One Green-Paper Flip

End of One Green Paper Flip

2007-04-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have been having trouble maintaining my two blogs. Life is super busy, especially with a little one running around. Unfortunately I have come to the decision that I am going to close the One Green Paper Flip blog. Don't despair - the dream of paying off my mortgage is not dead. The idea of buying and selling things is not dead. My other blog is about doubling what I have until I pay off my mortgage - any way I can. You can read more here about why I decided to do this. The simple fact that my previous post is back in January says it all. Thanks for checking this blog out and I hope to see you at my other one. The Double Challenge.

I am officially donating all One Green Paper Flip funds to The Double Challenge. Good luck me!

For the record, The One Green Paper Flip venture made $343.79, all out of a $10 bill. I'm somewhat proud of that. Only a couple hundred thousand dollars away from my goal. This isn't a failure in my mind, but rather a restructuring toward my ultimate goal.

Take Care and my all your Flips be Green Ones (did I actually just write that?)

Flip

FINALLY sold the Elliptical

2007-01-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

After a really long time, I have finally sold the Elliptical Trainer. I think perhaps the reason it took so long is because I was lazy and didn't post a picture for a long time. The tires went fast without a picture, but I guess tires are tires. The funny part is that the picture I put on the ad was from the Canadian Tire website, so it wasn't the real thing anyways. The other thing that may have helped was that many New Years resolutions involve getting in shape. In any case, the elliptical has sold for a bit less than I anticipated. I bought it for $50 and sold it for $80. It retails brand new for $189+tax. Oh well, a profit is a profit. $30 more for me. Time to look for something else. All I have now is that darned crappy coffee maker.

Flip

Finally Some Interest in the Elliptical

2007-01-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

Someone e-mailed me an offer on the elliptical. It wasn't what I thought I would get for it, but at this point I'll take anything that is a profit. Stay tuned.
Flip

2007-01-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok... it's been a LONG time since I posted. I must admit that I am definitely more into my other blog right now, The Double Challenge. I am somewhat surprised that I haven't been able to unload the elliptical yet. I had a few people e-mail me about it but to no avail. I mean it's New Years! This is prime elliptical buying time with people's New Year's Resolutions and all. Yeesh. At first I thought it was because I was too lazy to put up a picture, but I did that last week and I still haven't heard boo. It's up on three sites too. What is going on? Any suggestions?

Almost Robbed!

2006-10-30T06:01:00.000-08:00

Holy camoly! I just dogged a big bullet! I had $280 of my One Green Paper Flip money (as well as the $20 from my other blog and $100 in normal cash) in my wallet during an ice hockey game. Somehow someone managed to break into the change room (even though it was locked) and a lot of guys lost a lot of cash. The guy on my right lost $200 and the guy on my left lost $60! For some reason they didn't touch my stuff. I think it was because my bag was closed and it would take them an extra few seconds to open it. Other than that I have NOOOO idea why they would spare me. I guess they ran out of time. My sister says I have a horseshoe up my butt. I'm starting to believe her. Luckily, I lost NOTHING, but I you can be sure that's the last time I bring that much money (or perhaps any) to a hockey game again.

Flip

Sold the Tires!

2006-10-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

As predicted, I sold the tires for $150. Since I bought them for $40, that makes it 275% profit! Ye-haw!

Building My Stock Again - An Elliptical Trainer!

2006-10-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I found another good deal (I think) on an Elliptical Trainer! The goods are getting bigger and better these days. This retails at $190CAD and I think I can sell it for $120 and make a healthy profit. That means I have the following right now:

Snow Tires
Elliptical Trainer
Crappy Coffee Maker

The Elliptical is supposed to be dropped off this weekend, so no gas spent for me!

Flip

I got the tires!

2006-10-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I picked up the tires. I already have 5 people interested in them. I bought them for $40 and am asking $150! I think $150 is even a good deal, but I want this to sell fast because the faster the sales, the faster I can buy something else with the money. This guy has another cheap set as well, but I think I was a bit slower on the draw on this one. Still $110 profit is nice when you only have $20!

Off and Running Again!

2006-10-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

The season is changing and so is what I'm flipping. I found a good deal on Snow tires. Not sure what size they are but who cares? I've already placed a feeler ad in the local free web page and I already have a bite. So I called up the guy selling them and told him I'd buy them. Not too shabby. I'm asking $150 for anyone in Ottawa, Ontario who wants them. They're Nordic Winter Trac P205/75R14, used only 1 season!

I'm back!

2006-10-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry world - Life happens. I've been super busy at work, and also my baby got baptised, so I have not been able to post in a while. (or look for new stuff to sell). Things have died down a bit, so I will start looking for more stuff to sell and see if I can get this thing going again. It would be a shame to stop now. Unfortunately, Garage Sale season has pretty much ended here in Canada, so I'll have to do the old fashioned way and start reading on-line boards again (is this really the old fashioned way). Also, my other blog stole a few of my flips lately, so they didn't show up here. Now that that one is up and running (although, having troubles of it's own), I should be able to start flipping here again.

Stay tuned....

Sold the Speakers!

2006-09-12T08:22:00.000-07:00

I picked up the speakers over a month ago, so this is obviously not a bit ticket item. I paid $5 at a garage sale a few streets over. I ended up selling it to a work mate for $25, which is 400% profit. Now I only have the coffee maker, which is turning out to be the biggest dud of all. Not to worry though, because I paid next to nothing for that. Also, I'm going to up my cost of driving around. I have measured my gas milage these past few weeks and it looks like I am running more at 8.5c/km, and with wear and tear thrown in brings me to about 10c/km. I've edited both at once.

Pay the Gas Man

2006-08-31T07:14:00.000-07:00

I was thinking that I have been burning some gas while buying and selling some of these things. I suppose I should be paying for that gas and wear and tear. Based on some reasearch, I'll charge myself 7 cents a kilometer. I'm currently trying to figure out what my real cost per kilometer is, but that will take a few fill-ups before I have a hard number on that. I'll update if I have to. Without going into the boring details on how far I drove for each item, I figure I have travelled a total of 89 kilometers so far for Green Paper Flip reasons, so that comes to $6.23 in gas. I have subtracted this from my total.

Flip

NOOOOOooooo.........!!!!!!!

2006-08-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

NOOOOOOOOOoooooooo....... I was updating my blog template, and it seems to have only saved half of it. All my side pictures and total are gone! It could have been much worse, but I will have to spend some time getting it back to the way it was. Crap!

2006-08-25T10:56:00.001-07:00

Ok, I FINALLY received the money order for the ring and sent off the shipment. It took a week and 2 days to get the cheque. I think I'll look into setting up a paypal account to get things moving faster. I paid $90 for the ring, and $7.71 in Ebay fees (less than I thought), and $7.60 to ship it. My cheque was for $112.50, so in the end I made $7.19, which is 6.8%. Not horrible, but compared to all of my other sales, it wasn't worth all the effort. I still can't believe more people wouldn't pay for this since I had the appraisal form, but I guess I learnt a lesson. Only buy things that people are going to want. It took over a month to get rid of this thing. It's over now and finally I have my money back.

ONE UGLY RING SOLD!

2006-08-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

That's right! Someone bid on it in the final 5 minutes. Thank the Lord! I'm just happy to get rid of it. That is with out a doubt the worst investment I made so far. I paid $90 originally, which I figured was a great deal, because it was appraised for $650. I don't think I took into account the ugly factor. No one wanted this thing. The winning bid was $99, but with ebay fees being $8.85, I only made 15 cents! Actually, I think I'll make a bit more because she doesn't live too far away, and you can only put a fixed price for shipping and handling. (I charged what it would cost to send it to B.C. since that could have happened). I'll probably make something like $5 on the whole deal. It wasn't a waste of time though, because I learned some valuable lessons about buying ugly stuff and also about how Ebay works. I should have listed it in U.S. dollars, and I also should have got a PayPal account so people don't have to waste money on Money Orders and Cahier's Cheques. All in all, I am very very happy to get my money back and a bit extra since half my money was tied up in this ring. I think I need to concentrate more on items that will flip fast. Maybe I'll look for a nice cheap, beautiful ring next time. I'll update all the financials once the deal is officially done.

Infinity Percent!

2006-08-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, it sounds much better than it is, but I really did get infinity percent for the workout bench. A friend e-mailed me asking if I wanted a workout bench that she wanted to get rid of. I told her that I would take it, but I would be selling it. I offered to split the profit with me, but being the One Green Paper Flip fan that she is, she wanted to donate her half for bigger and better Green Paper Flipping. I ended up only getting $26 for it. I thought I would get much more, but apparently (according to the buyer), they had these at Giant Tiger for $40, so it wasn't easy to get any more for it. I only had one other person make an offer or show any interest and he offered $25. It's a free $26 though, so I can't really complain. Now if someone would just give me some money for that darned crappy coffee maker.

Update

2006-08-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Looks like I've solidified a deal for the workout bench. I'll give all the details once the deal is done. Still no bids on the ring. I'm getting worried that I may have made a bad deal. I guess this is a learning process and I can't expect to always go forward. There's been NOOOOO bites on the crappy coffee maker. What a dud. I can't unload this thing. Anyone want a crappy coffee maker? I DO however have someone interested in the speakers. They're away for a week, but once they come back they're going to try them out and will likely buy them if they work (which I have no idea if they do). Looks like I'm starting to unload a bit of stuff.

EBAY!!

2006-08-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I posted my first item on ebay. It's the ugly ring! Hopefully someone in the world doesn't think it's too ugly. It's posted for $99 at the moment, but I hope it gets to be a lot more than that. The appraisal report lists it for about $650 so it should go up in value. I put the ad for one week. It will be a good learning experience for sure. Otherwise, I have had a few bites for the workout bench and someone intereseted in the speakers, but nothing has sold so far. I'd like to unload an item or two more before I start buying things again. Especially the ring. I'm starting to doubt whether I should have purchased it. The Auction will tell me for sure. If it doesn't sell, then I blew $3.50 in fees, but I think it's worth it for the ebay selling experience either way.

Check it out and feel free to bid on it.

EBAY RING POSTING

One Workout Bench

2006-08-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

I got this off one of my friends for a very very reasonable price. I told her what I was up to, but she didn't care. Good to see people donating to the One Green Paperflip fund! I'm back up to 4 items. Nothing is selling. Yikes... Maybe I'll have to try my first EBAY sale. The ring is a good candidate for that.

I sold the bike!

2006-07-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's about time I started selling things again.

I found this bike on the free selling webpage for Ottawa. I went to check it out and it rode really well. The only problems with it were a slightly warped wheel (which I didn't notice until later) and also the handbrake was a bit wierd. You could turn it all the way around the handlebar. I couldn't find anywhere to tighten it - but she was only asking $25 for the bike, so I figured if I could talk her down, then for sure someone would buy it for more. I offered $20 and she accepted. That was when I realised why people put bike racks on thier car. After about 10 minutes of fighting with the bike, I finally got it in the car. Whew! I was worried that I would have to ride my new bike and tow my car.
I put the bike back up on the same board that I sold it on (after a few days)for $50 and got a few bites. Some guy finally come and saw it and I let him talk me down to $40. 100% profit. Not bad. That's still the least profit I have made, although the coffee maker could be a dud since I haven't got any calls. Anyone want a crappy coffee maker?

One Diamond Ring

2006-07-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Sounds amazing right? I should have labled this post, "One Ugly Diamond Ring". I'm not sure about this one. I have an appraisal report that lists its value for a lot more than I paid, but I have heard that appraisal reports on rings are often inflated. Then there's the fact that it is ugly (or at least it is to me). Will someone really buy a diamond ring that is ugly. There really are diamonds in there - I know you can't see them. Here is the write up on the appraisal report:

One yellow gold ring, stamped "14K" inlaid with eight polished mother-of-pearl pieces. The ring also contains eight natural diamonds.

This could be my big break or my big bust. I invested a good portion of my money here.

One Surround Sound Speaker Set

2006-07-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Try saying that ten times fast. I'm beginning to think that garage sales are great. I picked up this surround sound speaker set for a very low price. Not sure how much it would go for normally, but this was so cheap I couldn't resist. I don't like that I couldn't turn them on in his driveway, but I know where he lives so no worries if they don't work. Yikes, now I have three items. I had better start selling soon.

One Red Bike

2006-07-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

I was surfing the local for sale site and this bike looked like it was in better shape than it was being sold for. The only problem is that the hand brakes kind of rotate around the handle bar. I figured I could fix it, but there doesn't seem to be any screw or anything. Otherwise, it's in great condition. We'll see. This marks the first time that I have more than one item up for sale. I can just see myself in 10 years... I'll be swimming in junk that no one else wants, but I thought was a good deal. My wife is going to love me!

One Crappy Coffee Maker

2006-07-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, this item has been sitting around since I bought the golf clubs. I regretted buying it, but I did, so I can hide from it no longer. Meet One Crappy Coffee Maker. I picked it up for an insanely cheap price, but it looked kind of crappy and old. Now that I finally got around to cleaning it up, it doesn't look too bad any more. Maybe I can make something out of it anyway. It's missing the part that lets you take the pot away while it is brewing (so that the coffee doesn't spill everywhere), but who cares?

A paperclip for a house!

2006-07-11T07:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! Looks like Kyle at www.oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com finally got his house! Way to go Kyle! Now I just have to attain my goal as well. I have $140, which isn't bad, but is certainly nowhere near the value of my mortgage.

Sorry I haven't been writing much lately. Life has been pretty hectic, but things will pick up. I promise. I'm already on the hunt for my next purchase.

Stay tuned...

BAM!

2006-06-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

BAM! That's right! I sold the clubs! When I first looked at them, they looked pretty good. The guy wanted $50 for them, but I don't know much about golf, so I had to try calling a friend to find out if it was a good deal. He wasn't there, so I figured I should just pass them by to be safe. A few minutes later, some guy comes by and looks at them (it was a garage sale). He talked very well of them, but said he already had some clubs. I followed him in the crowd and asked him how good a deal it was. He said the bag was probably worth that much. So I go back and tell the guy that $40 was a better price and he went for it. The best part was when his wife says, "Mom's gunna be mad at you, she wanted $80 for those clubs.", and the guy responds, "she's not the one sitting in the hot sun all day." LOL - I ended up selling them for $100, so I guess she was right. I found a crappy 3-wood for $.50 and threw it in the bag for good measure. I found a 1 wood, also, but it was for the wrong hands. Someone would probably notice I think. So now I have $149.50 and figure I'll withdraw my original $10.

Now I have to figure out what to do with my $139.50. Any ideas?

One Golf Set

2006-06-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, I picked up a set of golf clubs this weekend at a garage sale. I think this guy was tired of sitting in the hot sun because he let them go pretty cheap. No drivers though, but I found a crappy 3 wood to throw in the bag. Hopefully I can flip these quickly.

Dead End

2006-06-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

I found a Signal Generator for free. The guy said he didn't know if it worked or not, so I figured I could just hook it up to a scope at work and check it out. It was outputting something, but it was mostly garbage. Doh! Dead End. At least it was free. Back to the classifieds...

450% !!!!!!!!

2006-06-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Holy crap! I just sold the de-humidifier and I made 450%! Now that it's sold, here's the story...

I was surfing the local for sale web page and found a "humidifier" for sale for 20 bucks which had barely been used. No picture, no write up, no details, no nothing. Well, I figured it was probably one of cheap mist machines that usually go for 20 bucks or so, but I asked for the model and manufacturer anyways. It turned out to be a de-humidifier that Canadian Tire sells for $169+tax. It isn't a bad unit as it will de-humidify 1000 square feet. I called the guy up and it turns out that it was his former room mates who moved away. He was just going to throw it out, but figured if he could get 20 bucks for it then that would be nice. Yeah... nice for me baby! I went to see it and it was in great shape. I paid the 20 bucks and it only took 5 minutes for me to sell it for 90 bucks at my work. In fact, someone else said they would have bought it for $100, so it looks like I didn't even get the full value out of it. I guess I figured that since I only paid 20 bucks, it couldn't possibly be worth more than 90. There's another lesson for me. I should at least TRY to sell it for more than I think it's worth just in case it is. I can always drop the price later. Remember, I have NO pressure to sell.

Now, what do I buy for 90 bucks or less? Back to the classifieds.

Stay tuned...

One Little De-humidifier

2006-06-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've made my second purchase. I basically ignored all my rules because it is too large to sell on E-bay again, and it is somewhat seasonal, although it is actually for THIS season this time. Also, not everyone wants it, but at least not many people have one so people are more likely to pick mine.

Let me introduce you to "One Little De-humidifier". After checking the internet, I believe this guy was selling this WAY too cheap and I couldn't resist buying it. I'm going to try to see if I can get $80 for it. Ambitious, but I think I can do it based on the surfing I have been doing.

If you want to make me an offer for "One Little De-humidifier" and want to pay shipping (or live in Ottawa) then e-mail me at onegreenpaperflip@hotmail.com

Garage Sale Backfire

2006-06-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I figured a good way to find cheap stuff for resale is going to the local garage sale. I learned a good lesson about garage sales. Make sure the profit you expect in the end is worth more than the stuff your wife will buy. I didn't find anything to flip, but my wife found a nice VHS tape and a book. DOH! They weren't very expensive, but I can see where this is going. Garage Sales might end up costing me more in the long run. Maybe I'll stick to the classifieds.

I have a big lead on my next purchase. I'll post more when the deal is done!

Shazam!

2006-06-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

That's right baby! The sale has been completed and I am the proud owner of a $20 bill! I have officially entered the world of wheeling and dealing! Awesome! Now I have to find something to buy with my $20 (or less) and flip that too. I think I was a bit lucky to get rid of that snowboard. No one else has been interested, and since it's June I don't blame them. I'll have to be smarter this time.

Ok, time to re-think my strategy and stick to it this time. Here is what I am looking for:

- Something small so I can offer cheap shipping on Ebay
- Something being sold cheaper than it should be
- Something lots of people want so i won't be stuck with it for a long time.
- Something people would buy from anyone
- Something that is not out of season.

now I just have to think of what that might be.

Sold Again!

2006-06-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yee Haw! I just got a call from someone that saw my ad on the local free webpage. That snowboard is SOLD! $20!!! That's 100% profit. Awesome! I was afraid that I'd have to start approaching kids at the local tobogan run, asking, "Pssstt... hey kid.... wanna buy a snowboard?" I'd be wearing a trench coat of course, with the snowboard hanging on the inside.

Ok, before I get too excited the exchange won't happen for a few days. Anything can happen in a few days, so sit tight and cross your fingers. I can't believe I'm excited over making 10 bucks, but this is how it started with Kyle at One Red Paperclip. This is the equivilant to his fish pen and now he's up to One Movie Role. My on stage appearance with Our Lady Peace is only a few trades away!

Sold! Er.... Not Sold!

2006-06-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

So I posted the yellow snowboard at my work and I had many calls in the first few hours! I was thinking, "Great! I'll be rid of this thing in no time. And I was right... for a while. Someone came by and purchased it. She didn't know much about snowboards and she was my co-worker and all, so I told her she could bring it back in the next few days if it turned out not to be what she wanted.

DOH! Then she calls me back after her expert friend looks at it and I find out that this is more of a kids toy for the local park hill, rather than a decent snowboard for the ski-hills. I guess there's supposed to be metal on the sides to carve through the snow. Crap! No wonder they were selling it so cheap. This may be harder to get rid of than I thought. Now I have exactly what I was trying to avoid. A cheap item that costs a lot to ship, making ebay virtually not possible. I'll have to sell this locally. Sigh.... Well, I guess I can't expect to do this without learning a few lessons on the way.

Lesson 1 - Know what you're buying before you buy it. It's better to let a good deal go by than to get stuck with something you can't sell.
Lesson 2 - Stick to your plan. Cheap items need to be light to sell on ebay to minimise shipping charges.

I'm still hoping I can get $20 for this thing. I still think it would be cool for some kid. But what do I know, eh?

One Yellow Snowboard

2006-06-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I made my first purchase. I ended up finding a free web page, where you can post items for sale in Ottawa. Here - http://www.forsaleottawa.com/ There was a snowboard listed there for only $10. Now I know I said I wanted something small, so the shipping charges wouldn't be big for a cheap item, but come on... a snowboard for $10? I jumped at the chance and am now the proud owner of one yellow snowboard. I figure I should be able to get at least $30 for it. I mean, it's not exactly a top of the line snowboard, but it is in good condition. A good first time board I think. It's about 130 cm long, which apparently is important in the world of buying and selling snowboards.

If you want to make an offer for One Yellow Snowboard and are willing to pay the shipping (or live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) then e-mail me at onegreenpaperflip@hotmail.com. I think I'll try to sell it on a few free local web sites first, but if it's not working then I'll start my first Ebay Auction. Hopefully someone out there wants a snowboard in the middle of the summer.

One Ten Dollar Bill

2006-06-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hey!

I was surfing the net and ran into this cool site. http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

This guy started with a paperclip and is trying to make trade after trade until he ends up with a house! How cool is that? When I saw this, I thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” So I thought of something different, but I have to say that Kyle at One Red Paperclip is my inspiration! I hope he gets his house some day.

Well, I couldn’t steal his idea outright, so mine is similar, but a bit different. My idea isn’t to trade for things, but rather to buy something and sell it for more money. The money I make from that will go toward the next item. As my money pool grows, so will the things I buy and sell for. So.... Really... I am using green paper (money) to flip items (to flip something means to buy it and sell it really quick for a profit). Of course my site should naturally be called "One Green-Paper Flip", which is a great play on words from One Red Paperclip! I'm a genius! (Actually my wife thought of it. Thanks snookems!) We'll just forget the fact that Canadian money is mostly not green.

My first thought was to do all my buying and selling on Ebay. This is a good medium, but after taking a quick look, it was obvious that when I was buying things, the shipping costs would kill me until I reached high value items. So for now at least, I will look for good deals locally, and then turn around and sell them on Ebay and other cheap selling boards.

The other thing I need is a starting place. To start with one red paperclip is cool, but the ebay fees would likely kill me. And besides, who is going to want to pay for shipping for a red paperclip. So to get over the Ebay fees, I think I’ll just start with some seed money… maybe something like $10. After a few items, I’ll “withdraw” my $10 from my trading account. To turn $10 into some huge amount (like enough to buy a house) would also be pretty cool.

So, there you have it. It is Currently June 1st, 2006 and I am sitting here with my $10 seed money on my desk. Now I just have to come up with a strategy.

I guess I need to find something that people want… don’t want to get stuck with something forever. And it should be something small so that the shipping fees are small. I mean who wants to pay $30 in shipping fees for a $10 item?Wish me luck. Maybe some day I’ll be as famous as that One Red Paperclip dude. I’m not really an Alice Cooper fan, but I could handle it if I ended up on stage with say, Our Lady Peace!