Arbitrage Automation System

Automating the presale listing workflow

🎯 THE GOAL

Build a system that:
1. Monitors deal sources for opportunities
2. Auto-creates eBay presale listings
3. Alerts when something sells
4. Tracks which source purchases need to be completed

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🔧 TECHNICAL COMPONENTS

1. eBay API Integration

Required APIs:
- Inventory API - Create/manage listings
- Sell Feed API - Get order notifications
- Notification API - Real-time sale alerts

Key Endpoints:


POST /sell/inventory/v1/inventory_item/{sku}
POST /sell/inventory/v1/offer
POST /sell/inventory/v1/offer/{offerId}/publish
GET /sell/fulfillment/v1/order

Setup Requirements:
1. eBay Developer Account (free): developer.ebay.com
2. Application keys (sandbox + production)
3. OAuth user token (seller authorization)
4. Python: ebaysdk-python library

2. Deal Monitoring

Sources to Monitor:
- Slickdeals RSS feeds
- Reddit (r/buildapcsales, r/Flipping)
- Discord bot integration (paid groups)
- BrickEconomy price drops
- Amazon price alerts (Keepa)

Trigger Criteria:
- Price < 75% of eBay sold prices
- Margin potential > 25% after fees
- In-stock and purchasable
- Within $1K-$5K range

3. Auto-Listing Logic

python
Pseudocode

def process_deal(deal):
    # 1. Check if deal meets criteria
    if not meets_margin_requirements(deal):
        return
    
    # 2. Calculate eBay pricing
    target_price = calculate_sell_price(deal.buy_price, margin=0.30)
    
    # 3. Create eBay listing
    sku = generate_sku()
    create_inventory_item(sku, deal.product_info)
    create_offer(sku, target_price, handling_days=25)
    offer_id = publish_offer(sku)
    
    # 4. Store in tracking database
    save_opportunity({
        'sku': sku,
        'offer_id': offer_id,
        'source_url': deal.url,
        'buy_price': deal.buy_price,
        'sell_price': target_price,
        'status': 'listed',
        'created': now()
    })
    
    # 5. Alert Jeff
    send_notification(f"Listed {deal.title} at ${target_price}")

4. Sale Monitoring

python
def on_sale_notification(order):
    # 1. Get the tracking record
    opp = get_opportunity_by_sku(order.sku)
    
    # 2. Alert Jeff to complete source purchase
    send_urgent_alert(f"""
    🚨 SALE! Action needed:
    Product: {opp.title}
    Sold for: ${order.price}
    Source: {opp.source_url}
    Buy now for: ${opp.buy_price}
    Profit: ${order.price - opp.buy_price - fees}
    """)
    
    # 3. Update status
    opp.status = 'sold_pending_purchase'

---

📁 FILES TO CREATE


Arbitrage/
├── automation/
│   ├── config.py           # API keys, settings
│   ├── ebay_client.py      # eBay API wrapper
│   ├── deal_monitor.py     # Source monitoring
│   ├── listing_creator.py  # Auto-list logic
│   ├── sale_watcher.py     # Order notifications
│   ├── database.py         # SQLite for tracking
│   └── notifications.py    # iMessage/email alerts
├── data/
│   ├── opportunities.db    # SQLite database
│   └── templates/          # Listing templates
└── scripts/
    ├── run_monitor.sh      # Cron job script
    └── check_sales.sh      # Sale checking script

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🚀 SETUP STEPS

Phase 1: eBay API Setup

1. [ ] Create eBay Developer account
2. [ ] Generate sandbox keys
3. [ ] Create test user
4. [ ] Test listing creation in sandbox
5. [ ] Get production keys
6. [ ] Authorize Jeff's seller account

Phase 2: Basic Automation

1. [ ] Build ebay_client.py wrapper
2. [ ] Create manual listing script
3. [ ] Test end-to-end in sandbox
4. [ ] Deploy to production

Phase 3: Deal Monitoring

1. [ ] Set up Slickdeals RSS parsing
2. [ ] Build Reddit monitor
3. [ ] Add Discord bot (if joining paid groups)
4. [ ] Configure trigger criteria

Phase 4: Full Automation

1. [ ] Connect monitoring to auto-listing
2. [ ] Set up sale notifications
3. [ ] Build tracking dashboard
4. [ ] Add profit/loss reporting

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⚠️ RISKS & MITIGATIONS

| Risk | Mitigation |
|------|------------|
| eBay account suspension | Start slow, follow TOS strictly |
| Listing items that go OOS | Check availability before listing |
| Price drops after listing | Set expiration on listings (7 days) |
| Source rejects order | Have backup sources identified |
| API rate limits | Implement backoff, respect limits |

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📊 EXPECTED RESULTS

Conservative Estimate:
- Monitor 100 deals/day
- 5% meet criteria (5 opportunities)
- 20% sell (1 sale/day)
- Average profit: $150/sale
- Monthly: $4,500 profit potential

Time Investment:
- Initial setup: 8-12 hours
- Ongoing: 30 min/day monitoring
- Per-sale: 15 min to complete purchase/ship

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🔐 CREDENTIALS NEEDED

To build this, I'll need:
1. eBay seller account (email/password for OAuth)
2. eBay Developer Program account
3. Discord tokens (if using paid groups)
4. Keepa API key (optional, for Amazon monitoring)

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Ready to build when you give the green light!