TIE #002: How to Make $406 in 45 Minutes on Amazon
Anyone can do this, if they want to.
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You can buy and sell just about anything on Amazon.
No one specific item type is “best” but if I had to choose one, I’d choose books.
Non-fiction books are incredible items to buy and sell for a number of reasons:
They are recession proof (people still have to buy books during recessions)
Most book buyers are lazy young adults and wait too long to buy (I was once one myself)
Funding for college
scamsystem is backed by the US government and wealthy boomers
No other item type on Amazon has these underlying characteristics, which is why I’m able to maintain a 30%+ profit margin year round with ease.
Other item types are worth selling, but only once you have more experience.
If you don’t know what you’re doing yet, books are the best place to start.
Rather than buying something you hope sells for more, I’d rather buy books that I know will sell for more.
Guaranteed profit isn’t a thing, but books are as close as you can get.
Don’t just take my word for it, here are some recent transactions that made me some serious cash.
Book #1
Here is a book bought from Amazon themselves.
Four copies for just over $65 each.
All four sold for $150.
Cost Basis: $268
Revenue: $600
Fees: $140
Profit After Fees: $192
ROI: 72%
Book #2
This was a classic case of underpricing by the seller.
When you have books on an alert list, you can take advantage of stuff like this.
Cost Basis: $33
Revenue: $130
Fees: $28
Profit After Fees: $69
ROI: 209%
Book #3
More of the same here.
Book sells routinely for much more than this.
If you identify the “normal” selling price, you can buy books that get listed too cheap without fear.
Cost Basis: $42
Revenue: $93
Fees: $23
Profit After Fees: $28
ROI: 67%
Book #4
Here we have an eBay purchase. This one was underpriced prior to the Summer busy season.
I had a strong level of confidence that it would double in value.
That’s exactly what happened.
Cost Basis: $75
Revenue: $166
Fees: $34
Profit After Fees: $28
ROI: 76%
Book #5
Once again, we have another eBay purchase of for a quantity of two.
This was another book that I had strong confidence in to jump in value once the Summer busy season hit in full force.
The prediction was a good one.
Cost Basis: $18
Revenue: $110
Fees: $32
Profit After Fees: $60
ROI: 333%
Summary
Total Cost Basis: $436
Total Revenue: $1,099
Fees: $257
Profit After Fees: $406
ROI: 93%
If it took a couple days to earn this money, it would still be a respectable total all things considered.
However, these probably took me 45 minutes to find, buy, and send to Amazon.
It’s not like I only worked for 45 minutes though. This is a tiny snapshot of the overall business.
The key here is knowing which books are worth buying.
If you are buying a book during the off-season, you are looking for a deal.
That means it’s listed at the wrong price or obviously sells for much more when you list it with Amazon Prime shipping.
When you are buying books for the busy season, you are using historical data to help predict a similar price increase in the near future.
Rather than being reactive, you are being proactive.
I can do this, you can do this, anyone can do this.
When you are ready, there are two different ways I can help you:
If you are interested in starting an efficient one-person online business, I recommend starting with one of the following:
Textbook Flipping Mastery - My in-depth guide on how to start an all online, high-margin Amazon e-commerce business.
The Conference Room - My private mentorship community, which includes all of my paid guides for free. Pay once and stay a member for life.
You can become a paid subscriber here (7-day free trial available) and follow along with my personal LEGO investment portfolio here on Substack.