BigFlippa is a marketplace monitoring service. You tell it what you are looking for and where, and it keeps checking Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay for listings that fit — then alerts you by email or text as soon as one shows up. It exists because the good deals go first, and nobody can refresh a marketplace search all day.
How BigFlippa works
There are four moving parts, and you only ever configure the first one.
- You create a Radar. You describe what you want in plain English and drop a pin on a map. That is the whole setup.
- BigFlippa turns your description into searches. The AI reads your prompt and derives the specific marketplace searches that will surface it, which you review before saving.
- Those searches run continuously. Every source you have enabled gets checked on a schedule, all day, without you opening anything.
- Every listing found gets scored against your prompt. The AI compares each listing to the criteria you wrote and estimates what the item is actually worth. Listings that clear the bar become Pings, and the ones that pass your notification level reach you.
The result is that you find out about a listing within minutes of it going up, instead of whenever you next remember to look.
The vocabulary
BigFlippa uses a handful of specific words throughout the app. They are worth learning up front, because the rest of these docs use them.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Radar | A saved search. It holds your prompt, your territory, which marketplaces to check, and how you want to be notified. |
| Ping | A listing one of your Radars found that the AI scored as a match. Pings collect in your dashboard whether or not they triggered an alert. |
| Territory | Where a Radar searches — a pin on the map plus a radius around it. |
| Opportunity | The gap between what the AI estimates an item is worth and what the seller is asking. A listing priced well below its estimate has a high Opportunity. |
| Saved Pings | Pings you bookmarked. They live in their own dashboard tab so a promising find does not get buried. |
| Source | A marketplace a Radar checks: Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or eBay. |
What BigFlippa does not do
It is worth being clear about the boundaries:
- It does not transact. BigFlippa surfaces listings. You contact the seller and buy on the marketplace itself.
- It does not guarantee a listing is still available. Marketplaces move fast, and a listing can be gone before you open the alert. BigFlippa re-checks listings it has found and marks them as sold when they disappear, but there is always a gap.
- It is not a valuation service. The Opportunity figure is an AI estimate meant to help you triage quickly. Treat it as a first filter, not an appraisal.
Where to go next
If you want to get something running, the quickstart walks you through your first Radar end to end. If you would rather understand the single setting that matters most first, read writing a good prompt — the prompt determines both what BigFlippa searches for and how it judges what it finds.
You do not have to use the web app at all if you would rather not: BigFlippa can be driven by an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT. See connect your AI assistant.
Related: Quickstart · Creating a Radar · Writing a good prompt
Frequently asked questions
What is a Radar in BigFlippa?
A Radar is a saved search. You describe what you are looking for in plain English and pick a location, and BigFlippa keeps checking the marketplaces for listings that match.
What is a Ping?
A Ping is a listing that one of your Radars found and the AI scored as a match for your criteria. Pings collect in your dashboard whether or not you chose to be notified about them.
Does BigFlippa buy or sell anything for me?
No. BigFlippa finds listings and tells you about them. Contacting the seller, negotiating, and buying all happen directly on the marketplace, the same as if you had found the listing yourself.