Amazon to Amazon Arbitrage: The $2M Sourcing Method

You're scrolling through Amazon right now, hunting for products to resell. Meanwhile, a small group of sellers is buying products on Amazon and reselling them back on Amazon at 15-25% ROI.

Yes, you read that right. They're sourcing from the same platform where they sell.

Before you close this tab thinking "that's just drop-shipping," stop. This isn't drop-shipping. It's a completely compliant arbitrage model that one operator, Saul, has used to purchase over $2,000,000 worth of inventory. His tool, FlipAlert, now tracks over 9,000,000 profitable Amazon-to-Amazon opportunities every single month.

Why Most Sellers Miss This Opportunity

The typical seller's reaction to A2A (Amazon-to-Amazon) flips goes like this:

"That can't be legal." "Amazon will suspend me for drop-shipping." "If it worked, everyone would do it."

Here's what's actually happening: Temporary price inefficiencies create arbitrage windows. A product that normally sells for $50 drops to $30 for a few hours. Maybe it's a pricing error. Maybe a seller dumped inventory. Maybe Amazon ran a limited promotion.

You buy at $30. The price rebounds to $50. After Amazon's fees, you net $5-10 profit per unit.

The sellers making this work aren't breaking rules. They're taking possession of inventory, sending it to FBA or fulfilling merchant-fulfilled orders from their own stock. They're following Amazon's policies to the letter while exploiting price gaps that most sellers don't even know exist.

What This Guide Delivers

Over the next 15 minutes, you'll learn the exact system that A2A sellers use to:

• Spot profitable flips among millions of ASINs using FlipAlert and Keepa
• Validate opportunities with specific price patterns that actually recover
• Stay compliant with Amazon's drop-shipping and authenticity policies (this is where most sellers fail)
• Execute a 7-step playbook from finding a flip to banking the profit

The reality check: This isn't passive income. You'll need $500-1,000 in working capital to start and approximately $70/month for essential tools. Some orders will get cancelled—especially the too-good-to-be-true ones. Amazon will request invoices, and you'll lose some ASINs even when operating legally. Your capital might be tied up for weeks if prices don't recover as expected.

And here's what nobody mentions: When FlipAlert shows an opportunity to thousands of users, competition is immediate. The sellers who profit move fast while others validate for the fifth time.

But if you're already doing online arbitrage, retail arbitrage, or wholesale—and you're willing to follow the compliance rules exactly—A2A can add $500-2,000+ monthly to your bottom line without leaving your desk.

Let's start with what A2A actually is and why these price gaps exist in the first place.

What A2A Actually Is (And Why It Works)

A2A arbitrage is simple: You buy products on Amazon when prices temporarily drop below market value, then resell them on Amazon when prices return to normal.

The complexity isn't in the concept—it's in finding these opportunities at scale and executing compliantly.

The Price Inefficiency Goldmine

Amazon's marketplace creates pricing chaos every single day. Here's what triggers the opportunities A2A sellers hunt:

Lightning deals gone wrong. A seller sets a 50% off lightning deal on a $40 item. The deal ends, but their regular price doesn't restore correctly. You grab units at $20 while competitors still sell at $38-42.

Inventory dumps. A seller needs cash flow. They slash prices 40% to move 100 units fast. The market absorbs their inventory in hours, and prices bounce back to baseline within days.

Subscribe & Save stacking. Multiple discounts overlap—15% S&S, 20% coupon, 5% brand promo. The seller didn't mean to stack them. You're buying at 40% off while the Buy Box sits at full price.

Regional price mismatches. Amazon adjusts prices by region or fulfillment center. A product costs $25 in one area but sells for $35 in another. You arbitrage the gap.

Automated repricing wars. Two sellers' repricers get into a price war at 2 AM. The price drops from $80 to $45 before hitting someone's floor. By morning, it's back to $75+.

Why Prices Actually Recover (The Keepa Proof)

This is where skeptics tune out: "Why would prices go back up?"

Pull up any stable product on Keepa. Look at the 90-day price history. You'll see a steady baseline interrupted by sharp, temporary drops. That's the pattern A2A sellers hunt.

For example, imagine a kitchen gadget that sits at $39.99 for two months. On Tuesday, it drops to $24.99 for six hours. By Wednesday afternoon, it's back to $39.99. That pattern repeats 3-4 times per month on thousands of products.

The recovery happens because:

• The actual demand never changed—only one seller's price did
• Competition maintains the market price—other sellers don't match panic drops
• Amazon's algorithm favors historical pricing—the Buy Box typically returns to the established range
• Supply remains constant—one seller dumping doesn't flood the market

Most A2A sellers target minimum $3 profit per unit and 15% ROI. The sweet spot sits between $15-100 purchase price with BSR under 100,000 in major categories.

The Speed Advantage Nobody Talks About

Traditional arbitrage requires:

• Driving to stores (2-3 hours)
• Scanning products (1-2 hours)
• Shipping to Amazon (2-3 days)
• Waiting for check-in (2-5 days)

Total time to buyable inventory: 7-10 days

A2A arbitrage workflow:

• FlipAlert surfaces opportunity (automated)
• Validate with Keepa (30 seconds)
• Purchase on Amazon (1 minute)
• Direct ship to FBA (2-3 days)
• Amazon to Amazon transfer (1-2 days)

Total time to buyable inventory: 3-5 days

You're not faster because you work harder. You're faster because you're already inside Amazon's ecosystem. No receipts to scan. No boxes to label. No arguing with store managers about quantity limits.

When A2A Beats Everything Else

A2A isn't always the best sourcing method. But it dominates when:

• You have limited time (manage everything from your laptop)
• You're testing new categories (minimal risk per SKU)
• You need inventory fast (beat Q4 cutoff dates)
• You want predictable margins (Keepa shows exact historical prices)
• You're scaling a VA team (entire process happens online)

The sellers doing $50,000+ monthly in A2A aren't special. They just found more opportunities faster than sellers who dismiss the model as "impossible."

The Compliance Framework That Keeps You Safe

Let's be brutally clear: Most A2A sellers who get suspended deserve it.

They read about the opportunity, skip the compliance part, and start drop-shipping orders directly from Amazon to customers. That's not A2A. That's a policy violation waiting to happen.

Here's exactly how to execute A2A without risking your seller account.

The Golden Rule: Take Possession of Inventory

Amazon's drop-shipping policy has one core requirement that matters for A2A: You must be the seller of record.

This means:

• The inventory ships to YOU first (or directly to FBA on your behalf)
• YOUR name appears on packing slips and invoices
• YOU handle returns and customer service
• YOU control the inventory before it reaches customers

What violates policy: Buying on Amazon and having it shipped directly to your buyer with Amazon's packaging, invoice, and branding intact.

What's completely legal: Buying on Amazon, receiving the inventory, prepping it properly, and reselling it through FBA or MFN with your seller information.

The difference seems small. The consequences aren't. One method builds a business. The other gets you suspended.

The Invoice Reality Check

Here's where theory meets reality. Amazon says retail arbitrage is allowed. Their enforcement teams often disagree.

When Amazon requests invoices (and they will), they're looking for:

• Supplier name and contact information
• Your business name as the purchaser
• Item descriptions matching the ASINs
• Quantities that align with your sales
• Dates preceding your sales

The brutal truth about retail receipts: Amazon's Brand Relations teams frequently reject them, even though arbitrage is technically permitted. Many sellers report high rejection rates when submitting Amazon invoices for authenticity complaints.

Your protection strategy:

• Keep every Amazon invoice organized by ASIN
• Screenshot the product page when you purchase (proves ASIN match)
• Document the seller name you purchased from
• Track your cost basis for every unit
• Be prepared with multiple forms of documentation

Some A2A sellers report success using Amazon invoices for IP complaints. Others get rejected repeatedly. Don't bet your entire business on A2A alone until you understand how enforcement treats your particular categories. Accept that losing some ASINs to invoice requests is a cost of doing business in A2A.

Packaging and Returns: Your Responsibilities

The fastest way to get flagged for drop-shipping? Let Amazon's packaging reach your customers.

Required when fulfilling MFN:

• Remove ALL Amazon packaging, tape, and branded materials
• Create your own packing slip with YOUR business information
• Use neutral packaging or your own branded materials
• Include YOUR return address and policies
• Handle returns to YOUR location, not Amazon's

FBA makes this easier: When you send A2A inventory to FBA, Amazon handles the repackaging automatically. The customer receives standard FBA packaging with no trace of your supplier. This is why most successful A2A sellers use FBA whenever possible.

The Subscribe & Save Controversy

Some A2A sellers use Subscribe & Save discounts to source inventory. Amazon's terms technically allow this, but enforcement is inconsistent.

The safer approach:

• Avoid S&S for your primary A2A sourcing
• If you use S&S, never exceed reasonable personal use quantities initially
• Build purchase history before scaling
• Document everything in case of review

Saul himself has stated that Amazon invoices from S&S purchases have resolved some IP complaints. Your mileage may vary dramatically.

Red Flags That Trigger Reviews

Amazon's systems watch for patterns. Avoid these suspension triggers:

High-risk behaviors:

• Shipping addresses that match customer addresses (obvious drop-shipping)
• Velocity mismatches (selling 100 units after buying 10)
• Price disparities that seem impossible (selling below your documented cost)
• Multiple buyer accounts linked to your seller account
• Automated purchasing tools that violate buyer terms

Stay under the radar:

• Start with 5-10 units per ASIN
• Build purchase history gradually
• Maintain reasonable price margins
• Use one buyer account exclusively for sourcing
• Track everything manually initially

The Compliance Checklist

Before your first A2A flip, confirm:

✓ Inventory possession plan - FBA prep service or personal handling arranged

✓ Invoice organization system - Every purchase documented and filed

✓ Removal plan - Process for removing Amazon packaging if fulfilling MFN

✓ Returns handling - Your address and process ready

✓ Account separation - Buyer and seller accounts properly managed

✓ Category approval - No restricted brands or gated categoriesegories

What Happens If You're Sloppy

Amazon doesn't send warnings for drop-shipping violations. You'll wake up to:

• Account suspended for drop-shipping policy violation
• All inventory frozen
• Funds held for 90+ days
• Appeal process with historically low success rates

The sellers hitting $10K+ monthly in A2A aren't lucky. They're compliant. They take possession, document everything, and treat Amazon's policies as non-negotiable.

Bottom line: If you're not willing to handle inventory properly, A2A isn't for you. Stick to retail arbitrage where the compliance path is clearer.

The A2A Profit Formula: Finding Flips That Actually Work

Most sellers approach A2A backwards. They search randomly, hope for deals, and wonder why they're finding garbage.

Profitable A2A has a formula. Follow it, and you'll spot opportunities worth thousands. Ignore it, and you'll waste hours chasing dead leads.

The "Steady Baseline with Sudden Drop" Pattern

Open Keepa right now. Search for any stable product. You're looking for one specific pattern that prints money.

The winning pattern looks like:

• 60-90 days of price stability (fluctuating less than 10%)
• A sharp drop of 25% or more
• The drop lasting less than 48 hours
• Previous drops that recovered within 3-7 days
• At least 10 sellers on the listing

Why this pattern works: The stable baseline proves real market value. The sharp drop indicates a temporary anomaly, not a trend. Multiple sellers ensure the price will recover through competition.

Pattern to avoid: Gradual price decline over weeks. That's not a flip opportunity—that's a dying product.

Your ROI and Profit Thresholds

Every A2A seller has their formula. Here's what actually works at scale:

Minimum thresholds that make sense:

• Profit per unit: $3 absolute minimum, $5+ preferred
• ROI: 15% minimum, 25% target, 40%+ jackpot
• Buy cost range: $15-100 sweet spot
• Sales rank: Under 100,000 in major categories
• Recovery time: Price should rebound within 7 days based on history

The math on a typical flip:

• Buy: $30
• Sell: $47
• Amazon fees: $11.75
• Profit: $5.25
• ROI: 17.5%
• Cash tied up: 5-10 days

Run 20 of these per month, and you're adding $100 profit from $600 invested. Scale to 200 flips, and you're looking at $1,000+ profit from $6,000 in working capital.

Categories That Consistently Produce A2A Opportunities

Not all categories are created equal. Based on FlipAlert's million+ monthly opportunities, focus here:

High-frequency categories:

• Home & Kitchen: Price wars between Chinese sellers create daily opportunities
• Toys & Games: Seasonal dumps and clearances happen year-round
• Office Products: B2B sellers dump excess inventory regularly
• Sports & Outdoors: Weather and seasonality drive price swings
• Pet Supplies: Subscribe & Save errors are common

Categories to avoid initially:

• Electronics: High return rates eat profits
• Clothing & Shoes: Size variations create fulfillment nightmares
• Grocery: Expiration dates and meltable restrictions
• Beauty: Authenticity complaints are rampant
• Supplements: Regulatory issues and dating requirements

Start in one category. Master its patterns. Then expand. The sellers doing $50K+ monthly typically focus on 3-4 categories maximum.

Red Flags: When to Walk Away

Some "opportunities" are traps. Skip these every time:

Amazon Retail dominance. If Amazon's been the primary seller for 30+ days, they'll likely suppress prices indefinitely. Check Keepa for the orange "Amazon" line. If it's constant, move on.

Single seller listings. One seller can control price forever. You need competition to drive recovery. Look for 5+ sellers minimum, ideally 10+.

Trending downward for 30+ days. That's not a dip—it's a death spiral. The product's lifecycle is ending, demand is dying, or Amazon's algorithm has deranked it.

Variation traps. The blue widget is $10, but the red one you're buying is $40. Amazon merges them on one listing. You buy the cheap one thinking you'll sell at the high price. You won't. Always verify you're buying the exact variation that commands the higher price.

IP complaint history. Search the ASIN in seller forums. If multiple sellers report authenticity complaints or IP violations, skip it. No flip is worth risking your account.

Competition from other FlipAlert users. When thousands of users see the same opportunity, many will jump on it. Factor this into your buying decisions—the best opportunities are often the ones that require quick action.

The sellers banking $10K+ monthly don't find more opportunities. They recognize better patterns and move faster.

Your A2A Tech Stack: Tools That Find Money

You can do A2A with just Amazon and a spreadsheet. You'll also find about three profitable flips per week and burn out in a month.

The sellers hitting $10K+ monthly use specific tools that turn A2A from a treasure hunt into a systematic operation. Here's exactly what you need and why each tool pays for itself.

FlipAlert: Your A2A Command Center

FlipAlert isn't just another deal finder. It's purpose-built for A2A by someone who's spent $2,000,000+ on these flips.

The platform monitors millions of ASINs for price drops 24/7, filtering opportunities by your exact ROI and profit requirements. When you set up monitoring tasks with parameters like $5 minimum profit, 20% minimum ROI, and maximum BSR of 50,000, FlipAlert will surface 50-100 opportunities daily. You'll buy maybe 5-10, and that selectivity is the point.

The browser extension changes everything. Install it, and you'll see live profit calculations on any Amazon product page, historical price data without leaving Amazon, and Walmart pricing overlaid on Amazon listings. You can create monitoring tasks with one click directly from products you're browsing.

The real power comes from the order tracking integration. After making a purchase on Amazon, click the FlipAlert extension and select "Track Order." It auto-populates purchase details and updates through fulfillment. This takes 5 seconds per order and saves hours during invoice reconciliation or tax time.

At approximately $50 per month (pricing may vary), FlipAlert needs just 10 flips at $5 profit to break even. Most users report 30-50 profitable flips monthly, saving 15-20 hours versus manual searching.

Keepa: Your Price Validation Layer

FlipAlert finds opportunities, but Keepa validates them. You need Keepa's price history graphs to confirm that drops are temporary and prices actually recover. The subscription (approximately €19/month at time of writing) shows you 90+ days of pricing patterns, seller participation, and stock levels—critical data for avoiding bad flips.

Before any purchase, check if Amazon is staying out of the listing (orange line), whether prices regularly return to your target (blue line), and if demand remains consistent (green line). All three must align for a safe flip. Skip this step, and you're gambling rather than investing.

The Minimum Viable Tool Stack

Start with approximately $70 per month: FlipAlert and Keepa subscriptions. This combination gets you automated opportunity discovery, price history validation, and basic order tracking—essentially 80% of what $200/month in tools would provide.

Your first month with proper tools should save 15-20 hours while finding 20-30 additional flips. That's $150-300 in extra profit from better opportunities, meaning the tools pay for themselves by week two.

Without proper order tracking, you'll lose track of what you bought, where it's shipping, and what you paid. FlipAlert's order tracker handles this automatically, but you can also create a simple Google Sheet if needed. Manual tracking works but doesn't scale past 20-30 flips monthly.

When to Upgrade

The progression is predictable. When you're managing 50+ ASINs and losing Buy Box battles, add Aura for repricing. Its AI-driven repricing adjusts to competitor behavior while respecting your profit floors—crucial for the tight margins in A2A flips. The automated repricing alone will recapture enough lost sales to cover the monthly cost.

The sellers who "can't afford" tools are the same ones spending 40 hours finding 10 mediocre flips manually. The right tools don't cost money—they make money.

The 7-Step A2A Execution Playbook

You've got the tools. You understand the patterns. Now let's execute your first profitable flip from start to finish.

This isn't theory. This is the exact process that moves inventory and generates profit. Follow these steps, and you'll complete your first successful A2A flip within 7 days.

Step 1: Set Your FlipAlert Parameters

Open FlipAlert and create your first monitoring task. Don't overthink this—you'll refine as you learn.

Start with these exact settings: Home & Kitchen category, $20-60 price range, minimum $5 profit, 20% ROI floor, maximum 50,000 BSR. These parameters cast a wide enough net to find opportunities while filtering out garbage.

The platform will immediately populate with potential flips. Resist the urge to buy the first thing you see. We're building a system, not gambling on random deals.

Step 2: Validate with Keepa's Price History

Found something interesting? Before you touch that buy button, pull up the Keepa graph. You're looking for three specific confirmations.

First, verify the price has been stable for at least 60 days before this drop. A product bouncing between $20 and $40 every week isn't a flip opportunity—it's a pricing pattern you'll get stuck in. Second, confirm this drop is unusual. If the product hits this low price monthly, you're not catching a deal—you're buying at the regular promotional price. Third, check that previous drops recovered within 7 days. If recovery takes three weeks, your capital stays tied up too long.

One validated opportunity beats ten hopeful guesses.

Step 3: Confirm ASIN Match and Condition Compliance

This step prevents the amateur mistakes that kill profits. Verify you're buying the exact ASIN you plan to resell—not a similar product, not a different variation, but the exact same ASIN. Amazon's variation groupings trick countless sellers who buy the blue version at $15 thinking they'll sell the red version at $45.

Check the condition carefully. If you're buying "Like New" from Warehouse Deals, you can't list it as "New" when reselling. That's a policy violation waiting to happen. Match conditions exactly or skip the flip.

Also confirm you're approved to sell this brand. Nothing hurts worse than buying 20 units only to discover you're gated from listing them.

Step 4: Purchase and Track Centrally

When everything aligns, it's time to buy. Start conservative—5-10 units on your first flip, even if 100 are available. You're learning the process, not betting the farm.

Immediately after purchase, track the order in FlipAlert. Click the extension, select "Track Order," and let it capture all details. This takes 5 seconds but saves hours during tax season or invoice requests. Include notes about why you bought it—"steady at $45, dropped to $22, previous recoveries in 4 days."

Set up a dedicated email folder for A2A receipts. When Amazon inevitably requests invoices, you'll thank yourself for the organization.

Step 5: Prep for FBA or Stage for MFN

The moment your inventory arrives, you have a decision: FBA or merchant fulfillment?

For FBA, the process is straightforward. Create your shipment, apply FNSKU labels over any existing barcodes, and send inventory to Amazon's warehouse. The beauty of FBA for A2A is that Amazon handles all repackaging automatically. Your customer never sees the original Amazon packaging.

For merchant fulfillment, you need more preparation. Remove every trace of Amazon packaging, tape, and inserts. Create your own packing slip with your business information. Store inventory in a clean, organized space. You're now responsible for shipping within handling time and managing returns directly.

Most A2A sellers use FBA exclusively. It's faster, cleaner, and eliminates drop-shipping concerns entirely.

Step 6: Price Competitively on Arrival

Your inventory just checked into FBA. Now comes the critical moment—pricing for the sale.

Don't get greedy. Price at or slightly below the current Buy Box to move inventory quickly. Every day your inventory sits is capital not working on the next flip. If the Buy Box is at $47 and you validated that price during research, list at $46.95. You want to be competitive enough to win the rotation but not so aggressive that you trigger a race to the bottom.

This is where Aura becomes invaluable for sellers with multiple ASINs. Set your minimum price at break-even plus $3, your maximum at the validated recovery price, and let the AI handle the rest. Manual repricing works initially, but you'll burn hours adjusting prices as your ASIN count grows.

Step 7: Monitor and Adjust

The flip isn't done when inventory goes live. Track your listing daily for the first week.

Watch for new sellers entering below your price—they might have found the same deal. Monitor the Buy Box percentage—if you're getting less than 30% despite competitive pricing, something's wrong. Check for Amazon entering the listing, which typically suppresses prices immediately.

If prices aren't recovering as expected after 7 days, make a decision. Either lower your price to move inventory and free up capital, or hold firm if Keepa shows seasonal patterns supporting recovery. Most successful A2A sellers choose velocity over maximum margin. Better to make $3 profit in 5 days than hold out for $5 profit over 3 weeks.

Important: Remember that your working capital might be tied up longer than expected if prices don't recover quickly. Plan accordingly and don't invest money you can't afford to have locked up for weeks.

That's it. Seven steps from opportunity to profit. No driving to stores. No begging for wholesale accounts. Just systematic execution of a model that's hiding in plain sight.

Run this playbook five times per month, and you're adding $250 in profit. Scale to 20 executions monthly with 20-unit purchases, and you're looking at $2,000+ in additional income.

The key isn't perfection—it's repetition. Each flip teaches you patterns, builds your invoice history, and compounds your knowledge.

The Bottom Line: Start Today or Stay Stuck

A2A isn't a secret anymore. FlipAlert tracks over 1,000,000 opportunities monthly. The Buy Box community has 400+ sellers actively flipping. Saul's teaching it publicly through challenges and courses.

The window is open now, but it won't stay that way forever.

You have everything you need: the compliance framework to stay safe, the exact tools that find opportunities, the step-by-step playbook to execute. The only thing missing is your first flip.

Today, right now, you can:

• Sign up for FlipAlert's trial (takes 2 minutes)
• Install the browser extension (30 seconds)
• Create your first monitoring task (1 minute)
• Find a validated opportunity within hours

Or you can bookmark this post, tell yourself you'll try it "someday," and keep wondering why other sellers seem to find inventory so easily.

Remember the risks: Some orders will get cancelled. Prices won't always recover. You'll lose some ASINs to invoice requests. But if you follow the compliance framework and manage your risk across multiple flips, the model works.

The sellers making $10K+ monthly from A2A started exactly where you are now. They just took action while others debated.