mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@andreyprince wrote:So much TDS in this thread. Do you also go out reporting every single other item on Ebay that you suspect is scam? Or are you the self-appointed Trumpers fighting super hero.
ROTFLMAO
But first, what is TDS?
My political opinions have nothing to do with this, nor should they. These listing break some rules that Ebay has set forth for all sellers. These listings could cause some buyers to have very bad buying experiences here and possibly cost them a large amount of money. Some of these sellers are actively try to STEAL from buyers offering them a pic of the shoes, not the shoes themselves.
It is fine if for you this doesn't matter nor do you wish to be involved. I take no issue with that.
When there are BILLIONS of listings on Ebay, of course I don't "go out reporting every single other item on Ebay that you suspect is scam". But when I find a listing that appears clearly break policy on this site and is likely intended to steal from a buyer, sure I report them.
I guess because there have been so many of these listings that you think the way you do. Not sure why as I never said I report them all. But you certainly are entitled to your opinion even if you are off base.
BTW, this has NOTHING to do with Trump. These sellers are selling these shoes FOR Trump, they are selling them for themselves. Maybe they will donate some to him, IDK. But this isn't about Trump, it is about sellers attempting to use this site to steal from others. If you are OK with that, that is your thing, not mine.
The meaning of the phrase "retail arbitrage" has evolved pretty rapidly.
It's based on the word "arbitrage" which actually means buying and selling something at the same time.
When people first started using the phrase "retail arbitrage", they meant offering something for sale on one platform, and then when it was purchased, the seller would go and buy the item somewhere else (for less, of course) and have it sent directly to the buyer. It's not exactly buying and selling simultaneously, but it's close. And it's taking advantage of differing prices for the same asset. This business model results in disappointed customers a lot of the time, because if the price difference swings the wrong way, then the seller typically cancels the sale rather than lose money on it. And when you're doing this with retail items, the supply is relatively unreliable, so a lot of times the item just isn't available any more when the seller tries to buy it to fulfill their transaction, meaning they have to cancel the sale again.
eBay doesn't allow this, but they don't use the phrase "retail arbitrage". Last time I checked, eBay policy doesn't allow a seller to sell something they don't actually have (either in-hand, or by a contract with a supplier), and then, after the sale, purchase the item from another retail source to fulfill the transaction.
Retail arbitrage, by that meaning, is not the same as drop-shipping. With drop-shipping, the seller has a contract with a supplier to fulfill their sales (which means the supplier stores the items, and ships them to the buyers). eBay allows drop-shipping, as long as the seller has a contract with the supplier to fulfill the sales. This (drop-shipping) is allowed, but the seller is held responsible for ensuring that the transactions are fulfilled. So if the supplier is not reliable, the seller will be held responsible for any cancelled or incorrect transactions. It's a difficult business model, but if a seller managed to find a reliable supplier, it can work very well.
What you're doing is not "arbitrage" at all, because you purchase things in advance and have them on hand before you offer them for sale. The "simultaneous/at the same time" part of the definition of "arbitrage" is not there. What you described is "buy low - sell high", which is a much better business model, as long as you anticipate the demand correctly. Much less risk of disappointed buyers also.
https://www.zonbase.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-amazon-retail-arbitrage/
Even if the word Arbitrage has some history regarding "simultaneous" it really doesn't change how the term is used by everybody. It has a completely accepted definition and Drop Shipping is not it. I think it's just some confusion that has been passed around this forum specifically.
@sapphire_studio wrote:I have noticed that on this forum a lot of people define Retail Arbitrage as drop shipping. Everywhere else I have seen that talks about reselling (like podcasts and YouTube Etc) refers to retail arbitrage as what you're saying where you simply buy new items for retail (instead of used items at the thrift) and sell them for a profit. So I always thought that I Retail Arbitraged beauty products ( that I have in my possession that I ship myself). It basically means acquiring your inventory at retail.
I've never wanted to really get into the debate here though because a lot of people refer to drop shipping as Retail Arbitrage on this forum for some reason (but I've heard it used hundreds and hundreds of times the "google" way on other platforms).
Some do define it differently than Ebay does. But for selling here, it is defined as : listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not allowed on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/drop-shipping?id=4176
So it is the act of listing the item FIRST, an item you do NOT own or have in your possession. Then when it item sells for you, you then purchase it from somewhere else and have it shipped to your buyer.
Dropshipping done correctly is within the Ebay rules, but it is a lot of work and can be very successful.
Drop shipping is when a seller has an AGREEMENT with a wholesaler to ship items directly to the seller's customers as the seller places orders with the wholesaler. The seller then creates listings for the times that the wholesaler has that they want to sell. The seller however needs to keep a close watch on the wholesalers inventory levels for everything the seller is selling on this site.
@buzzapparel wrote:Free market, let’s go complain about the $50,000 Honus Wagner card that sold for 2.8 million here?
I think you missed the point. As a seller Ebay has all kinds of rules that we must comply with. One of those rules is about Presale items. The listings we have been discussing here BREAK that rule or shatters it, depends on how you want to look at it.
Ebay's Presale rule is the item MUST ship to the buyer within 40 Business Days. These listings are no where near that timeframe.
Also some of the listings aren't even selling the shoes, they are actually selling PICTURES of the shoes. The devil is in the details.
