After Christmas Sale Arbitrage: How to Make Money Starting December 26

There are a lot of people who know that there’s a good opportunity to save money at after Christmas sales on things they’ll use during the year. Along with savings for yourself, these sales are also a great opportunity to buy things at discounted prices which can then be resold for a profit. For those who want to make a little extra money on the side, finding deeply discounted after Xmas sale items can be a great way to do this.

Most people looking for a great deal head to the stores to stock up on Christmas related items for themselves knowing that they will be heavily discounted. If you’re looking to arbitrage, you want to look for those things which are discounted, but also have value in other ways that will allow you to turn a profit. Here are a few things to be on the lookout for that you might be able to buy now, then sell for more later.

Collectibles

Most collectibles keep their price during the holiday shopping season, but they start to get discounted once the end of the year is near. If you’re familiar with certain types of collectibles, this can be a great time to buy them knowing that they’ll gain value in the months to come. The key is to know the collectibles you’re buying. You can also lose a lot of money if you buy collectibles you’re not familiar with that won’t gain any value.

If this is something that you think you might be interested in doing, but you don’t know much about collectibles, it’s a great time to study. Instead of buying, simply write down the price of collectibles you see this year at the sales that you think you could arbitrage. Then follow how their pricing does on eBay and Craigslist in the next few months to see if your intuition was correct. Chances are you will get some right and some wrong, but you should learn enough so that you can begin to dabble in this type of arbitrage come next year.

White, Red & Green

Be on the lookout for products that happen to be red, green or white, but aren’t holiday themed. Stores stock up on a lot of products in these three colors for the holiday season, and they need to get rid of the extras when the season is over. That means that they’ll be discounted like other Christmas related items while they may have a use at other times of the year, or for different occasions. This can make a great arbitrage opportunity.

A good example is large plastic storage containers. These can be quite expensive and they are usually sold in Xmas colors toward the end of the year. When the holiday season is over, these get discounted to quickly move them out of the store. The thing is, most people really don’t care what color their storage containers happen to be. In a couple of months, you should be able to make money off them by pricing them between their original retail price and the discounted price you bought them for. In a few months they will look like a great deal to anyone who is need of storage bins, even if the price is more than you paid for them. This is one example and you should look for anything that gets discounted for its color, but can be used at other times.

Gift Sets

There are a couple of different ways that you can make money on discounted gift sets. If you can find them discounted enough, you might be able to simply resell them as they are for a profit. In addition, take a look at the items that are being sold within the gift set. Sometimes the set can be opened, and the individual items can be sold for more than the gift set as a whole allowing you to make a profit.

Ornaments

There are a lot of people who collect ornaments. Brand named ones are especially sought after, such Hallmark and Disney ornaments. You need to have some knowledge to choose the ones that will be best to arbitrage, but buying these when they get heavily discounted can be a good way to turn for a profit.

Christmas Products

Any Christmas items that are deeply discounted can usually be sold the next winter for prices well above what they were purchased at. As long as it isn’t dated and you have room to store them until the next year, you have a good opportunity to make some profit.

In addition, look for Christmas items that may have other uses, such as Xmas lights. These colorful lights might be used to decorate at different events or parties throughout the year, making them fairly easy to sell for a profit if you can get them for a low enough price. You need to use some judgement, but grabbing Christmas items at 90% off makes it pretty easy to make a bit of profit later on in the year.

Do you scour the after-Xmas store sales to find products to arbitrage throughout the rest of the year? If you do, what are some of the items that you find help you put a few extra dollars into your pocket?

(Photo courtesy of jaimelondonboy)