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So its that crazy time again Christmas, how to profit from it?

by mzmaker05
9 replies
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Around this time of the year I get a feeling that I'm missing out on big money making opportunities from all the crazy shopping that goes on around this time of the year, do you get the same feeling? How can this time of the year as well as big events can be turned into profits?
#christmas #crazy #profit #time
  • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
    If you are really good at shopping, and comparing costs, and using the right retailers... you can actually make a lot of money simply by buying a lot of items at retail stores and selling for a decent profit on eBay and Amazon alone which experience inflated prices. Many items you might buy for $45, Buy 1 Get 1 Free with a 15% off rewards card, might sell for $60 alone, and easy to obtain a high level of profit by buying and selling at a high volume. In 2010, I purchase a lot of items from Toys R Us, Walmart, Big Lots, Target, Spencers Gifts, and Hot Topic - roughly around $10,000 USD in credit with a low interest rate and made an easy $4,500 in profit 2-3 weeks after the purchase simply by reselling these items on eBay. This isn't including the items that were showing up as "Hot" on Amazon and selling for 20% higher on eBay that I was simply acting as the middleman for.
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    • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
      Originally Posted by Silas Hart View Post

      This isn't including the items that were showing up as "Hot" on Amazon and selling for 20% higher on eBay that I was simply acting as the middleman for.
      Items showing up as "Hot" on Amazon???

      How do you do that?
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      • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
        Originally Posted by hpgoodboy View Post

        Items showing up as "Hot" on Amazon???

        How do you do that?
        Hot is items found here where they are likely new or the items are trending. I go to this link where Amazon sellers are likely selling large amounts of items quickly and eBay is selling less than Amazon at a higher cost.

        Amazon.com Hot New Releases: The best-selling new & future releases on Amazon

        For example:

        Angry Birds Star Wars Jenga is a new release and is selling well for the last quarter of the year, and also projected to be one of the top toys of the year.

        On Amazon, it is selling for:

        $29.94 - Free Shipping

        on eBay, this is being sold (by Toys R Us) for:

        $37.67

        If I list 4 of these items for 1 cent cheaper, at $37.66 Buy It Now, I will likely make the sale within 4 hours, and all will be sold within 24. Doing larger amounts is Risky because Amazon (or its' Sellers) may not have a large amount in stock, but all 4 will sell quickly because this IS a popular purchase. I will pay $29.94 each, and will make a total profit about $12.60 after all 4 of these are sold as a Top Rated Seller. Not much, but very easy to manage (even from outsourced assistance), but I recommend being a TRS and having an amount of reserved funds.

        You can use CamelCamelCamel to find items people are selling for greatly decreased prices, but you usually have to find Amazon sellers that are reputable first, and make sure people are actually selling the specific items on eBay. I wouldn't bother without being a TRS because of the fees, and because you are less prone to the damage of negative feedback.
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  • Profile picture of the author ruby2011
    I have the same feeling too. I started a eCommerce website recently and could not find proper items to sell , so the site is still under construction ! I missed the opportunity this year, a little bit disappointment !
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  • Profile picture of the author Auctiondebteliminator
    Actually, the item is being sold by Toys R Us for less.

    eBay.com Item Purchase History

    Don't look at the base price. Look at the TOTAL price it's being sold for - (click on the '# SOLD) in the history --- and you'll see that the total price these items sold for are less. At this time, the item is selling for 30.28

    With eBay/paypal fees that is a net loss of 4.00 even. (with eBay and Paypal fees being 3.16 and 1.18 respectively from a 30.28 selling price--- from a 20% FVF discount)

    If you didn't have this, it would net a -4.67 loss.

    After 4 sales this would be -17.18.

    (source rolbecalc.com)
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    • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
      Originally Posted by Auctiondebteliminator View Post

      Actually, the item is being sold by Toys R Us for less.

      eBay.com Item Purchase History

      Don't look at the base price. Look at the TOTAL price it's being sold for - (click on the '# SOLD) in the history --- and you'll see that the total price these items sold for are less. At this time, the item is selling for 30.28

      With eBay/paypal fees that is a net loss of 4.00 even. (with eBay and Paypal fees being 3.16 and 1.18 respectively from a 30.28 selling price--- from a 20% FVF discount)

      If you didn't have this, it would net a -4.67 loss.

      After 4 sales this would be -17.18.

      (source rolbecalc.com)
      on eBay, that listing which I believed showed up on eBay as the lowest cost for that item (New) was $29.99 + $7.73 Shipping, so my data was correct at the time. Toys R Us lowered the price to $22.49 between December 28th and the time they made their next sale for that item on January 5th as my post was made on December 26th, you can see at the time, the lowest price was 29.99 + $7.73 which is $37.67 and the price I listed. If you look at the 3rd past sales transaction for the Toys R Us link you post, you will see that is was a higher price than it was previously and is currently. Now the price by Toys R Us is indeed lower, but as my post was an example of how the process of finding lower priced items on Amazon at the time compared to the slightly increased prices of eBay could turn a potential profit, my post is still credible. Toys R Us could be selling the toy for $2.99, but the example would still be relevant.

      Even if the item is being sold on eBay at $30.28 which you state in your post, Amazon is currently selling this for $25.00 - which after fees is a profit of 0.93 which is less than my early results, but still a profit.
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  • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
    The above information was posted on December 26th.
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  • Profile picture of the author Auctiondebteliminator
    The completed listings data for the sold prices still shows the accurate sale prices even from December 26th.

    The sales history of that item goes to December 8th
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  • Profile picture of the author Auctiondebteliminator
    With a 20% FVF discount.

    Without that, it's a 27 cent profit --- both, hardly anything to wag a stick at.

    Even so --- if it WAS the lowest-priced item -- I wouldn't have sold it for lower than that.

    This might be personal preference, but if I'm in a classroom, I'm going to be replicating the 'A' students - not the 'C' or 'D' students.

    As I see it, eBay is one big classroom. And if I replicate the winning strategy, I replicate the winning result. So long as I can sell BETTER than the 'A' student --- and CONVERT the traffic that comes to my listings -- then I have 'made the grade'.

    I don't want to convert mediocrity --- because 94 cents per sale isn't as fun as making more per sale -- even if I have to delay gratification for it.. Because so long as I am increasing a views to actions ratio - I will eventually rank higher, and sell faster than anyone of my competitors.

    So long as I know my market worth is HIGHER, I will target it. I just need to convert it with my adcopy theory and customer service selling.

    'Replicate the winning strategy, replicate the winning result'.

    It is a misnomer that you need to 'sell slightly under' a certain price to 'get people to buy yours faster' because eBay's default setting for searches is a 'best match' not the 'price plus shipping lowest first'.

    So, it is better to rank higher in 'best match' which ISN'T to lower it by a penny.

    It is to INCREASE your views to actions ratio.
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