Online Arbitrage
Also known as: OA
Online arbitrage (OA) is buying discounted products from online retailers and reselling them on Amazon for a profit on the price gap.
Online arbitrage means sourcing inventory from other online retailers — clearance sales, coupons, cashback, and price-error deals at stores like Target, Walmart, or Home Depot — and reselling those branded units on existing Amazon listings at a higher price. It is the e-commerce sibling of retail arbitrage (sourcing in physical stores).
OA requires no brand or product creation: you sell on an existing ASIN, competing for the Buy Box on price and fulfillment. Profit hinges on tight margin math after the referral fee, FBA fulfillment fee, and COGS, and on selling-eligibility — many brands and categories are gated, so a great buy is useless if you cannot get ungated. Scanner tools exist to compute net profit and flag gating before you purchase.
The model scales by sourcing volume, not by building equity in a brand, and faces risks unique to reselling: IP/brand complaints, sudden gating, and price competition from other sellers on the same listing. It is a common low-capital entry point that many sellers later graduate from into wholesale or private label.
A seller buys a kitchen gadget on clearance for $8 plus 5% cashback and resells it on Amazon at $24. After the ~15% referral fee, ~$5 FBA fee, and COGS, they net roughly $6/unit — provided they are ungated for that brand.