The Quit Number is a free guide and calculator for resellers deciding whether to quit a job and resell full time. It's published by the FlowLister team, and every federal tax and health-insurance rule on it links to the IRS, the Department of Labor or HealthCare.gov, read on 2 October 2026.
Your quit number is the monthly profit your sales must bring in to replace your job: household spending, plus the health premium and payroll tax your employer pays now, grossed up for tax, plus the business's fixed costs. For the example on this site it comes to $6,088 a month, about $73,000 a year, for a household spending $3,400 a month.
How do you work out whether you can quit to resell?
You work it out in six steps: calculate your quit number, turn it into sales, listings and hours, size your savings, sort health cover, price the premium and test your worst months.
- Calculate your quit number. Spending, not salary, plus what your employer pays now.
- Turn it into sales, listings and hours. Your profit per sale sets the workload.
- Size your savings. Two reserves: one for your life, one for inventory.
- Sort health cover before your last day. COBRA or a Marketplace plan, and the dates that start when you leave.
- Price the premium. Your payslip shows about a fifth of it.
- Test your worst months, not your best. Twelve months, worst three, no windfalls.
What does the example household need?
The example household needs $6,088 a month in profit from sales, which is 305 sales a month at $20 profit each.
| Step | Example figure |
|---|---|
| Monthly household spending | $3,400 |
| Health premium (2025 average total single premium) | $752 a month |
| Quit number, at an assumed 27% tax rate plus $400 fixed costs | $6,088 a month |
| Sales needed at $20 profit a sale | 305 a month, about 10 a day |
| Listings needed if 80% sell | 381 a month |
| Listing time at 6 minutes each | 8.8 hours a week |
| Six months of runway | $24,912 |
Every figure is an example, built from the AHRQ MEPS-IC 2025 average premium and stated assumptions. Put your own numbers into the quit number calculator.
Test the floor, not the peak: count the months your sales missed your quit number, not the months they beat it.
What is a quit number?
How much do I need to make to quit my job and resell full time?
How long should I resell part time before going full time?
Is The Quit Number financial advice?
Every guide on The Quit Number
What is your quit number?
The monthly profit your sales must bring in, including what your employer pays for now.
6 min readCan reselling be a full-time job? Run your own numbers
Your quit number in sales, listings and listing hours a week, worked out step by step.
6 min readHow much money do you need saved before you quit?
Months of spending plus the health premium, and a separate reserve for inventory.
5 min readHealth insurance when you quit: COBRA or a Marketplace plan?
Quitting qualifies for COBRA. What each option costs, and the dates that start on your last day.
9 min readWhat does health insurance cost when you're self-employed?
Your payslip shows your share. How to find the whole premium, and what lowers it.
5 min readThe income floor test
One good month isn't evidence. Test against your worst months, not your best.
4 min readWhat changes when you go full time
No withholding, more admin, less structure, and the habits that replace a payslip.
4 min readGoing back to a job is not failure
Exit criteria set in advance, read honestly, and what to keep running either way.
4 min readHow do you show proof of income when you're self-employed?
Tax return, bank statements and a profit and loss, plus the payout reports and 1099-K a reseller already has. Reconcile them before you hand anything over.
10 min readSolo 401(k) vs SEP IRA: which one fits a reselling business?
A SEP IRA lets you put in up to about 18.6% of your profit. A solo 401(k) adds what you defer. The numbers at three profit levels, and the deadlines.
10 min readCan you collect unemployment if you're self-employed?
Usually not. Two narrow exceptions exist, the pandemic program ended in 2021, and the safe number to plan on is $0.
7 min readHow do you quit your job when you need the money?
Quitting when you need the money starts with one number: the monthly income that replaces your paycheck. Find the gap, then close it.
9 min read
Disclosure The Quit Number is published by the team behind FlowLister. FlowLister writes eBay listings from your photos, which matters here because listing is the part of a full-time week you can't skip. It's AI, so it misses things. We make it, so read this as a disclosure, not a recommendation. Nothing on this site is financial, tax or legal advice.