Flipping money is real, and it’s not a scam, most of the time. You can flip money to make more of it, and with practice, you might use multiple methods to increase your earnings.
Of course, there are scams like anything, so research before starting anything new to ensure it’s the real deal.
How Does Flipping Money Work?
Flipping money sounds fishy or even illegal, but it’s perfectly legal and a helpful way to make money. There are many ways to flip money; it depends on what you enjoy and are comfortable trying.
Some money-flipping methods take no effort, and others take a lot, so how much time you have matters too.
Definition of Money Flipping
In short, money flipping means investing or buying something for the short term and flipping it to make a profit. There isn’t one specific way to do it, and you have many options.
11 Ways to Flip Money
I’ve found the top 11 ways to flip money that don’t require much effort and are something most people can do. Each method requires specific requirements, which I describe below, so you can easily determine which works best for you.
- Money App Bonuses
- Investment Apps and Sites
- Real Estate Investing
- Retail Arbitrage
- Use Your Skills
- Flip Goods
- Side Gigs
- Bank & Credit Card Farming
- High Yield Savings Accounts
- Automatic Savings
- Complete Paid Surveys
1. Money App Bonuses
Many money apps pay a sign-up bonus. In short, they pay you to sign up for the app and deposit money or make purchases, depending on the type of app you choose.
The key to earning bonuses with any app is to read the fine print. They all advertise their great bonuses, but the requirements are in tiny print that you might miss if you don’t look carefully.
Some apps pay a bonus for nothing, but if you’re flipping money, expect to spend some money to make more.
Albert App
The Albert app is a digital finance app that helps users save, invest, and budget money. Albert uses an algorithm to help you create a budget, set up automatic savings, and create a portfolio with as little as $1 invested.
Albert may help you uncover hidden savings, learn how much you can afford to transfer to your savings account each month, and take more chances investing.
Albert isn’t a bank, but FDIC-insured banks back them, and the app uses bank-level security, so your information is secure, as are your funds.
What I love about Albert is there aren’t any minimum balances required and no fees unless you sign up for a Genius subscription. In addition, the Genius subscription offers access to financial professionals, and you can earn cash back on your purchases with the Albert debit card.
Albert also offers the option to get a $250 cash advance between paydays if you need more for the month. This only works if you have direct deposit set up, and like most cash advances, I recommend only using it in true emergencies.
So how does Albert help you flip money?
Albert pays a direct deposit bonus for members who meet the following:
- Set up direct deposit
- Receive a direct deposit of at least $500 within 45 days
- Receive a direct deposit of at least $500 every 30 days for 90 days in a row
- Spend at least $200 on your cash card every 30 days for 90 days
That’s all it takes, and you’ll receive your bonus. The amount changes, but it’s usually between $150 to $250.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a get-paid-to site. Members join to complete tasks such as watching videos, playing games, or answering surveys. These tasks don’t require you to pay anything, so it’s not true money flipping; instead, you’re making money in your free time.
Money flipping occurs when you shop online, in-store, or accept paid offers on the app.
You pay for an item or an offer and then earn points from Swagbucks that you can redeem for gift cards to stores or PayPal.
Swagbucks also pays a $10 sign-up bonus. To earn it, you must make at least a $25 purchase when you first sign up for the app. After that, it usually takes a month for them to credit the purchase, and you’ll earn your $10 bonus.
2. Investment Apps and Sites
The most common way to flip money is to invest. Your goal is to buy for a low price and sell for a higher price.
With investment apps, you don’t have to use an in-person (expensive) broker. Instead, hundreds of online brokers offer discount prices, making it easy for anyone to invest, even beginners or people with only spare change to invest.
It’s important only to invest what you’re comfortable risking and to ensure you understand what you’re investing in.
If you’ve never invested before, an app for beginners that sets up a portfolio based on your risk tolerance, goals, and timelines usually works best. But, if you have experience, the sky’s the limit with investing apps that help you flip money.
My favorite investment apps are Public and Acorns.
Public
Public is an app for anyone who wants to try investing in a little bit of everything. They offer investments in:
- Stocks
- ETFs
- Crypto
- Real estate
- Art
- Music royalties
- Luxury goods
Public isn’t just an investment platform, though. They invest heavily in educational opportunities for investors to help you understand the market and your portfolios. They don’t help you just flip money; they help you understand the how and the why behind it so you can keep making profitable investment decisions.
A perk I love the most is that Public doesn’t use payment order flow. In other words, they don’t sell your orders to make more money. Instead, they make the trades themselves when you order them. This way, you know you’re executing the trade at the best price possible.
Of course, there’s no guarantee you’ll flip money with an app like Public. While they help you diversify your portfolio and invest in things you may not otherwise invest in, such as art, there’s never a guarantee the investment will be profitable.
Acorns
Acorns is a great investment app for beginners. They’re known as the ‘spare change’ app because you can invest and grow your spare change.
You might wonder why you’d bother investing a little change, but every penny counts. Acorns makes it easy for your spare change to add up because they offer the opportunity to round up each purchase made with a linked debit card.
If you round up to the nearest dollar for every purchase, chances are you’ll have more than a few dollars to invest each month.
You can also set up recurring deposits to regularly contribute to your investment account to make it grow further.
Acorns builds diversified portfolios that include ETFs managed by some top investment firms. You’ll also have access to a retirement account, banking, and bonus investments earned by shopping with your Acorns debit card.
Acorns promotes compound earnings, making it easy for anyone to invest, even if it’s only spare change.
3. Real Estate Investing
Real estate investing can be another great way to flip money. Like investing in stocks, bonds, ETFs, or commodities, there’s always a risk of loss, but real estate is often a great way to diversify your risk.
There are many options to invest in real estate, either directly or through a fund. If you invest directly, you own the real estate and are responsible for it. You must also have the capital to pay for it (or finance it).
The traditional way to invest in real estate is to buy-and-hold. With this method, you’re a landlord and have tenants. Unfortunately, it’s the most complicated way to flip money as a real estate investor because you’re ‘on call’ 24/7 as the landlord. It’s also your responsibility to maintain the home, find tenants, and manage them. It’s a big job.
If you’re looking for something less intense, consider the many other great ways to flip money with real estate investments.
Flip Properties
Flipping properties means you buy an undervalued property, fix it and sell it for a profit. The key is finding properties you can buy for less than they’re worth and fixing them up, leaving room for profits when you sell them.
Flipping properties can take a lot of work, especially if you DIY the renovations. But, if you have the capital to hire contractors to do the work, you’re the money behind the job but don’t have to do most of the work yourself.
There are many ways to find properties to flip, including the following:
- Work with a real estate agent who specializes in real estate investments
- Partner with a wholesaler who does the legwork of finding properties and transfers the contract to you
- Find the properties yourself
Before flipping properties, it’s important to crowdsource your resources, such as contractors, appraisers, and real estate agents.
Flip Land
You can make money by flipping land if you don’t want the hassle of renovating properties. It’s not as exciting as flipping houses because you don’t have that ‘wow factor’ when the house is complete, but it can be a lucrative way to flip money.
This method works best for those familiar with an area or great at hunting down deals. Land is a finite resource, so when you can snag it, you may be able to turn it for a nice profit. The kicker is you might have to sit on the property for a while.
How long it takes to flip land depends on where it is and how it’s zoned. For example, suppose you can find infill land or land in between developed areas. In that case, you can often sell it for a nice profit when the existing owners want to expand or another business owner sees a way to capitalize on the land.
REITs
REITs help anyone invest in real estate without owning it yourself. Real estate investment trusts are investments in a real estate company. As the investor, you buy shares of the REIT who might own multiple commercial properties, such as shopping malls, medical offices, hotels, or apartments.
The real estate company owns and manages the properties. All you have to do is invest your money. REITs pay shareholders up to 90% of their profits, including monthly dividends from rental or interest income. When the real estate company sells the properties, you’ll also earn prorated capital gains.
REITs are longer-term investments, so always know what you’re getting into, but they can be a great way for everyday investors to invest in commercial properties.
4. Retail Arbitrage
Flipping money by shopping is a fun way to earn a profit. So if you love shopping and finding deals, retail arbitrage can be a great way to do it.
Retail arbitrage is a fancy name for finding products for less than their value and selling them for more. You’ve likely seen this hundreds of times on eBay or even Craigslist.
If you’re a great bargain hunter, it’s an easy way to flip money. The nice thing about this method is you can do it whenever you want. So, for example, you might be at the store shopping for something you need and stumble across a great deal that you can buy and sell online or even at a garage sale.
If you want to make consistent money using retail arbitrage, set up an account on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Mercari. Do your research to see which app people buy the items you have to sell the most.
But, if you’re good at hunting down deals on designer clothes and accessories, open a ‘closet’ on Poshmark and sell items there. Poshmark is the spot for designer clothes, accessories, and household goods. eBay, Craigslist, Mercari, and Facebook Marketplace are good for most other items.
Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA is also a great way to get into retail arbitrage, but I recommend this method if you do it consistently.
Amazon charges higher fees than the other sites mentioned above, but you can leverage a much larger audience. You must sign up for a seller’s account to flip money on Amazon.
Beginners can keep it simple and use the Amazon seller app to scan items in-store and see how much they’re selling for on Amazon. Then, if you find good deals, buy them, list them through the seller app, and make a profit.
It can take some time to get set up as an Amazon seller, but on average, Amazon sellers get going within six weeks and with less than $500 to start.
5. Use Your Skills
Sometimes you can flip money using your own skills. This is a great way to feel great about yourself and make more money.
It’s not as hard as you think. Consider what you’re good at and how you can turn it into flipping money. Any skill that can be a service to others can help you flip money, and sometimes your investment is minimal minus your time.
Flip Your Photos
If you love taking photos, why not flip them for money? If you’ve already taken them and they’re collecting dust around your house, or they sit on your drive, you may be able to sell them for a profit.
Considering it didn’t cost you much to take pictures, it’s a great supplement to your income. Many sites pay for photos or let you sell stock photos to their audience, including the following:
- Shutterstock
- iStockPhoto
- com
- Adobe Stock
Peruse the sites before listing your photos to see which photos sell the best on each site. Then, choose the site with the audience that is most likely to buy your photos.
You can also sell photos on Etsy, including digital photos. Again, there is a large market for photos on Etsy, so it pays to see if your photos fit the bill.
Flip a Website or a Blog
If you have website design skills and understand SEO, flipping websites can be a great way to make money. Like flipping houses, it takes a lot of time and work, but the payoff can be worth it.
When flipping websites, your job is to take ownership and improve the website. This may include redesigning the site, improving its SEO, finding better backlinks, and making the site run faster.
Before buying a website or blog, ensure there’s a niche and audience for it and that there will be a market that wants to buy it from you.
Buying and Selling of Domain Name
Domain name flipping is a skill that requires extensive research and knowledge of which domain names will be highly desired.
Most domain names sell for $20 or less, but if you can scoop up popular names for that price, you can then sell them as a premium domain name, making thousands of dollars in some cases.
The key is understanding the industry and which names will sell for much more than the standard domain name fee.
Buying and Selling of Art Shares
If you’ve always wanted to invest in expensive art but didn’t have the capital, consider buying and selling art shares with Masterworks.
Masterworks is a lot like REITs; you buy shares of pieces of art and hold onto them, typically for several years. Then, when the art is sold, you earn a prorated profit.
This way, you can call yourself an art collector without physically owning the art, finding a safe place to store it, and handling the sale to earn a profit.
6. Flip Goods
Flipping goods is another option. Unlike retail arbitrage, where you buy brand-new items and flip them for a profit, you flip used goods and sell them for a profit. Most items will need some TLC to flip them for a higher price, but the work can be worth it.
The sky’s the limit when flipping goods, but here are some of the most common items to flip for a profit.
Flip and Sell Used Cars
If you’re a car fanatic, consider buying used cars you find for a deal, fix them up and sell them for a profit. This can work on old cars, collector cars, or newer model cars.
Of course, it requires knowledge of a car’s value, potential, and what buyers would pay for it. You must also be mechanically inclined or have connections to help you fix the car.
Sometimes the renovations are mechanical, and other times they are cosmetic. For example, you might buy a car, make sure it runs well and then change its paint colors or add features that make it worth more to car buyers.
Used Clothes and Shoes
Flipping clothes and shoes don’t require much work, but you must know which items are worth something.
Typically brand name clothing and shoes earn the highest profits. It may take a little while to figure out which brands sell for the most money, but those in the best condition and from the most expensive brands will sell for more.
Since you’re likely selling clothes you own, any money you make is a profit if you already got your use out of them, but selling them on sites like Poshmark may make you the highest profits.
Flea Market Flipping
Flea market shoppers always look for a good deal, but you may still make money flipping items. The key is finding products for a much lower price than you’d sell at the flea market.
Many people shop at resale stores, garage sales, or even overstock stores like TJMaxx. Look at the clearance racks, see what you can buy for a steal, and flip it by selling them at the local flea market.
Buy, Refurbish, and Sell Technology
If you’re good with electronics, consider buying used technology, refurbishing it, and selling it. You can do this with iPhones, computers, tablets, and computers.
There is a large market for refurbished technology, and even if you only flip iPhones for $100, if you flip ten a month, that’s $1,000 a month for flipping phones.
7. Side Gigs
Sometimes flipping money means flipping your time for money. Side gigs are a great way to do this, especially if you have some free time.
There are thousands of side gigs you can work to make extra money. It depends if you want to work for a company or do your own thing.
Provide Deliveries and Services
If you don’t mind working for a company, consider driving people, food, or even shopping for and delivering groceries.
Some of the most popular apps are the following:
- Uber and Lyft – You drive people to their destinations, earning a flat fee from the company and tips from customers
- DoorDash or UberEats – You pick up buyers’ restaurant orders and deliver them to their doorstep, earning a flat fee for each delivery plus customer tips
- Instacart – You shop for and deliver customers’ groceries after they choose the products online and pay for the order
The thing to remember about delivery services is you are a contractor, not an employee. Therefore, you are responsible for both sides of the taxes (employee and employer), plus all expenses incurred by using your car.
These gigs are nice because you can be available whenever you want; you don’t have to set a specific schedule. You can also pick up work in any location, so if you’re traveling and need extra cash, you can pick up a gig and make some extra money.
Freelance Work
Consider freelance work if you’d rather be your own boss and do things your way. You can use skills you already have and create a freelance gig, such as:
- Writer
- Graphic designer
- Voice over actor
- Data entry specialist
- Bookkeeper
There are hundreds of other ways to do freelance work. Consider your skills and if there’s a market for them. You may even consult in your industry and make money on the side.
8. Bank and Credit Card Farming
Bank and credit card farming are great ways to flip money, but you must be organized to make it work.
Essentially, you take advantage of introductory bonuses by opening new bank accounts or credit cards. This only works if you have good credit and/or a good banking history to open new accounts.
Bank Account Farming
Bank farming is less complicated than credit card farming. To start, you open a new bank account offering a sign-up bonus. Then, you deposit the necessary funds to earn the bonus and keep the funds in the account for the required time.
When the time’s up, you close the account and do it again with a new bank and bank account. Again, the key is understanding the details. This includes how much you deposit and how long you must keep the funds in the account.
Some banks require a minimum deposit, a certain number of direct deposits, or a certain amount of money spent using a debit card.
If you close the account too early, you’ll lose the bonus.
Credit Card Farming
Credit card farming is similar; however, you open credit cards with sign-up bonuses instead of bank accounts.
Credit cards can be harder to qualify for, especially if you don’t have great credit, so use this method carefully. But, of course, you also don’t want to get yourself too far into credit card debt.
Most credit card bonuses require a certain number of purchases within a given period, usually 30 to 90 days, to receive the bonus.
Just be careful doing this because opening and closing credit cards can often negatively affect your credit scores. Only do this if you can make your payments on time, pay the balance in full, and won’t hurt your credit history length (the longer, the better).
9. High-Yield Savings
High-yield savings accounts are a great way to flip money. Most high-yield savings accounts are online, so they are easy to find, and as long as you are comfortable banking online, they can help you make good money.
Ensure you understand the bank’s requirements, including the minimum deposit required to earn the highest interest rate and other conditions, such as setting up direct deposit.
You can also take advantage of CDs at high-yield banks to further increase your savings. Just make sure the money you deposit isn’t money you’ll need before the CD expires.
10. Automatic Investing
Investing today is simple, especially when you can automate it. So there’s no excuse not to be able to invest when you can put it on autopilot and forget about it.
Whether you use a robo-advisor to create and manage your portfolio or set up a DIY portfolio, most apps offer automated investing, so you continually contribute to your portfolio.
M1 Finance
One of my favorite self-directed investing apps is M1 Finance. It offers options for DIY investors and beginner investors looking for automated investing tools. You can choose from their prebuilt portfolios (they call them pies) or build your own.
On M1, you can invest, spend, and borrow all in one app. M1 offers margin loans, high-yield savings, a cashback credit card, and no commission trading. In addition, you can trade stocks, ETFs, or crypto, and set up automated investing, so you continue growing your portfolio.
M1 offers fractional share investing, and approved investors can invest on margin (borrowing to invest).
11. Complete Paid Surveys
Paid surveys are another great way to flip money. Like other methods on this list, you exchange your time for money. In this case, it’s your free time because you won’t make much money answering surveys, but it can be supplemental income.
Paid surveys help companies learn what consumers want or what they need to improve to make their products or services better. You can complete paid surveys for multiple companies to increase your chance of making more money.
Popular paid survey sites include the following:
Getting Started Flipping Money
When you start your flipping money journey, take it slow. No one gets rich overnight, and if you jump in too fast, you might make rookie mistakes.
To start, consider these tips.
- Choose one or two methods to start – If you’re going to flip money by buying products and selling them for a profit, consider another money-flipping opportunity that doesn’t require an upfront monetary investment, such as taking paid surveys. Don’t risk all your money at once; take it slow and see how you do. You can always increase your efforts when you’ve mastered one option.
- Do your research – Don’t assume any money-flipping opportunity will work for you. Do your research and ensure you have what it takes to make it work. For example, flipping real estate can make you thousands of dollars, but it’s not for everyone. You need the capital, resources, and time to flip the home for a profit.
- Don’t invest money you can’t risk – Never try to flip money you need to pay your bills or for future expenses. Only invest money you would be okay with losing if it happened. There’s always a risk, and you must prepare for it.
- Small efforts can add up – You don’t have to live by the motto ‘go big or go home’ to flip money. Even small efforts, like investing your spare change, can make significant differences in the long run. So instead of focusing on the big things, look at the small changes you can make; you’ll be surprised at how quickly the earnings accumulate.
Things to Avoid While Money Flipping
Money flipping can be great, but there are many risks too. Don’t get so excited about the possibilities that you lose sight of reality. Here’s what you should avoid.
Scams
Any online activity opens you up to the risk of scams. So be aware of the most recent scams and red flags to look for that put your funds at risk.
- Social Media: Social media seems to be one of the easiest ways to scam people lately. Scammers create hype around what they’re offering, getting others to ‘invest’ their money when it’s a complete scam. If you see hype around an app, research before investing money. It should only take a few minutes to realize that it’s a scam; if you can’t find anything on it, that’s another sign to run the other way.
- Cash App Scams: Cash app is a way to send money to peers instantly, but scammers use them to get people to send them money. Like social media scams, they’ll send a message saying, ‘send me $x, and I’ll turn it into $x,’ which is usually a huge profit. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Only send the money if you know the person and know the request is real.
- Wire and Quick Deposit Transfers: Wire and quick deposit transfers are similar to Cash app scams, except the money comes directly from your bank account than an app. Scammers will ask you to wire a certain amount of money with the promise to double or triple the money for you. This is never an honest method and can only lead to losing money.
- Gift Cards and Pre-Paid Debits: Sometimes scammers will ask you to send gift cards or prepaid debit cards with the promise of the recipient sending you 10x the amount you sent. They’ll promise the payment in your Cash app or checking account, but you’ll never see the funds.
The Pyramid Scheme
Pyramid schemes are like multi-level marketing where each level makes money off the level below it. Only with pyramid schemes you buy and sell a membership or product. The money you pay goes to the people higher up in the pyramid, and then the people you recruit become below you.
In short, no one makes money except the people at the top who created the scheme, and it’s not the best way to flip money.
Private Money Lenders
Don’t use private money loans to have money to flip. Even if these loans are easier to get because you don’t go through a bank, you’re paying higher interest rates and fees for something that might not produce a profit.
If you don’t have the money to flip, wait until you earn it yourself and have the money to risk rather than borrowing and increasing your costs.
Webinars
Webinars are high-level commercials meant to entice you to do something, aka flip money. They’re created by people with good marketing skills who are meant to convince you to invest in what they’re offering. So don’t do it unless you’ve done your due diligence and know it’s a reasonable risk.
Home Equity
If you have equity in your home, don’t use it to flip money. Instead, leave your money in the home; it will grow faster than with any method to flip money.
Frequently Asked Questions
Flipping money can be lucrative when done right, but it can be risky too. So keep your wits about you and understand what you’re getting into before participating.
Is it legal to practice money-flipping?
Money flipping is 100% legal. Just make sure you’re aware of any scams and only participate in activities that you know are the real deal and have the potential to make you money.
Is there a difference between flipping money online vs. in person?
Flipping money online or in person is the same thing. You invest money to try to make more. Some methods work best online, such as investing in online savings accounts or answering online surveys, and others are only in-person, such as flipping real estate.
Is one money-flipping method better than the rest?
No two people will think the same money-flipping options are the best. The one that’s right for you meets your risk tolerance, cash flow, and commitment level.
Can you make money off Snapchat or other social media sites?
To make money on social media sites, you need a large following and to find companies that will allow you to use their affiliate links to make money. When a follower clicks on your links and buys something, you earn a commission.
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