Making money flipping items through technology

[mukeshitt]

I created this tool that finds inefficiencies in market and utilizes that information to give you URLs for an item (like a college textbook) that you can buy cheaper and sell to a buy back service for a small profit. I charge 50% of the profit. You can rinse and repeat this as many times as you want.

Do you think this is neat? Check it out at http://flippiness.com/

[rthomas6]

I like the idea and honestly I'm surprised there are that many arbitrage opportunities that aren't already taken advantage of. I guess you're hoping to outsource the cost of shipping, storage, etc. while still getting some money for finding the deal.

But if you don't want to go through the hassle of buying and selling the book yourself for that amount of profit, what makes you think other people will? Why not just make all these deals yourself and take 100% of the profit?

Edit: I guess you answer my question in the FAQ. I'm just not sure I believe you're making this service because you are "nice like that". Not that I'm against what you made; I actually think it's really cool. I just genuinely think you would able to make a lot more money for less work than you think if you scaled up the buying and selling yourself. I think it would scale, quite well in fact.

[mukeshitt]

It's not really me but my brother. The reason he is not doing it himself is because of his other startups. He does not have a lot of time and this way he can use some help by creating a win-win situation.

[jenno]

I just bought one of the listings here. It claimed a profit of $14.05 with a Buy price of 22.95 and a Sell price of $37.

Some notes:

- The "Buy" and "Sell" locations were the same website. Immediately raised some concerns (why would the same entity want to screw itself over by buying the same book it's selling for more money?)

- Upon inspection, it's because to be eligible for the Buyback price of $37, the book must not have tears, highlighting, or missing pages.

- The books at the Buy price of $23 or less have all been noted as just "Acceptable" condition with missing pages and highlighting. The books at better conditions are all $50+.

- Wasted $3.

[mukeshitt]

Hey,

That was a common issue and requires a technological solution. This is why the links are now free for all. You can see all of the links for free and buy where you see the value.

[joshdance]

I like the idea but I would not use your service as it stands. Zero information about what you are buying. It is like buying one of those brown paper wrapped boxes that promise the have $XX worth of stuff inside. Need to at least give away a few teasers after someone signs up for an account to show that it really works.

[mukeshitt]

Hmm, accounts is something that they need. I will let them know. I think one free link of the day is the way to go.

[curiousphil]

The name is slightly phallic, but the concept is pretty neat.

Even after reading your FAQ I don't think I fully understand the service as a user. I pay a dollar to get the links of the item for sale and the place to sell it. How do you verify and charge me for a percentage of the profit at that point?

[mukeshitt]

The prices are known in advance. You can buy something for $X and sell it instantly at $X+Y. You make $Y profit out of which the site charges a percentage to give you the links to buy and sell the item.

[jenno]

I do think it's neat. One feature I expected and was surprised not to find: a "Sort by Profit Amount" feature. Clicking on "Profit" should allow me to sort the listings by amount of profit, from high to low.

[gregcohn]

Very interesting conceptually -- ecommerce and p2p commerce create many opportunities for arbitrage. But it begs the question of why you wouldn't just programmatically do the buying and selling yourself.

[mukeshitt]

Sites will ban the account. Plus you have to receive and ship the physical product which cannot be automated.

[jackgolding]

looks like more than 50% to me (profit $4.04, pay $3 to buy) Does it include shipping?

[mukeshitt]

That must have been a bug. It is about 20% of the difference ($1 till $5 profit, $2 till $10 profit etc.). It includes shipping and fees.

[shiftpgdn]

What about merchant fees?

[mukeshitt]

Merchant fees, tax and shipping costs are taken into considerations.