Profitable Retail Arbitrage Secrets You’ll Love Cashing In On


Retail Arbitrage Secrets and Tips

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What’s Retail Arbitrage?

Have you heard the term retail arbitrage?  Well, retail arbitrage means to first find something for a great deal at a store or retailer. Second turn around and flip it for a profit.

That’s right my friends, flipping is not just for thrift shops and yard sales anymore!

You can easily do retail arbitrage while you’re grocery shopping for your week’s meals!  Some people even find items online then ship direct to the buyer. 

For the best experience with retail arbitrage, here are some of my favorite tips:

  • Set aside some time to retail arbitrage.  Set aside a little bit of time each week, or better yet, several times each week to head out and see what deals you can find.  Of course you can do it while you are at the store anyway. However if you are able to dedicate even a short amount of time to the cause, you can and will be more successful.   
  • Hit the clearance racks.  Clearance racks at stores are a treasure trove of amazing deals!  You can find items for literal pennies on the dollar. Stuff that has made it to the clearance racks are often already priced at 50%-75% or more off!
  • Don’t discount the sales.  Most retailers offer amazing sales to get you into their stores, this is totally true around any holiday throughout the year, not only Thanksgiving and Christmas but also holiday sales onLabor Day and Valentines and Veterans Day.

retail arbitrage tips  reselling for profit

Even Better Profits With These Tricks

  • Coupon.  Coupons are your friend!  Yes, they can be tedious if you feel like you are clipping and clipping all day long, but I promise you they can be worth it!  You can often pair coupons with sales to get rock-bottom prices on items and oftentimes you can even pair coupons with clearance, meaning that you can really score a good deal.  Coupons aren’t just for drug stores and grocery stores either, many department stores offer coupons either for a percentage off, or a dollar amounts off, which, when stacked with coupons can mean amazing deals for you. 
  • Rebates. Yes’m.  Don’t forget to use apps like ebates or Ibotta to make that deal an even sweeter profit.  

Have you done any thrift store or yard sale flipping in the past?  Retail arbitrage is quite similar to thrift store flipping, although some may say it is easier because you are selling brand new items.  

Most people don’t bat an eye at buying new stuff, especially when they are getting it for a discount.  I see this in Facebook sale groups and Ebay all the time.

Less obvious but the biggest player is Amazon.  Check out the post here on how to sell on Amazon.

If you are already experienced at the flipping game, you are going to have a great time trying this out.

So, are you ready to see how you can do at retail arbitrage?  You never know, I may be your next customer! 

retail arbitrage RA

Reasons You Know You Are Ready for Retail Arbitrage

So you have been toying with the idea of following up on a new side hustle or full-time career in retail arbitrage, but you aren’t sure if you are ready. Does this sound familiar?

Well, if you are going to do this, let’s make sure that it is for the right reasons.  What are those reasons?

Here are 4 reasons you know you are ready for retail arbitrage:

  • You are over your job. No, I’m not saying you should up and quit your job, let’s be clear about that. However, if your job is making you genuinely unhappy, you need to find a way to replace that income.  Retail Arbitrage can do that for you! Many people who work full time doing retail arbitrage started it because they were looking for something that could replace their day jobs.  
  • Have some extra money.  Okay, retail arbitrage doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Know that the truth is, you do need some money to build your inventory the first time.  Even if you have just a couple hundred dollars, you can get a good little inventory built up. That’s not meant to scare you.  Iif you have an extra $50 head out to the stores and see what kind of deals you can find!  Make sure you put your profits into your next batch of inventory though to keep it going.
  • Know how to spot a deal.  Some people didn’t get the deal gene like the rest of us. If you know how to spot a good deal and you have a little bit of capital to back you, this may be time to jump in and see how you can do.
  • Like to shop. If you hate spending time looking through racks and shelves at the store, than this side hustle is not for you. However, if you like to shop and find great deals and you have time to actually do it, you can succeed.

Bonus!

  • You like online “shopping”.  Okay, truth time, this is not online shopping in its typical sense, but you do need to spend some time on Amazon (or whatever platform you plan to sell on) to see how much the item you are buying will sell for.  You NEED to pay attention to this if you are going to be successful. You don’t want to grab what you think is a good deal only to discover that it sells for less online.

Personally I’d recommend starting out with possibly a few items you never returned or using a gift card to make your first purchase(s). 

Retail arbitrage can be a waiting game to sell if you’re starting on Amazon, so start small and be patient.

If you’re looking to start quick and gain some cash flow to re-invest try ebay and online yard sale sites.

Can any of you think of any ways that this side hustle can change your life that I missed?  

retail arbitrage

How Retail Arbitrage Can Change Your Life

So, all of this talk about retail arbitrage aka RA and the money you can make has you wondering if you should give it a shot.  

Well, my friends, if you like to shop and you like to make money, it is totally worth it!

Retail arbitrage aka RA can really do a lot to put you in a different spot in life.  Are you interested in learning how?

Here Are Just A Couple Of Ways That Retail Arbitrage Will Change Your Life:

  • More Money.  Okay, this is the reason many of us start side hustles, is it not?  Doing retail arbitrage can provide extra income that many of us are wanting and/or needing.  There are people who make a small, part-time income doing light retail arbitrage. How much would an extra couple of hundred dollars each month help you?
  • More Time.  If you are making extra money doing retail arbitrage, you can free up your time.  How, you ask? Well, you no longer have to work overtime hours to get that extra money.  You can also simply save time because with extra money coming in, your stress can be less, which can mean that less time is spent on stressing about bills and finances.  The simple act of stressing over them can be a huge time waster.

Even More reasons you’ll want to try retail arbitrage now:  

  • New Career.  If you are ready to change your career and possibly work for yourself, retail arbitrage might just be the key.  While not everyone that does retail arbitrage turns it into a full-time career, many have and many people love it.  I mean, you shop for a living, right? Yes, you have to do more work than just that, but you are essentially shopping for a living.  It’s not a bad gig.
  • Feeling More Accomplished.  Working every day is great. There is nothing wrong with going to work and collecting a paycheck, especially if you enjoy your job.  However, sometimes doing something fully on your own can feel good. You are doing something start to finish on your own and reaping the rewards from that.  If you have any type of entrepreneurship goals, you know exactly what I mean.
  • More Travel.  If you are able to start doing retail arbitrage on a full-time basis, you will free yourself up for lots of opportunity for travel.  I recently read about a couple who works doing retail arbitrage full time, but they actually do all of it out of their motorhome while traveling the country.  Shopping anywhere they want! I want that gig.

Have you done any retail arbitrage aka RA and didn’t even realize that’s what you were doing?

Retail Arbitrage Secrets and Tips to help you cash in today
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Matt R

Hi, my name is Matt and I'm the founder of Barefoot Budgeting. This site is dedicated to one thing... helping you budget and save money.

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