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Chapter 17: Sourcing strategies

Once you're comfortable with the Vault, Price Drops and Store Scans, these strategies help you find leads that fewer sellers are looking at. Most come from the Sourcing Tips in the in-app welcome guide, with links to the chapters that show you how.

Tune your filters to how you'd buy by hand​

New users often set very narrow filters and hide results they'd happily buy if they were sourcing manually. ArbiSource speeds up your sourcing a great deal, but your filters should match the buying rules you'd use without it. Start with the minimum settings and change one filter at a time to see which results it affects (Chapter 8).

Use discount codes in your scans​

Finding discount codes for retailers on ArbiSource is one of the most effective, low-effort strategies there is. Enter the code's percentage in the Discount field when you set up a Store Scan. Even a small discount can reveal plenty of profitable results that other users miss, because their scans use the full price. Only enter savings you'll really get, and allow for any conditions on the code (Chapter 6).

Vault results don't include discounts, so a discount code is a good reason to run a scan rather than browse.

Go lower on confidence at barcode stores​

At stores that match by EAN/UPC, tick Only show EAN/UPC matches and set the confidence sliders much lower. You'll find hidden gems that other users have filtered out (Chapter 11).

Learn from other sellers' storefronts​

A storefront scan reverse-searches every product another seller lists, so you can see which of them ArbiSource can source profitably. Pick resellers with a wide mix of brands. Go to Scans → Reverse and use Search a Storefront; How do I find a seller's ID? shows you where to find the ID (Chapter 12).

Reverse-search your own storefront​

New to ArbiSource and not sure where to start? Search your own seller ID in Search a Storefront. It shows where you could buy the products you already sell, often from retailers you hadn't thought of, and the results help you fine-tune your filters. Use broad filters or No Filters for this first search so you see everything.

Spread your stores and categories​

Don't rely on a couple of the most popular stores or categories. Lesser-known retailers usually mean less competition and fewer products selling out before you get there. Use the store search on Scans → Store and the Vault's Stores tab to try somewhere new each week.

Work Price Drops early, and look at Unmatched​

Price Drops are busiest in the mornings. The UNMATCHED list shows drops ArbiSource couldn't confidently match to Amazon. They don't appear anywhere else in ArbiSource, so if you find the Amazon listing yourself, you may have the deal to yourself. Unmatched drops also show you which stores are running big sales, which is worth a scan (Chapter 5).

A second Price Drops idea from Chapter 5: tick the average profit filter and set profit and ROI below zero. You'll see drops that aren't profitable today but usually sell at a price that would make them profitable, which are worth an alert.

Scan the categories you're ungated in​

A Category Scan (Pro and Premium) searches one Amazon category across every built-in retailer. If you're ungated in a category, it's a direct way to find products you can sell (Chapter 6). The Restriction Tracker does the same at brand level: filter it to ungated brands with profitable results and open them in the Vault (Chapter 9).

Follow the sales​

Retailers announce their best sales by email. The Coupons page lists recent newsletter promos, and each one can set up a Store Scan for you. Pasting a sale or clearance page into Custom Link on a Store Scan does the same for any category page you find yourself (Chapter 6).

Build repeat buys​

When a product sells well and you can buy it again at a similar price, add it to Replenishables (Pro and Premium). ArbiSource shows every source it knows for that product and reminds you when your stock is low (Chapter 5). Before any buy, the Other Stores panel on a result shows whether another retailer sells it for less.

Read the Keepa chart​

Learning to read a Keepa chart is the most important skill for deciding whether a result is worth buying. Add a Keepa custom button so every result is one click away from its history (Chapter 31).

More routes as you grow​

  • Amazon-to-Amazon flips, including Business and (in the UK) EU flips, on Premium (Chapter 14).
  • Wholesale price lists, on Pro and Premium (Chapter 15).
  • Retailers that aren't on ArbiSource yet, with Custom Scans and the Chrome extension, on Premium (Chapter 13).

Keep going​

Amazon selling takes dedication and a willingness to adapt. If a strategy isn't working yet, try it for a little longer and change one thing at a time before you write it off. Ask questions in the ArbiSource Discord, where other users share what's working for them.

Checklist​

  • I've run a Store Scan with a discount code
  • I've reverse-searched my own storefront with broad filters
  • I've tried a storefront scan of another seller
  • I've tried a retailer I don't normally use
  • I've looked through Unmatched Price Drops (Pro and Premium)