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Ever see a deal that you thought was too good to be true? You grab one
for yourself but then thought maybe your friends or family might need
one too. Have you ever thought about buying and selling it for a
profit? Buying and selling online is not a new concept, millions of people
do it daily on eBay, Amazon, Etsy… anyone can do it including you!
What separates the profits and losses when it comes to buying and
selling online often depends on the right tools and tricks of the
trade. Just like a handyman is nothing without his/her tools, a flipping is
nothing without the right tools as well.
eBay App – eBay isn’t as easy as Amazon’s but if you ever come
across anything not sold on Amazon, be sure to check on
eBay. eBay is also great for reselling of Amazon items.
Profit Bandit App – This paid app ($9.99) is an easy way for you to
check for profit margins, stock, price history and rank of items on
Amazon. The limitation is you must have an Amazon sellers
account for it to be used and plus it is not free.
BookScouter – This awesome site lets you see what new and used
books are worth in seconds. The site is lightweight and can be
pulled up on your phone easily.
Step 2: Get the coupons and cash back rebates ready
EBates – The best place to earn cash back on all of your online
purchases. Cash back ranges from 1-25%.
MyPoints – Earn points for all of your purchases and redeem for
cash. MyPoints offers unique discounts that no one else has, for
example, $15 dollars off Amazon Prime.
Paribus – The only service out there that scans your email and
Amazon account for purchases and instantly refunds price drops
that happen within 90 days. They take a 25% cut of what you get
refunded (which is still amazing since they do all the work for you)
but on sign-up you get 5% back. And everyone you invite drops
that by another 5%.
Ibotta – This app allows you to not only get great coupons on the
fly but also allows you to get cash back from major retail stores for
in-store purchases. Simple as unlocking a savings and scanning
your receipt and UPC labels. Special sign up bonus of $10 dollars
cash just for unlocking a single item!
Step 3: Sign up for store credit cards for instant
discounts
Amazon Rewards or Store Card – Instant 5% savings on all Amazon
purchases made on the card. Special financing options too.
Almost every single big box store has a credit card offer for instant
discounts. Check online or in-store for more details.
Step 4: Scout these places for low, clearance or mistakes
on prices
Ok with steps 1, 2 and 3 out of the way, you are ready to start
buying! Buy and selling for profit really comes down to buying items for
low prices and selling it for higher. With the right tools, the right
coupons/cash back rebates and the right credit cards with discounts, you
are making sure you are buying at the lowest price. Remember those
savings are stacked on top of discounts, clearance and price mistakes.
Garage sales – Don’t forget about those garage sales. Look for
items still sealed and ready to be listed.
Thrift stores – Look for clothes with tags on them so that they can
be resold as new.
Flea markets – You might get lucky if a business owner is
unloading all of his/her products at a flea market after closing
down.
Wholesale companies – Wholesale companies like
DollarDays allow you to buy in bulk and resell individually.
Going out of business sales – You see these all the time as more
and more retailers close down. Take advantage of the huge
savings especially towards the end.
Outlet Malls – Tons of stores for you to grab clothes and other
discounted items for fraction of their normal cost.
Craigslist – You can make a killing just from the stuff being given
away in the free section.
Dollar Tree – Dollar Tree’s online site allows you to buy dollar
items in bulk. You can easily resell the individual items.
Toys R Us – Non-seasonal or unpopular toys is often sold up to
75% off.
Costco / Sam’s Club – Member-only items are sometimes being
sold below market value.
Target – Go to the back of the aisles and check out all the
clearance items at the end racks. Sometimes up to 70% off
on great flippable things.
Walmart – Check out the clearance aisles but mostly browse
Walmart’s online store. Many items have prices slashed often and
there are exclusive online items only not sold in stores.
Walgreens / CVS – Clearance items and season items are great
places to look for items to flip.
JCPenny / Kohls / Macys – Clothes are often slashed up to 90% off
and coupons can be stacked on top.
eBay / Amazon – Sometimes there are deals on one and not the
other. Buy on eBay and sell on Amazon or vice versa.
Groupon – Check out Groupon Goods. Sometimes there are items
sold massively discounted off msrp. Great flips are sold very
quickly.
Woot! – Daily deals site that is now owned by Amazon. Great
items that can be flipped sometimes.
Amazon Goldbox Deals – Exclusive deals for members and
sometimes items offered are gone within secs. Claim your items
fast.
Step 5: Don’t miss Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals
There are a ton of items being sold every Black Friday and Cyber Monday
that can be bought and sold for profit. Sites like Slickdeals have Black
Friday Ads and Cyber Monday Ads weeks and sometimes months before
the dates. Check out what you want to buy and set a schedule. People
often only focus on the doorbuster items which tend to run out very
quickly. The trick is to focus on the things most people miss which can
still net you a healthy profit. I recommend doing all of your shopping
online to maximize your time and it allows to be buying from multiple
stores at once.
Step 6: Sell for Profit
eBay – eBay can be used to sell anything. But it doesn’t always get
you the highest profit since competition is high but on the flip side,
there is no other marketplace that has as much buying power
either.
Amazon – Amazon is great when you are selling new things that
you’ve purchased elsewhere. If you can search and find the
product on Amazon then that means you can sell it too.
Bookscouter – The best site for selling books. They show you
prices from book buyers from over 10 different sites who are all
competing for your business.
Garage Sales – Garage sales are always great for selling things. But
due to the limited geographic area, don’t try to sell rare items that
could fetch a much higher price on eBay.
Craigslist – If you want to sell locally for cash, Craigslist is the place
to do it. The reach is enormous and everything is local. Just be
careful extreme hagglers that eat away your profits.
Buy and Sell Anything For A Profit
Congrats, you now have the right tools and knowledge on how to buy
and sell anything online for a profit! Word of caution, start small when
first getting started and don’t end up buying a lot of stuff for yourself!
Cons:
Fees – Amazon has two seller plans. One for Individuals who sell
less than 40 items a month and one for professionals who sell
more than 40 items a month. Individuals have to pay a dollar fee
per item sold + category fees. Professionals have to pay a monthly
subscription fee of $40 dollars + categories fees. Depending on
how much you sell, fees from Amazon came come out to be more
than eBay and Etsy. Amazon FBA also changes you a listing fee
plus typically a few dollars in fulfillment fees depending on the
item.
You’re a commodity – On Amazon you’re mostly a commodity and
subject to someone undercutting your price. You’re also
competing with Amazon directly if they decide to sell your
product.
No branding – There aren’t many branding options on
Amazon. The only thing you have control of is your products’
photos and text description. Everything else is Amazon branded.
Lack of customer loyalty – Customers are loyal to Amazon and not
your brand. So you lose the repeat business or the ability to up
sell/cross sell unless you sell a product no one else does.
Huge global customer base – On eBay has over 200+ million active
buyers located around the world. You can instantly become a
global seller by using eBay’s global shipping program. The
program allows you to ship to a hub within the US and the
international shipping gets taken care of for you.
Ease of use – EBay’s selling, listing and inventory tools make it easy
to sell your products on the site quickly. eBay has made many
features free these days to help you sell your items. One example
is by making multiple pictures available free.
Ability to sell anything – This is the biggest pro to eBay. It doesn’t
matter if you have a used iPhone, a restored 1969 Camaro SS or a
first edition of X-Men comic book, you can sell it on eBay. eBay’s
auction format allows you to list practically anything and there are
millions of people looking.
Tight integration with Paypal – Paypal is the preferred electronic
payment solution for thousands of online sites. eBay has a close
relationship with Paypal since eBay was the parent company of
Paypal until 2015 when they sold them off. The main benefit is
trust with customers and Paypal’s seller protection program.
Cons:
Fees can add up – Fees on eBay can vary depending on what you
sell and how you sell it. Sellers typically pay 10 percent of the sale
price, with a maximum fee of $250 – though advanced listing
upgrade fees add more to the cost. Paypal also incurs a 3 percent
fee. This makes it difficult to profit from items with little margin.
Favors buyers over sellers – Over the years, eBay has made it
increasingly difficult for sellers by tipping the scales of
empowerment heavily in favor of buyers. This includes eBay’s new
180-day return policy for buyers and seller’s inability to leave
negative feedback for buyers.
Cons: