Keep your eyes on the prize! It’s not just about buying a sofa. It’s about being determined and continuously going after your goal.
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It’s interesting to hear about your alternative approach to furnishing your home and making trading profits along the way. I’m curious, how do you assess the quality and condition of second-hand items to ensure they’re worth investing in? And how do you navigate the process of obtaining bank loans for these purchases?
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Hi,
For furniture items, I aim to pay between 10% and 20% of new list price. In the UK this is easily achievable on ebay or local items for sale Facebook groups. I assess the quality from the seller’s eBay rating, and the photographs provided. I look for typical popular brands, Ikea being very big in the UK. For electrical goods (washing machine, cooker, TV, tumble dryer, diswasher, I seek new items with slight cosmetic damage at a maximum of 50% of list price. Often the warranty is still applicable, and the cosmetic damage is at the rear or sides of the item so when installed, nobody can see it is scratched or dented. Over the years I have bought about 5 of each of cooker, washing machine, tumble dryer, fridge or freezer, all at most 60% of list price, and I have not had trouble with any item for single let properties. Just be careful with multilets or student lets where the appliances can get abused. Other stuff like Dyson vacuum cleaners can be bought for as little as 10% of list price and often just need cleaning or a $10 replacement part. At such low prices, you never need to finance items. You can use rent cash flow to fund such a “hobby”. The master of this art in the UK is a gentleman named Jim Halliburton who I have had the pleasure to meet on a few occasions at landlord property meetings.
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What advice will you provide for beginners in this area? And did you experience any unexpected challenges or lessons learned along the way?
Hi guuuuys! 
Another week, another chance to spot a trade! Last week, I wanted to open a long position for the EURUSD, but I wasn’t able to set a buy limit order before price went all the way up. 
I’m now waiting for a reversal. 
Hopefully I can spot that a good entry in the coming days. 
Anyone in on this pair? I’m curious to see if you guys also think it’s bullish cause I might be reading it all wrong. 
Haha.
Thank you soooo much @Mondeoman! I might still be holding back on the posting of the losing trades but I’m becoming more and more comfortable thanks to you guys! Super appreciate your support.
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It wasn’t much, but definitely a confidence boost.
YESSIR! Thanks for the reminder, dushimes. 
I’m on it. 
I’ll try to update a bit more regularly. For now, I’m setting every Tuesday/ Wednesday as my main trading days, but I’m looking to add more days dedicated to trading.
Totally off-topic, but I love how you guys are also talking about furniture. HAHAHAHA 
And your answer was pretty detailed too! I still have my eyes on a new sofa by the end of the year.
I’ve decided to open a long position @1.07752 with my SL @ 1.07264 and my TP @ 1.08313. 
By the end of the night, depending on price movement, I want to adjust my SL to minimize my losses.
As you guys might already know, this trade is not looking good so far. But there doesn’t seem to be a crossover for my EMAs just yet. I’m planning to adjust my TP to 1.08000 so there’s a better chance of grabbing some pips.
Please keep us posted on how it turns out, Ria! Remember, win or lose, there’s always something to learn from each trade experience.
Good luck with your trade!
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hi there! Don’t worry about the missing out last week. You can fiend opportunities always around the corner! Keep an eye out for that reversal, and here’s to sptting a great entry soon!
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I don’t want to hijack Ria_Rose post but this response does relate to the title of the post “my trading goal” and just offers an alternative approach for those with more time on their hands than cash in the bank. As anecdotal evidence for this advice, I will tell you a story. I am moving home (it is delayed like everything else in the UK this year). When visiting the property we are buying I met the tenants who were moving out. In conversation I realized that many of the items in the home were theirs (including fitted cupboards and many other items that would cost me a lot of time and effort to replace if the tenants removed them. I asked if I could make a list and come back and negotiate a price useful to them and me. That meeting happened and over the course of the next 2 and a half hours I agreed to purchase a total of 50 items for a total sum of £1,015. My target was to purchase these items at no more than £1,500. They were more than happy to receive the money, and thanked me for offering more for most items than they had asked me to pay. Towards the end of the meeting, there were eleven curtain poles, venetian blinds and sets of modern curtains in a large conservatory. They said they did not want any money for those items. I do quite a lot of cost estimation in my job (albeit for IT equipment, software and labour, not for house stuff, but it’s all the same game to me).
I estimated that if I had had to have new stuff fitted, including delivery and cost of installation, it would have been more than £5,000.
What’s my advice? JFDI. Those tenants ran a small business from their home, in addition to the man’s main job as a building site supervisor, the couple bought and sold second hand modern furniture, so the lady could be at home for their two children and not have to pay child care fees and pick up and drop off school runs. I have a huge admiration for people like that. It is not easy to live in the UK, especially if you have to rent accommodation. As a trader myself, you soon get to admire and respect other traders. I have no idea how much that stuff cost them in money and sweat equity to make their beautiful home. That was not my business. I was only interested in knowing that I had sparked up a conversation with people I did not know that resulted in two happy parties to a trade transaction. I cannot understand how someone can be a Forex trader and NOT be a trader of other stuff. No matter how small it is, just get used to trading. Unexpected challenges? Yes, sometimes you don’t make a profit - just like Forex trading.
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Thank you soooo much! I wish I have good news, but unfortunately, I got stopped out.
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Hi guuuuys! Another week, another trade. Just an update on my last trade, price really did bounce off of the dip that I predicted (at least on the 4H chart). But I got stopped out before price moved to the direction of my TP. 
Unfortunately, if I had a wider stop, I would’ve hit my TP.
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But on the bright side, I’m happy that my prediction of price action was somehow accurate. It’s just a shame I wasn’t able to spot the best place to put my SL. Anyone here who caught this move?
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Thank you soooo much for the reassurance! I want to try to be more consistent with my trading, despite being just a part-time trader. I know one trade a week is still too low, but it’s definitely better than my trading in the past. How about you? How was your trading week?
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