Retail Arbitrage — What Is It and How Does it Work?

Joel Lazrado
Amazon Selling Strategies
5 min readMay 19, 2021

Numerous a maturing ecommerce business person has envisioned about running a very successful online business, and Amazon is one of the top ecommerce platforms picked to satisfy those fantasies. The difficulty is, running a successful online business can seem direct on paper, yet most who take this course wind up calling it quits on the grounds that they essentially underestimate the measure of exertion and commitment required.

There’s product research to be done, there’s sourcing, at that point arranging, listings to be made, customers to deal with and obviously the satisfaction process. There’s continually marketing to be done as well, alongside the everyday running of the business.

Generally, it’s the sourcing part of the process that sorts the goods worth keeping from the refuse! Since finding and managing providers, frequently universally, can be testing and baffling.

This isn’t intended to discourage you from beginning an ecommerce business of any kind. Not in any way! Sourcing stock from wholesale suppliers at low costs and afterward exchanging for a profit is an awesome opportunity for you to fabricate a truly profitable online business. However, you don’t really need to assemble that business in the traditional way.

Wouldn’t it be incredible if there were an easier method to buy products to resell for a profit, without the need to manage global suppliers or negotiate absolute bottom unit prices?

Indeed, there is! It’s called retail arbitrage

What is Retail Arbitrage?

Retail arbitrage is essentially the technique for buying low and selling high, however with a curve! Rather than buying your stock from specific wholesalers or exchange suppliers, stock is purchased from genuine bricks and mortar retail stores. At stores like Target in the US or Argos in the UK, sellers can source extraordinary products on offer or at clearance prices. You at that point sell those products on the web, ordinarily on eBay or Amazon, at a more exorbitant cost and pocket the profit!

All things considered, it is really brazen, however it’s all totally lawful. Truth be told, it has been known for those in the retail arbitrage game to purchase products from retail stores at the maximum and afterward sell them for over the odds on Amazon!

Be that as it may, for what reason would buyers purchase an item for more than its retail price? The principle reason is that online shoppers are frequently impatient. They need their merchandise at this moment, as it’s simple for them to arrange on the web and get products delivered the following day as opposed to gallivanting to the shops. Likewise, impatient buyers will pay extra for this accommodation.

In this way, it’s a chance to bring in some cash by reselling products that are as of now retailing great in stores.

Intrigued by this idea? On the off chance that you are new to retail arbitrage, it’s ideal to begin with Amazon as your selling platform. Later on, whenever you become all around rehearsed at spotting opportunities, and your inventory develops, you can likewise consolidate your retail arbitrage strategy with Amazon’s satisfaction service, FBA.

How Do I Know if a Retail Arbitrage Product is Profitable?

You’ll have to carefully compare prices before you purchase any product that you intend to exchange utilizing the retail arbitrage strategy. You can do this by signing in to Amazon while you are available and comparing prices.

On the other hand, to see precisely how much profit you’ll make in the wake of shipping and selling fees, Amazon has a splendid free application which will give you this information. It’s called Amazon Seller and is accessible to download from the application store. The application allows you to scan products to see prices, fees, profits and other valuable information including the quantity of sellers selling the product, it’s best seller rank and which category it’s put in. These pieces of information are vital for you so that you’re not depending on mystery and you become well-practiced at retail arbitrage!

Can I Make Money with Amazon Retail Arbitrage?

You may be imagining that this all sounds somewhat excessively easy thus doubtlessly everybody is grinding away? In reality, they are not on the grounds that, similar to anything, everything sounds fabulous in principle, however in practice, the majority of individuals who need to attempt, don’t!

The principle justification this is that actually like any online business, you should invest some effort going around to reveal the correct products. You’ll have to visit stores and check prices, however remember, this thoroughly removes the need to manage suppliers, something that you may be anxious or stressed over.

Obviously, you can likewise begin your Amazon Retail Arbitrage business with a more modest investment instead of requiring many pounds to purchase wholesale quantities of products. It’s easy to test a couple of products at first to get into its swing and grow later. The products are largely out there, yet the correct strategy and somewhat, the correct mindset is required.

Why Don’t Retail Stores Sell the Clearance Products Online?

You might be asking why retail stores don’t sell their clearance products online instead of risking retail arbitragers bringing in money off the rear of their products. Doubtlessly this is profit that the retail store could be harvesting?

Indeed, that is spot on. In any case, the explanation retail stores auction their stock is to account for more stock which is to be sold at the maximum! Along these lines, with restricted space, retail stores place higher importance on getting new stock in that can possibly make more profit than the sale of their clearance stock.

Keep in mind, retailers would in any case have to store the clearance stock just as the new stock in the event that they chose to sell it online. Most don’t have the space for additional inventory, nor need it sticking around.

In this way, while it may appear to be a strange strategy for retailers as they are purposely passing up revenue, the truth of the matter is they will really be getting more cash from their new stock.

Also, this is uplifting news for you and your Amazon retail arbitrage business.

Steps to Retail Arbitrage on Amazon

  • Register for a seller account on Amazon
  • Download the Amazon seller app from the app store
  • Make a rundown of potential retail stores to visit
  • Head on over to the clearance area
  • Utilize the Amazon Seller App to scan products on offer
  • Purchase those that will bring a benefit of in any event £5
  • Rundown the products available to be purchased on Amazon

Final Thoughts

There is no perfect product that will work for retail arbitrage over another product. It’s basic however that you don’t restrict yourself to one specific sort of thing or category as no one can tell what sorts of products might be accessible or get viable.

The way in to a successful Amazon Retail Arbitrage business is to complete your research well and be patient as you acquire experience and certainty. Take as much time as necessary perusing when you’re in each store and search out the best products.

Amazon Retail Arbitrage is a brilliant alternative approach to resell products on Amazon over the traditional wholesale or import course. Stick at it with a positive outlook to get successful.

Rundown the products available to be purchased on Amazon

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Joel Lazrado
Amazon Selling Strategies

Developing SEO strategies to maximise performance and ROI for the enterprise, small business clients & Implementing and managing SEO campaigns.