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User Guide
Looking at the Dashboard
Looking at the Dashboard

A quick introduction to the menus, panels, and search tools.

Julie Steiner avatar
Written by Julie Steiner
Updated over a week ago

Introduction

If you're new to Tactical Arbitrage, making sense of the main page -- called the dashboard -- can be a challenge at first.

"Where do I start?" you might be wondering.

Read on and you'll have your answer. 

By the end of this article, you'll know the 7 key sections on the dashboard. After that, you're ready for a deep dive into the fun stuff.

Dashboard overview

The dashboard is the main page. This is the page you see first after logging into your account. 

The dashboard has 7 sections. 

  1. Top buttons

  2. Side menu

  3. Profile

  4. Search manager

  5. Search panels

  6. ASIN tools

  7. Settings

Each section is briefly described below. Detailed descriptions and instructions are provided in other articles.

   

1.  Using the top buttons

  1. Scroll up to the top of the page.

  2. Click the logo to return here, to the dashboard from any page.

  3. Click the black circle to collapse the side menu bar. 

  4. Click the black circle again to the expand the side menu bar.

 

2.  Understanding the side menu bar

The black bar on the left side of the dashboard is the side menu bar. You'll find direct links here to all the tools in Tactical Arbitrage, many of which are also linked here in the dashboard.

For example, when you are on the site, click Dashboard on the top of the side menu bar and you'll come back to the main page.
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3.  Opening the Profile panel

The Profile panel displays your name along with account and invoice information.

You can personalize the profile display.

  1. Click MY PROFILE. A new panel displays.

  2. Enter a new name (optional).

  3. Click UPLOAD to copy a profile picture or company logo from your computer. (optional). The width of the picture you upload must be greater than the height. If the image is taller than wider, an upload error message displays.

  4. Click SAVE. The panel closes.

  • Note: If you decide to upload a profile picture, the image file should be less than 2mb and have an aspect ratio of 1:1 (52x52px at a minimum). Uploading a company logo, does not need to be 1:1 aspect ratio, but should also be under 2mb. 

  

4.  Reviewing the search manager

The Search Manager helps you track searches and search results. You can also look at search results using the View Data tool. 

  1. Go to the top of the dashboard and click QUEUED SEARCHES. The Search Manager page displays.

For more information, see:

  • Note: The Search Manager toolbar at the bottom of the dashboard also has a QUEUED button. 

 

5.  Understanding the search panels

Depending on your subscription, one or more search panels appear in the middle of the page. They are the boxes with double circles and three buttons. Search panels are the engines of your arbitrage business.

The image below shows all five search engines. These five panels are available to subscribers with the Full Suite tier. 

There are other subscription options:

  • Online Arbitrage tier: Product Search plus Reverse Search

  • Online Arbitrage + Wholesale tier: Product Search plus Reverse Search and Wholesale

  • Wholesale tier: Wholesale only

  • Flips tier: Amazon Flips plus Library 

 

Products

Search items from a large selection of online retailers.

Reverse

Find a product on Amazon and then search retailers to find a cheaper option. Buy the cheaper one and then sell it on Amazon. That's a reverse, in a nutshell.

Library

Look for new and used books that you can purchase from merchant fulfilled sellers to sell at a higher price with FBA. You can also search for used books from a number of used book retailers to sell on Amazon for a profit.

Wholesale

Search wholesalers for products. This tool is a bit different, as there are multiple ways to search, the most common being uploading a manifest or price list (Excel or CSV file) with data in a format that can be understood by Tactical Arbitrage. 

Other articles explain in detail how to use these five search methods.  

 

 5.1  Reading a search panel

Each search panel contains information and links.

  1. The green button in the top right corner indicates a search is currently in progress. The default is red, which means no searches are running.

  2. The outer circle graphically displays the number of products in your View Data page. The actual number is shown inside the circles just above View.

  3. The inner circle graphically displays the number of products on your Saved List. The actual number is shown inside the circles just above Saved.

The panel has three quick links buttons. Click a link and go to that page.

  • Search: Go to the search page for that tool.

  • View: Go to the View Data page and conduct your search results analysis.

  • Saved: Go to the Saved List and inspect the items you've set aside for a future look.

 

6.  Using ASIN Analysis Tools

The dashboard has two tools which let you scan Amazon for specific products and price points. These tools are: Product Variations and Tactical Edge.

  • Note: To use these tools, you'll need an ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Number. It's a 10 digit label with numbers and letters. Amazon uses ASINs to identify products on its platform. For example, B07GQT8879 is the ASIN for a USB microphone set.

To use these tools:

  1. Enter an ASIN number.

  2. Enter a price point to compare (optional).

  3. Click FETCH INFORMATION.

 

7.  Opening the settings page

This might be the most important page on the site. This is where you customize search settings just the way you like them. 

If you work by yourself, you probably don't need to activate the password feature. 

If other people have access to your account, like a virtual assistant, we urge you to password protect this page. This will keep VA's from learning your Amazon MWS keys or changing the global settings you have in place.

Each of the five settings are described in separate articles.

 

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