Not every third-party seller on Amazon enjoys importing and private labeling. Some are relying on premade goods that they purchase at a discount, while others are investing in developing their own line of goods.
Arbitrage is the clever business strategy of profiting from price discrepancies in the market. The idea is fairly straightforward: purchase an item in large quantities at a lower cost, resell it elsewhere for a higher price, and keep the difference.
Even though the idea is straightforward, becoming an Amazon arbitrage business still involves work and a certain set of tools to make sure everything runs smoothly. You require an app that makes it easier for you to decide whether or not to purchase a certain product more quickly when you're inside the store browsing the clearance section.
The greatest scanning apps for Amazon arbitrage sellers will be examined in this blog, along with their benefits and drawbacks, so you can select the one that works best for you.
In this article you will learn:
1. Amazon Seller App
Let's begin with the most essential app for you. If you sell anything on Amazon, you absolutely must have the Amazon Seller app, even if you're not interested in arbitrage. Since it's the only free app on this list, give it some thought if you're just getting started.
1.a.Functions
The fundamentals. The Amazon Seller app provides you with basic information about products, including their sales rank and price, depending on whether they are new or used.
It also indicates whether or not the product is restricted and, if so, under what circumstances it may be sold. Keep in mind that selling products that are restricted on Amazon does not automatically exclude you from doing so. You can sell used branded products on Amazon for certain brands.
List on the go. Because the app lets you do more than just choose what to buy, it's ideal for sellers who are constantly on the go. In order to have your listing ready before the cashier can give you the total, you can also list the item on Amazon right away.
Clients come first. You can easily address buyer concerns on the Response Needed tab of the Amazon Seller app. It displays consumer complaints as well as complaints about intellectual property so you can address them right away.
Recognizing a package. All you have to do to utilize the scanning feature of the app is locate and scan the barcode of the product you want information on. Simply tap the camera icon in the app's upper right corner. A list of potential products that match the one you're scanning will appear. For example, some products come in packs of six. Thus, you must select the one that precisely matches the item you wish to buy.
But unlike most apps, the Amazon Seller app also allows you to scan the product's packaging in order to scan it. But, as this might produce less accurate results, I advise utilizing the barcode instead.
1.b.What is missing
No, camelcamelcamel, no Keepa. Keepa is an application that displays the price and rank history of a product; it is not integrated with the Amazon Seller app. This is crucial to ascertain the item's best and lowest selling prices as well as how it performed over a specific time frame. It also lacks camelcamelcamel integration, which helps you make purchasing decisions by alerting you when prices drop.
Promotions are not taken into account. The fact that the Amazon Seller app only displays the lowest new and used prices for the products it scans is another issue. Then, it's possible that you'll receive an absurdly low number if another seller is having a promotion on the day you scanned the item.
Not includes taxes. You cannot calculate the precise profit margin from selling the product on Amazon, even after factoring in the FBA fees, because the app does not account for taxes.
2.Scoutly
When looking for products to sell, Scoutly, formerly known as FBAScan, is a useful tool for people who can't seem to get a reliable internet connection.
2.a.Functions
Available without internet. With this ASellerTool app, you can download databases and perform searches for the US, Canada, and the UK. You have the option of downloading the Books and Other Media or Non-Media database.
As a result, retrieving product information is quicker because it is already available offline. While it's not necessary, you can still scout for products without a wifi connection or signal. Indeed, the live search option provides more precise current prices.
Establish triggers. The best thing about Scoutly, aside from displaying the product's Keepa chart, is that it allows you to set profit triggers that are unique to each product. This implies that you won't need to use as many brain cells to decide whether or not to purchase a product because the app will do the data analysis and let you know when it's worth it.
If you want to hire people to scout for you, this is useful. Because of these profit triggers, you can delegate the task of going to the store to someone else and they will still be capable of making the right choices. It's useful to know that Scoutly lets you conceal an item's price so an employee can conduct product research on your behalf without becoming an adversary.
2.b.What's Missing
Large storage space is required. You will need at least 2 GB of storage space if you want to download the Scoutly database for faster scanning. Thus, to make room for it, make sure you've deleted all of your pointless selfies.
Glitches. Additionally, there are problems with bugs in the system, which could lead to frequent crashes while scanning. The benefit of the downloaded database's faster data retrieval may be negated if this issue occurs frequently enough.
The Lite Plan has no trial. Regarding cost, Scoutly provides a complimentary 30-day trial, but this offer is limited to the Professional Plan. Should you opt for the Lite Plan, payment is required right away.
3.Scoutify
The app, Scoutify 2, requires an InventoryLab subscription, which you must pay for in order to download it. InventoryLab is a helpful tool that provides you with details about your listings, including disposal fees and a breakdown of your FBA transaction fees. It also aids in tracking your spending and profitability analysis.
InventoryLab is a very useful tool, and if you decide to stick with it, it's best to use the included scanning app for seamless integration.
Functions
Dashboard with information. The table that easily compares offers for new, used, and FBA prices is one of the first things you'll notice when you open Scoutify 2 to scan a product.
Determine ROI. Scoutify 2 provides you with the desired ROI and the target cost per unit. This essentially indicates that the app has already processed taxes, giving you a roughly accurate figure.
This app's ability to flag items that match your preferences for sales performance and ROI is another awesome feature. Because the app lets you know whether the product has met your standards, it becomes easier to make decisions while you're out and about.
Details about the product. In addition to the standard details you would expect from an Amazon scanning app, it displays the product's condition, tax rate, and expiration date, if relevant. You can import all of these into your buy lists so that you can easily retrieve them at a later time.
What's Missing
Not based on average sales rank. Scoutify 2's inability to display a product's average sales rank is by far its biggest drawback. This data is crucial because it provides you with a comprehensive view of the product's actual sales performance over time by examining past purchases.
For illustration, let's say you discover a toy on clearance. Only five times a year on average does it sell. It so happened that a purchase from the day before was shown when you scanned the product. After a sale, the sales rank decreases, which may lead you to believe that the product sells more frequently than it actually does.
This is crucial, particularly if you participate in Amazon FBA. Keep in mind that your FBA fees will increase the longer your product remains in the warehouse. Although the product's overall performance makes it unlikely to be regarded as stranded inventory, it might as well be.
Only for experienced sellers. The fact that Scoutify 2 is only accessible to Amazon Professional account sellers and not to those who use the Individual Plan is a crucial point to keep in mind. Therefore, if you choose the InventoryLab annual plan, you will need to pay at least $40 in addition to $39.99 per month for the Amazon Professional Plan in order to use Scoutify.
Although there is a free 30-day trial period for both the monthly and annual plans, during this time you can only access the last 60 days of your sales data.
Points to Remember
The fact that Scoutify 2 is only accessible to Amazon Professional account sellers and not to those who use the Individual Plan is a crucial point to keep in mind. Therefore, if you choose the InventoryLab annual plan, you will need to pay at least $40 in addition to $39.99 per month for the Amazon Professional Plan in order to use Scoutify.
Although there is a free 30-day trial period for both the monthly and annual plans, during this time you can only access the last 60 days of your sales data.
4.ScanPower
ScanPower, one of the most underappreciated apps for Amazon arbitrage sellers, has practical features that are uncommon in scanning apps.
Functions
Six essential characteristics set ScanPower apart from the competition.
The ScanPower Scout and ScanPower Mobile
Initially, users of the ScanPower Mobile can view real-time pricing information on Amazon. The products can be found by using a barcode, ASIN, ISBN, UPC, or just entering a product's name into the search bar. Additionally, you can use the ScanPower Scout feature in a web browser to retrieve the same set of data. To help you make a better decision, the latter offers price history graphs and unified sales rank.
List of ScanPower and ScanPower Box
Conversely, sellers can quickly create an Amazon listing and print the FBA label in one step with the ScanPower List. Now that the item is ready to be packed, you can print 2D barcodes of the contents of the box by creating box-level contents using the ScanPower Boxt feature.
ScanPower Assessment
In the meantime, the ScanPower Evaluate determines each item's net payout from a list of products that you can upload. In order to facilitate decision-making, you can also establish evaluation criteria.
You can set it up, for instance, to reject products that Amazon offers and accept products with a net payout of at least $15. It's much simpler to distinguish products that meet your standards from those that don't by looking at Amazon's competitive landscape.
Report on ScanPower
Lastly, a platform for thorough inventory management that takes into account FBA fees, taxes, shipping, and other costs is offered by the ScanPower Report. You can monitor your return on investment (ROI) and cost of goods sold (COGS) with this feature. Additionally, you can organize the data by date, category, or source thanks to its helpful filter feature.
What's Missing
The back button is gone. One would assume that an app that costs that much would come with all the essential functions. Regretfully, it appears that the developers neglected to include a back button on the search results pages. Since you have to rescan the items to verify the listings again, this can be inconvenient.
Only for experienced sellers. It's also important to know that, similar to Scoutify 2, ScanPower does not function with an Amazon Individual account. Therefore, in order to utilize the features of this app, you will need to purchase the Professional Plan.
5.Profit Bandit
Seller Engine has the final app on the list. With the help of the Amazon arbitrage scanning app Profit Bandit, sellers can identify which products have the Buy Box, calculate profit based on a variety of criteria, and receive alerts about restricted items. Below is a detailed discussion of these features.
Functions
15 Functions. The benefit of Profit Bandit is that it calculates your potential profit by factoring in fifteen different variables, such as the product's weight, shipping costs, and cost of goods. Additionally, it offers an explanation of how the app calculated the total, down to the last penny.
Purchase the Box indicator. With an asterisk next to an offer, you can see who has the Buy Box, which is arguably the most helpful feature of this app. This information is helpful because listings with the lowest prices don't always receive the Buy Box.
Additionally, Profit Bandit indicates whether you will be competing with Amazon for particular products, much like ScanPower does.
What's Missing
Not good for your battery. When using Profit Bandit for scouting, you might as well bring along a power bank. Additionally, unlike Scoutly, which you can use even offline, you need a steady internet connection because it uses live Amazon data, making it more accurate. The application's dependence on signal availability is one of the things that makes it so power-hungry.
Glitches. Profit Bandit has occasional glitches, just like the majority of apps. But occasionally, this app just stops working, so you might as well have a backup program on hand as a precaution. (Since the Amazon Seller app is free, you can use it for this.)
Conclusions
The basic idea behind Amazon arbitrage is to purchase a product at a discount and resell it for a profit elsewhere. But like any other entrepreneurial venture, running the business needs sellers to put in the work.
It takes a lot of energy and mental strain to browse the aisles of Target or Home Depot in search of profitable products to sell. For this reason, having the right tools will help to streamline the process.
This review should aid in simplifying the process of selecting the ideal app. I would be happy to hear about any additional apps you would suggest in the space provided for comments below.
