Every Amazon seller wants to make a quick buck. I will spend a few minutes giving a few easy ways you can make money on Amazon right now.
These are going to be a little outside of the box and I know that some Amazon sellers will not want to put in the extra effort, but those sellers who do can really turn up the profit as we continue into the fourth quarter.
Please note: The three ways below are not the only ways to make money on Amazon right now. I am still a huge fan of online arbitrage, book flipping, clearance items, and even wholesale products on Amazon.
That being said, I challenge you to continue to think outside of the box and expand your range of possible money making opportunities on Amazon. Selling on Amazon requires this type of thinking to make money.
Enough chit chat. Let’s start making some money on Amazon.
Using Online Arbitrage to Find Retail Arbitrage Deals
For most of you, the beauty of online arbitrage is that you don’t have to visit a store and you are not limited by your geographical location. On a normal day, this is a great advantage for your Amazon business.
When Q4 hits, sometimes the advantage to make money on Amazon can shift to those who flip that notion on its head.
Think about it. We have hundreds of Amazon sellers looking for items via online arbitrage and the quicker you are at finding the deals, the more ways to make money with Amazon become possible.
Some items though, just seem to never be in stock online to sell on Amazon. What if you could identify those items and then get alerts when those items were in stock locally and just have to run to your local Walmart or Target to pick those items up?
More items means “Mo money on Amazon!”
I like to use a combination of Tactical Arbitrage and Brickseek to get started with retail arbitrage.
First – I use Tactical Arbitrage to search Amazon for items that are popular, but are commonly out of stock. This generates a list of possible items that I can use as a shopping list when I head to the store.
Next – I sort that list and find the items that are not in stock online. This eliminates competition from other online Amazon sellers and gives me a smaller list of possible retail arbitrage flips.
Then – I go onto Brickseek and search the stores in my area for these retail arbitrage items for selling on Amazon. If they are in stock, I go and grab the items. If not, I set alerts on Brickseek to let me know when these items come back into stock.
From there, the rest of the tasks are pretty automated. I sit around drinking my coffee in the morning and I wait to see if my local store restocks. Kinda of a semi-passive way to make money on Amazon.
Forgetting FBA and Focusing on Quick Shipping FBM Orders
Amazon has been extremely slow at checking in orders as of late and it is starting to take a toll on some sellers who rely on Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) to handle all of their shipping and handling.
Where one Amazon seller might see a business problem, I see a business opportunity to make more money on Amazon.
As someone who also is an avid shopper on Amazon, I get very disappointed when I see that my order is going to take MORE THAN 2 days to arrive. It seems the trend of online shopping is only going to increase each and every year so the demand will be high for Amazon third party sellers to ship by FBM.
That’s where smart Amazon sellers like you can take advantage and offer faster shipping than Amazon through your own fulfillment.
This takes a little more effort than most online arbitrage, but you can still use Tactical Arbitrage to give you a boost in the right direction.
Best Way To Get Started Finding These Products
To find these opportunities to make money on Amazon, you start by doing your typical online arbitrage searching through Tactical Arbitrage using your buying criteria and come up with your list of possible products on Amazon to make money on.
After that, you take that list and go through each listing to see if the shipping time is extended for any of the items on your list (or if you see the magical “only a few left in stock” text on the listing).
If you catch a listing that has a delayed shipping time, you can list your products on Amazon and sell it merchant fulfilled. Make sure to have your shipping times adjusted to account for any prep you need.
I have actually done this in the store (as I was shopping) and sold products before I even checked out. It is a quick way to make money on Amazon during Q4. So don’t just look at the online arbitrage way to make money.
Keeping your eyes open as you do retail arbitrage is a great way to make money too while selling on Amazon.
Look to the Future and Stock Up on Items
I know I know. I told you I am going to show you 3 ways to make money right now and Amazon and all of a sudden I’m telling you that you need to look to the future.
Before you start shaking your head, take a look at the idea and you will understand why this is something you shouldn’t be waiting on to make money on Amazon.
Let’s go back in time and look at 2019 (pro tip: The past on Amazon and teach you a lot about the future).
2019: 2019 Paw Patrol Advent Calendar
Take a look at this listing. It’s for an advent calendar for 2019. If you are like most Amazon sellers, you would say: “This is last year’s products on Amazon- Why should I even look at it?”.
If you look closely at the Keepa chart, you will notice that in 2019 it was selling at a cheap $16.99. In 2020, it is selling at $46.33. And you can see that Amazon hasn’t been on the listing since August 2020. And did you happen to notice the sales rank? It’s a cool and easy 64,000 in toys.
If this isn’t turning on a light bulb in your head, let me help you out a bit.
Long Term Holds Is a Great Way For Big Profits
Some items are not worth selling on Amazon at this moment, but once these products go out of production, they increase in value and become an opportunity to make money. Having the data (such as Keepa) can help you estimate what products might do this in the future.
You can buy these products now, put them in a safe place, and sell them next holiday season to make money on Amazon. Who wouldn’t like a 100% profit margin on something that is just sitting in your closet for 10 months?!
And advent calendars are not the only items that do this. Get thinking and start looking for items that take about a year to become valuable and pull the trigger today (to make profit in the future).
Final Thoughts
I know this was short and sweet, but I hope these ideas got the gears in your mind moving in the right direction. Selling on Amazon
I am also fully aware that there are a ton of other ways you can make money right now and I hope you explore and take advantage of those opportunities as well.
Here’s to a great Q4 – Cheers!