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Online Arbitrage Guide

Buy discounted items online, sell on Amazon or eBay for profit. No driving to stores—source from your couch.

Essential Tools

Tool	Purpose	Cost
Keepa	Price history, sales rank charts	€19/mo
Tactical Arbitrage	Automated deal scanning across sites	$50-95/mo
BuyBotPro	Chrome extension, instant analysis	$40/mo
RevSeller	Amazon FBA calculator overlay	$10/mo
Cashback Sites	Rakuten, TopCashback = extra margin	Free

Where to Source

Walmart.com: Clearance section, rollbacks
Target.com: Circle deals, clearance
Amazon: Lightning deals, warehouse deals, coupons
Kohls.com: Kohl's Cash stacking
Home Depot/Lowes: Special buys, clearance
Best Buy: Open box, clearance electronics
Macy's/Nordstrom: Designer clearance
6pm.com/Sierra: Discounted brand names

💡 Stack Savings: Coupon + sale price + cashback + credit card rewards = maximum margin. Every percent matters.

Deal Analysis Process

Find deal: Manual browsing or tool alerts
Check Amazon: Is there existing listing? What's price?
Sales rank: Under 100k in most categories = sells regularly
Competition: How many FBA sellers? Price history stable?
Calculate profit: Factor ALL costs (buy + ship to Amazon + FBA fees)
ROI check: Minimum 30-50% ROI to be worth it
Buy or pass: If numbers work, buy. If not, move on.

Watch Out For

Gated products: Need Amazon approval for some brands/categories
IP complaints: Some brands actively remove resellers
MAP policies: Minimum advertised price enforcement
Hazmat: Batteries, aerosols require special handling
Meltables: Chocolate, candles = summer FBA issues
Return rates: High-return categories eat profits

Prep & Ship to Amazon

Prep yourself: Poly bag, labels, bubble wrap as needed
Prep center: Pay someone else ($0.50-2/unit)
Create shipments: Amazon Seller Central workflow
Discounted shipping: Use Amazon partnered carriers
Track inventory: Know what's at Amazon, what's selling

Advanced Strategies

Replenishables: Items that sell consistently, reorder regularly
Seasonal buying: Buy post-season clearance, sell next year
Bundle creation: Combine items into unique listings
Variation listings: Multiple colors/sizes on one listing
VA help: Virtual assistants for sourcing at scale