Man turns side hustle into $4 million video game resale business

August 2, 2026 - 18:21

What started as a way to make a little extra cash during high school has become a full-fledged business generating four million dollars in annual revenue. Caleb Ashton, the founder of QuickFlips, says he launched the company using just five hundred dollars he had saved from birthdays and Christmas gifts.

Ashton, who was sixteen at the time, began by buying used video games at garage sales and local thrift stores, then flipping them online for a profit. He said the initial goal was simply to fund his own gaming habit, but the demand was far stronger than he expected. Within a few months, he had turned that small pile of cash into several thousand dollars, and he realized he could scale the operation.

Now, QuickFlips operates as a full resale platform, buying bulk lots of games from distributors and individual sellers, then reselling them through multiple online marketplaces. The company has a small warehouse and a team of part-time workers who handle inventory, listing, and shipping. Ashton says the key to the business is knowing which titles hold their value and which ones drop fast. He tracks market trends daily and uses data to decide what to buy.

He also credits his early mistakes for teaching him the ropes. He lost money on a few bad batches of sports games that nobody wanted, but those losses taught him to research before purchasing. Today, the business moves thousands of units a month, and Ashton says he has no plans to slow down. He is currently looking at expanding into retro consoles and accessories.

The story has drawn attention from other young entrepreneurs, but Ashton keeps his advice simple: start small, learn the market, and reinvest your profits. He still handles most of the buying decisions himself, even as the company grows.