[Kelby Green – Ambassador]

In my quest to find ways to eliminate debt, I stumbled across the concept of retail arbitrage. The idea is you purchase a product at a discount, and then resell it online (via eBay or Amazon) for a profit. Pretty simple, right.

Granted, I’m not expecting to strike it rich, but the possibility of earning a little extra income by buying low and selling high is intriguing.

From my research (a few hours of reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos), the time commitment is moderate (2-5 hours per week) when you’re just getting started and only selling a few items. Since that’s about the same amount of time I mindlessly surf the internet, I figured why not try it and see if I earn a few bucks in the process. So, starting today…Oct. 2nd I’m going to set a $100 budget and see how much I’m able to earn as a result.

For those of you that have tried this, are there any tips or warnings that I should know about?

[Sum180 Lead Coach]

My guy’s co-worker does this and she learned very quickly that shipping costs is the variable that makes it worth it or not. Large big ticket items seem profitable until you have to incur the shipping costs. If it’s big ticket, and also big, she has learned to put it on Craig’s list locally.

Here’s how retail arbitrage recently worked really well for us, Kelby. A friend called and said she had a friend who was selling inflatable paddle boards for $250. A quick e-bay search showed they sell for $500+ there (but remember the shipping costs!). My guy had us buy 4 ($1000), and then had his co-worker resell 2 of them ($500 each).

Last month, it was extra fun to paddle board in Virginia Beach on our FREE paddle boards! Now I just have to figure out how people actually do yoga on their paddle board…

[Josh Johnson – Ambassador]

I’ll admit to being new to this concept, but I think once you figure out the ins/outs of the process it could definitely pay off. eBay to the rescue!

[Kelby Green – Ambassador]

Thanks, Carla! Those paddle boards sound like a huge win! And I’m with you on the paddle board yoga. I struggle with yoga on non-moving surfaces, so yoga on a paddle board would be completely out of the question. Haha!

[Kelby Green – Ambassador]

I hope so, Josh! Yep…eBay and Craigslist here I come.

[Kayla Buell – Ambassador]

Yes! My friend loves sorting through things at TJ Maxx and then resells the things she buys online. My brother does the same thing with the latest sneakers out on the market and it’s amazing to see how he’s able to make sometimes a $300-$500 profit with the click of a button. Best of luck! Definitely let us know how it goes!

[Antoinette Minor – Ambassador]

This is how companies like Nasty Gal were started. Finding deals for dirt cheap and then turning them for profit. I never thought of trying something like this myself but looking into trying ecommerce. I think I might give this a try!