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What is better for a digital arbitrage business...software scraper or listing gigs on ebay?

by Shelly9
11 replies
Hi and thanks for any help that I get in advance. I was hoping to get opinions as to which is better for a digital arbitrage business. When I ask which is better, I am asking in regards to ease of use (because I can complicate it!), dollar potential, and learning curve. There are software scrapers that scrape craigslist and fivrr for people that need someone to design, say a logo, then you outsource the work to someone on fivrr.

There is another method that lists gigs for sale on sights like ebay and then hires a fivrr worker for fulfillment. What has been your experience with either the software or the method or do you combine them? Thanks again....
Shelly
#arbitrage #businesssoftware #digital #ebay #gigs #listing #scraper
  • Profile picture of the author hannahlist
    The best way to arbitrage Fiverr is to focus on Logos.

    Find a great logo designer who can design very quickly and will give LOTS OF REVISIONS.

    Enter logo design contests on 99designs.

    Since the typical contest pays $250, that's a potential 50:1 return on your capital.

    There are forums that also hold contests.
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  • Profile picture of the author nmwf
    Best to pay attention now than later when your personal IP is blocked from the site:

    "USE. You agree not to use or provide software (except for general purpose web browsers and email clients, or software expressly licensed by us) or services that interact or interoperate with CL, e.g. for downloading, uploading, posting, flagging, emailing, search, or mobile use. Robots, spiders, scripts, scrapers, crawlers, etc. are prohibited, as are misleading, unsolicited, unlawful, and/or spam postings/email. You agree not to collect users' personal and/or contact information ("PI")."

    https://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use
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  • Profile picture of the author seekdefo
    I cannot say for sure which will work better. Both the methods have their potential. If you decide to go for arbitrage by reselling elsewhere I suggest going for peopleperhour and yes logos work extremely well with the site and so do seo services which you can easily buy from seoclerks.
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  • Profile picture of the author hannahlist
    I would step away from automated solutions.

    It's much better to use a VA to find 'buy low, sell high' opportunities between platforms.

    It's easier to build a real business this way than through mass brute force scraping and dumping on an automated site.
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  • Profile picture of the author The Cypher
    You don't have to use software to scrape CL. adhuntr pretty much does it for free. It's pretty simple, or so I've heard.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Personally, I'd stay away from the software route. Craigslist has had a long and contentious history with software and blackhat techniques designed to exploit its marketplace, and has been rather successful in foiling anything it considers to be against its Terms Of Service.

    You're in for an exhausting and confusing time if you use software to search for gigs on Craigslist. It'll probably only be a matter of time before the software gets foiled in some way, and then you'll have to wait for a solution from the developer or move on to some other software if you want to continue down this road.
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    • Profile picture of the author blueonblue
      Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

      Personally, I'd stay away from the software route. Craigslist has had a long and contentious history with software and blackhat techniques designed to exploit its marketplace, and has been rather successful in foiling anything it considers to be against its Terms Of Service.

      You're in for an exhausting and confusing time if you use software to search for gigs on Craigslist. It'll probably only be a matter of time before the software gets foiled in some way, and then you'll have to wait for a solution from the developer or move on to some other software if you want to continue down this road.
      I have to disagree with you.
      Software like Arbitrage Underdog has been running for years without a probolem. All it does is show the listings, filter by date. You then open your broswer and see the full listing and con contact them that way. How does that violate TOS for CL?
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  • Profile picture of the author trobo
    There's a site called searchtempest that will search craigslist for specific gigs. It is free to use and is not a software scraper tool. It sounds like this might be what you're looking for.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shelly9
      Thanks everybody for your advice. I posted this thread a few days ago and have only just now been able to read the responses. This has helped me tremendously to make a good decision. The biggest problem with IM that I see in over 5 years of learning and trying is the problem of TOO MANY DECISIONS TO MAKE WITH TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!! lol. If we all had only two roads to take, the success rate would be probably close to 100%. The only reason for failure in this business, from my point of view is not following through. For me, I have not failed, I have just not found the right way for me.....yet. I hear Edison had the same experience with the lightbulb. So, if he kept a good attitude through all of that, then so can I.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    What is better for a digital arbitrage business...
    To not start, at all.

    It's for lazy, careless people who have no business sense and a total disregard for the end consumer.

    I was on ebay just last night and noticed electronics suppliers who are posting things like - "We will not drop-ship without prior arrangement."

    These "arbitrage idiots" are hurting many legit businesses. I for one am glad to see that at least some businesses are taking steps to try to protect themselves.
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