Reselling and flipping physical goods

The claim

“Met a guy at a strip club in Atlanta who said he’s never had a job in his life

Thought he was a drug dealer. He pulled out his phone and showed me a Chase business checking account with $940,000 in deposits for the year

He buys and sells government surplus” (the opening lines; the tweet continues at length)

@hxxntrr, 3 October 2026, 1,694,318 views¹

The rest of the tweet, read through a third-party mirror, claims “Gross margin across his operation: 55-70%” and ends by offering 0% business credit⁷⁵. Gross margin is sales minus what the goods cost, before fees, transport and tax, and the tweet gives no source for the figure⁷⁵. It is a second-hand story about an unnamed person, and cannot be checked⁷⁵. This page judges the scheme, not the people who tweeted.

The sums

Deposits are sales, not profit.

For a seller without a Store subscription, eBay takes 13.6% of the whole sale in most categories, including the postage and sales tax the buyer pays, plus $0.30 or $0.40 an order².

We found no measured selling prices or buying costs, so these sums are our estimate, assuming 7% sales tax²³². A $20 item bought for $3 leaves about $12.50 of profit when the buyer pays postage on top, and about $6.40 when the seller pays it at the cheaper commercial price³². A $30 item bought for $5 leaves about $19 or about $12.90²³².

So $1,000 a month of profit takes about 53 to 157 such sales, about two to five a day, believable as steady part-time work (our estimate). $10,000 a month of profit from $30 items is 17 to 26 parcels a day, a full-time operation (our estimate). These figures assume no adverts or returns, and are before travel, packing, storage and tax.

What happens to most people who try

The strongest evidence is a JPMorgan Chase Institute study of Chase bank accounts that received money from online platforms between 2012 and March 2018⁴⁶. Over half of active sellers on selling platforms consistently took in less than $60 a month⁴⁶. The top tenth took in $800 a month or more in the first quarter of 2018 and had 80 percent of the sector’s total earnings⁴⁶.

These figures are money received, before the cost of the goods, and are eight years old⁴⁶. They cover everyone who sells online, including people clearing out a cupboard: 70.7% sold in only one to three months of the year⁴⁶. No source we found measures people who set out to resell, or how many resellers lose money.

The upside

• Sophie Riegel, a solo clothing reseller, had 2023 sales of “nearly $123,800” at up to 25 hours a week, by documents CNBC Make It says it reviewed⁵². She reports more than $192,000 of net profit over nearly four years, about $50,000 a year before tax (our estimate); the profit figure is her own⁵². She also sells reselling coaching⁵².
• Rick Senko, who started in 2008, “brought in more than $2.5 million in eBay sales” in 2023, “documents show”, with up to five contractors and about 250 items a day⁵⁴. That is sales; no profit figure is given⁵⁴.
• A couple importing vintage Japanese collectibles posted a 2025 profit of $99,167.20 on 5,367 transactions⁵⁶. This is self-reported, in a forum post we read on a third-party copy⁵⁶.

A realistic good result, on our estimate: a careful part-timer makes a few hundred dollars a month of profit in the first months, at 5 to 10 hours a week. Someone who builds product knowledge and lists every day makes $1,500 to $4,000 a month of profit at 20 to 40 hours a week, after one to three years^51525662. The press picks cases because they are unusual, so these are upper-range examples. We found no checked case near $940,000 for a newcomer.

What it takes to compete

• Product knowledge. Riegel told CNBC “I spent hours and hours learning brands”⁵².
• A source others lack, such as an import line or a contact selling bulk lots⁵⁶⁵⁷. In 2021 the US military’s disposal agency said a single firm was the only final bidder for its nationwide surplus sales contracts, so the public buys through that firm’s auctions, where every bidder sees the same lots³⁵.
• Time. One to several years to reach a wage-like income⁵²⁵⁴⁵⁶.

Starting is cheap: eBay gives 250 free listings a month². The larger risk is stock bought on credit: if it does not sell, the balance is still owed⁶⁴.

To tell early (our estimate): after the first 50 to 100 sales, work out profit per hour after fees, postage, travel and tax, and compare it with a local wage.

Who else makes money from it

The platforms earn on every sale².

Three of the five accounts in our collection promote something offered to resellers: a group that posts tips on items to buy, a mentorship and a deal-alert service¹⁷⁵. A fourth, @hxxntrr, links to a business-credit service⁶⁴⁷⁵. Its site says it takes only established businesses, that results are “Not typical or guaranteed”, and that it charges “One flat fee”, with the amount given on a call⁶⁴. It also says most cards “require a personal guarantee”, meaning the owner personally owes the balance⁶⁴.

In a few searches of US Federal Trade Commission material, we found no regulator or court action about reselling courses or lead groups, or against any account in our collection.