Zen Arbitrage is powerful web-based software that allows users to identify underpriced books that can be resold on Amazon for a profit.
When used properly, Zen Arbitrage can identify virtually limitless supply of books users can resell via FBA for 100%, 200%, and 300% profits - and more. Zen Arbitrage is a revolution in Amazon book sourcing, allowing you to literally source profitable inventory from your computer.
Crafted by experienced Amazon sellers, Zen Arbitrage users log in, set custom search options that allow them to find low priced options to resell via FBA, and search Amazon’s database for these offers.
We provide tailored search options that control the top factors for books that can be profitably resold via Fulfillment by Amazon: Low FBA competition, type of book (i.e. textbooks), number of third party offers, and price of third party offers.
Using these laser-targeted options, users can drill down to the best and most profitable offers.
A prep service is a company who accepts books on behalf of Amazon sellers, then ships them to an FBA warehouse for you.
This allows you to run an Amazon business from anywhere in the world, without even touching a book.
Read our full explanation on how they work here.
Contact us to get it set up.
Not a problem. We want you to take as much time as you need to get comfortable with Zen Arbitrage. Contact us if you’d like a little more time.
FBA pricing strategy is a complex subject that has many facets. The simplest approach is to match the lowest FBA offer.
If you’d like to go more in-depth into how to get the most for your books, there are two sources:
Pricing strategy videos: Three videos on pricing strategy and repricing methods.
Pricing Mastery video course: An in-depth video course going deep into pricing strategy. (Paid course)
Just a Fulfillment by Amazon account. That’s it.
Watch our video on how to get started with FBA here.
Anytime a book doesn’t sell, its one of two things: Bad pricing or low demand.
Poor pricing practices can be remedied by studying pricing strategy (see Pricing Mastery course here).
Low demand books are easy to avoid using the average sales rank column (learn how to read sales rank here).
And we have an in-depth video on everything you can possibly go wrong. View the :What If My Books Aren’t Selling?” video here.
Want to change the card we have on file? No problem. You can do that on the Account page
Good news: There are an almost infinite number of search combinations. Everyone’s unique preferences are why few people are looking at the same books, which ensures there’s enough to go around for everyone.
A basic principle of understanding the search options is that there is no “right way.” If there was, we wouldn’t have search options, we would just show you the books that show up in the “perfect search.” The perfect search doesn’t exist.
It’s always a balance of how fast you want your books to sell, how many results you want to see, how much you can spend per unit, what kind of books you’re looking for, and so much more.
Watch our video on understanding the search options here.
We have webinars on that too. See some of our Community Calls on profiting off non-textbooks here.
Perhaps the biggest insecurity among newer users is not knowing what the “good” books are and what the “bad” books are. Basically: “How do I know if I should buy a book or pass?”
Good news: We have a video on that too. Watch: How To Choose Good Books.
Because there are no crystal balls, this is a question where there’s no substitute for experience.
So you have an open invitation to send us the ISBN of any book you’re considering here.
Zen Arbitrage founder (and 10-year Amazon seller) Peter Valley will personally respond and tell you if he would buy or if he would pass, and why.
This isn’t being handled by some robot or assistant, you’ll get his personal analysis.
Watch our video on how to get started with FBA here.
There is no simple answer to this question. Because there are 30 million books on Amazon and each has its own unique demand, there are 30 million answers.
However there are some general principles you can apply. We will refer you to an article written by Zen Arbitrage founder Peter Valley on his website, FBA Mastery, titled “The 30/60 Rule.”
Another big innovation offered by Zen Arbitrage is our Marketplace, where users buy and sell “leads” of profitable books.
Watch our videos on how to buy and sell on the Marketplace here.
Zen Arbitrage focuses on making our users cash, not trade credit. Zen Arbitrage can function as a trade-in opportunity mining tool, though there is one important thing to keep in mind: The trade-in value is always less than the book could be sold for for cash.
Generally, Zen Arbitrage members prefer to buy up these trade-in opportunities, and sell them for cash, not credit.
With that said, we display trade credit for all books in Amazon’s trade-in program. Watch our video on how to find trade credit using Zen Arbitrage here.
We also have a separate tool just for trade in arbitrage, called Zen Trade.
Couple facts about books in Acceptable condition:
If you find a great deal on a great book in Acceptable condition, by all means purchase it. Just understand it may not sell quite as fast as a book in better condition. And scrutinize the listing closely to avoid getting severely damaged books.
Amazon displays “rental” textbooks as Prime-eligible, and they will display when viewing Amazon offers. And by the nature of them being rentals, they are priced much cheaper than books for purchase.
Do not compete with rental offers. Best way to view them is as appealing to a completely different type of customer - and not the kind looking to actually own a book. Because its a different market, don’t try to compete.
Within online book arbitrage, there are several strategies that can be employed.
…and more.
We cover the basics of these “alternative” strategies in the April 2016 Community Call here.
Textbooks are a big subject. Check out our numerous webinars going into lots of detail on textbooks here.
The practice of online book arbitrage is made possible by the incredible pricing leverage of Fulfillment by Amazon, allowing sellers to price offers into the stratosphere, and still get sales.
FBA sellers can command prices literally 1000% higher (or more) than the lowest non-FBA offers.
Why? Because of the power of Amazon Prime.
Most FBA sellers know this already, but let’s recap:
Number one, Prime subscriber want Prime eligible offers. They paid for their subscription, and will bypass lower-priced offers and pay more to get the free second day shipping, cheap overnight shipping free tracking, guaranteed arrival dates, and liberal return policy. Often a lot more.
Number two, Prime offers (usually) get the “Buy Box.” Amazon’s pages are optimized to direct customers to the Buy Box - not necessarily the lowest priced option. It is estimated that 70% of all Amazon sales happen through the Buy Box.
Number three, urgency. Prime-eligible (FBA) offers appeal to those who need their books now. Any customer who is on a strict deadline (i.e. a student at the beginning of the semester) is likely to bypass all lower-priced offers and go directly for your premium-priced FBA offer.
The results bear out one huge fact: Amazon buyers will pay a lot more for FBA offers.
In the absence of other FBA competition: Yes.
It has to be tried to be believed, but it works.
We don’t. You do.
You get our curated search options, limited to only those that contribute to finding low-priced offers you can resell via FBA.
• Sales rank
• Minimum / maximum price
• Number of other offers
• Amazon’s price
• Category
• Keyword title search
We provide numerous tutorials and info-sheets that going into detail into how to identify the most powerful search combinations to turn you into an online book arbitrage ninja.
Every relevant offer is now refreshed at least 12 times daily.
Amazon is very clear on this: There is no policy against purchasing a merchant fulfilled (non-Prime eligible) offer, and reselling it via Fulfillment by Amazon.
This has been stated by them explicitly, so there should be zero reason for concern.
Some of the misconception on this arises from a policy Amazon does have: It is against the rules to purchase a Fulfilled By Amazon offer, and resell via Fulfillment by Amazon. So while we’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for this practice, we at Zen Arbitrage discourage purchasing FBA offers to resell FBA.
Zen Arbitrage isn’t hard. If you made it this far, you probably understand the basic concepts (sales rank, how to price FBA offers).
Yet even if you are an experienced Amazon seller, we highly recommend you review all the text and video tutorials to get the most out of Zen Arbitrage.
Start with our page linking to the most important videos here.
Don’t hesitate to Contact us.
And don’t forget to register for our monthly community calls, where we get together and discuss tactics, ask questions, and hang out. Be sure we have your best email address associated with your account, and look for our emails to register.