One Canadian man has carved out a profitable niche by buying and reselling used couches, a gig that has allowed him to quit his full-time job.
When Tim MacLeod’s wife, Emily, was pregnant with their second child, he knew that he needed to do something to “replace my soul-sucking overtime income.”
MacLeod, 31, is a registered practical nurse (RPN) and has been working in long-term care homes since 2014. He also had a side hustle.
“Flipping phones for profit a few times a month,” he told Daily Hive. “It was highly competitive.”
After his wife’s pregnancy announcement, he wanted to “specialize and incorporate more of a service to secure larger profits.”
And to do that, he knew he had to start reselling “bigger stuff.”
Becoming the couch reseller
“It started with free couches that needed to be cleaned,” said MacLeod, who lives with his family in Muskoka, Ontario. So, he put a hitch on a Mazda and started selling couches.
He found that he could source couches in short supply in his area, known for its lakeside cottages.
“I replaced my nursing income the first week I borrowed a trailer,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “There was no shortage of couches being sold undervalued because the sellers couldn’t move them at a fair price without delivery.”
As his business grew, he moved away from free couches and started browsing listings on Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace to buy and resell them for a profit.
And he doesn’t just buy any couch.
MacLeod often looks for ones that “people would actually buy.”
“There was a gap in the marketplace,” he wrote in a post. “I filled that gap and changed my life forever.”
In five years, he said he’s had over 2,000 transactions — primarily buying and reselling leather sectionals — and has made $670,000 in sales.
According to Job Bank, RPNs in the Muskoka/Kawarthas region earn $30 an hour. For MacLeod, his side gig eventually became a full-time role, allowing him to quit the nursing job he “no longer enjoyed.”
“Kept my wife home with two kids, no daycare, no mat leave,” he said. “[I got] approved for a $750,000 mortgage with no co-signer.”
And unlike his early days as a couch flipper, he now avoids couches that need to be cleaned or repaired.
“It’s not a restoration gig; it’s acquisition and relocation,” he explained, adding that he stores his purchases in self-storage lockers near his home. In one post, he calls himself the “Uber Eats of couches.”
And it’s his “acquisition” techniques that led to his popularity on social media.
Becoming Tim the Couch Guy
In an Instagram post, MacLeod said he’s always been “a good person to ask for help on moving day.”
He currently has over 33,000 followers on Instagram, with many entertained by funny edits of a regular day in his life delivering couches, often with his young son in tow. Viewers are also impressed that he’s a one-man operation and can carry pieces of large sectionals by himself.
Since being able to lift heavy things is essential, MacLeod prioritizes his health to prevent injuries.
“[I do it by] confirming/arranging help on the seller’s end to get it out safely, good lifting mechanics, decent strength from a decade of training with heavy dumbbells, [and] biweekly chiro appointments to address and attack acute ailments,” he explained.
For MacLeod, a typical day often starts with coffee, shopping for couches, and planning his day, followed by a workout. He takes his kids to school and “takes the other kid to fill a trailer somewhere.” His flexible schedule means they don’t have to rely on daycare.
Although he can make thousands in profit in a single day, there are also some bad days.
“[The worst part] is the drive of shame home from failed pickup/delivery related to poor due diligence,” said MacLeod.
He’s learned a lot over the years, but he’s not keeping those lessons to himself.
Sharing the knowledge
Despite his success, he’s diversifying by teaching others.
“Just like I phased out nursing with couches, I’m phasing out couches with content creation,” he said. “Six-Figure Sofa Slinger is my couch-flipping masterclass that’s ready for those who need a supplementary income stream that’s scalable into full-time freedom like I have now.”
He also has a car buying/selling guide called “Dealer Dodger.”
For now, he’s enjoying the freedom of being self-employed and certainly doesn’t miss his old job.
“Traditional income had me feeling restricted, enslaved, discouraged, with no hope for the future. Buying tools and developing skills allow me to work for profit instead of wages,” he said.
“Time and freedom are really hard to beat, and they make me feel limitless and full of hope for the future.”
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