Million Dollar Challenge Day 3
This challenge is about starting with $125 and doubling my money every year for 13 years to get to $1,000,000.00. For a breakdown on this see Million Dollar Challenge Day 0.
Status January 6, 2021:
Cash account starting amount: $125
Cash account current value: -$44.01
Investment account starting amount: $125
Investment account current value: $204.68
I should start by saying that the title says this is Day 3, and that’s not correct. It’s actually about 3 weeks into this challenge, but this is the third day of reporting the progress. Hence, the name of today’s entry.
You can see that the value of the Investment account has shot up tremendously in a very short time. I took the initial amount of $125 and purchased Bitcoin. And Bitcoin has been on a roll over the last couple of months. In fact, as of this writing, Bitcoin has gained 80% over the last 30 days. Insane growth. Not sustainable. But, I’m going to let it ride right now, only checking in to report values along with the challenge.
So what is going on with the cash account? The one that I’m using to buy things to resell?
I’m calling it my cash account. I could call it by a couple of other names that are the “buzz words” flying around currently. Retail Arbitrage. Flipping.
What it actually is can be stated simply as the cash I’m using to start a business selling things.
To point out — all retailing falls under this principle: Buy (or make) things for a lower price, and then sell them for a higher price. That is the essence of what every single retailer in the world does. Retail Arbitrage is no different. Flipping is the same. It’s all buying low and selling high. So if you are turning your nose to the concept of “Retail Arbitrage” or “Flipping”, remember that’s what Wal Mart and Amazon are doing every single minute. They are buying a product for a lower price and selling it at a higher price.
Simple.
Again, what is happening with the cash account?
I made a purchase with it. And I went over budget.
I found a listing on Facebook Marketplace for an older iMac computer. Looking at the listing, it had a couple of errors and red flags on it. The owner listed it as a 2012 27” iMac with no keyboard or mouse. There were no technical specifications listed for it, and when asked, the owner couldn’t provide any. The computer didn’t work, and it also was missing it’s stand.
He wanted $200 for a non-working 8-year old computer.
I should point out a couple of things.
I know a bit about computers. I work in IT and fix computer problems for a living.
What I saw in this listing was that the computer was probably not a 2012 model, but one made in 2011. This is significant because the 2011 model is more expandable, and therefore, more desirable to people looking for an upgradable iMac computer for lower cost than brand new. It was also a 27” model which is also more valuable than the standard 21” model.
I also had an idea about what was wrong with it, and how I could fix it.
But the price was a bit too high. Every dollar counts.
After a bunch of negotiating, I got it down to $150. I tried real hard to get it to $125, and stay in my budget for this year, but in the end, the potential return was good enough to go over by a few dollars.
The deal was made.
When I picked it up, I was able to confirm that it was indeed a 2011 model. And if I could get it working I could probably sell it for somewhere in the $500 to $700 range. Not a bad profit, and well over what I was looking for during the first year of the challenge.
After getting it home and some further investigation on the iMac, I realized I had to invest some more to be able to resell it. I had to purchase a stand. That cost another $19.01 with tax and shipping. So now I had a total of $169.01 into the cost of this computer.
Now to fix it and resell it.
