Possibly, but this also works in the "real" world. For instance buying a car from a car/police auction for cheap($50-$500) and selling it for more, like say, bluebook value of 6500, and net yourself a profit of 6000. Stuff like that works, but you just need to know how to make it work for you.
Also, buying stuff from retailers usually isnt cheap, because they set their own prices on things. But buying directly from a wherehouse or something is cheaper. For example a FujiFilm Digital Camera from Best Buy(Retailer) may be around $400, where as a wherehouse or some other place like the one in the Cow Palace here in the Bay Area, held just about every weekend, would be around around $150, or at least 25-40% cheaper,