24 Legit Ways to Flip Money Online or In Person
Dear Dreamer,
Are you looking for legitimate ways to make extra money? I was in your exact shoes 10 years ago and have found some amazing side hustles and income streams along the way. My goal is to help you find the best opportunities that fit your lifestyle.
I want to personally invite you to subscribe to my free newsletter for practical, actionable advice delivered straight to your inbox. Join me and start your journey to financial freedom today!
Scams seem to be taking over the internet. Regardless of which site you visit, it’s nearly impossible to keep from stumbling upon a company that is trying to swindle you out of your hard-earned money. Money flipping probably sounds like it’s one of those scams.
While that is the topic of this post, we won’t be talking about ways to “create” money out of thin air. Instead, we’re going to dive into discussing how to take your existing cash and turn it into more money.
The premise behind flipping money seems like a lose-lose situation for most, but you can actually flip cash without getting caught up in a scam.
We’ve all encountered our fair share of dishonest offerings, like when the Prince of Persia sent an email offering $10 million, or when a previously unheard-of family member reportedly left a $2 million inheritance; these scams have left most of us dubious, at best.
Believe it or not, there are several ways to flip money legally and legitimately. I have come across several methods that I use every day.
I have successfully flipped $1,000 fast without scheming others out of their hard-earned money. It’s easy to make money by flipping money.
We foster relationships with brands we use and trust. The testimonials on our site represent real experiences, but they don’t guarantee you’ll achieve similar results. When you make purchases through our links to our partners, we may earn a commission. Your support helps us continue this work. You can read our full disclosure here.
What Does Money Flipping Mean and How Does It Work?
Before talking about how to flip money, we first have to define what it means to flip money.
If you are a business owner selling goods or a service provider selling time and skills, you’re actually already flipping money.
Money is just a placeholder for value. Whether you’re offering physical items or your time in exchange for payment, you’re already utilizing this strategy.
It’s obvious that money flipping is possible; you do it every day. But the question still remains: Are there any legitimate ways that you can flip money legally without having to participate in the daily grind? Is flipping money legal?
The short answer is, yes. The long answer is below.
24 Legit Ways to Flip Money Online
If you have access to the internet, you can potentially flip money quickly right from the comfort of your home using these simple methods.
1. Flip Books Online
Imagine buying a book on Amazon and then relisting it for a quick profit. Thanks to book arbitrage, you can do exactly that. Some people have made up to $99K in a single month using ZenArbitrage.
Many of us still like the feel and smell of a good, old physical book, despite the many available resources that offer digital downloads. Hard- and softcover books are still very popular, and make for a great money flip opportunity.
Tools like ZenArbitrage collect information about the most profitable books being sold on Amazon. It allows you to purchase these books and sell them at a higher price. You then pocket the difference.
Zen Arbitrage provides full training and access to its complete system for only $97 per month. Use its 14-day free trial to give it a try before purchasing the monthly plan. If you don’t end up enjoying the experience or can’t see yourself flipping money fast using the system, cancel at any time.
2. Flip Shares of Real Estate
You don’t need to purchase a piece of property in order to flip money using real estate shares.
Invest in a real estate portfolio and receive dividends on your return. Use this lucrative opportunity to make just one investment and start earning portions of rental payments right away. You can also choose to flip your shares for a profit if they increase in value.
Fundrise allows members to start building a portfolio of real estate shares, starting with just $500. Earn residual income in dividends and flip your shares when you’re ready to cash out your investment.
Join Roofstock to search for rental properties in your price range, analyze details about the locations, and make an offer. If your submission is accepted and you end up purchasing the property, you will close on the deal through escrow.
Start collecting rental income as soon as your property manager finds a tenant. Roofstock will provide you with support while you earn. If you’re ready to jump into the rental investment side, get started with Roofstock to understand how rental property investments work.
Related: How to Invest in Amazon
3. Flip Money With Swagbucks
The free site Swagbucks allows members to earn rewards called Swagbucks for completing easy tasks like searching the web, watching ads, playing games, and completing questionnaires. The sit offers a new way to earn more SBs by allowing users to flip their earnings by entering Swagstakes.
Participating in this activity will give you a one out of three chance of doubling 50 SBs to 100 SBs, or a one out of three chance of flipping 200 SBs (worth $2) for a $5 Amazon gift card. The higher the stakes, the better your odds of winning will be. This could potentially be a quick way to turn a few SBs into some real cash.
Join Swagbucks for free and start flipping your SBs.
Cash out for a $1 gift card to Amazon as soon as you earn at least 140 SBs, or wait to accumulate 300 SBs for a $3 gift card. You could also cash out via a PayPal deposit or a Visa gift card starting at 500 SBs (worth $5).
Learn about more ways to make money in my full Swagbucks review.
4. Flip Money on InboxDollars
InboxDollars is a microtask website that pays its members to complete easy gigs like a answering polls, printing coupons, watching videos, and more. The site even offers different ways to flip your money.
Check out InboxDollars‘ offers section to utilize opportunities like these:
Open and fund a new bank account and get a cash bonus: If you have the cash to flip, choose a new bank on InboxDollars’ partner list and earn up to $150 when you fund that account.
Play games for real money: Download new games and get paid to reach the designated levels. For example, you can earn up to $18 to reach level 13 in Board Kings. InboxDollars’ game library has a plethora of options to suit every interest.
Try new products or services: Sign up for free trials for different services, or buy various products and get your money back. As long as you cancel any ongoing subscriptions or followup orders, you could potentially walk away with more money than you spent, and you’ll get some freebies in the process.
Get paid to print and use coupons: InboxDollars offers coupons to the stores and restaurants you probably already enjoy. Earn money just for printing them, and even more for redeeming them. This is all on top of the savings you apply to each order, just for using the coupons.
InboxDollars offers many more opportunities to flip money. Each has its own rules and payout, so read the fine print carefully before choosing the ones that will make you the most money. Check out my InboxDollars review to learn more about this company.
5. Flip Your Stocks on Robinhood
Stock and equity markets are ideal for both short- and long-term investing. Flip stocks as a daily profit investment, or invest for a longer period of time to earn more in the future.
All you need to do is accurately predict the market and buy, hold, and sell at the right time. This isn’t an easy process, and a bad prediction could leave you with less money than you started with.
If you don’t mind taking a risk, then use a free app like Robinhood to help you get started. Trading rules are put in place to protect both your money and the company’s, but once you learn the ropes, you can potentially earn money flipping stocks on Robinhood.
New members receive a free stock valued between $3 and $220. Sign up for free to find out how much your stock is worth. This money can help fund your account for future flipping.
6. Flip Your Spare Change
Investing is the best method to use to flip money passively. This is one of the only ways you can truly make money while you’re sleeping. I like to use an app like Acorns to invest automatically.
Acorns makes the process simple and easy. Instead of making you commit to a set dollar amount per month, Acorns will round up and invest the spare change from your everyday purchases.
For example, if you spend $24.75 on gas using a credit or debit card connected to your Acorns account, the app will round up your purchase to $25 even and invest the 25-cent excess on your behalf.
As time goes on, you’ll make investments without noticing a difference in your cash flow.
This is a great way to teach the younger generation how to flip money; help your kids use this method when making purchases with their birthday and Christmas cash.
7. Flip Second-Hand Items
Flea market flipping is exactly what it sounds like: finding items at a discount and flipping them for a profit.
Fitness gear, clothing, books, shoes, and many other items retain their value over time. The trick is to find inexpensive pieces at garage sales, thrift stores, and online retailers, and flip them for a profit.
8. Flip Shares of Your Diversified Portfolio
A great way for beginners to flip $1,000 is to diversify their investments. These all-in-one solutions will let you invest on autopilot so you don’t forget to add your contributions.
Use Wealthsimple to help you set up automatic deposits to a diverse portfolio. This site will allow you to choose your portfolio based on your risk comfort level.
Your earned dividends will be automatically reinvested, and your account will be adjusted based on any market changes. Your account fees with Wealthsimple will vary, depending on the amount you’ve invested.
Use the free automated investor platform M1 Finance to choose a strategy that is right for you. Automate your contributions to allow you to stay on track with your investment strategy. There is no need to manually trade.
Related: How to Make $500 Fast
9. Flip Your Own Knowledge
You don’t need to go to college full time to learn a new skill or trade. Whether you take an online course, study for a new certification, or hire a one-on-one coach, each investment will help you flip your money into a potential new service.
Some of my favorite online training programs are free (with the option to later purchase the full course). Anyone who is wondering how to flip $500 should consider investing it into a pertinent online course. This investment can help you improve these existing talents, or learn them from scratch:
Proofreading. This gig is perfect for anyone who enjoys reading through content and correcting the spelling and grammar issues.
Check out Caitlin Pyle’s free online workshop to learn if proofreading is a skill in which you’d like to invest.
Photo editing. Any artistic and creative individuals should consider learning how to become photo editors.
Start with Katie Rivera’s free training video to see if investing in your photo editing skills is right for you.
When I want to flip $500 fast, I invest my money into myself. When you learn a new skill set, your initial investment could help you earn thousands upon thousands of dollars.
Related: How to Make $5,000 Fast
10. Flip Products on Fulfillment By Amazon (White Labelling)
When many people think of Amazon, they envision a major eCommerce website that dominates online sales, rather than the small businesses and individuals who make money selling on Amazon. We should truthfully be considering both.
Millions of active Amazon sellers flip money on autopilot. There are different ways to build an income selling on Amazon, whether it’s to white label or rebrand products as your own, or to drop-ship products from trusted brands.
Related: How to Start a Dropshipping Business
11. Flip Your Bills Lower
Spending a small amount on a bill negotiation app can save you hundreds in the long run. Trim uses this method to put money back into your pocket.
This app will negotiate your bills, including cable, internet, phone, and medical, on your behalf. It can also cancel old subscriptions and other forgotten or unnecessary charges, making saving money easy.
Trim does all of the work for you, based on a review of your spending account. This company helps customers save an average of $625 on bills in just minutes, putting much more money back into their pockets than they spent on the service. Your Trim investment is small (most of its services are even free), so it’s possible to double your money in just a day.
Related: How to Turn Gift Cards Into Cash
12. Bet on Your Own Weight Loss
While betting and gambling isn’t something I would suggest you do because of the lack of control you have over the outcome, betting on your weight loss is different. This is something you can control. It’s possible to actually flip money by leveraging your weight loss success.
Use the HealthyWager app to make a weight loss challenge and bet against your friends. This is a healthy way to encourage all of you to lose weight and make some money from it.
This app allows you to make your own personal challenge or join an existing team. Some members have made thousands of dollars betting against their own weight. Cash for your weight loss is incentive enough to sign up!
13. Flip Domain Names
If you’re like me, you’ve tried to use a domain name that wasn’t available, just to later search for it on the web and find out that it was being sold by a third party at a markup.
In a nutshell, that’s what domain-flipping is: buying sought-after domain names cheaply and then later reselling them at a premium.
Domain flipping has made some people huge fortunes. For example, LasVegas.com, which was purchased by its owner, Vegas.com LLC (simply to pair the two domains to ensure that all traffic related to the term was directed to its website), eventually sold for a whopping $90 million.
Unfortunately, the days of million-dollar domain names are just about over. Few domains can be sold at such a high price, but it’s still possible to make some good money flipping domains.
Use domain-flipping marketplaces like Sedo.com, Flippa.com and Godaddy Auctions to guide you through this type of approach.
14. Flip Websites
Website flipping takes the concept of flipping money one step further.
While domain flipping includes purchasing a domain to sell at a premium, going the website-flipping route includes either buying a decrepit website or designing a new one from the ground up to add value in order to sell it at a higher price.
This can include optimizing the website for UI/UX, adding interactive features, ranking the site on different keywords for search engines, increasing website traffic, and turning it into a money-making business.
Buy and sell these websites on Flippa.com, Empire Flippers, Website Broker, etc., or pitch potential businesses that would be interested in purchasing the sites from you, with some customization.
To learn how to get started, check out Jenn Leach’s course, The Art of the Micro Flip.
15. Flip New Items With Retail Arbitrage
Retail arbitrage is one of the best ways to flip money online. This essentially refers to buying a product at a lower or discounted price and flipping it for a profit.
For example, say you notice that a product listed on Amazon is selling at $30, while the same item or a similar one is available on Craigslist for $20. Retail arbitrage would mean you’d purchase that product secondhand and then list it on Amazon or another platform for $27 or $28.
This will allow your buyers to get a discount and give you a profit, as well.
While this model can’t make you a millionaire or be turned into a sustainable business, you can use it to flip money quickly and easily.
Related: How to Make $1,500 Per Robocall You Receive
16. Flip a Spare Room With Airbnb Arbitrage
This is a relatively lesser-known concept, so going the Airbnb arbitrage route means less competition and more profits.
Using Airbnb arbitrage, invest some money upfront and reserve the listings of a common tourist area during popular vacation times like the summertime or during holiday weekends.
Target lower-priced homes with good reviews and a flexible cancellation policy. Then relist those reserved listings again on Airbnb for a profit.
When someone purchases your listing, relay the instructions on how to get into the home – and there it is: Your job is done with profit in your bank account.
17. Flip Sports Bets
Unofficial sports betting has been around for thousands of years. Where there is a winner and a loser, there is also the opportunity to place a bet. Thanks to today’s technology, sports investing has become a hot commodity that often leads to extra income.
Download apps like DraftKings and FanDuel to place bets on your favorite players and teams.
Related: How to Make Money Watching Sports
18. Flip Art Shares
Flipping art involves purchasing and selling shares of valuable art pieces. This can be a lucrative investment if you have enough patience to wait for the right time to sell or buy.
Use the online platform Masterworks to buy and sell the shares of art pieces. That company researches and finds the best artists, purchases their art, secures it, and holds it for three-to-10 years before selling it.
Anyone can invest in these art pieces, and you can potentially flip your shares on the site’s secondary market at any time.
According to Artprice.com, the growth in value of blue-chip art exceeded the S&P 500 by 180 percent between 2000 and 2018.
Masterworks is currently the only place where you can invest in art shares. This exclusive membership site consistently delivers high-quality investment options.
19. Flip Your Money With an Online Business
This is not a “how to flip money online fast” tip, because it is rare to be able to flip money quickly by starting a business.
This is still the ultimate venture for anyone who is hoping to play the longterm game. You’ll have to invest some capital, put in the work, and be consistent to see success.
Starting a business – even online – isn’t a quick cash flip, but within just a few years, you could see a tenfold return on your initial investment.
If you don’t want to put in the work, invest into other businesses or startups to gain equity in those companies.
Related: How to Make Money Writing Slogans
How to Flip Money in Person
You can work offline and also flip money locally. Any of these home-based business ideas can benefit from online advertising, but that isn’t necessary if you don’t have access to the internet.
20. Flip Land
Land-flipping is a common business model that essentially involves purchasing a piece of land at a low price and selling it for profit. This is one of the best ways to flip $10,000 quickly, if you have the cash on hand. If you don’t have as much money to start with, even cheaper land plots are available.
This method skips the renovations and updates that are involved in house flipping, and you will be required to do very little to maintain the land.
This is a safe investment because land almost always gains value over time.
Check out websites like Lands of America, Land Modo, and LandWatch to further your quest to flip land.
Real estate investors and authors Jack and Michelle Bosch offer a free online webinar to help you get started flipping land.
Related: How to Make $10,000 Fast
21. Flip Houses
This concept is quite popular with real estate investors.
Use this method to purchase a rundown house that is in need of repairs, updates, or renovations, and then sell it at a much higher price.
This does require a lot of upfront capital to cover the cost of the house, as well as pay for the updates. But the profit margins will more than make up for it.
Before you begin flipping a home, do extensive market research to pick a location; where profits are high, losses are higher.
22. Buy Storage Space to Rent Out
Renting a home to make a profit is a popular investment option, but you could also consider renting out a storage space.
If you want to flip $10,000, consider building a storage space in your home or on your property and then renting it out. You can also buy and update existing storage spaces.
To get started in this money-flipping opportunity, use Neighbor.com to list your storage for rent, whether it be for personal or vehicle storage. It’s free to list your available storage space; then, respond to renters’ requests and start making money.
Related: Neighbor.com Review
23. Flip Clothes
Investing in secondhand, name-brand clothing is a great way to flip money fast. Clothing goes out of style each season, so it can be hard for people to find the exact pieces they want in stores. I’ve found myself searching specific RN numbers on eBay in the hope of finding the pieces that I know will work for me.
There are many ways to sell clothes, both online and locally. Keep an eye out for clothing from recognizable brands like Nike, Adidas, American Eagle, and Express while shopping at local garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, and other places that sell secondhand clothes. You could easily flip the piece for cash as long as the purchase price is low and the quality is high.
24. Flip Shoes
Name brand shoes are another hot commodity. Many people purchase shoes, wear them once or twice, and donate them to the nearest thrift store. Not every fancy shoe works for everyone, but when you do find those amazing steals, they can easily turn into a great way to flip money.
Before flipping shoes, research the market to find out what types of shoes are selling, who is buying them, and where you can purchase them for cheap. Make a plan and then start reselling shoes for a profit.
Money-Flipping Scams and Pitfalls to Avoid
The internet is full of information and misinformation about ways to flip money, including scammers who are ready to benefit from your every mistake. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid that typically make promises of getting free money now:
Pyramid or Ponzi Scheme
Pyramid or Ponzi schemes are notorious scams that have gypped many people out of their hard-earned money. These basically involve forcing participants to pay a fee to take their place at the bottom of the “opportunity,” or pyramid. When your row is complete and new people join the row below you, you will take a cut of their investment.
Most of the time, the promise is that when you move up the pyramid, your payout will be double your initial investment. The majority of the time, this simply doesn’t happen. The only people who benefit in a pyramid scheme are the ones at the very top.
Offers to Flip Money on Cash App
Many people are on the hunt for ways to flip money on Cash App. More often than not, they stumble upon a scam. It’s never safe to send money to an unknown Cash App user and expect to receive more in return.
Cash App does occasionally hold sweepstakes, but it will never require users to provide their passwords or PINs in order to claim their prizes. Scammers often send messages requesting personal information in an attempt to break into users’ accounts and steal their money.
Another Cash App scam is commonly promoted via social media. Scammers share seemingly legitimate money-flipping stories about ways in which they turned $100 into $1,000 (or more) in just days. The scammer lures unsuspecting Cash App users into sending money to be flipped. The scammer will sometimes return small profits in order to convince the victim to “invest” even more money. Once the scammer has received a sizable payment, he or she will immediately block the unsuspecting victim and keep the money.
Related: How to Make $50,000 Overnight
Depositing a Check and Reimbursing the Excess
I came face-to-face with this common scam when I first began working from home. While emailing back and forth with a potential “client,” the scammer asked me to receive a large sum via check, deposit the money, and then use the excess to pay his attorney. That scammer walked through an almost convincing story as to why we might need an attorney to sign some papers before I started working for him.
This was 100 percent a scam. If he had been able to persuade me to fall for his tricks, his check would have bounced after I sent my money to his “attorney” – and I would have lost that money for good. Don’t fall for this money-flipping scam!
Sending Gift Cards to Scammers
No legitimate person or business will ever ask you to pay them via gift cards. If anyone promises to flip your cash if you send them gift cards, it will always be a scam.
Most of these individuals will reach out to you via social media platforms like Instagram and X.
Some will even send you to their professional-looking websites that include flowery testimonials, or to their well-maintained Instagram accounts that showcase photos of their clients living a lavish lifestyle and tossing around bundles of cash. You might be tempted to believe that this is the proof you need of the reward that awaits you.
Asking you to pay them in gift cards is a huge red flag. If you do as they say, you’ll never from them again. Report these individuals, and never pay anyone with gift cards.
Related: How to Get Free Gift Cards Fast
Excessive Gambling or Betting
Avoid self-sabotaging habits that can leave you with empty pockets. While flipping or trying to flip money is not a bad thing in and of itself, an obsession with flipping money can take you down some dangerous paths.
We are focused on only the legal methods of flipping money. Always refrain from using any illegal or unethical methods of earning or flipping money.
If It Seems Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is
There is no magic method to flip money. You can’t flip cash overnight by doing nothing. To turn a profit, you will need to invest your time, money, and efforts – and take some risks.
Flipping money also requires patience. Above all, avoid the scams and other pitfalls discussed above.
Take the time to build up multiple streams of income and flip money the right way, over time. If you’re ready to be consistent and do what it takes, nothing can stop you.