If you’re looking for a new business model to help you make money online, then you might have considered retail arbitrage, or, buying in bulk products from wholesale suppliers and then selling those wholesale products individually to make a profit. It’s a simple model that means you buy the best cheap wholesale products you can find and then sell them individually packaged at mark up prices.
Invest enough time and money into this business model and you’ll be surprised by how quickly you can develop into a profitable business. It’s also great as a side business. There are a few tips you must follow before you try the ‘buy in bulk and sell individually’ business model, however.
Below we’ll talk about those tips, and give you 11 of the best products for this type of business so you can buy cheap wholesale products and make a profit much easier.
Top Tips Before You Begin
Before you buy in bulk and sell individually, it’s important that you’re aware of some of the challenges and considerations you’ll need to make to ensure your future business success.
Finding The Right Products
Finding cheap wholesale products is incredibly easy. You simply need to look online and you’ll find tonnes of places selling wholesale products at a cheap price. The problem is, finding the right products.
We’ll discuss this in greater depth below as we explore the best product categories to dive into, but it’s also important to test the quality of the products you’re buying wholesale before you start selling them online to other customers.
Poor quality products will mean you garner a poor reputation, making it far more difficult to reach your customers via your online store.
Ensure the products you’re selling are of a good quality, so you can be confident when selling them to your customers.
Finding The Right Supplier
You can find cheap wholesale products easily enough, but finding a reliable wholesale supplier is also key.
You’ll be reliant on your supplier to ensure you get the products you need quickly enough to then be able to package them individually and send out to your customers, so it’s important that you find wholesale suppliers with competitive prices and a reliable delivery window so you can organise your business accordingly.
Keeping An Eye On Costs
Many wholesale distributors sell products at amazing rates. The wholesale market is a competitive one, but often isn’t the most transparent. When you’re first starting out, be incredibly mindful of the costs.
Shipping costs and hidden fees may catch you out. Don’t be seduced by wholesale prices from a supplier without first exploring the other costs involved, besides the products themselves.
Some of the biggest players in the wholesale marketplace are based in countries outside of the UK, meaning there are potential issues with shipping and import costs that might not immediately come to mind.
Before you dive into the business model, ensure you have researched the costs involved thoroughly and set your individual product prices at an appropriate level to ensure a profit.
Know Your Competition
Buying in bulk and selling individually online is a huge business sector right now, meaning it is an incredibly competitive market to walk into.
There are plenty of online stores in the UK right now doing exactly what you hope to do. We don’t say this to discourage you, but to instead make you aware of the competition and to encourage you to check them out.
The more successful business owners here have succeeded because they have a strategy and know their competition well enough to know how to outperform them.
It could be that you undercut competitor’s prices, run a strong social media campaign, or focus on higher quality products at a higher price point but with greater profit margins.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure you know your competition first so you can improve your chances of success.
Ensuring You’re Compliant With Certain Laws
It’s also vital that you adhere to all relevant laws when buying in bulk and selling online. Regularly read up on:
- Product safety law
- Intellectual property law
- Consumer protection law
- Importation law
These laws mentioned above will influence how you run your business since you are obligated to follow applicable standards and regulations depending on the type of products you are selling as well as where you will conduct your business – in this case, most likely in the UK.
Remember, countries where you may be buying in bulk from may have different product safety thresholds, so it’s important you only buy and sell products in the UK that are fully compliant with UK law to protect yourself in the future.
11 Key Products For Your Buy In Bulk Business
As a new business owner any guidance is usually welcome, so below we’ll talk you through 11 popular and profitable products you can buy in bulk and sell individually.
1. Books
Whether it’s new or used, you can buy books in bulk and sell them individually online with ease. Some great places to buy include:
- charity shops
- car boot sales
- online booksellers
- retail shops with discount bins and sales
Look online for what is currently trending in the book world. Things like BookTok (TikTok videos focussing on popular books) and Bookstagram (instagram accounts set up to talk about popular books) can be great resources here. Find popular authors and genres and see what you can buy wholesale for cheaper before selling individually online.
Consider stocking a range of genres and authors to appeal to more customers and look at bestsellers lists to ensure you’re getting the books your customers want.
When it comes to selling, you can try any online store website like Vinted, eBay or Amazon.
2. Costume Jewellery
Costume jewellery is always popular. There are plenty of websites like Alibaba and DHgate that sell designer-like jewellery as cheap wholesale products which can then be sold for a marked up price.
You might consider selling online or setting up a market stall at a local market to catch the eye of your customers in person. Social media is also a great tool here.
There are a few key things you’ll need to consider:
- Jewellery quality
- Purchase cost
- Cost of shipping
Online jewellery purchases can be susceptible to scamming, so ensure you buy from a reliable wholesale jewellery supplier, and make sure you factor this into your own business, too. Others may see your low price jewellery and become concerned, so you’ll need to work on brand reputation and trustworthiness to reassure them.
3. Gaming Cards
Buying gaming cards in bulk and selling individually has been a great business model for years, and still continues to be so today. Of course, you have your classics such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards (which tend to bring in higher prices) but with new card games being released each year, you can constantly diversify your product range and keep customers coming back for more.
Here, ensuring your cards aren’t fake is integral. Get a reputation for selling dud cards and your business will be ruined fast. Card quality and rarity are vital when making the big sales, too.
Use online forums to understand what cards are rare and sought after and do your best to buy those cards cheap, before reselling through online forums and stores.
When listing your gaming cards, provide accurate descriptions and properly grade the condition. Take high-quality photos, as this gives interested buyers a clear expectation of the item they are thinking of buying from you.
4. Clothes
You’ll probably remember the recent uproar about clothes on Vinted being taxable after you’ve made more than £1,000 through sales, which was a problem for individual sellers who were selling their excess clothes as a way to make extra cash, but not using it as a business.
Here, you’ll be using online marketplaces for clothes like Vinted to buy and sell clothes for profit. There are certain Vinted tax rules you’ll want to get your head around, but we won’t cover them here.
Instead, let’s focus on how to make a business buying and selling clothes. First, let’s focus on sourcing clothes:
- charity shops
- online retailers
- retail stores with sales
- bargain shops
- eBay
- Vinted
- social media sites
Look for quality clothes you can resell for higher prices and focus on popular brands and styles to ensure you can create a business that’s in high demand. Vintage and designer pieces will also fetch a good price.
Make sure you take great pictures for advertising online at places like Vinted, eBay, and Depop, or else try selling in person at markets and trade fairs.
5. Children’s Toys
You can often bulk buy children’s toys online that are great quality and can be packaged individually to be sold to your customers. Try to keep prices below market prices still and you can make good money.
To diversify your product range keep an eye out for big ticket items like collectibles and high-demand toys that are more expensive, but can be sold for a greater profit, too, and often have high consumer demand.
Consider selling your products at toy fairs, markets, trade events, or online through marketplaces for toy collectors for those rarer items you find.
6. Old Magazines
This might seem odd, but there are huge profits to be found from buying and selling old magazines that are still in mint condition. Look out for popular magazines from decades gone by and even consider buying cheaper, popular magazines today to invest in your business future.
Out of print magazines usually fetch a higher price, as do magazines covering popular topics such as football magazines. Focus on what will be popular with collectors and try to buy the sorts of magazines that are in high demand.
It’s wise to join online communities that hold discussions on popular magazines. Members who collect popular print materials know and talk about good magazines to collect and sell giving you a better idea about where to start.
7. Football Stickers
Football stickers are a common collectors item and the best thing is, they’re released all the time, giving you plenty of product options.
You can buy and sell current releases in bulk (usually best when trying to increase product volume and reduce purchase cost), or you can buy rarer items from the 70s, 80s and 90s which might cost more initially, but usually bring bigger prices, too.
Online forums and collector websites can help you identify the most valuable football stickers to buy in bulk. Often, football stickers from European and World Cup championship tournaments have high asking prices and if you find a football sticker in mint condition, you can sell it for more than £100 for a single sticker.
Selling your inventory online is a great option here to ensure you reach collectors and customers around the globe.
8. Old CDs and Vinyl
Vinyls are enjoying a huge comeback in 2024 and more people than ever are looking to buy old vinyls to enjoy at home. Whilst CDs aren’t quite enjoying the same resurgence just yet, it’s likely that they will in the future. Buying CDs in bulk now for cheap and waiting to resell them later can be a great investment idea.
For now, focus on buying some older vinyl records from charity shops, car boots, and online retailers and you could make a profitable business selling these online to bidders through your own online store.
9. Essential Oils
Essential oils are more popular now than ever before as their usefulness in aromatherapy, skincare, and massage therapy become more widely researched and known.
Buying in bulk is easy for these sorts of items – just make sure you focus on the more popular essential oils like eucalyptus, lavender, tea tree and peppermint. These are easily sold and can give you high profits when marking up the price.
Packaging is everything here, so make sure your essential oils look nice and their benefits clearly explained. This will help develop a loyal customer base.
Essential oils can also be mixed to create unique products. Do some market research to see which products are sought after and try combining them to create the ultimate product line.
10. Korean Beauty Products
Korean cosmetics are incredibly popular with younger audiences and they’re both cheap to buy wholesale and top quality products that work, too.
Buy them in bulk from Korean suppliers to ensure quality and the best prices. Just ensure you’re shopping with a reputable supplier so you can be confident of the safety of the products you buy.
Once you have found your beauty products, bulk buy them to sell in packs or sets. You can also sell them piece by piece. Set up your own Shopify seller site or have a physical shop to display and sell your Korean cosmetics.
Market your products by promoting their high quality, multiple benefits and premium ingredients. Naturally sourced and produced cosmetics are popular among Western consumers, especially those with an increasing desire for good health and overall wellness.
11. Scented Candles
Scented candles have been popular for years and they’re pretty much guaranteed to continue to be so, making it an excellent choice for individuals interested in a retail arbitrage business model.
Wholesale suppliers are common and of high quality, just make sure you check their credentials and prices to ensure you’re offering your customers the best possible products too.
Sell online on Etsy, Amazon and other online marketplaces. You can sell from your own website too. Start modestly by opening an online shop first before opening a physical one. Doing this gives you time to build your brand before venturing into renting a retail shop in a shopping centre.
You can focus on purchasing high-profit scented candles; those that are made using natural ingredients sell at higher prices. Products made with essential oils are highly attractive to wary consumers who prefer natural ingredients over artificial ingredients, too.
Final Thoughts
Find the perfect product for you, work with reputable wholesale suppliers and focus on quality products, and you can certainly make a profitable business bulk buying and selling individually. After you get started, focus on building a customer base and brand reputation and you’ll soon make a success of your new business venture.
