Online Income Generation Evolution. Raymond Wayne
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data to get a feel for if it’s still worth it to purchase that item, particularly if it’s a profitable, long-tail item. Some people prefer to make a little less money on items that sell all the time while others prefer to make more money on items that sell much less frequently.
More about Retail Arbitrage
Now, it’s time to talk more specifically about retail arbitrage. This is a very exciting business model for FBA. You are going to buy products for low prices in your local area or online and then resell them on Amazon for a higher price. You’re taking advantage of the low supply on Amazon and the high demand for certain products.
There are certain tools we’ll talk about again that will really help you when it comes to profiting with retail arbitrage. Note that this can take a lot of legwork. You aren’t going to be able to walk into a store and come out with thousands of dollars worth of profitable items in 10 minutes as a newbie. You will need to diligently scan items for profitability and make intelligent decisions based on the available data. That will help you determine if a product is a good purchase or not.
Ideally, you’ll eventually find products that are in high demand on Amazon but in low supply, and that you can readily get for low prices in your area so you can replenish your stock.
This can be a very profitable and fun business model, especially if you are of the personality that loves to find a great deal, loves to hit the clearance sections of your local stores, and takes joy in trying and testing many different products to see how much you can profit.
What Is Retail Arbitrage, Exactly?
To understand what retail arbitrage is, it can help to think about the day in the life of someone who takes advantage of this business model. They get up, check the sales listed in the newspaper, grab their coupons, and have a fully charged smartphone or dedicated scanner. They are ready to hit several stores, scanning items that have a good chance of profitability.
They might head to stores like Tuesday Morning, Big Lots, Walgreens, Target, Walmart, and more. They might even head to consignment shops and thrift stores. The point is to be able to scan as many items as possible, using your tools, to determine if they will be profitable for you to purchase and send into Amazon.
You are going to buy low and sell high, and profit handsomely from it. It’s not at all out of the question to earn several hundred dollars or more per shopping trip, especially as you start to develop an eye for what’s going to sell and what’s going to be a good purchase.
Free Tools to Use for Retail Arbitrage
There are some great free tools that can help you get started with retail arbitrage. There are certain apps you can download on your phone that don’t give you as much data as the paid tools, but can still help you make buying decisions on the road.
Here are some examples of these:
Pic2Shop—Pic2Shop is a barcode scanner. It can be really useful and is totally free.
Red Laser—This app will show price comparisons and allows you to scan items.
Amazon Price Check—This is Amazon's app and it can give you great information on the go that can help you make your buying decision.
There are certain sites you'll want to check out when it comes to finding deals. These sites often have apps that you can regularly check, or even be alerted by, on your Smartphone or tablet.
For example:
net
Amazon's Deal Of The Day: Amazon.com/gp/goldbox
com
eBay
Craigslist
You may want to have all or just some of these free tools, sites, and apps in your arsenal. You can find great deals, compare prices, and determine the worth of the product you're interested in.
Paid Tools to Use for Retail Arbitrage
There are also some fantastic paid tools that will really help you. I recommend you take advantage of these paid tools so you can profit more quickly. These paid tools often offer free trials that can help you decide what’s right for you. Note that there are new tools popping up all the time, especially since so many marketers are interested in FBA these days.
I’ve mentioned ScanPower already. To use the app, you need a Smartphone or tablet. Then, you’ll need to scan items when you’re in the store. ScanPower connects to the available information on Amazon to quickly help you make a buying decision. Essentially, you get to see how profitable you can be before you even get started.
ScanPower will then help you list your items once you’re home so you’re ready to ship them to Amazon. The ScanPower suite can save you hours of time over doing it all manually, and it can prevent you from making bad buying decisions.
The Profit Bandit app is a good one, though it tends to be slightly less accurate. It’s a one-off payment so I recommend you get this if nothing else. It’s an app similar to the one ScanPower provides. It even links you to CamelCamelCamel.com data so you can check the price history of an item over time. Both services allow you to check the sales rank and competition data of each item.
There are other devices, such as the Scanfob (https://serialio.com/products/barcode-scanners/bluetooth-wireless ) that can help you scan items more quickly via Bluetooth. There are even devices that allow you to download Amazon’s product catalog so you can scan items even when you don’t have Internet or cell service. However, this can be more complicated and less up to date than devices that connect wirelessly.
Getting Started With What You Have
Again, I’m going to urge you to get started with what you have if you’re going to go the retail arbitrage route and are short on funds. You have books and other media items and electronics just collecting dust. Scan those items or manually type them into Amazon to see what kind of cash you can get for them. Create a shipment to go into FBA and watch your “trash” turn into real cash.
Set this guide aside and just go get started with this. The best way to understand the process is to just go ahead and do it, especially since you’ll soon be buying items to send in to Amazon. This will give you some capital so you can buy more items and it will give you the confidence you need to keep going.
Now let’s talk about shopping.
Recommended Stores
There are so many stores where you can try to get your retail arbitrage business going. The exact stores will differ depending on the area you live in. For example, Meijer has some incredible deals but is not available everywhere. Target is available in more locations. Walmart is available just about everywhere. If you're reading this outside the U.S., you'll have to figure out which stores are most viable near you.
Big box stores often run big discounts. They have to clear out old merchandise to make room for the new. Target, Walmart, Kmart, and others are good spots to scout for merchandise. Check out their clearance sections, but certainly don't restrict yourself to those sections.
Then, there are discount stores that act as a clearinghouse for department stores and others. TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, Tuesday Morning, and Big Lots are examples of these. You can often find incredible deals on brand name items that will be perfect for you to buy low and sell high on Amazon.
Local Mom and Pop shops are great to shop as well. They often carry hard to find items and decide on their own when they'll offer discounts, unlike other stores that have to follow a particular schedule. Sadly, you can often get your best deals when stores like this are going out of business.
Drugstores like Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS often have excellent deals. You can shop their clearance aisles or