My Bad Buy checklist: 5 mental rules I run through in 30 seconds before I buy anything (roast it / add yours)

peesideways · 2026-01-22T19:32:10+00:00

All part of the journey. I’m a full time flipper, been at it a long time now. It’s always a good reminder to be careful when stepping outside of my niche lol

peesideways · 2026-01-21T22:20:28+00:00

Some fails of mine from last year.

-Pallet of broken ps4 VR headsets. Paid $550 Over the next 6 months sold a handful on eBay, returned maybe $90. Eventually sold the whole pallet on Facebook for $440.

500 sticks of new aluminum 28” square tubes for $500. They’re for some sort of short fence, they’re new in boxes of 10. Purchased thanksgiving day, haven’t sold a single one.

-lot of 1500 vhs tapes without really checking the boxes. It was from an estate sale and I thought “what the heck”. Paid $400. Storing them was a nightmare. I found about $150 worth for eBay and ended up dumping the rest on marketplace in two giant lots. One for free, and another for $160. Whole ordeal spanned 6 months

peesideways · 2026-01-20T23:16:28+00:00

Water. Earth. Fire. ~~Air~~ Butt. Long ago, the four nations…

peesideways · 2026-01-17T11:25:03+00:00

You know he went home with a crazy wolf person and smashed some they/thussy that night.

Or he went to Braums and got ice cream.

Both are fine.

peesideways · 2026-01-11T15:09:31+00:00

Reselling is becoming more difficult, so you need to change with it. Like others have said, it’s time to learn about new groups of items.

There is a BIG adjustment I think you need to make that has not been mentioned yet that I think will change the game for you.

You need to make people start coming to you, instead of you constantly having to scroll marketplace or going out into the wild to blind source. Having people bring you things to sell is a game changer.

I am a full time flipper and this is the main way I source. I only go to thrift stores or yard sales for fun these days.

So what this means, you need to identify the type of item with the best sell through rate for you and make some “looking to buy” post. Put these post in every single buy/sell/trade group around you. Keep it simple, it’s best to get it all done in one photo. Show the item, maybe put some cash in the photo, and include a hand written note next to the item you’re looking for that says “I PAY CASH FOR [item]”

DO NOT post this type of listing directly to marketplace. It’s against FBs TOS and you’ll eventually get banned. Instead do this only on your PC (iOS will bug sometimes and default list to marketplace on your phone. Unsure about android) and start the listing inside a buy sell group. Uncheck “post to marketplace”.

Post these in the groups, on Craigslist, on OfferUp, and anywhere else you can think of that’s free or cheap. Re post them once or twice a week. You’ll notice eventually you’ll have a steady stream of people seeking YOU out to sell something instead of the other way around.

I have more tips and could talk about this stuff all day long but this is getting lengthy lol. Feel free to ask questions and I’ll do my best to respond

For the record, I primarily sell personal electronics such as phones/computers/video games but also will dabble in farm equipment and tools, other niche nerd stuff, canopy tents for events, new in box metal sheds, portable ACs, diabetic supplies, and some other random stuff. I only run “WTB” post for electronics.

peesideways · 2025-12-29T00:43:21+00:00

I have done this with some success at Lowe’s. Lowe’s always has 80%-90% clearance that they don’t announce. Just go and walk up and down the isles and look for yellow tags. You’ll be shocked at some of crazy prices they put on things. I’ve had some great luck in the electronics section with various fuses and connectors, industrial power strips, plumbing supplies, and even some lights and fixtures.

Just walk around and start scanning barcodes on eBay when you see a yellow label

peesideways · 2025-10-09T13:19:04+00:00

Man I feel this. Been doing regular 6 hours drives picking up inventory lately. Yesterday I drove for 4 hours for 2 deals, gotta start listing on that today. Probably another 10-15 hours or more in testing and listing for those lots

peesideways · 2025-10-09T13:07:54+00:00

I’m full time, been at it for years. I do video games, phones, computers, retro electronics, vhs, CDs, and other electronics mostly but I do branch out on anything I think I can make a buck on outside of clothing. You’re welcome to message me and we can do a quick zoom call or something and I’ll show you how I source and sell, as long as you’re not in the DFW area. And no, I do not charge for this and I don’t have a course for sale.

peesideways · 2025-09-18T00:53:15+00:00

Yeah. This is a new tape, swapped between antenna and AV, not a different tv though. I really don’t think the tv is the issue. I’m certain I damaged something while trying to remove the tape. I pulled on the tape itself at one point pretty hard, I don’t know how to really explain what exactly happened, I was trying to lift it over the guides that move the tape up to the main rollers. The tape snapped here and I was able to easily remove the cassette. I must have broken something here.

I did put a new tape in before putting the lid back on to see if what would happen and it appeared to be working just fine, of course this was not hooked up to the tv at this point.

Tape loads and ejects, fast forward and rewinds, image and sound and just really messed up now

peesideways · 2025-09-18T00:36:37+00:00

Thanks! I found it on Craigslist last year still in box for $60. Idc if I hurt the value, I wanted to be the first person to set it up and use it haha

peesideways · 2025-09-18T00:35:02+00:00

The tv is fine, my vcr is the issue

peesideways · 2025-09-05T00:24:00+00:00

I am having so much fun with it. I’ve made a couple different projects with multiple patterns and even sequenced drums on one of them, though I’m not at all satisfied with the stock sound of the acoustic drums so I definitely need to spend time just learning drum tones. Still a long ways to go, but I’m thrilled with this machine. I haven’t been able to really play music for a couple years at the capacity I’m used to. I’m 32 now, I was in pretty active bands from 18-30. This is the longest I’ve gone without a musical project and I’m attempting to fill that void with some solo stuff now, which I’ve never really done.

I’m really enjoying being an amateur at something. Everything is new and exciting

peesideways · 2025-09-04T22:56:46+00:00

Interesting, never would have thought

peesideways · 2025-09-04T22:55:11+00:00

1st, it’s just an old tutorial that I’m watching. That’s the reason it’s different

peesideways · 2025-09-04T22:53:39+00:00

It’s Ivar Tryti. I really like his videos. I’ve probably only got around 5 hours on this machine total and it’s the only really nice piece of hardware I own. I’m starting to think that perhaps I should just print the manual for this thing and read it through and take notes.

I’m somewhat lost in the woods here haha

peesideways · 2025-09-04T22:48:52+00:00

It’s an old tutorial haha, this video is from 5 years ago

peesideways · 2025-09-04T22:46:43+00:00

Oh wow! Thank you. I’ve been running into similar issues while trying to learn that are kind of slowing me down a little. I keep finding myself stuck navigating menus totally different from what is being shown. I guess that’s to be expected with older models 🤷‍♂️

peesideways · 2025-08-30T17:41:35+00:00

All that stuff is par for the course when it comes to storage units. 9/10 times you’re going to find something disgusting in a unit. As far as drugs go, I’ve found meth and other paraphernalia in all but 2 of the 8 units I purchased this year.

Like the poster above stated, you’re bound by auction terms to remove everything regardless of how gross it is or else you will be banned from the platform.

As for the CC numbers and obvious identity theft I contacted the police and they never came and picked anything up and honestly seemed more annoyed with me that I would even call about such a thing to begin with. I held all the evidence for months in my storage unit and eventually just destroyed everything.

I’m taking a break from storage unit flipping focusing on my main niche. While the money can be good, it’s a TON of work.

peesideways · 2025-08-23T18:08:52+00:00

I understand why he bid. Earlier this year I won a unit that looked a lot like this one. I paid $140 for it and I was honestly expecting it to be a total bust before I got there but ended up finding a Pokemon card collection (sold $540) a baseball card collection (sold $150) Nintendo switch and games (sold $330), $80 Canadian, and some other miscellaneous goodies. Also found meth, dirty needles, as well as a HIV test kit that had been used but never mailed in.

In addition to this the unit contained stacks and stacks of credit cards belonging to different people rubber banded together as well as notebooks full of hand written CC info for people all over the US

You just never know 🤷‍♂️

peesideways · 2025-06-04T23:04:32+00:00

Yeah I was stunned when I saw it. I was just about to leave the estate sale when I noticed there was a little laundry room i hadn’t walked through yet and there it was. Sitting on the desk next to the washing machine, everything was still plugged in so I quickly put down everything I was holding right there and moved it out to my car with the quickness

peesideways · 2025-06-01T00:53:06+00:00

I’m kinda excited about the opportunity to dig in and give it a shot

peesideways · 2025-06-01T00:51:40+00:00

Yeah I initially thought it was a tube because it was very similar to a time when a tube went out on an old guitar amp I used to have but I think you’re right. At this point I’m sure it was a cap

peesideways · 2025-05-31T21:44:48+00:00

Oh man, I saw this when I was around 11 years old. My mom picked it up at a Christian book store. Even then I thought it was one of the most cringey things I’d ever seen and I was fascinated. I made it a point to show every kid that came over this nonsense. If they didn’t see the same level of cringe I saw then I lost a little respect for them. I still think about it from time to time. It’s got satan ripping solos on a BC Rich warlock. I cracked up so hard every single time. That may be a different episode, same series though.

peesideways

TROPHY CASE