 6 hours for the same.

After scouring the internet you can resell it for $200 at one of the platforms discussed above.

Here’s what the profitability would look like:

Particulars	Amount ($)
Cost of the asset purchased	10
Add: Transportation	10
Add: Materials (Restoration Expenses)	25
Add: Electricity and Rental Charges (Restoration Expenses) – For 6 hours of work	15
Total Cost (A)	60
Resell Value (B)	200
Gross Profit (B-A)	140
Less: Platform Charges (if any)	15
Less: Other Costs (if any)	5
Net Profit	120

This can be a hypothetical situation and you can adjust any variables over here.

But earning a Profit of $120 over 6 hours can give a return of $20/hour.

You got to decide if that’s a good enough hustle for you or not.

But here are other pros and cons of flipping pieces of furniture to help you decide better.

Pros and Cons of Flipping Furniture for Money

Pros of flipping furniture

• You get to revamp and bring a piece of old furniture to life.
• Has a low cost associated to start the business.
• The barrier to entry is really low.
• Provides an option to work from your home.
• Get to make money starting small.
• Environment-friendly mode of doing business revamping furniture for money.
• Can earn money in a short period.
• One can do this side hustle even on weekends to make money.

Cons of flipping furniture

• Requires expertise to find good quality furniture to get the best quality furniture.
• Good negotiation skills are required to haggle for the best deals.
• Furniture Flipping is not a passive form of making money from a side hustle.

Nonetheless, every business requires patience and determination to make it work.

If you are willing to put in the effort this can be the next game-changer side hustle for you.

So what’s keeping you waiting, get started now.👍

How to start a furniture flipping business?

Great, so you have decided to start your own flipping furniture side hustle.

But how do you start it exactly?

Let’s have a look at some of the things to consider when you have to start your furniture flipping side hustle:

Chalk out the plan for the short term and long term

It is crucial when you are commencing a new business to be aware of your short-term and long-term goals.

What your foresight is will determine how you will strategize for actions ahead.

If you want to make a part-time income and pursue more of a hobby then maybe flipping 2 or 3 demandable pieces of furniture can set you up for $300-$400 of income.

However, if you are looking to pursue this more full-time and have set a goal of making around let’s say $5000, the whole equation becomes different.

So set your goals from the very beginning to figure out how you are going to act.

Gather the basic knowledge to get started

Remember at the end of the day it’s business and you are trading your time for it.

So it’s always good to get a headstart to know the things first and then act upon them.

Seek some knowledge and information about the whole process.

Read more articles and gain knowledge from experiences with other people.

There are great videos on YouTube that can help you out in the process.

Be patient and enjoy the process

Being patient with anything in life has its rewards.

It may take some hits and you may have to pay from your pocket to learn about things.

But if you love the process you will eventually know how to make money from flipping furniture.

So be a patient player and keep yourself updated with what’s happening around you. 

Let others know what you are hustling for

Many times letting others around you know what you are doing can give you opportunities.

Make every chance to spread the word out to others count.

More the people who are aware of what you are doing, the better your chance to be profitable.

Talk to friends and family members who can reach out further to others to help you keep going.

Social Media is going to be your best friend

Social Media is going to be your best friend and it is going to give you the reach that you look out for.

Build a following on Instagram or TikTok and don’t be afraid to show the entire process.

When you will start to gain followers around you things will become more interesting in the long run.

Put videos on YouTube about what you learn and how you can improve on it as well.

So make the best use of social media and use it in every way possible.

Get your business registered

When you have started making some profits from flipping furniture get your business registered.

Be it a sole proprietorship or registering as a company, get everything done after getting the right consultation.

As soon as you register the business things will be documented properly for your reference.

Hire an accountant to keep your records

The most important part of any business is keeping a track of income and expenses.

Hire an accountant who can help document everything that you need and you will be good to go.

As you hire an accountant things will get streamlined soon and you can make progress from there.

Okay, we have covered almost everything that was necessary to start flipping furniture for Money in 2022.

But here are a few tips that can help beginners get started.

Taking custom orders from others can also help expand the business

Custom orders from customers to restore the furniture in a certain way will also help to expand the business.

People would be willing to restore that old furniture where the granny loved to have her tea.

They would want to see life back again on that old couch where they spent their major part of childhood days.

All these hold emotions a lot and there is no joy than doing this for someone else.

Tips for beginners to make money from flipping furniture in 2022

Here are some additional tips that can help kickstart your side hustle to flip furniture in 2022:

• Use Google Lens to scan the furniture while you spot one to know the details and specifications of it.
• Putting decent photos and detailed descriptions of the furniture while listing can help you sell faster and at your resell value.
• It takes time to be able to find solid hard real wood which can last long. Look for a few things while selecting a real wood:

1. It will be heavy to lift.
2. Look around joints to find if there are firm joints and how easily they are attached to each other.
3. Keep an eye for the texture of the wood and feel the firmness by touching it.

• As a beginner focus on building relationships with customers more than looking at the profits.🤝
• Be willing to go the extra mile when you are looking to flip furniture. When you put in that little extra effort it counts a lot in the end.
• Remember by restoring something you are giving an experience and new joy to someone else. Have pride in the same.⭐
• Keep a closer eye on Instagram accounts that send an alert to the stoopers for any new trash (used furniture) found on the roadside.

Final Words on Flipping Furniture for Money

I hope you got all the information that you required to start flipping furniture for Money in 2022.

Let’s summarize what we discussed so far:

What is furniture flipping	Furniture flipping means selling a piece of old furniture for a profit after restoring it
Why do people sell used furniture?	For emergency money, to clear out clutter, or if someone is moving out to a new place
How much money can we make flipping furniture?	On a conservative estimate, one can make around $300-$400 by flipping 3-4 pieces of furniture as a beginner.
Is furniture flipping profitable?	Yes
How to start a furniture flipping business?	Find good furniture to flip every month and sell it on platforms to make money Register your business and spread the word to others.
Tips for beginners to make money from flipping furniture	Focus on building relationships and put good photos of the listed product to sell when you are starting out as a beginner.

Here’s the most important question that we all came here for.

How to flip furniture for money in 2022?

Here are 8 steps on how to flip furniture for money in 2022, which are:

1. Selection of the best furniture which can have a high resell value.
2. Finding the value of the furniture to be purchased second hand considering the timing of purchase and quality of wood as discussed in detail.
3. Fixing the sale value of the furniture by factoring in cost, restoration, demand, and other factors.
4. Selecting the right platform to list the furniture for higher profitability.
5. Registering a business either as a private entity or sole proprietorship or LLC to make money from flipping furniture long term.
6. Keeping proper records of the accounts from the very beginning to know about the profitability of the transactions.
7. Taking custom orders for restoring furniture and flipping it for profits.
8. Spreading the word out (on social media and to relatives) and letting others know that you are doing such a business.

This took a good amount of time to get in one piece, it will be really helpful if you would share your feedback on what you liked about it or anything that is still not addressed.

Till then, Happy Flipping Furniture!

Let’s look at some of the most commonly asked questions related to Flipping Furniture.

FAQ on Flipping Furniture for Money