A Way to Make Money on Amazon

[Ben]

While I am of course familiar with third party sellers on Amazon, I had no idea that this was a gig:

I sell brand name products on Amazon via Online Arbitrage (no private labeling, no wholesale, no in-store buying). I have sold over $4.5 million dollars of products over the last few years, and currently do $2-2.5M per year in revenue.

I buy from websites like Kohls, Walmart, Adidas, etc. and sell on Amazon for a profit. I do not touch any of the products - they are all purchased on the computer, sent to a "prep center", then shipped to Amazon to be resold to customers. (btw, this is not dropshipping, although it sounds like it)

I have been doing this for about 3 and a half years as a full time job since graduating college.

Think this will be an opportunity to give people real and honest answers about what "Amazon FBA" is other than the internet gurus showing you how to scan toys at Marshall's for $1.45 profit.

The above is from this Reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/16adys9/i_24m_sell_over_2000000_a_year_on_amazon_via/

I have seen similar on the mom and pop scale, like small local stores buying stuff at Costco then reselling at a markup in their stores, but had no idea this was a large scale operation as well, that it appears you can do from your living room. He goes into more detail at the link.

[cordex]

I didn't see any net profit numbers.  Curious what he's spending to make $2.5M/yr.

Definitely an interesting idea, but smells of a get rich quick "pay me to learn how to make money" routine.

[Ben]

I didn't see any net profit numbers.  Curious what he's spending to make $2.5M/yr.

Definitely an interesting idea, but smells of a get rich quick "pay me to learn how to make money" routine.

I would imagine profits to be razor-slim if you're buying at Walmart and selling on Amazon. It sounds like they look for sales/promos/discontinued items that are drastically marked down and then transfer those to these "distribution centers" (Amazon's, or others?).

I did a quick search on "online arbitrage" and found this:

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-retail-arbitrage-5113103

EDIT: Also, I wonder if stuff like this is why you can no longer take for granted that the Amazon price is a good deal? I know that I've posted before that more and more often, especially with under $100 items, the Amazon price is way higher than elsewhere online, or even brick and mortar. I imagine these arbitrage people buy a lot of lower priced items versus things like $2000 TVs.

[HankB]

Why would someone who has a successful gig buying/reselling items via Amazon share their "secret" and essentially invite additional competition?

I didn't follow the link and research the guy involved, but I wonder if he's selling his system or teaching it . . . for a fee?

[cordex]

I didn't follow the link and research the guy involved, but I wonder if he's selling his system or teaching it . . . for a fee?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ2mzKSxFeU
->
https://twitter.com/DrewFBA
->
https://linktr.ee/drewfba
->
https://calendly.com/drewfbaconsultingco/coachingcall?month=2023-09&date=2023-09-08
->

To be honest - and save us both time. Please know my mentorship is not cheap. Are you willing and able to invest in improving your financial future? *
Yes - I have financial resources available to solve this problem.
No - I do not have the financial resources available to invest in myself right now.

If you are accepted, how soon can you get started? *
ASAP
1-2 Months (please do not book if this is the case - book when ready)
2-3 Months (please do not book if this is the case - book when ready)

[MechAg94]

I would imagine profits to be razor-slim if you're buying at Walmart and selling on Amazon. It sounds like they look for sales/promos/discontinued items that are drastically marked down and then transfer those to these "distribution centers" (Amazon's, or others?).

I did a quick search on "online arbitrage" and found this:

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-retail-arbitrage-5113103

EDIT: Also, I wonder if stuff like this is why you can no longer take for granted that the Amazon price is a good deal? I know that I've posted before that more and more often, especially with under $100 items, the Amazon price is way higher than elsewhere online, or even brick and mortar. I imagine these arbitrage people buy a lot of lower priced items versus things like $2000 TVs.

The same products often vary in price quite a bit between sellers.  I remember when people talked about buying groceries on Amazon, I found their pricing to be a good bit higher.  Might depend on where you live.  I never really thought about why.

I imagine if you are able to buy in bulk, you might be able to negotiate some good rates with a business if you are buying a regular amount. 

[Pb]

I once bought something from Amazon that arrived with a walmart clearance sticker on it.

[Nick1911]

Arbitrage with razor thin margins could work in an online setting where there's no need to physically handle the products and software can negotiate the transactions.  Downside, if the barrier to entry is that low, the arbitrage opportunity will quickly evaporate.

[Kingcreek]

I’m not sure how easy it would be now. It worked during the Covid world shut down.
I know a young man that was a senior in HS when the world as we knew it changed. He didn’t go to college or try to get a real job. He spec’d on swimming pools, backyard play sets, hot tubs, and home exercise equipment. He got in early and didn’t handle any inventory. Just sold and drop shipped. He was selling stuff when it wasn’t available at Walmart or Costco. Lived at home for free and spent his days online.
He bought a new Tesla with no loan at the ripe old age of 19 and made enough money to invest a good chunk.

[cordex]

I’m not sure how easy it would be now. It worked during the Covid world shut down.

Which could explain why Drew is now pivoting from making money by buying and reselling to making money by telling other people how he made his money.

[Ben]

It seems like usually by the time something like this gets into the mainstream, that it's usually too late to make a good profit on it. If you're making a 2% profit off $2million in sales, you're making $40K/year. If you're working with a lot of small items, I'm guessing it's not a "Just one hour a week!" kind of gig. So you can maybe make an okay living, but it's no miracle income.