PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others

[Lurker]

You were running your own BG?

How long ago? Sourcing items at scale via retail arbitrage on a single IP/physical addresses is really hard these days.

Amazon is the only retailer that's somewhat lax (qla) these days, and they're also cracking down

No, buying for groups. Didn't last long. Risk/reward was not for me.

[AsherO]

No, buying for groups. Didn't last long. Risk/reward was not for me.

7 figures revenue often means 7 figures risk too…

[Lurker]

7 figures revenue often means 7 figures risk too…

Usually low-to-mid six figures of risk, but the point remains.

Pro BGs will say you gotta risk big to make big, and every business involves some degree of risk. It's true, as long as you're doing a proper risk assessment like you would getting in to any other business/investment. My personal assessment was that the variables made the risk too high.

[Euclid]

Usually low-to-mid six figures of risk, but the point remains.

Pro BGs will say you gotta risk big to make big, and every business involves some degree of risk. It's true, as long as you're doing a proper risk assessment like you would getting in to any other business/investment. My personal assessment was that the variables made the risk too high.

BGs are great for SUBs where the risk is in the low 5 digits and the reward is 10-20% return on principal.

Though these days it's also a good way to generate a balance for 0% APR churning.

[Lurker]

Though these days it's also a good way to generate a balance for 0% APR churning.

Many (most?) people have no business getting anywhere near that.

[Euclid]

Many (most?) people have no business getting anywhere near that.

Treasury bill laddering using 0% money is virtually risk free for 5% these days. CV's been talking about it

[aygart]

Many (most?) people have no business getting anywhere near that.

High overlap between those and people who shouldn't be near BGs

[GettingReady]

Usually low-to-mid six figures of risk, but the point remains.

Pro BGs will say you gotta risk big to make big, and every business involves some degree of risk. It's true, as long as you're doing a proper risk assessment like you would getting in to any other business/investment. My personal assessment was that the variables made the risk too high.

The risk has definitely increased a lot from what it was years ago. More start up groups, delayed scans, delayed payments, theft, FF label, companies refusing to refund or replace items, and so on.

[Euclid]

The risk has definitely increased a lot from what it was years ago. More start up groups, delayed scans, delayed payments, theft, FF label, companies refusing to refund or replace items, and so on.

It's crazy these days. Years ago when BGs were first starting: checks on the spot, $5-10+ commission on most items, tax usually paid. No idea why anyone (who's lucky enough to have a regular job) does it at large scale anymore

[Lurker]

Treasury bill laddering using 0% money is virtually risk free* for 5% these days. CV's been talking about it

*for financially disciplined individuals

[12HRS]

Revenue or profit? And you’re referring to people operating BGs, not people buying for them.

profit. im not referring to the BG operators

[Euclid]

profit. im not referring to the BG operators

wow. so curious how. Do they have a network of tens of retail accounts/credit cards/ip addresses/physical addresses that they control? How can they do this without getting shut down??

Or is there some sort of sooper sekrit sauce?

[Mootkim]

Revenue or profit? And you’re referring to people operating BGs, not people buying for them.

Definitely feasible to make 6 figures in profit as a buyer. plenty people with full time jobs doing this as a side hustle and still hitting over $100k profit/year.

[Mootkim]

No idea why anyone (who's lucky enough to have a regular job) does it at large scale anymore

For an extra 100k+ of pocket change?

[Euclid]

Definitely feasible to make 6 figures in profit as a buyer. plenty people with full time jobs doing this as a side hustle and still hitting over $100k profit/year.

Plenty of people? No chance. Unless they have some secret sauce - it's literally not possible anymore.

[S209]

Plenty of people? No chance. Unless they have some secret sauce - it's literally not possible anymore.

I know several personally. One fellow with a full time job who showed me- he made well over 10K in March.

[Euclid]

I know several personally. One fellow with a full time job who showed me- he made well over 10K in March.

I'm still calling BS - I've been doing this for a long time (8-9 years). I know how much effort it takes.
 
With the current state of stolen packages epidemic/Amazon not refunding, qla, BC, shutdowns, etc. there's no way to profit that scale of money without having a large network of Amazon accounts with 10+ Amazon CCs. And at that point it becomes a full time job to manage - there's absolutely no way they're doing this without spending 30-40+ hours a week on it. Maybe their real "full time" job is really a 10 hour/week job allowing them the time to do this.

[GettingReady]

I'm still calling BS - I've been doing this for a long time (8-9 years). I know how much effort it takes.
 
With the current state of stolen packages epidemic/Amazon not refunding, qla, BC, shutdowns, etc. there's no way to profit that scale of money without having a large network of Amazon accounts with 10+ Amazon CCs. And at that point it becomes a full time job to manage - there's absolutely no way they're doing this without spending 30-40+ hours a week on it. Maybe their real "full time" job is really a 10 hour/week job allowing them the time to do this.

I agree 100% about the current state and the effort. Some people use to manage 100+ accounts and then were shut down and started over. I imagine a couple dozen accounts feel like a walk in the park.

As far as a job, they multitask and are online during working hours. Pretty obvious when you see them on Slack, WA, TG, Discord. Even with AUs and VNs, you do tap out CCs. Amex Amz and Affinity are now capped. Chase and Synch aren't if you can get a large CL. Qurately bonus spend for Amazon is limited. From there it's 3% cards. As far as MSR, there's other couch ways to meet it, without the hassle, if you're going to do BC deals. 

[whacked1]

There is a rumor of a Ponzi scheme in Williamsburg, and this financial educated person thinks he "knows it all". Yes, business deals go sour every day and some people don't have the best intentions. Talking here about veteran business people that fell in or fell through, nobody will know for sure unless you're an insider. Rumors mean nothing.

Any update with this?

[DealJew]

Has anyone used buyformeretail.com? I need to hit a credit card spednding threshold and they seem to offer above retail payouts on some items. Do they pay fast and are they reliable?