This post has gotten more pushback from some BIG Amazon sellers on this platform and I figured I should provide more context for anyone that's considering RA vs OA vs other methods.

First, the pushback has come from bigger sellers than me, some that have been on Amazon less time than me and some that have more time on the platform. I've been selling on Amazon since 2015 (on my 11th year) and I've done nearly every model you can think of. But those responding are admittedly bigger sellers than I am, doing a scale that I honestly may not even want. I'm happy with how my Amazon business operates, but they have more experience getting past the $200k per month level which my experience tops out at.

I know I don't know everything, and there will always be people that are crushing it with something that no longer works for you or your lifestyle.

To clarify, years ago I built a team of 3-4 shoppers, 6-7 prep/ship team members, a warehouse lease and everything that comes with that, etc. This was all based around Retail Arbitrage and some Online Arbitrage at the time. I had more freedom and flexibility than most doing RA at the time because I did scale it, but it came with an operational complexity and mental load of handling employees and team members that was never calculated into the equation of "is this worth it?" Managing 10+ people was tough and I didn't want to be the 2 man RA person that worked 60+ hours per week anymore, so it was either scale the team or have a job that required me to work more to grow. So we scaled the team.

Unfortunately, after going through a divorce and continuing to work in that operation for 2 more years still, I had to rebuild on my own. I switched to OA/Wholesale and while the profit margin percentages are smaller than RA due to the ability for anyone to find those items, the sheer ability to scale quickly is something RA can't do as easily (nothing is easy FYI but OA scaling was easier for me than RA). To hit $3k+ days (pacing for $100k+ months) in the matter of a couple months can happen but not quite like it can with OA/wholesale and my level of experience over 11 years.

Not to mention, the complexity of running an OA business with similar scale in terms of revenue, has been MUCH simpler for me. I can do it with automated lead systems, 1 VA, and a prep center. I can move anywhere and not have to worry about what I do with my team.

For my life, OA systems are MUCH better than RA. For others, that will not be the case. I admire those that have been doing RA at massive scale for a long time. For me, OA has been much better for my life and time.

Maybe AI takes over OA in the future, in which case I may go back into RA or I'll go into something entirely different. But right now automations and AI are helping sellers way more than it's hurting them, because it still requires people to actually learn things and put it into practice.

Anyone actually doing the work will beat out those looking for shortcuts. AI is not the shortcut, it's the ability to reduce inefficiencies and it takes people to actually use them properly.