Reselling and flipping physical goods

The research was done by AI agents that open web pages. Some sites refuse them; where that happened we say so. The small numbers point to the source list at the end. Where a figure is our own sum or guess, it is marked “our estimate” and the basis is given.

The claim

Our collection for this scheme holds only 5 tweets¹. Three come from accounts our naming rule allows us to quote, and they are below. Because the collection is so small, this page rests mainly on how the method is promoted generally and on platform, regulator and press sources. View counts are as collected. The page judges the scheme, not the people who tweeted.

“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

We read the rest of this tweet through a third-party mirror⁷⁵. It names three surplus auction sites, lists five example flips with a buying and a selling price, claims “Gross margin across his operation: 55-70%”, and says every purchase is put on 0% business credit cards. It ends: “we get 700+ score business owners 100K-250K in 0% business credit. what you buy with it is your move. link in bio”⁷⁵. Step 5 below goes through its figures.

“I took 3 Amazon FBA sellers from $0 to $100k/month on Whatnot/TikTok Live auctions.

Here are 3 things they all had in common:

They had FBA returns/inventory They were willing to learn They were based in the US

If this sounds like you, I’m looking to take on 2 more sellers before October 15th and run it up together this Q4.

Like this tweet to apply.”

@realworlddanny, 6 October 2026, 1,121 views¹⁷⁵

""That’s not a real job.”

Neither is sitting around judging one.

While they’re debating your little side hustle, the labels are printing, the orders are moving, and the money’s hitting.

You don’t owe anybody a title for the work you do before they wake up.”

@WestCoast_Goodz, 6 October 2026, 152 views¹⁷⁵

The other two tweets come from small accounts and are not quoted. One promotes a service that sends alerts about retail price drops to resellers¹. The other shares a YouTube video whose title is “Turning $50 into $1,000 with my Favorite Side Hustle! (Outboard Fix & Flip)”¹⁶⁷. An outboard is a boat engine.

Almost all the views in this collection belong to the first tweet: 1,694,318 of about 1,695,600 (our sum from the collection)¹. Three of the five tweets carry a number. Only the first states costs or a margin, and none states hours¹⁷⁵. We did not view the tweets’ images, videos or threads.

What the scheme is

Reselling, or “flipping”, means buying physical goods for less than they sell for elsewhere and selling them on. The goods come from thrift shops, clearance shelves, storage-unit auctions, pallets of shop returns, or government surplus auctions. They are sold on eBay, on live video auctions such as Whatnot, or locally.

The mechanism is real, and the market is very large. eBay reported nearly $80 billion of goods sold in 2025, with 135 million active buyers and 2.5 billion live listings¹⁵. Whatnot says its sellers “made $8B in 2025”¹⁹. GovDeals, a marketplace for state and local government surplus, sold $903 million of goods in its 2025 financial year³⁸. The US military’s disposal agency confirms that unneeded property “may be sold to the public”³⁶.

A seller does not have to create demand. Starting costs little: eBay gives 250 free listings a month². So the open questions are different from most schemes on this site. They are how much is left after fees and postage, how many items it takes, and how many sellers get there.

The arithmetic

Step 1: what the platform takes

eBay. A seller without a Store subscription pays 13.6% of “the total amount of the sale” up to $7,500 per item in most categories, plus $0.30 per order for orders of $10 or less and $0.40 above that². The total includes the postage the buyer pays and the sales tax². So the fee on the item’s own price is higher than 13.6%. eBay’s own example is a $400 item: fees come to $58.41 and the seller keeps “approximately 85% of the sale price, not including shipping costs”².

Some categories differ. Athletic shoes sold for $150 or more pay 8% with no per-order fee, and books, movies and music pay 15.3%². After 250 listings in a month, each further listing costs $0.35². A Store subscription, which raises the number of free listings, costs from $7.95 to $349.95 a month on monthly renewal³.

There are optional and penalty charges too. Promoting a listing costs a further percentage, chosen by the seller, of the whole sale; “priority” adverts charge for each click “regardless of whether that item sells”⁶. A seller whose service record eBay rates “Below Standard” pays “an additional 6% on the final value fees”, and one with a very high rate of “item not as described” returns pays an extra 5% in those categories². We found no primary source for the advert rates resellers typically pay.

Whatnot. A newcomer pays 8% commission on the item price in most categories (4% for coins), plus payment processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per order¹⁷¹⁸. Processing is charged on the full order, including buyer-paid shipping and tax¹⁷. On cheap auction items the flat $0.30 bites. On a $10 item with $4.99 shipping and $0.85 tax, fees are $0.80 + $0.46 + $0.30 = $1.56, which is 15.6% of the item price (our estimate from the published rates¹⁷¹⁸).

Commission falls for larger sellers. Whatnot’s help centre says a new structure “took effect September 21, 2026” and publishes the full US table¹⁷. A seller’s total sales over four weeks set the rate for the next four weeks, and “Your rate is locked for the full period”¹⁷. Under $15,000 the rate is the standard 8%. For fashion it falls to 7% from $15,000, 6.5% from $35,000, 5.5% from $50,000, 5% from $100,000 and 4.5% from $250,000¹⁷. Sports and trading cards fall more slowly, reaching 6.5% only at $500,000 or more, and the “Other” category reaches 4% from $100,000¹⁷. Whatnot’s fee page shows the same ladder and adds that select high-volume sellers get custom rates “as low as 3%”¹⁸. Trade press reported the change in September 2026²⁴.

Step 2: postage

Someone pays to post each item, and on cheap goods it is a large share. From 4 October 2026 the US Postal Service’s retail Ground Advantage prices are $8.40 to $10.20 for a parcel up to 8 ounces, $10.05 to $13.65 for one pound, and $13.75 to $27.45 for five pounds, depending on distance³². On a $20 item, retail postage is 42% to 51% of the price (our estimate from those rates).

The same price list gives commercial prices, the kind paid through postage software: $7.33 to $8.95 for anything under a pound, about 12% less than retail at 8 ounces, and $10.35 to $20.24 for five pounds, about 25% less³². Whether labels bought through eBay or Whatnot match these was not checked.

Step 3: profit per item, and how many items

We found no measured source for resellers’ average selling prices or buying costs, so the table below is our estimate. It shows two cases, because who pays the postage matters a great deal on cheap goods. In the first, the buyer pays postage on top at USPS retail cost ($8.40 for the two small items, $13.75 for the larger one)³². In the second, the listing offers “free” postage and the seller pays the commercial price ($7.33 or $10.35)³². Buyers compare delivered prices, so a $20 item with $8.40 postage competes as a $28.40 item. In both cases sales tax is 7%, the eBay fee is 13.6% plus $0.40², and there are no adverts and no returns.

Worked example for the $30 item, buyer paying postage. The buyer pays $30 + $8.40 postage + $2.69 tax = $41.09. eBay takes 13.6% of that ($5.59) plus $0.40, so $5.99. The seller keeps $30 − $5 cost − $5.99 = about $19. With seller-paid postage: the buyer pays $32.10, the fee is $4.77, and the seller keeps $30 − $5 − $4.77 − $7.33 = about $12.90.

The last row uses one month reported by the site Flea Market Flipper: 8 items, $3,054 of sales, $378 cost, $289 fees and $2,387 profit⁵⁸. That is their own statement, not a checked record.

What the table says: $1,000 a month from small items is about two to five sales a day, which is believable as steady part-time work. $10,000 a month from $30 items is 17 to 26 parcels found, photographed, listed, sold and packed every day (526 or 775 ÷ 30, our estimate). That is a full-time operation.

These figures are before travel, packing materials, storage, returns and tax. We found no source for hours per item.

Step 4: stock and cash tied up

Not every listing sells in the month it is listed. We found no measured figure for how fast resellers’ stock sells. The documented sellers hold large stocks: one solo clothing reseller kept about 1,300 items and sold about 10 a day⁵², and a two-person eBay business reported over 8,000 active listings⁵⁶.

New accounts are slowed in two ways. eBay caps how much a new account may list each month, reviews the cap monthly, and says “We may end any listings that you have created over your existing limit”⁴. The starting number is not published on the page⁴. New sellers are also paid late: “within 2 days after delivery confirmation” with an eBay label, 7 days with another label, “or 31 days after the buyer pays” for items sent without tracking⁵. Whatnot pays most sellers “after the carrier confirms delivery”²⁷.

So a person starting with $50 cannot turn the same money over many times in a month. The cash sits in unsold stock or in held payments.

Step 5: the numbers in the tweets

“$940,000 in deposits.” Deposits are sales, not profit. The story is a second-hand account of an unnamed person, and none of it can be checked. The full text does give costs⁷⁵. It lists five example flips, each with a buying and a selling price, claims “Gross margin across his operation: 55-70%”, and gives start-up costs of “a $2,500 box truck” and “$15,000 in 0% business credit cards”⁷⁵. Gross margin is sales minus what the goods cost. It is before auction fees, transport, storage, marketplace fees and tax.

We tested those figures three ways.

Against each other. The tweet says he “now runs 60,000-90,000/month through the cards”⁷⁵. That is $720,000 to $1,080,000 a year, roughly the whole of the $940,000 deposited. A 55-70% gross margin on $940,000 means goods that cost only about $282,000 to $423,000 (our sums). The two fit only if card spending rose steeply during the year or much of it was not stock, and the tweet does not say. One example gives “$12,400 total” from cases sold at “$89 each”, which is 139.3 cases (our sum).

Against known costs. One example is 200 sleeping bags “bought for $640, sold on eBay in individual listings at $45 each = $9,000”⁷⁵. The sum is right. eBay’s fee on a $45 sale is about $6.50, so about $1,300 on 200 sales (our estimate: 13.6% plus $0.40²). Posting 200 parcels of 2 to 5 pounds, a weight we assume, costs about $1,700 to $4,000 at USPS commercial prices³². If every bag sold at $45 with the seller paying postage, about $3,000 to $5,400 of the $9,000 would be left (our estimate), before the auction site’s fee and the cost of collecting the lot. That would still be a good trade. What cannot be checked is the price, and whether 200 listings sell in a week.

Surplus auctions add their own costs. Most charge a buyer’s premium, a fee added to the winning bid. GovPlanet, which sells US military vehicles and equipment and is named in the tweet, says “Auction winners will be charged a 15% buyers fee for all sales”, plus $25 to $200 for ownership paperwork³³. That sentence sits in the part of its FAQ about tactical vehicles, and we did not confirm it applies to every lot. A GovDeals price schedule in a 2022 State of Maine contract lists a “12.5% Buyer’s Premium”³⁷. GovDeals’ own fee page refused our agents, so the current rate is not confirmed.

Against the timetable. The method in the tweet depends on speed: “Wins the lot on Monday, lists it on Tuesday, sells by Friday, pays the card from revenue”⁷⁵. GovPlanet wants payment within 3 business days by its FAQ, or 7 days by its terms; we could not settle which applies³³³⁴. Items must be removed within 8 business days and are sold “AS IS, WHERE IS”³⁴. For military tactical vehicles such as the Humvee in the tweet, the buyer first needs an End-Use Certificate, a form stating who will use the item. GovPlanet says this “typically takes 6-10 weeks”, that such vehicles “are not street legal to start with”, and that the ownership document follows “within 30-60 business days of EUC approval”³³. The military’s disposal agency says its first security check “can take up to 60 days”³⁶. eBay does not allow “Most military vehicles, including aircraft and ships, and their parts and accessories”¹², and it holds a new seller’s money until after delivery⁵. So a lot of this kind cannot turn over in a week, and the card balance is carried while it waits (our reasoning). We did not confirm any rule that slows the generators, sleeping bags or ready-to-eat meals in the tweet.

The tweet also says the military “throws away $7 billion worth of usable equipment every year” and that surplus is “auctioned to the public for pennies”⁷⁵. It gives no source for either, and we did not check them.

“$0 to $100k/month on Whatnot.” This is also sales. If the average order is $20, which is our assumption, $100,000 a month is 5,000 orders, or about 167 parcels a day. $100,000 a calendar month is about $92,000 per four weeks, which is in Whatnot’s $50,000 to $99,999 tier: 5.5% for fashion and “Other”, 7.25% for sports and trading cards¹⁷. Platform fees would then be about $9,900 to $11,650 a month (our estimate: commission, plus 2.9% of $100,000, plus 5,000 × $0.30), and a little more because processing is also charged on shipping and tax¹⁷. Stock, labels, staff and space come out of the rest. The tweet itself says the three sellers already “had FBA returns/inventory”¹. FBA is Amazon’s warehouse service for sellers, so these were existing sellers with stock, not newcomers.

“$50 into $1,000.” This is the title of one video about repairing and reselling a boat engine, posted on 1 October 2026⁶⁷. We confirmed only the title; we did not watch the video. On the title alone, the gain includes skilled repair work, and it is one sale. One such flip a month would be $950, not a method that multiplies any $50 by twenty (our estimate).

What people who tried it report

Bank records. The strongest evidence we found is a JPMorgan Chase Institute study of Chase bank accounts receiving money from 128 online platforms between 2012 and March 2018⁴⁶. Among people actively receiving money from selling platforms, “over half of active sellers consistently generate less than $60 per month”, and the top tenth “earned $800 per month or more in the first quarter of 2018”⁴⁶. That top tenth “accounted for 80 percent of total earnings in that sector”⁴⁶. Average takings in months when sellers sold stayed near $600 for five years: $556 in 2013 and $608 in 2017⁴⁶.

Three limits apply. The figures are money received, before the cost of the goods. The data is eight years old. And “selling” covers every goods marketplace, including people clearing out a cupboard: 70.7% of those with selling income had it in only one to three months of the year⁴⁶. So this is a base rate for everyone who sells online, not for people who set out to resell. No source we found measures the second group.

Surveys. Pew Research found in 2016 that 18% of US adults had earned money selling online in a year, mostly their own used goods, and that only one in five sellers called the money “essential” (9%) or “an important component” of their budget (11%)⁴⁷. A newer survey points both ways. Trade coverage of eBay’s 2026 Recommerce Report says that among US eBay sellers “45% said resale provides supplemental income and 25% said money earned from selling has provided vital support for their household”, and that 85% of eBay sellers “source inventory from their own belongings”⁷⁶. This is eBay’s own commissioned survey of 1,707 sellers in seven markets, read second-hand; eBay’s report page refused our agents⁷⁶.

Platform figures. Poshmark’s share-sale filing reported 4.5 million active sellers at 30 September 2020, counting anyone who had listed an item in the past 12 months, and $1.3 billion of sales in the year to that date⁴⁸. That is roughly $290 of sales per active seller per year (our estimate; an average, before fees and cost of goods).

eBay does not publish a count of sellers or how sales are spread among them¹⁵. Old estimates exist. Marketplace Pulse, a research firm, estimated in 2018 that about 270,000 eBay sellers sold more than $10,000 a year, out of about 25 million, and relayed eBay’s finance chief as saying “About 80% of our GMV is through B2C sellers that do over $10,000/year”⁴⁹. GMV means the total value of goods sold, and B2C means businesses selling to consumers. By those estimates, about one seller in a hundred accounted for most of eBay’s sales. In 2016 the average US eBay seller sold $4,196 of goods in the year⁵⁰. These are eight to ten years old.

Live auctions. Whatnot’s 2026 report mixes its own platform data with a survey. From Whatnot’s own text: “one in eight Whatnot sellers is now full time”, which its sales page words as “the primary income stream for 1 in 8 sellers”¹⁹²⁰. Seven in eight are not. “Sellers who go live 3-4 times per week average over $13,000 in monthly sales”, and they “earn 40-70x more than those who stream once or twice a month”²⁰. By our division the occasional streamers make roughly $190 to $325 a month in sales. “One in four sellers on Whatnot have rented additional space”²⁰.

The survey figures come from trade press. It covered 4,016 live sellers “operating across multiple platforms” in four countries, 1,670 of them only on Whatnot²⁰²². Those sellers average 23 hours a week, and “Nearly 80% of live sellers now operate from commercial spaces”, with 21% working mainly from home²². That 80% and Whatnot’s one in four do not obviously agree, and we did not read the full report. Whatnot commissioned the research, reports sales and not profit, and gives no median²⁰²². One trade site notes seller accounts that net earnings on low-priced items “can be modest or even below minimum wage”²¹.

Self-reports. On Keeper’s Side Hustle Index, 14 anonymous thrift and vintage resellers give their gross monthly takings: by our count 9 of the 14 report under $500 a month, and one reports $5,000 to $10,000 at more than 120 hours a month⁵¹. The page says “50% of reviewers earn $175 – $1,500”⁵¹. This is a tiny, self-selected sample.

Gaps. Reddit’s reselling forum refused our agents by every route, so no forum threads were read directly. We found no data on how many resellers lose money, how long a first profit takes, or median profit per hour.

What the rules allow now

Reselling goods you own is legal and permitted on eBay and Whatnot. The rules still shape the result.

Not permitted.

• Listing an item on eBay “and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not allowed”⁸. You must hold the stock, or use a wholesale supplier.
• Counterfeits. eBay says “You may list an item only if you are certain it is genuine”¹⁰. It reports it “proactively suspended more than 55,000 accounts for IP violations and the listing of Prohibited Items in 2025”⁹. A reseller who buys a counterfeit by mistake carries that risk.
• Bidding up your own auctions, called shill bidding. eBay says it “is also illegal in many places”¹¹. Whatnot says that over six months it “Cut shill bidding activity by nearly 80%”²⁸; a trade site notes that “No underlying totals were provided”²⁹.
• Recalled products. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s guide for resellers says “Selling recalled products is now unlawful”⁴³.
• On eBay, “Most military vehicles, including aircraft and ships, and their parts and accessories”¹², and government property “such as vehicles, license plates”¹³.

Refunds. If an item arrives “broken, damaged, or faulty (and was not clearly described as such)”, the eBay buyer is “entitled to return it for a refund, even if the seller doesn’t offer returns”, and “The seller will be required to reimburse eBay”⁷. Used and untested goods are where this bites.

Whatnot’s terms. Selling on Whatnot needs an application, which may be refused for “a lack of relevant selling experience on other platforms”²⁵. Its terms, effective 4 March 2026, allow “an additional fee of 15% of the total Transaction amount, or $12.00 (USD) for Transaction less than $45.00 (USD), whichever is greater” for breaches, and a charge of $3 or 3% for each order the seller cancels²⁶. If a buyer reverses a card payment, Whatnot “is not required to settle such payment to Seller”²⁶.

Stock bought unseen. B-Stock, a large marketplace for shop returns and overstock, sells “AS IS, AS AVAILABLE” and only to a buyer that is “a business, company, or other legal entity”³⁹. The pallet buyer bears the loss if the goods are worse than hoped, while the final customer keeps full refund rights⁷³⁹.

Military surplus. Controlled items need an End-Use Certificate, and the checks take weeks, as set out in Step 5³³³⁶. Money paid for such a lot is tied up for that time.

Tax and permits (US). The tax authority says a marketplace must send it a Form 1099-K when a seller receives “over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions”, and that “Whether or not you receive a Form 1099-K, you must still report any income on your tax return”⁴⁰. Every profit figure on this page is before tax. In California, “a person who sells tangible merchandise in California and makes three or more sales in a 12-month period is required to hold a seller’s permit”⁴¹. Other states were not checked. eBay collects sales tax itself and says “Sellers can’t opt out”¹⁴. Under the federal INFORM Consumers Act, marketplaces must verify the identity of anyone with 200 sales of new goods and $5,000 of revenue in a year, and “must suspend high-volume third party sellers that don’t provide information the law requires”⁴². In the UK, the tax authority asks to be told when trading income is “more than the £1,000 trading allowance”⁴⁴.

Pending. In March 2026 a lawyer filed 15 arbitration claims, which are private claims heard outside court, alleging that Whatnot’s randomised trading-card sales amount to unlawful gambling and that some sellers shill-bid, according to a hobby news site³⁰. Whatnot’s statement, as quoted there, says: “We absolutely reject the characterization in this complaint. Gambling isn’t allowed on Whatnot, and we strictly enforce this policy.”³⁰ The claims are alleged and pending; nothing is decided. They concern card sales, not ordinary flipping. We did not read the filings.

Who makes money from it

The platforms, on every sale. In the second quarter of 2026 eBay reported $3.1 billion of revenue on $22.4 billion of GMV, including $596 million of advertising revenue, “representing 2.7% of GMV”¹⁶. Revenue is about 14% of GMV (our estimate: 3.1 ÷ 22.4). eBay’s GMV is “inclusive of shipping fees and taxes”, so the share of the goods’ own price is higher¹⁵. Whatnot takes its commission and processing fee¹⁷. Surplus auction sites charge the buyer a premium on top of the winning bid³³³⁷.

Sellers of help to resellers. Three of the five accounts in our collection link to or promote something offered to resellers: a group that posts leads (tips on items to buy for resale), a mentorship, and a deal-alert service¹⁷⁵. A fourth, the most-viewed, links to a business-credit service that says it takes only established businesses⁶⁴⁷⁵. The collection is far too small to show a market share. What we saw on the linked pages:

• The profile of @hxxntrr links to scalewithcredit.com⁷⁵. The site is headed “0% Business Funding for Established Business Owners” and offers help getting business credit cards for “One flat fee”, with the amount given on a call⁶⁴. It says the service is not a fit for people who “Haven’t started the business yet”, and that results are “Not typical or guaranteed”⁶⁴. It says most cards “require a personal guarantee”, meaning the owner personally owes the balance⁶⁴.
• The profile of @WestCoast_Goodz links to EliteFlipCartel.com, a private chat group that posts daily eBay leads⁶⁵⁷⁵. The page says it is “Operated by West Coast Goodz” and costs “$0 today · Then $59.99/month” after a three-day trial, or $149.99 for three months⁶⁵. That is about $600 to $720 a year a member must clear in profit before the group pays for itself (our estimate: 4 × $149.99 or 12 × $59.99). The page shows two sample leads, labelled “Not a live deal”, and says “Most members start in the $200–$500 range and flip smaller price-error and Amazon-to-eBay leads first”⁶⁵.
• The profile of @realworlddanny links to livesellingblueprint.com, which offers a “private mentorship” through a booked call⁶⁶⁷⁵. No price is published. The footer says “No income is guaranteed”⁶⁶.

Tools. Vendoo, which copies listings across marketplaces, costs $14.99 to $59.99 a month⁶⁸. List Perfectly, a similar tool, pays people who refer customers: “earn 20% of your friend’s referrals monthly in perpetuity”⁶⁹. So a recommendation of a tool may be paid. Whatnot also pays existing sellers “a bonus” when someone they refer meets its selling requirements³¹. We did not see a referral link in any of the five tweets.

Courses. Public prices we could read are modest. Flea Market Flipper’s course page lists $397 and $497 packages, though the page may be out of date⁶⁰. It claims “Over 1,500 Students” and shows named student testimonials with figures, for example “$2,700 on their first sale” and “$60,000 from flipping used items” since July 2018⁶⁰. These are the seller’s selection; no result for the students as a whole is given. Its disclaimer says claimed results “can be verified upon request” and that “there is no guarantee that you will earn any money using the techniques and ideas in these materials”⁶⁰.

Content. One couple who resell pallets of shop returns told CNBC in December 2022 that they had made about $19,500 of pallet profit in two years, by their own estimate⁵⁵. Their YouTube channel had “brought in more than $102,000” in 2022 alone⁵⁵. The channel also covers furniture flipping, home renovation and property, so the two figures are not like for like. They do show that filming can pay more than the goods.

What regulators have alleged, and what courts ordered, in nearby offers. We found no regulator or court action about reselling courses, lead groups or pallet sellers, and none against any account in our collection. The cases below concern only the companies named in them, none is about flipping, and each ended in a settlement, not a trial verdict.

• According to the complaint of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Vision Solution Marketing, an online-selling coaching business, buyers often got little beyond how to list on sites like eBay, and “most of the consumers who purchased these programs did not end up with a viable business”⁷¹. The owners were banned from selling such services under court-approved settlements⁷¹.
• In its 2018 complaint against Sellers Playbook, which sold coaching for selling on Amazon, the FTC alleged that “Few, if any, consumers achieved these results, and most lost money”⁷². The defendants settled in December 2018: “The settlement order also imposes a $20.8 million judgment against the defendants, which will be suspended when they surrender” their assets⁷².
• Click Profit sold ready-made online stores for a fee of at least $45,000⁷³. Under a settlement “resolving Federal Trade Commission allegations”, announced in August 2025, its operators “will be permanently banned from the industry”⁷³.

One practical test comes from the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule: “If you make an earnings claim, you have to give the prospective buyer a separate document”⁷⁴. We did not assess whether any offer here falls under the rule.

The upside

Some individuals do well, and a few have had their records checked by the press. CNBC Make It says it reviewed documents for the sales figures below. The profit figures are the sellers’ own.

• A solo clothing reseller. Sophie Riegel buys at thrift shops and sells on eBay, Mercari and Poshmark. Her 2023 sales were “nearly $123,800”, “according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It”, at up to 25 hours a week⁵². She “has pocketed more than $192,000 in total net profit” over nearly four years, from spring 2020 to early 2024, “after accounting for platform fees and the cost of goods”⁵². That is about $50,000 a year, or roughly $35 to $40 an hour at 25 hours a week, before tax (our estimate; her hours in earlier years are not given). Her first year brought “$70,000 or so in sales”⁵². The article says she also sells reselling coaching⁵².
• Storage units. A storage-unit seller’s business “brought in about $135,000 in 2025 from eBay and auction sales, and another $85,000 from January through mid-July” 2026, by documents CNBC reviewed, at 20 to 25 hours a week⁵³. Profit is not given. He says one $450 unit held art that sold for $36,000; that figure is his own account⁵³.
• The scaled version. Rick Senko started in 2008 and “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. He then moved to selling used clothing wholesale to other resellers⁵⁴. He told CNBC “I have not taken a day off in almost 20 years”⁵⁴.
• A two-person niche business. A couple selling vintage Japanese collectibles they import posted their 2025 totals: “Net Sales: $190,465.79”, “Profit: $99,167.20”, 5,367 transactions⁵⁶. That is about $50,000 each and about $18.50 of profit per sale (our estimate). It is self-reported, and we read it on a third-party copy because Reddit refused our agents.
• Few sales, high prices. Flea Market Flipper reports $92,341 of sales and “$71,080” of profit in 2023 from “just 46 items”, at “roughly 5-10 hours a week”⁵⁷. They itemise $7,359 of stock, $7,694 of eBay fees and $4,349 of shipping; about 10 of the 46 items went by freight⁵⁷. One bulk lot of 12 ambulance stretchers, bought for $2,200 from a contact, made up $35,650 of the year’s sales⁵⁷. In 2018 they report $84,985 of sales with $61,823 of profit⁵⁸. They say they have sold on eBay “for over 20 years”, and they sell courses⁵⁸⁶⁰. An earlier post reports “$128,548 in sales” in their first full-time year, with no profit figure⁵⁹. All of this is their own statement; no payment proof is shown.
• Pallets. We found one documented pallet seller, the couple above. They spent about $7,150 on pallets over two years and estimate about $19,500 of profit, which is a high return on a small outlay⁵⁵. CNBC’s document check covers one $525 pallet that sold for $1,880⁵⁵. They told CNBC “we always at least break even”⁵⁵. A 2026 interview puts their total at “over $25k in profit”, and quotes them on their first pallet: “We didn’t end up making a whole bunch of money”⁶¹.
• Live auctions. Whatnot showcases a single show with $441,000 of sales and speaks of “top sellers earning over $100M”¹⁹. These are Whatnot’s own statements, and “earning” means sales¹⁹. Whatnot also says “the number of sellers who have passed $1 million in lifetime sales has more than doubled”, without giving the number²³.

Other accounts are weaker. An unnamed writer on a tool vendor’s blog reports “$24,680 gross and $10,100 net” in year one and “$62,740 gross and $28,616 net” in year two⁶². A 2021 trade article profiles sellers with “over $200,000 in sales annually”, one with 5,500 listings, without profit figures⁶³.

The top tenth. In the 2018 bank data, the top tenth of active sellers took in $800 a month or more, before the cost of goods⁴⁶. On Whatnot, one in eight sellers is full time²⁰. No source gives the top hundredth.

A realistic good result (our estimate). There is no dataset of reseller profit by years of experience, so this rests on the cases above and the 14-person Keeper sample^51525662. A careful part-timer: 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: $1,500 to $4,000 a month of profit at 20 to 40 hours a week, after one to three years. The top of that range is the level of the best press-checked solo case, whose profit is her own figure⁵². Six-figure profit: a specialist supply line, thousands of listings and usually a second person. The press picks cases because they are unusual, so these are upper-range examples. We found no checked case near $940,000 or $100,000 a month for a newcomer.

What it takes to compete

The documented successes describe the same things.

Product knowledge. Riegel told CNBC “I spent hours and hours learning brands, learning how to use all of the platforms”⁵². Her usual trade was $1 T-shirts sold for up to $10 and $10 to $20 jackets sold for $50 to $150⁵². The storage-unit seller said “There’s a lot of research that goes into it that isn’t shown”⁵³. A single lucky find, like Riegel’s $2 purse sold for $1,000, happens, but it is not the average⁵².

A source others lack. Examples in the cases are a thrift shop’s restocking days⁵², an import line for a narrow niche⁵⁶, and a contact who sells bulk lots⁵⁷. Public surplus auctions give no private access. Liquidity Services, which owns GovDeals, describes its buyers as professionals such as retailers, refurbishers and exporters³⁸. Across all its marketplaces it reports “6.0 million registered buyers”, “4.1 million auction participants” in the year, counting a buyer once for each auction bid in, and 1,066,000 completed transactions on $1.6 billion of goods³⁸. That is about four bidders for each completed sale and an average sale of about $1,500 (our estimate, and rough; the figures are not for GovDeals alone). In 2021 the military’s disposal agency said a single firm was the only final bidder for each of its nationwide surplus sales contracts, so the public buys through that firm’s auctions, where every bidder sees the same lots³⁵.

A deal-alert feed may have the same limit, since subscribers see the same alerts (our reasoning, not a sourced finding). Elite Flip Cartel’s page answers this point: “Members aren’t all chasing the same stuff”, and “You’re not in a 10,000-person public group fighting over one listing. Speed still matters”⁶⁵. We could not check member numbers.

Volume of dull work. The cases hold 1,300 to 8,000 items in stock⁵²⁵⁶. On Whatnot, results follow hours on air: daily streamers earn 100 to 250 times what occasional ones do²⁰.

Space, transport and cash. One in four Whatnot sellers have rented extra space, by Whatnot’s account, and nearly 80% of the live sellers surveyed across platforms work from commercial space²⁰²². The storage-unit seller keeps stock for two weeks to two years⁵³. Surplus lots must be paid for within days and collected³³³⁴.

Time. The documented cases took one to several years to reach a wage-like income⁵²⁵⁴⁵⁶.

What it costs. Listing fees can be zero². One lead group says most of its members start with $200 to $500⁶⁵. Tools run $15 to $60 a month⁶⁸. The larger exposure is stock bought on credit: if it does not sell, the balance is still owed, and with a personal guarantee it is owed by the person⁶⁴.

How to tell early (our estimate). After the first 50 to 100 sales, work out profit per hour after fees, postage, travel and tax, counting the hours spent looking for stock. Compare it with a local wage. Check whether stock is selling within about 90 days or piling up. And ask whether you know one kind of goods better than most buyers do. We found no evidence that alerts, groups or mentoring supply that knowledge; we did not see inside any of them.

What we did not verify

• The three claims in the tweets: the $940,000 in deposits and every figure in that story, the three sellers taken “from $0 to $100k/month”, and the “$50 into $1,000” video. The “$7 billion” of military equipment and the 55-70% margin have no source in the tweet. We did not watch the video or view any tweet’s images, videos or threads. Tweet text and profiles were read through a third-party mirror, not on X.
• Prices of the call-only offers (Scale With Credit, Live Selling Blueprint), how many members Elite Flip Cartel has, and the figures in its two sample-lead images, which our agents could not open.
• GovDeals’ current buyer’s premium (its page refused our agents), GovPlanet’s fee on lots other than tactical vehicles, which payment deadline applies, and whether the generators, sleeping bags or meals in the tweet need an End-Use Certificate. GSA Auctions refused our agents entirely.
• Whatnot’s seller count, its median seller sales, any profit data, how it defines “full time”, and the full State of Live Selling report. The survey details come from trade press.
• eBay’s 2026 Recommerce Report itself. Its page (https://www.ebayinc.com/recommerce-report/) refused our agents directly and through a reader, so its figures are second-hand⁷⁶.
• eBay’s starting limits for new accounts, typical advert rates, return rates, the prices of labels bought through eBay or Whatnot, and current seller counts.
• Sell-through rates (the share of listed stock that sells in a given time), average selling prices and hours per item for resellers. The table in Step 3 is our estimate.
• Fees on Mercari, Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace and TikTok Shop, and TikTok Shop’s rules on used goods.
• Forum evidence. Reddit refused our agents by every route; one post was read on a third-party copy.
• Any payment-verified income report. CNBC says it reviewed documents for sales; all profit figures are the sellers’ own statements.
• The JPMorgan figures after 2018, and the Pew figures after 2016. The Poshmark filing was read only in part.
• Whether a live-auction seller needs a state auctioneer’s licence. The only material we saw was a search summary of a third-party page about an Arkansas rule, and that page refused our agents, so we draw no conclusion⁴⁵.
• Self-employment tax, state rules outside California, resale certificates, penalties for selling recalled goods, and the law on reselling a counterfeit unknowingly.
• The filings in the Whatnot arbitration claims, and the FTC complaints and orders themselves (press releases were read).
• Whether any regulator has acted on reselling courses or pallet sellers: this rests on a few searches of FTC material only. An FTC release on a business-funding company was read during research and is not used on this page, because it does not bear on reselling⁷⁰.

Sources

1. Does It Pay collection of 5 tweets on this scheme, collected 2026-10-06.
2. eBay, “Selling fees”. https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822 . Undated help page, copyright 2026. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
3. eBay, “Store selling fees”. https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4809 . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai (the Enterprise tier, $2,999.95, is offered on yearly renewal only).
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17. Whatnot help centre, “Whatnot seller fees”. https://help.whatnot.com/hc/en-us/articles/4847069165965-Whatnot-seller-fees . Edited 2026-10-01; structure in force from 2026-09-21. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai and the help centre’s data feed (the web page refused direct access).
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22. Net Influencer and Tubefilter, coverage of the same report (the survey details are from Net Influencer). https://www.netinfluencer.com/live-selling-shifts-from-side-hustle-to-primary-revenue-as-majority-of-sellers-rely-on-livestream-revenue/ and https://www.tubefilter.com/2026/01/28/whatnot-state-of-live-selling-report-2026-shopping-ecommerce/ . 2026-01-28 to 2026-01-30. Secondary.
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24. Value Added Resource, “Whatnot cuts fees for high-volume sellers”. https://www.valueaddedresource.net/whatnot-cuts-fees-high-volume-sellers/ . 2026-09-17. Secondary.
25. Whatnot help centre, “Reasons seller applications aren’t approved”. https://help.whatnot.com/hc/en-us/articles/8246355042957-Reasons-seller-applications-aren-t-approved . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
26. Whatnot, Terms of Service version 2.0. https://www.whatnot.com/terms . Effective 2026-03-04. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
27. Whatnot help centre, “When you’ll get paid for your sales”. https://help.whatnot.com/hc/en-us/articles/360061604191-When-you-ll-get-paid-for-your-sales . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
28. Whatnot, “Taking on shill bidding” (blog post). https://blog.teamwhatnot.com/unitedstates/taking-on-shill-bidding . 2026-07-23. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
29. Value Added Resource, on Whatnot’s shill bidding report. https://www.valueaddedresource.net/whatnot-shill-bidding-report/ . 2026. Secondary.
30. Cardlines, “New legal action suggests Whatnot is unlawful gambling scheme”. https://cardlines.com/new-legal-action-suggests-whatnot-is-unlawful-gambling-scheme/ . 2026-03-16. Secondary.
31. Whatnot help centre, “Seller Referral Program”. https://help.whatnot.com/hc/en-us/articles/4645129783181-Seller-Referral-Program . Edited 2026-07-31. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through the help centre’s data feed.
32. US Postal Service, Notice 123 price list. https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm . Effective 2026-10-04. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
33. GovPlanet, buyer FAQ. https://www.govplanet.com/buyer-faq . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
34. GovPlanet, terms and conditions. https://www.govplanet.com/pop/terms_page.jsp?id=1 . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
35. Defense Logistics Agency, news article on surplus sales contracts. https://www.dla.mil/About-DLA/News/News-Article-View/Article/2532385/new-nationwide-dod-surplus-personal-property-sales-contracts-tentatively-awarded/ . 2021-03. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
36. Defense Logistics Agency, public sales pages. https://www.dla.mil/Disposition-Services/Offers/Public-Sales-Offerings/ and https://www.dla.mil/Disposition-Services/Offers/Public-Sales/ . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
37. GovDeals price schedule in a State of Maine contract. https://www.maine.gov/dafs/bbm/procurementservices/sites/maine.gov.dafs.bbm.procurementservices/files/inline-files/2022%20Price%20Schedule%201662487279_GovDeals%20-%20Price%20Catalog.pdf . 2022. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
38. Liquidity Services Inc., annual report (Form 10-K) for the year to 2025-09-30. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1235468/000119312525289159/lqdt-20250930.htm . 2025-11-20. Read at source on 2026-10-10 (first part of the filing).
39. B-Stock, Terms of Use. https://bstock.com/terms-of-use/ . Effective 2025-08-21. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
40. Internal Revenue Service, “Understanding your Form 1099-K”. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/understanding-your-form-1099-k . Last reviewed 2026-06-28. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
41. California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Publication 109. https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/formspubs/pub109/ . Revised July 2026. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
42. Federal Trade Commission, guidance on the INFORM Consumers Act. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/informing-businesses-about-inform-consumers-act . Edited January 2025. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
43. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Resellers Guide. https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/ResellersGuide_0.pdf . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
44. HM Revenue and Customs, “Selling online and paying taxes” information sheet. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/selling-online-and-paying-taxes/selling-online-and-paying-taxes-information-sheet . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
45. State-rules.com, summary of an Arkansas auctioneer rule. https://state-rules.com/arkansas/car/240-502/ . Date unknown. Not read: seen only in a search summary, and the page refused our agents through r.jina.ai.
46. JPMorgan Chase Institute, “The Online Platform Economy in 2018”. https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/institute/pdf/institute-ope-2018.pdf and https://www.jpmorganchase.com/institute/all-topics/labor-markets-and-workforce/report-ope-2018 . 2018-09. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
47. Pew Research Center, “Capital platforms: online selling and home-sharing”. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/11/17/capital-platforms-online-selling-and-home-sharing/ . 2016-11-17. Read at source on 2026-10-10 (one of our agents was refused; another read it).
48. Poshmark Inc., registration statement (Form S-1/A). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1825480/000119312521003091/d66583ds1a.htm . 2021-01-06. Read at source on 2026-10-10 (first part of the filing).
49. Marketplace Pulse, “Five thousand sellers account for 25 percent of eBay sales”. https://www.marketplacepulse.com/articles/five-thousand-sellers-account-for-25-percent-of-ebay-sales . 2018-01-23. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
50. Marketplace Pulse, “More than 6 million American eBay sellers sold over 27 billion worth of goods”. https://www.marketplacepulse.com/articles/more-than-6-million-american-ebay-sellers-sold-over-27-billion-worth-of-goods . 2017-06-22. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
51. Keeper, Side Hustle Index, thrift and vintage reselling. https://www.keepertax.com/side-hustle-index/thrift-and-vintage-reselling . Undated; latest review about five weeks before reading. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
52. CNBC Make It, profile of Sophie Riegel. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/22/lucrative-thrifting-side-hustle-sophie-riegel.html . 2024-02-22. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
53. CNBC Make It, storage-unit flipping profile. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/12/teens-side-hustle-flipping-storage-units-brings-in-135000-a-year.html . 2026-08-12. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
54. CNBC Make It, profile of Rick Senko. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/25/technsports-founder-how-my-clothing-resale-business-brings-in-millions-a-year.html . 2025-10-25. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
55. CNBC Make It, couple reselling returned items. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/15/couple-makes-money-reselling-returned-amazon-walmart-target-items.html . 2022-12-15. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
56. Third-party copy of a post on Reddit’s r/Flipping forum. https://reddit.sentinel-team.org/posts/1q1sicu/snapshots/2026-01-02T23%3A21%3A09.49167Z . 2026-01-02. Secondary.
57. Flea Market Flipper, 2023 results. https://fleamarketflipper.com/over-90k-in-sales-last-year-and-what-was-our-biggest-flip/ . 2024-03-08; covers 2023. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
58. Flea Market Flipper, 2018 results and monthly report. https://fleamarketflipper.com/2018-flipping-income/ and https://fleamarketflipper.com/flea-market-flipping-income/ . Results post 2019-01-26, covering 2018; monthly report dated 2018-01-04. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
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60. Flipper University sales and course pages. https://flipperuniversity.com/ and https://courses.fleamarketflipper.com/flipperufall2022 . Undated, copyright 2015-2025. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
61. Side Hustle Nation, “Pallet flipping”. https://www.sidehustlenation.com/pallet-flipping/ . 2026-03-05. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
62. Closo blog, “How much does a reseller make”. https://closo.co/blogs/casestudies/how-much-does-a-reseller-make-the-real-numbers-from-my-first-24-months . 2025-10-23. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
63. Modern Retail, on power sellers on resale apps. https://www.modernretail.co/platforms/a-bigger-audience-than-ever-power-sellers-are-making-six-figures-off-of-resale-apps/ . 2021-11-08. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
64. Scale With Credit. https://scalewithcredit.com . Undated, copyright 2026. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
65. Elite Flip Cartel. http://www.EliteFlipCartel.com . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 (page HTML and through r.jina.ai).
66. Live Selling Blueprint. https://livesellingblueprint.com/ . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
67. YouTube video record (title, channel and date only). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6TFNnVh4_A . 2026-10-01. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
68. Vendoo, pricing. https://www.vendoo.co/pricing . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
69. List Perfectly, referral programme and pricing. https://listperfectly.com/referral-program/ and https://listperfectly.com/pricing/ . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
70. Federal Trade Commission, press release on Seek Capital. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/11/seek-capital-ceo-are-permanently-banned-providing-business-financing-other-services-settle-ftc . 2025-11-17. Read at source on 2026-10-10. Not used for any finding on this page; see “What we did not verify”.
71. Federal Trade Commission, press release on Vision Solution Marketing. https://www.ftc.gov/node/47860 . 2018-10-29 (page stamp 2018-10-26). Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
72. Federal Trade Commission, press releases on Sellers Playbook. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2018/08/ftc-state-minnesota-halt-sellers-playbooks-get-rich-scheme (the complaint, 2018-08-06) and https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2018/12/defendants-sellers-playbook-get-rich-scheme-settle-ftc-minnesota (the settlement and judgment, 2018-12-03). Read at source on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai.
73. Federal Trade Commission, press releases on Click Profit. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/03/ftc-acts-stop-click-profit-online-business-opportunity-has-cost-consumers-least-14-million and https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/08/ftc-case-against-e-commerce-business-opportunity-scheme-its-operators-results-permanent-ban-industry . 2025-03-18 and 2025-08-25. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
74. Federal Trade Commission, guidance on the Business Opportunity Rule. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/selling-work-home-or-other-business-opportunity-revised-rule-may-apply-you . November 2011. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
75. X profiles and full tweet text for the accounts in source 1, read through api.fxtwitter.com. https://api.fxtwitter.com/hxxntrr/status/2106444179245347117 . Also the same address pattern for the other accounts. Tweets dated 2026-10-03 to 2026-10-06. Read at source on 2026-10-10 (a third-party mirror, not X itself).
76. Value Added Resource, coverage of eBay’s 2026 Recommerce Report. https://www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-2026-recommerce-report/ . 2026-10-07. Secondary (read on 2026-10-10 through r.jina.ai; eBay’s own report page refused our agents).

Corrections

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