If you’re just starting out selling on Amazon, retail arbitrage is a fantastic way to get your feet wet. Shopping for products in-store and reselling them online helps you understand the seller process, learn to interpret Amazon data, and get some great seller feedback under your belt. But if you’re brand new, walking into a store and figuring out what’s profitable and what’s a bust can be tricky.
Enter apps like Scoutify. If you’re not familiar with Scoutify, here’s how it works: When you scan items in-store, Scoutify immediately pulls sales rank and other valuable Amazon info. While that may seem simple enough, there’s a bit more nuance to winning at retail arbitrage. Here are eight Scoutify secrets to selling faster on Amazon and unlocking profitability.
If you’re just starting out selling on Amazon, retail arbitrage is a fantastic way to get your feet wet. Shopping for products in-store and reselling them online helps you understand the seller process, learn to interpret Amazon data, and get some great seller feedback under your belt. But if you’re brand new, walking into a store and figuring out what’s profitable and what’s a bust can be tricky.
Enter apps like Scoutify. If you’re not familiar with Scoutify, here’s how it works: When you scan items in-store, Scoutify immediately pulls sales rank and other valuable Amazon info. While that may seem simple enough, there’s a bit more nuance to winning at retail arbitrage. Here are eight Scoutify secrets to selling faster on Amazon and unlocking profitability.
1. Check The Sales Rank
And then dig deeper. Checking the sales rank before purchasing a product may sound obvious, but let’s walk through it. Viewing a rank sheet on sites like Full-Time FBA will quickly help you identify what’s selling and what’s not. You’re looking for products selling in the top 1% of Amazon. Todd will sometimes dip into the 3-5% range and, at Christmastime when sales are through the roof, 5-10%.
Once you’ve checked the rank, take it a step further and check the listing. Make sure there aren’t multiple variations throwing off the sales rank. Because Scoutify calculates sales rank by averaging the sales of each variation, oftentimes one variation is a top seller and throws off the product’s overall score.
2. Buy Out Of Stock Products
Even if a product’s sales ranking is low, if an item is out of stock on Amazon – buy it! When it’s out of stock, that ranking doesn’t reflect when the product is actually selling. So check sites like camelcamelcamel and Keepa to see its historical sales rank. You may find that the product sells well when in stock. And because it’s currently out of stock, you can get away with listing it at a higher price and reaping maximum profit.
3. Check The Reviews
Maybe the sales rank and historical data aren’t giving you a clear picture. If that’s the case, click into the listing and read reviews. Even if the listing has reviews with three or four stars, pay attention to the number of reviews. If a product has lots and lots of reviews, that’s an easy indication that the product sells well. Just put two-and-two together – if tons of people are leaving reviews, that means tons of people had to purchase the product, and most buyers won’t leave a review! So take the number of reviews as a fraction of how fast a product is selling.
4. Select The Best Item
Sometimes when you scan a product in-store, multiple items come up. So select the product that has the lowest ranking or the most offers to ensure you’re definitely choosing the best option for Amazon. Usuallym more offers indicate faster sales. Also look at the number of sellers on a product for a good indication of what’s selling quick.
5. Make Sure It’s The Right Item
It’s never good to rush through retail arbitrage. In your haste, you may scan an item that appears to be a hot seller, excitedly grab it, and move on to the next. Always double-check the photo so you know the item that you’re scanning is in fact the correct item that’s listed on Scoutify with the stellar sales rank and fabulous reviews. If a barcode is somehow incorrect on Scoutify, you’ll be directed to a different product than the one you’re physically holding. Stay sharp, sellers.
6. Shoot For 100% Profit
While Scoutify shows you a product’s net profit, it doesn’t factor in the price of paying for the product in-store. So when you’re scanning, look for a profit of at least double what you’re buying it for. If an item sells fast you can likely get away with closer to 50-75% net profit, but if you’re taking the risk, check past prices on the product. If the current price is abnormal, that profitability may fluctuate when prices plummet a month from now.
7. Don’t Skip Items
Just because you don’t think an item is appealing, that doesn’t mean customers elsewhere will turn their noses up. You don’t matter as much as the customer matters, and, take it from an Amazon veteran, sometimes products surprise you!
8. Make Sure An Item Isn’t Hazardous
Let’s say you scan an item. It looks great. No one else is selling it on FBA or maybe no one else is selling it, period. Cheers! You’ve found a profitable product. But look closer. That product is likely restricted on Amazon because it’s marked as hazardous. And while you may think hazardous means flamethrowers and drain cleaners and pesticides, items as innocent as hand lotion can be classified as such.
So open up the Amazon Seller app, scan an item, and check for that hazardous icon that pops up if an item is potentially hazardous.
Bottom line? If it looks too good to be true, sometimes it is.
Overall
Navigating the waters of retail arbitrage can be tricky for beginners. Apps like Scoutify help, but only if you know the insider how-tos for finding top-sellers and maximizing profit. So head to your local Target, Walmart, or Goodwill, but remember these secrets for Amazon success.
You can also check out Todd’s retail arbitrage raw footage and subscribe on YouTube for more tips and tricks.
Happy selling everybody.
