TIE #047: How I Made $13,174 in Profit on Amazon during January 2024 (while hardly working)

A great start to a great year.

Apparently you hate money. If you didn’t, you’d be using Rakuten every time you shop on websites like Walmart and Target to save money.

They have paid me over $13,400 for things I was already going to buy for my one-person business:

They are also the reason this post is free to read. Sign up here and get $30 for free after your first use.

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I have been documenting how much profit my personal Amazon business makes in this newsletter for over 3 years now.

While running this type of business was never a dream of mine, it is what laid the foundation for me to live a lifestyle full of freedom and fulfillment.

In early 2024, an Amazon business is still the best option if you want to accomplish something similar and have no business experience.

This post is #37 of this series, you can read post #36 here.

My Amazon business has three branches:

• Branch 1: Non-fiction book arbitrage (read here if you do not know what this is)

• Branch 2: LEGO investment sales (read here if you do not know what this is)

• Branch 3: Any and all other online arbitrage

Depending on the time of year, they all rise and fall independently from each other.

It is not your average arbitrage business.

I target the highest profit margin possible while aiming to work as little as possible.

This often means buying products and waiting a while before selling them.

The game I play is efficiency, I do not play “number go up” simulator.

Let’s take a look at how we did in January:

Total Sales: $43,511.06
Items Sold: 396
Cost of Goods + Fees: $30,336.14
Total Profit: $13,174.92
Hours Worked: ~4-5
Average Profit Per Item: $33.27

Total Profit for 2024: $13,174.92

2024 started strong thanks to both the busy season for books and some LEGO profit taking.

What do I mean by busy season?

January is the start of Winter semester in many American universities, meaning students are on the hunt for textbooks.

(August is the other busy season and is much broader)

This means you can tactically buy stock in the months leading up to January and sell after they rise in January.

It’s a phenomenon I’ve leveraged for many years now.

In 2024, there was limited opportunity due to several new editions of books being released (meaning less used books on the market) but it was still a healthy year.

Here is an example for you, I paid $48 (after shipping) for this guy:

It then sold in January for $125:

On the LEGO side, there were only a handful of sets I took profit on.

While we could have exited positions entirely, I have felt compelled to hold on to several sets to continue to let prices appreciate.

The profit taking that did happen included the Airplane set shown last month and a few of the Technic Excavator:

This is a set we paid less than $40 for in 2022 and a set that you would have seen me talking about back in late 2022 if you were a member of my private mentorship group:

Speaking of the group… there were several members who took advantage of the January busy season for books, including Jay:

$22,000 in sales likely yielded $4,000 - $7,000 in profit for them (I don’t quiz group members so I don’t have an exact number)

This business model works because most people are not willing to do what is required to set it up and operate it.

Most people are not willing to:

• Sign up for an Amazon seller account

• Learn how to operate that account

• Buy inventory

• Sell it profitably and efficiently

Those who are willing to do all of that get to feel what it’s like to wake up to several hundred dollars in profit that came while you slept.

Put differently:

Do what others won’t and you will earn like others can’t

None of that is possible if you don’t take action though.

That choice is yours and I can’t make it for you.

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When you are ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. The Conference Room - This is my private mentorship community that also includes the following two things for free:

   1. Textbook Flipping Mastery - My in-depth guide on how to start a high-margin but simple Amazon e-commerce business.

   2. LEGO Investing Mastery - My in-depth guide on how to start a long-term “buy, hold, and sell” LEGO investing business.

   
   

2. 1:1 Consultation - If you want me to walk you through every step of creating an Amazon and/or LEGO investing business, this is for you.
   
   

   Send me an email at realjarrylew@gmail.com if you are interested.

   
   

   (Warning: it is expensive)