flip
/flɪp/
CommonTo buy something cheap and resell it for profit, or to quickly turn a situation into a money-making opportunity.
Usually implies speed and low effort relative to profit. Can be admiring (smart business move) or dismissive (implying no real skill or value added).
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Bought it at Goodwill for $3, flipped it on eBay for $85. | Found something cheap at a thrift store and resold it online for a large profit. | tiktok, 2024 |
| 02 | He flips sneakers as a side hustle. Makes more than his 9-5. | Someone earns significant income by reselling limited-edition sneakers. | x, 2024 |
| 03 | The whole game is finding undervalued things and flipping them fast. | The core strategy of reselling is speed and finding underpriced items. | youtube, 2023 |
| 04 | Got free furniture from a neighbor and flipped it for $400. | Obtained free items and sold them for pure profit. | reddit, 2024 |
Use it when
- Someone buys an item cheap and resells for profit.
- Describing a quick buy-and-sell transaction.
- Someone turned a bad situation into a financial opportunity.
- Discussing reselling as a business or side hustle.
Do not use it when
- You mean physically flipping something over.
- You are describing long-term investing or holding.
- You mean creating something from scratch.
Variations and related forms
Flip vs finesse
flip
Flip is specifically about buying and reselling for profit.
VS
finesse
Finesse is about cleverly manipulating any situation to your advantage.
Origin and context
Originally real estate terminology for buying and quickly reselling property. Expanded in internet culture to mean any buy-low-sell-high transaction, from sneakers to thrift store finds.
- First seen
- 2000s
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/flipUpdated: 2026-08-25License: CC BY 4.0