With their two young children in tow, Juston and Kristen Herbert drove to a Target near their home outside Scottsdale, Ariz. It was time to get to work. The Herberts were on the hunt for all of the Contigo water bottles the store had in stock, and kept the camera rolling for their 6, YouTube subscribers. For two people who recently left their jobs in finance, the blue-and-black plastic bottles might as well have been made of gold. The basic idea is to buy up a bunch of the same item — from water bottles to vacuums to Monopoly boards — and then resell them online for a handsome profit. For some, this is just a lucrative side hustle — perhaps to climb out of debt or save up for a Disney World vacation. For others, it has become their primary way of earning a living. While the idea to buy something cheap and sell it at a higher price is age-old, the concept of retail arbitrage has emerged in the digital age. Chris Green wrote one of the go-to how-to books on the topic, titled «Retail Arbitrage. The term seems to be having a moment. In December, according to Google Trends, searches for «retail arbitrage» spiked on YouTube, where aficionados post videos of their shopping and reselling sprees.
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It seems too easy to be true that you could make millions by raiding the clearance aisle at your local Walmart or Target and then selling your haul on Amazon. But that’s exactly what year-old Ryan Grant is doing. That money comes from buying everything from toys to household appliances on sale from retailers like Walmart or Target and flipping them online — mostly on Amazon, where Grant says «the bulk» of his company’s sales come from, though his business also makes money selling items on eBay and Jet. As a student at Winona State University — Grant graduated in — he organized textbook buyback events on campus twice a year. The process worked simply enough: Using the Amazon Seller app he could see exactly how much he could expect to profit on each book and in what time frame. But the hours spent processing and packaging each order himself proved to be a bit much. Using Amazon’s fulfillment services meant he could ship all the books in bulk using preferred UPS rates to an Amazon warehouse, where, for a fee, the online retailer handled processing and shipping out each individual order. It made his side hustle more manageable, time-wise. And, when Grant grew more unfulfilled at his accounting job, it sparked the idea of going online to flip more than just textbooks. After work and on the weekends, he scoped out the clearance aisles at Walmart, scanned a few items using Amazon’s app and bought up toys, games, and home improvement items he realized he could re-sell for a profit. A receipt from his early days shows a variety of purchases, everything from vacuums to Barbies, LEGO sets to stainless steel flatware.
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Once he was able to make the same kind of money reselling on Amazon as he had made at his accounting job, in September , he quit. Boxes upon boxes destined for Amazon warehouses started stacking up in Grant’s duplex so, in the spring of , he rented out a foot warehouse. He packed his Mazda full of products on runs back and forth from other brand-name retailers like Target and Toys R Us. When the 30 hours of shopping and the 15 hours of preparing shipments each week became too much to handle alone, Grant hired his first employee, a friend who could help scour local stores. Eventually it got easier to target the items that had the biggest opportunity for arbitrage. Seasonality, they realized, was a key factor. They could, for example, buy up discounted candy after Halloween and half-priced Christmas decorations around the New Year. Still, even he was surprised at how quickly the business took off from there. In July , Grant had to move the business to a warehouse that’s over five times as large as the first storage area he used for inventory in the business’ early days.
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The year-old from Texas spends 15 to 20 hours a week driving from one discount store to another in search of the best bargains. After graduating from college in , Glen went to work as a full-time graphic designer, but he struggled to make minimum payments on his debts. And that was only the beginning. About six years ago, Glen says he started buying items at discount stores and garage sales to resell on sites like eBay. Who else had a great weekend of sales? Glen says he looks for deals wherever he can find them, including at thrift stores, pawn shops and garage sales. But these days he shops a lot at Ross, Marshalls and T.
How this man flips brand name merchandise for a profit
Shockingly easy and surprisingly fruitful, retail arbitrage works for the Herberts because it allows them to stay home with their young children. Amazon has come a long way from Jeff Bezos personally driving packages to the post office in a Chevy Blazer. They let Amazon handle the storage, shipping and customer service while they collect the cash. The Herberts joined the resale game about four years ago while living in Los Angeles. With backgrounds in financial planning, they liked to search thrift stores for items to flip. The couple started actively selling on Amazon after their daughter, Stevie, was born. They began by increasing the amount of effort they put into flipping secondhand stuff, scouring estate sales and selling books on Amazon. They created private-label brands for cosmetics, baby headbands and yoga chairs. They moved to Arizona and dedicated themselves to wholesale , buying everyday items directly from manufacturers to sell on Amazon.
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More From Country Life. From there, you can take your profits and reinvest them by buying items from «a garage sale, or thrift store, or even a retail store on clearance» before selling those items online, as well. There are tons of websites where you can buy and sell websites or blogs, but Flippa is one of the most popular. For starters, he’d likely be making less money and he would have a lot less control over his own schedule. Programs like Google AdSense automatically place relevant ads on your blog. Megan Robinson Updated January 16th, This year-old’s company makes millions buying from Walmart and selling on Amazon.
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She even offers a course that teaches you exactly how to start selling mzkes on Etsy. A virtual assistant supports business owners in a variety of ways. So how do you know which ones to try? Wendy Devers. You can work with them on Facebook ad campaigns to help increase their business. Many use regular email newsletters to keep customers or readers engaged. As a social media manageryour goal is to create and share content that engages fans. Boxes upon boxes destined for Amazon warehouses started stacking up in Grant’s duplex so, in the spring ofhe rented out a foot warehouse. It may take months of working for free or little money, but once you have man makes money reselling target items testimonials under your belt, landing new moneey clients gets easier. We’ve wracked our brains and scoured the internet to find the best ways for you to make extra money.
I Made Over $6,000 Doing Retail Arbitrage on 10 Items! Selling Clearance on Amazon FBA From Walmart
Our number one goal at DollarSprout is to help readers improve their financial lives, and we regularly partner with companies that share that same vision. Some of the links in this post may be from our partners. In the midst of the digital era, more and more people are coming up with creative and successful online business ideas and reaping the benefits of being their own boss.
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Online businesses give entrepreneurs the ability to have secure jobs and steady income without working for. However, not all online business ideas are worth the effort. There are others that seem like a risky idea, but pay off in the short and long term. So how do you know which ones to try? That depends on your skills, interests, and the time you have to commit. Predictably, the greatest advantage of running your own online business is that you get to work from homeand you get to set your own schedule. If you want to work four days a week instead of five, you. If you would rather sleep late than go to an early morning meeting, you can do that. You make the decisions about what clients you work with, what prices you charge, and what inventory or services you offer. You control all aspects of the business, so all the work you put in directly benefits you, not someone. But what kind of business makes the most sense for your talents, interests, experience, and availability? Fortunately, there are lots of options with low start-up costs, and you can begin any of these online businesses while working your full-time job. Keep it as a side hustle to supplement your income or build an online business that replaces your full-time job. Maybe you have a passion for cooking, fashion, or crafting.
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