Looking for some arbitrage ideas to make some quick bucks? You’re definitely not alone.
While some consider arbitrage as a sharp practice, others see it as a legitimate loophole for Making easy money.
Arbitrage, as an age-old practice is simply the art of capitalizing on price differences to make a profit.
Every savvy business person does arbitrage one way or the other.
I’ve done arbitrage many times, my old man has done it too, and so can you.
Let’s take a quick look at a few arbitrage ideas you can use to make some quick bucks for yourself.
Currency Exchanges
When you hear of arbitrage these days, the first thought that comes to mind is currency exchanges, especially if you’re a Nigerian.
Yea, our currency is a mess and people are getting rich by the day by simply making Naira-to-dollar round trips.
You can do the same too if you have a healthy supply of dollars delivered to you slightly below the ongoing black market rate.
Even a 10 Naira difference can make you millions if you have sufficient supply of that “cheap” dollar.
Flip Trades
If you do any form of asset or currency trading, even crypto on any trading marketplace, then you’re already aware of this opportunity.
With most marketplaces, you could assume the role of a buyer or seller.
So, if you watch closely, you’d see that there is always a price difference between trades.
Your arbitrage move would simply be to look out for trades that are abnormally low, usually small trades by hobbyists.
If you find enough of these types of trades, you could flip them quickly and make some good profit.
Import Arbitrage
Import arbitrage is as simple as importing a cheaper version of a popular item to make a profit.
We have to admit that some things are cheaper when imported than when produced locally.
And when I mean imported, it’s not necessarily to bring products from another country.
You could import items that are cheaper in other states to the state where you live.
For example, in Nigeria, food items are cheaper in the North than in the South. Import arbitrage can work here.
Similarly, electronic items are cheaper in the South than in the North.
Heck, my uncle built a huge electronics shopping brand just by importing electronics from one part of Lagos(Alaba International) to another part(Yaba).
Sports Arbitrage
If you’re a punter or into any form of sport betting, then you’ve probably heard of sports arbitrage.
This is basically just looking for differences in odds offered by betting companies for the same game.
In games with only two outcomes where there are slight differences in odds offered by different companies, you could bet on both outcomes using different companies and make a profit from the difference.
There are several arbitrage calculators online that could help you structure your stake and even show you how much you can make with each sports arbitrage.
Real Estate Repurposing
Not a cheap arbitrage idea, but definitely doable.
Remember the monopoly game where you have to buy lots of houses and then flip them for one hotel? That’s an arbitrage.
You could do that in real life with real estate repurposing. There are many ideas for this.
Rent a land and turn it into a farm, lease a flat and turn it into an airbnb, buy a house and turn it into a hotel or a guest house, etc.
Paper Asset Swaps
Many people do not know this, but you can buy paper assets for cheap, especially in Nigeria where many paper asset holders dread the bureaucracy of dealing with brokerages.
A lot of shareholders in Nigeria are stuck with their share certificates, not knowing what to even do with them.
Others have even forgotten that they bought any shares.
According to a BusinessDay report, there are about 190 billion Naira worth of unclaimed dividends as at August 2023.
That’s to show you the magnitude of opportunity for paper asset arbitrage in Nigeria.
Heck, someone could even make money by setting up a company for reminding shareholders of their dividends and helping them make claims.
Loan Arbitrage
This is simply the business of the banks.
Your bank takes your savings and promises you a 3% return per annum, then gives that same money to an importer at a 10% interest.
So, your bank makes a healthy 7% profit on your money. And that is if you maintain that account for strictly savings. If not, your bank keeps the whole 10%.
You could do the same by sourcing for zero interest or low interest capital, then providing that capital as a loan to businesses and salaried individuals at a healthy profit.
Easy peasy, eh?