In this article, someone as well-renowned as Flips4Miles is imparting to us how he grew to such a scale and why he returned to Amazon even after choosing to stop.
I have the privilege of speaking with Flips4Miles, a long-time source of inspiration and a highly successful Amazon seller. Join me as we explore the reasons behind their decision to stop and restart selling on Amazon and uncover their plans for the future of this exciting business venture.
Topic Rundown:
- Who is Flips4Miles?
- What was his online arbitrage journey like?
- Why should someone create social media content while doing online arbitrage?
- What limiting beliefs did Miles have that he also found in people?
- What does delegation of work look like for a $2.4 million earning company?
- What is his lifestyle like?
- What other people does he have on his team?
- What are his plans for the future?
Who is Flips4Miles?
Flips4Miles is an Amazon seller since 2019 and online arbitrage since early 2021, which he states really took off. He has made over $4 million in sales in the 2 years he dove into online arbitrage, while also trying to learn from every source he can about the craft of online arbitrage. Currently, he intends to do 100% online arbitrage without diving into wholesale while trying to grow his business and expand his business to the utmost of his abilities, delegating the menial tasks and allowing himself time to develop the business while currently not working the business.
What did his endeavors look like for the past 12 months?
For 2022, his revenue was a little over $2.4 million, around 20% of that total came in December, which is a great month for Online Arbitrage. The sales really get high every time come December, it was around $80,000 in profit. His big goal for December in 2023 is to reach that $100,000 profit margin.
What was his online arbitrage journey like?
Flips4Miles started off selling books back in the day but has turned to full online arbitrage since then. He has dabbled in retail arbitrage once in a while, but he already came into the store already knowing what to buy and how much to buy. But mostly he strictly limits himself to online arbitrage.
He loves the low-risk nature of the online arbitrage business model that you can upscale without having to worry about placing big purchase orders and committing too much to one thing, Miles states that he’d rather inch into different categories than grow out and diversify from there.
Obviously, he continues, that online arbitrage has its fair share of troubles and bumps in the road, such as order cancels, issues with stock, competitions within certain categories, and stuff like that. Though he says that it wasn’t all smooth sailing, he is still thankful for the opportunity and success it has given him, while also thankful for the lessons the journey has given him.
What made him stop continuing his Amazon online arbitrage?
His first dive into the e-commerce market was 10 years ago. He was making videos and trading Lego pieces online and continued doing that consistently until 2018. It was his first experience with online communities and meeting people online and not limiting himself from people who were in his immediate vicinity, like friends and family. Doing content for around half of his life basically, right around that the majority of people he talks to on a daily basis are interested in making money online. So, it had already conditioned him to not care about how people view the way he earns his income.
Around 2014, as he played basketball, he had the knowledge of what shoes he knew were best for the sport. One of the people he used to trade Legos with was what he considers a ‘real hustler’, as the person had very nice shoes, and subsequently, Miles asked him how he came across said shoes. The answer his friend gave him opened his eyes to the possibility of flipping items to make a profit. This led him to different Facebook pages focused on flipping items, then into Instagram groups, and numerous social media platforms which he used to use for his online arbitrage business.
Once he had created the Instagram page, the media algorithm started hitting him with Amazon headlines such as how to make money online. He ended up watching a podcast about a guy that travels the country living in his car flipping books around October 2018, which was right before he cracked $5,000.
By then, in the summer of 2019, he was living in his college town on his own, and he started to think about the headlines that Amazon had advertised. He came across and scanned a multitude of different items and finally arrived at the first items he’ll sell on Amazon, books. But his income falls by 80%. Though he was also working on his Instagram page, he was working on his Flips4Miles brand.
Though in 2020, when the pandemic hit, he couldn’t get any more inventory from the thrift stores, so he went back to selling shoes fully. But the key is that he keeps talking to a bunch of people that are doing pools on Amazon and toys on Amazon, If you, the reader, have started online arbitrage in the last year then the term un-gating is fairly easy for you, But basically, he was selling shoes for the whole year of 2020 and then he gets a message telling him that he could un-gate Nike fairly easily, but he doesn’t move on the information. Immediately, by February 2021, he did it. He listed every shoe he was selling on other platforms on Amazon and immediately sold them.
From how early he started his online arbitrage business, by building his brand and building the connections he would need to create a stable business, he was able to create a profitable business out of each component.
Get the 8 Things I Learned about Amazon Reselling from Flips4Miles
I have the privilege of interviewing Flips4Miles, a highly inspiring and successful Amazon seller. We'll be diving into the reasons behind their decision to halt and restart their Amazon sales and uncovering their future plans for this thrilling business venture.
Why should someone create social media content while doing online arbitrage?
He thinks no one should create social media content. Pretty much anyone successful has Amazon seller friends by taking advantage of the completely free opportunity to tweet, the completely free opportunity to post pictures on Instagram. He doesn’t know any better way of connecting with fellow sellers or people of the trade than through social media, if there were any other way for him then he’d do it but as for his business and what he has built, social media became the bridge that connected him to so many people that helped him on his journey of becoming one of the top earners on Amazon.
Flips4Miles has a different ideology from that individualistic view of entrepreneurship. He thrives off the connections he built in his journey. He doesn’t think that everyone should create social media content, but for those people who want to take online arbitrage seriously, for those who really want to go all in on creating a brand, and establishing connections and contacts within the community, then you are very much encouraged to do so.
People think that creating social media is about creating content, but it is mostly about doing it and creating content as a bridge for connection. It’s about finding a few intimate connections. Proximity is power.
What limiting beliefs did Miles have that he also found in people?
His limiting belief used to be that ungating was hard, which, to his credit, un-gating was hard back in the days when he was just starting out. These days it’s all about the things that you can do with online arbitrage. People will go through all sorts of hoops just to avoid hard work. People dislike putting in the effort and work into online arbitrage because they’re scared of what the repercussions would put an honest effort in and still failing to do to them. Though, he states that anywhere you put enough effort and time into will eventually bear fruit. The people who actually showed up every day, who actually talked to others, expanded their network of connection, who put in the actual time and effort into building themselves and their businesses are now experiencing a much better life.
Why does he feel like giving away these secrets of the trade he has learned?
As he stated before, he doesn’t know any better way to learn than through social media. He doesn’t know any better way to reach out and interact with like-minded individuals than through helping them. That’s why he tends to help people.
What does delegation of work look like for a $2.4 million earning company?
Ever since he’s been doing online arbitrage, he’s realized that buying products is a social process, he has a sales tax advantage on certain amounts of products, and since he’s not really stingy about spending time and money into sourcing his products, he’s able to save money and earn more. His goal as of now is to learn throughout the process about new ways and opportunities that can be found through his virtual assistant and is looking forward to a prep center later in the year which will allow him to learn while also creating an income to further his business and diversify his sales and products.
What is his lifestyle like?
He just works. Right now, he’s in the wealth accumulation phase of life. Enjoys playing basketball, likes spending time in nature, he likes making money. As he started at a very young age trading Legos while also making money, for him buying products also doesn’t feel like making money for him, while obviously, it does make money. He’s happiest when he’s working. He’ll keep working until it doesn’t make him happy anymore. Finding the in-between of play and where you’ll get paid.
What other people does he have on his team?
He has a content VA, which has been with him the longest. A sourcing VA. Though he does all the selling by himself, the way he has it set up is he does a lot of content and coaching, and then a lot of buying is indirectly outsourced. It just fits into the equation of everything else. He does all the buying, but very little of it is actually him going out and finding the product.
What are his plans for the future?
He sees online arbitrage as a great way to make $100,000 to $200,000 of profit a year. Obviously, you can make more than that, but it is terrible to make it beyond that. If you are the type of entrepreneur who has the skills to capitalize on this business model, you are capable of reaching greater heights. But ultimately, online arbitrage is a means to an end. You can dive into online arbitrage as something to learn about and an educational endeavor, or you can use it to kick-start your entrepreneurial journey towards larger markets such as wholesale or software and different things like that.
He continues to say that making money online is a lifelong journey, and he sees each thing to be a stepping stone that teaches you skills and knowledge that you need in order to improve. Will he be going to be continuing this in 5 years? Definitely not. Probably not. Does he think that people should see OA as a stepping stone? Well, if people do it for 5 years, they’re going to be really good at it. If you can get great profit margins, then you can continue it without having to micromanage your business while allowing yourself to move on to bigger projects, then by all means continue it.
Ready to scale your Amazon business like Flips4Miles?
On all social media platforms Flips4Miles, he’s really focused on YouTube with videos and a few live streams planned to have a couple of times a week. Flips4Miles also has a discord server. He also has an Instagram and Twitter account by the name of Flips4Miles. He also has over a hundred podcasts on the Buy Box Bandits YouTube channel.
After learning about the journey of Flips4Miles, and still want to learn more from other Amazon sellers. We got you! Check out our previous articles about Romer the Roamer, Raiken Profit, The Gravy Train, Scott Needham, Checkmate Flips, Fields of Profit, Gavin Sweeney, Jonny Smith, Soros, and lastly, John Muscarello to know more about online arbitrage and their Amazon journey.