A guide to selling electronics online through retail arbitrage

People lose chargers, upgrade devices, and constantly need replacement parts. That demand creates consistent opportunities for savvy resellers.

Electronics arbitrage offers something most other categories don’t: immediate recognition. You don’t need to be a tech expert to spot a discounted iPhone case or gaming headset. With most electronic brands ungated on Amazon (except for a few like Beats by Dre), you can start selling from day one without jumping through approval hoops.

The category spans everything from mainstream items like phone accessories to niche products like vintage gaming consoles. Each subcategory has its own rhythm and profit potential. Let me walk you through exactly how you can approach sourcing and selling electronics online.

Selling new electronics online

Selling new electronics online takes a lot of the guesswork out of the process. When a product is brand new in its original packaging, you don’t have to worry about whether or not it works, if it has any missing pieces, or how its condition will affect its sale price. 

What type of new electronics to look for

One of the perks of sourcing new electronics for retail arbitrage is that you don’t have to limit your search or be an expert on electronics. With a scanner app like Scoutify, you can scan any electronic product with a UPC barcode and immediately learn what that product is selling for on Amazon and what your potential profit on it will be.

Considering the whole process of scanning the barcode and receiving this information takes only a few seconds, you can scan all of the new electronics you’d come across that were being sold at a discount. You would even sometimes come across a brand-new electronic you knew nothing about, like a computer part, that actually has a large profit margin.

Just make sure to pay attention to the Amazon best seller rank (BSR) when you are sourcing for new electronics to sell online. You can still consider buying products with large profit potential and bad seller rankings, like accessories for out-of-date cellphones, but you have to do so with the understanding that there is a good chance it might take a while for these electronics to sell. Electronics with high BSRs will be much easier to flip for a quick profit, making them good purchases even when the profit margin isn’t super high.

Where to find new electronics to sell online

New electronics can also be sourced at most big box stores. When you are trying to find products to sell on Amazon, the most important thing to look for is discounted items. These can be found in the clearance sections of popular stores like Target or Walmart, or in the designated electronics sections of discount department stores like ROSS or Marshalls.

Walmarts usually have a specific aisle or two of the store dedicated to clearance items of all different categories, and you can often find discounted electronics in the mix. (You can also find high-profit items on hidden clearance at Walmart if you know what to look for.) Target has category-specific clearance sections, so you can usually find discounted electronics on an endcap in the electronics section of the store.

Keep in mind that Target’s clearance items start at 30% off, then are repriced to 50% off after a week or two, and then make their way down to 70% off. If your local Target has a large quantity of a specific electronic in stock, it may be worth waiting until it gets down to 50% off or 70% off before making your move.

Many of the electronics you’ll find at ROSS or Marshall’s are off-brand products that don’t generate much interest on Amazon. There are exceptions to this, however, as these stores will occasionally get popular brands in stock or electronics featuring popular brands like Disney characters. Kids’ headphones with Disney characters or superhero logos on them often sell for $20–$30 on Amazon during the holidays, and you would find them at these stores for around $10.

Selling used electronics online

Selling used electronics online isn’t quite as straightforward as selling new electronics. You will need to have more knowledge about the products to make sure all the pieces are there and do a bit more research on how the condition of your item will impact its price. With all that said, there is also potential for huge profits in reselling old electronics, as they can often be purchased at very cheap prices.

What type of used electronics to look for

Most electronics that are only slightly used, including those that still have their original packaging, can be sourced similar to new electronics, obviously with adjusted price expectations given that they are no longer new.

When considering which used electronics to sell that were not like-new or still in their original packaging, you’ll generally have success with the following types of products:

Used electronics that are expensive new

There isn’t much of a market for used electronics that can easily be purchased brand new for under $20. But as electronics get more expensive, value shoppers are going to be looking for cheaper options, including used versions of the items they need.

For example, you can resell used calculators. A graphing calculator is a must-have for many high-school and college students, and it sells for $70 or more brand new. This makes a used one that still works fine selling in the $30–$50 range an attractive option for many buyers.

Collectible electronics

A Les Paul wireless guitar for Guitar Hero on PlayStation 3 and a Star Wars R2-D2 shaped telephone are a pair of examples of used electronics that you’d be to sell for a nice profit. If an electronic has a design or feature that makes it rare or collectible, chances are there will be interested buyers out there for it, even if it is used.

Outdated electronics

Palm Pilots, pagers, video game systems and other technologies that have gone by the wayside surprisingly tend to have strong secondary markets. Since these electronics aren’t being produced in new condition anymore, people who want them will usually have to buy them used, which makes them good to seek out as a reseller.

Where to find used electronics to sell online

You can find used electronics at thrift stores and garage sales. Thrift stores like Goodwill and the Salvation Army can also be good places to source for used electronics, as they always have a large selection of products and are always restocking throughout the day. You never know what kind of cool gadgets you will come across on any given trip.

Garage sales can be hit or miss. They are a great place to start on a limited budget and there is big profit potential when you find a winner, but the best stuff is often scooped up early by other resellers, so you need to get lucky on your first few stops. 

Where to sell electronics online

Amazon is far and away the best option for selling electronics online. The Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) service makes the logistics of selling electronics so easy as you just have to send in the products that you source to Amazon’s warehouse, price them, and let FBA take care of the rest.

You can’t beat the traffic and potential customer base on Amazon. Online marketplaces like eBay and Walmart may be worth looking into as alternatives for high-priced items just to make sure that you are maximizing your value, but as a general rule, Amazon works great for flipping electronics.

Time to power up your reselling game

Electronics retail arbitrage remains one of the most accessible entry points into Amazon selling. The category offers steady demand, recognizable products, and profit margins that can surprise you. From clearance phone cases at Target to vintage gaming systems at thrift stores, opportunities exist at every price point.

Success comes down to three things: knowing where to look, understanding what sells, and having the right tools to scale your operation. 

That last part matters more than most people realize, though. Managing inventory, repricing products, and tracking profitability across hundreds of electronics SKUs quickly becomes overwhelming without proper systems.

Ready to turn your electronics sourcing into a real business? Try Seller 365 free for up to 14 days and get access to Scoutify for in-store scanning, SmartRepricer for automated pricing, InventoryLab for streamlined shipping, and more. All the tools you’d need to turn your electronics sourcing from a side hustle into a profit machine.