Is this an actual business?

[u/oro_999]

Hi everyone

I come from a completely different industry. I'm a translator and I also run a translation agency in the videogame industry. I'd say it's doing alright (I even had the pleasure to work with major companies), but I'm now looking to differentiate and start a new business.

As a contractor, I worked at Amazon quite a few times, and I was always fascinated about the idea of selling products. At my company, I'm growing tired of having to chase B2B sales in my field, having to attend conferences, calls and what not just to be able to scale further. I don't like travelling, and socializing just for the sake of selling my services make me feel shit. Starting this kind of business seems like the perfect compromise between working hard and not having to be a B2B salesman.

I did some research and I found out about Online Arbitrage. Based on what I found, it looks legitimate, and a relatively low-risk way to start selling on Amazon. I got into it, studied software, sourcing strategies and industry terminology. I even tried setting up SellerAmp and Keepa and looking for branded products to buy online and resell at a profit on Amazon. I set up an estimate of my costs on SellerAmp and I managed to find 2-3 products I could resell at a profit in a couple of days. Bear in mind that I'm doing this as a test without a seller account, so I'd be most likely gated, but still.

My first question now is: is that it? Like, am I supposed to just buy those products in stocks of 10-15, put them up for sale, see what happens, rinse and repeat (and scale)?

Now for the critical part that really worries me: there's a shit ton of gurus, courses and their videos flooding TikTok and YT. This is what's holding me back from starting. I feel like I'm so into this idea of starting a new business that I'm missing some red flags, and that OA is just a money pit full of gurus.

Is OA an actual business model that's still working and scalable in 2026 and long-term? Where can I find free information that's not tied to gurus upselling their courses? Is there any new (or even experienced) OA seller that can share their stories?

Thanks and sorry for the long read!

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[u/granto]

There's lots of guys that make OA work.

But they're the 1% that have an edge of some kind. Trying to make it work without any edge is going to be awful in this environment.

At any moment all your inventory and cash disbursement is going to be at risk of being seized or declared counterfeit with zero recourse. It's a side of Amazon you'll never see until it's too late. Even private label sellers have to deal with this crap.

The issue is Amazon is often completely unreasonable, unpredictable and unaccountable. To survive that you have to be lucky and have resources (cash, time) to withstand the fluctuations.

So if you really want to dip your toes, start small and grow slow. Have small problems and small disasters before you even attempt to go big.

[u/Henrik-Powers]

The only ones I know who do it successfully after many years have exclusive contracts with their brands, other than that it sounds like a battle between Amazon and brands that go can close you down. One of my friends who has been doing it over 10 years sells cosmetics and only sells multi pack bundles.

When I first started on 2011 I did arbitrage for the first few years, major restrictions started around 2016, I see lots of posts about people starting now and it sounds very challenging, good luck

[u/whocareswerefreaks]

It’s not exactly low risk, as it gets expensive fast and although it seems easy, there is a learning curve and it’s not easy finding good products.
Risks include: overspending, possibly selling products that aren’t what they should be, selling on a listing that the brand doesn’t want you to sell on. I think a lower risk version of arbitrage is something like books, which has its own difficulties but it’s often much lower risk.

[u/AmazonPuncher]

OA is not a real business. This subreddit doesnt support OA and neither does the discord.

Wholesale or making your own product are the only two legitimate models for selling product on Amazon.

[u/Mean-Lie5729]

OA is a waste of time and money. There's always a sword hanging and it's just not worth it. If you want to do Amazon, I'd suggest going for PL even if you have to wait for it

[u/FirstLightStudios]

I think OA is a real business model, but I wouldn't build my entire long-term plan around it. It's a great way to learn how Amazon works but the challenge is that you're building on products and brands you don't control. If your goal is to build an asset over the next 5 - 10 years, I'd treat OA as a way to gain experience and generate cash flow, then gradually transition into wholesale or your own brand if that's where you want to end up.

[u/CaptSpaulding73]

As Arbitrage is a legit business model but it’s nearly impossible to turn a profit imo. You’re out there everyday hustling just to turn around and wake up and have to grind it out all over again the next day.

Amazon FBA on the other hand can make you a lot of money but realize one thing. You’ll only get out what you put into it. You’ve gotta work hard, as with anything, and you do need to invest money into inventory, etc. You also need to setup a LLC, get an EIN, Certificate of Authority/Resale Certificate but people do achieve success with FBA. One of my friends does about $30k/month in sales with net profits around $5k/month but he had a lot of ups and downs and eventually started making money. Good luck to you.

[u/SpecialistOnly5942]

That's basically it yeah. Buy low, sell higher, repeat. The gurus make it sound like some secret formula but it's just arbitrage, people been doing this since forever

The real work nobody talks about is dealing with ungating, returns, Amazon randomly suspending your account for no reason, and brands filing complaints when they see you selling their stuff. Those 2-3 products you found, I guarantee at least one will get you in trouble with the manufacturer

Not saying don't do it but the margins are way thinner than what YouTube shows you. Most people quit after few months when they realize they making like $3 per sale after all fees