We need a way to avoid sellers from Amazon on Ebay

[folkvangr2012]

I avoid Amazon due to their unethical practices.  Worse, many Amazon sellers raise the price a dollar or more when they sell here.  It still arrives in the Amazon package, with an amazon receipt.  There is no current way to avoid purchasing from Amazon here on Ebay or easily block known Amazon sellers.  Today I found out directly that Ebay removes feedback at the Amazon seller's request if the buyer leaves a warning for others that the seller is selling from Amazon.  (The seller left me a nastygram letting me know).

If you also wish there were a way to avoid Amazon buyers before purchasing, please leave a note.

[mudshark61369]

@folkvangr2012,

There are many sellers who have items listed on ebay and other sites, whose items are stored at and shipped by Amazon using their Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) system which is completely ebay legal, as a drop shipping method.  What is not legal, is a seller buying an item on amazon using their Prime account, after you paid for it, and sending it as a "Gift".

Since using FBA is acceptable on ebay, one of those sellers can get a negative feedback removed. You could have posted a positive mentioning shipment from Amazon and it would have stayed. Chances are if you check the seller's profile now that there could be positive or neutral feedback mentioning people receiving items from Amazon.  That is about the only warning you would be able to get or give.

[eburtonlab]

The folks that are violating eBay policy by engaging in retail arbitrage are not likely to cooperate by voluntarily advertising that they are doing so.

Even if all the legitimate sellers that use Fulfillment By Amazon to ship items they already own cooperate and indicate that in their listings, buyers that want to avoid getting deliveries from Amazon will still need to take some active steps to ensure that they are not purchasing from sellers that use Amazon to deliver their items. This will be the case regardless of whatever new policy eBay implements, since sellers that are already choosing to violate one policy will not think twice about violating another.

Signs that a seller may be drop-shipping items from a retail site such as Amazon:

Examining seller feedback closely can often provide indications of that, as can noticing certain aspects of the seller's items for sale -- such as a limited assortment of multiple quantity listings that appear to have been copied at random from a catalog or other site, use of stock images, and free shipping of bulky items where it is not likely that an individual could pay for postage and still make money on the sale.

[gosimus · Accepted solution]

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@eburtonlab wrote:

sellers that are already choosing to violate one policy will not think twice about violating another.   

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@folkvangr2012- This is an excellent observation.  

[thedeletedscene]

I alway ask before completing the order. If they do not respond I don’t buy from them. It adds a layer of waiting time, but piece of mind is priceless. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

It is not necessarily retail arb, nor does retail arb violate Ebay policy.

Amazon FBA has a service called Multi-Channel Fulfillment. Amazon sellers can use Amazon's facilities and shipping to fulfill orders on other sites.

It is priced higher than if they were fulfilling an Amazon order.

They should be shipping using plain packaging, not Amazon packaging and that does not violate Ebay rules.

Amazon orders rarely include a packing slip or invoice, I have no clue what the paperwork in an MFC order is.

Sellers who have issues with their retail arb purchases on Ebay usually have them because of anti-counterfeit procedures.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @folkvangr2012 

We all have the right to our personal biases ... but I don't believe we have the right to expect others to aid in our discrimination based on these biases.

eBay sellers who purchase items from Amazon after they are bought on eBay are violating both eBay and Amazon's policies.  They should be REPORTED both to eBay and Amazon.

eBay sellers who list items on both eBay and Amazon should be left alone IMHO.  I recommend you pursue your vendetta against Amazon with others who feel similarly.  People should be allowed earn an honest living with any company they wish without others interfering.

[kathiec]

nor does retail arb violate Ebay policy.

Retail arbitrage does indeed violate eBay policy. You can read the full dropshipping policy here:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/drop-shipping?id=4176

[oddmanland]

Two of my recent purchases shipped from Amazon as a "gift." I would not have known I was being charged double what Amazon charges if not for the Amazon package and gift receipt. Reported both sellers to eBay but they both have listings up that are obviously Amazon.

[scve_75]

It seems to be more frequent in the last half year or so that I get a direct from "Amazon seller" package. I curse every single time. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@kathiec wrote:

nor does retail arb violate Ebay policy.

Retail arbitrage does indeed violate eBay policy. You can read the full dropshipping policy here:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/drop-shipping?id=4176

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That does not prohibit all retail arb.

Nor does it prohibit all dropshipping from retailers. It prohibits drop ships which can be identified as sourced from a retailer. The sloppy unprofessional dropshipping.

Almost always the buyer is lacking in any sense of what they should be paying for an item if they order something which comes that way. They are complicit by purchasing an item for more than its street price.

Ebay has seen a big drop in orders for mass market merchandise which is sold by Amazon because Ebay sellers of the items are not price competitive. But there are always some fools ...

[krazzykats]

Everyone is selling to make money.  If someone chooses to use drop shipping as their method, so what?  They do their thing, and I do mine...😁

[blueberrys_home]

As a buyer on the eBay e-Commerce platform, I have been greatly satisfied

But there are some purchases, where the eBay seller has placed the fulfillment of the order with Amazon or Walmart. These companies actually compete with eBay for the consumer marketplace, and have their own e-Commerce platforms for shopping.

If I want to buy on Amazon or Walmart venues, I would have chosen to sign-in as a guest, or create an account with one of those online e-Commerce platforms.

But I have chosen to stay with eBay for my online purchases.

The problems that I have experienced with these drop-shipping services, (Amazon or Walmart) is that they don’t provide a tracking number through eBay, so I cannot track my purchase. Also I don’t receive any messages through eBay messaging system about the status of the order.

Instead I receive SMS messages on my cellphone, informing me of the status of the order. Included with that message a “link” inviting me to visit a website to learn more about my order. (I don’t click on those links in the SMS messages, for security precautions.

SMS messages can pose to be from someone that really is not who they say they are, and the message is intended to get the attention of the receiver of the message, and offering a “link” such that if the receiver clicks on it, it will take them to a website to find out more about something.

Then what happens when the receiver of the message clicks on the link, it takes then the receiver of the SMS message to a rogue site where they are infected with a virus, or a Trojan program, or the website visited is fake, asking for more personal information by those wishing to commit identity theft.

Even if the links are valid, clicking on them to go to another site to learn more about my order is circumventing the eBay messaging system!

THIS CAN BE AVOIDED BY KEEPING THE TRANSACTION BEING HANDLED WITHIN THE EBAY SYSTEM. TAKING THINGS OUTSIDE EBAY INVITES TROUBLE!

After I have received my order, eBay is updated through the seller, as they too have been updated by the drop-shipper. But while my order is in transit, I am in the dark about the status of the order.

When the order has finally been received, then eBay is updated with this information which then I am notified through my eBay account.

I will try to be more diligent before ordering from a seller on eBay, to ascertain that the seller is not working with Amazon or Walmart for order fulfillment.