As an Amazon online arbitrage seller, the fourth quarter of the year is the busiest and most profitable time and you definitely don't want to miss out on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Halloween sales, and best of all, frenzied Christmas shopping for loved ones.
Amazon reported that between Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020, they recorded the highest sales ever.
"We delivered more than 1.5 billion toys, home products, beauty, and personal care products, and electronics worldwide in Q4 2020"
That is a lot of sales and if you want in on that, you definitely need a lot of planning and effort to stay on your game in Q4 so here are some preparation tips to help you along:
Figure out your Q4 online arbitrage budget
How much are you willing to invest in your Amazon Q4 inventory? Stock budget is different for everyone, simply figure out how much you're willing to spend and stick to it.
If this isn't your first Q4 as an Amazon online arbitrage seller, you already have an idea of how much you can make and you can either increase the stock of the products that did really well or try your hands at different products.
As a new Amazon online arbitrage seller, you may not know how much you can anticipate earning; that's fine; just make a realistic spending plan and adhere to it. Allow for some flexibility in case an opportunity arises.
Invest in seasonal products and keep an eye out for trends
List products on Amazon that tend to sell well during Q4 - like candy and gift items. If there’s any product that's doing well or on the rise around Q4 (maybe an electronic item or a particularly popular kids toy), it's definitely going to be on the Christmas list for some.
Classic gifts are classic for a reason so make some room for them in your Amazon online arbitrage inventory.
Because Q4 sales are such a crucial part of being an Amazon seller, lead list services will also be uploading some profitable Q4 deals. Online arbitrage deal services like One Good Deal state when a deal is Q4, so you might want to try out little helpers for your Q4 inventory.
Stock up on packaging supplies
Since your Amazon sales will most likely increase in Q4, it's only logical that you’re also going to use more supplies during the busiest period on Amazon. Stock up on boxes, tape, bubble mailers, and polybags - and if you have bundled items, remember to get large sizes of the packaging supplies.
Keep your stock levels high
The last thing you want is to sell out on a fast-selling product during Q4 and not have a way to restock. So for seasonal or trending items, ensure your stock levels are realistically high. There’s also some discussion among Amazon online arbitrage sellers that the listing that tends to win the buy box is the one with a higher stock level, so having a healthy stock level is a win-win.
Optimize your Amazon product listings
All the hard work you did with planning and budgeting is going to be moot if no one finds your Amazon listing or your listing pops up but it doesn’t exactly rise above the heads of hundreds of similar products. You may want to take another look at your listings to ensure they are up to par, use the right keywords in your titles and descriptions to ensure you are discoverable.
Have a backup plan for logistics.
The unexpected tends to happen during busy periods. In Q4, lots of warehouses are receiving goods slower than usual because everywhere is packed.
While FBA listings will get picked over others during Christmas time because last-minute shoppers are looking for fast and efficient delivery, Merchant Fulfiled listings might also be useful when you find a good product to resell but it's too late to ship to Amazon.
Logistics is definitely an important part of having great Amazon Q4 sales because you don't want emails about canceled orders or one-star seller feedback due to delivery delays.
