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transparency by eBay sellers
Why is it not required that sellers disclose that they are a "pass thru" seller and actually purchasing the item from a third party ie. Amazon and drop shipping the item to the buyer's address? I use eBay as an alternative source for products, and most times it now is delivered in an Amazon box! If I wanted to buy it from Amazon, I would do that.
7 comments
gosimus
Mentor1 year ago@nie12aae
< Why is it not required that sellers disclose that they are ... drop shipping >
Some sellers do already own the item they're listing and only store it in an Amazon warehouse – maybe the seller's garage is too small – and then, when it sells, personnel at that warehouse ship the item. The seller pays a fee for these services, which is called Fulfillment by Amazon, and it is different from drop shipping.
nie12aae
OP1 year agoI am familiar with that business model too. My question is, why are those details not disclosed to me as a buyer before I make a purchase? I can see that information on Amazon but it is hidden on eBay.
gosimus
Mentor1 year ago@nie12aae
< My question is, why are those details not disclosed to me >
I didn't know the answer to that question. I looked for eBay announcements and didn't find any. So I asked google, you can usually get some pretty good answers there. The following is the response that google's artificial intelligence provided.
eBay management doesn't disclose which sellers are drop shipping because it's not considered necessary information for buyers, and doing so could potentially harm sellers by unfairly stigmatizing a practice that is allowed on the platform when done correctly, as long as sellers adhere to eBay's drop shipping policies and ensure customer satisfaction; it's primarily up to the buyer to research and evaluate sellers based on their listing details, feedback, and shipping information to determine if drop shipping is likely involved.
Nota bene that the previous is not a reflection of my opinion, it came from google. Don't get mad at me if you don't like being told that (1) it's none of your business, &/or (2) it's up to you to find out for yourself. 😀
nie12aae
OP1 year agoI appreciate your insights and research. It turns out that your answers are as I suspected. eBay has strategically elected not to require the disclosers and pushes the burden of proof off on the buyer. I will have to do more diligence in the future. My inquiries are mostly personal. For reasons Amazon cannot explain to me, they cannot deliver a package to my residence. They deliver it to someone else's residence every time. My delivery address is correct and the brown and white/orange trucks deliver all my non Amazon packages to me correctly. Amazon packages never make it to me. For this reason, I do not order from Amazon. I used to use eBay as an alternative outlet for buying products. After resent events involving eBay, I now will do all my shopping thru Walmart. They always deliver to me, and a lot of times , their pricing is better than eBay. Just my 3 cents. I used to love eBay for buying. The love is gone now!
gosimus
Mentor1 year ago@nie12aae
< They deliver it to someone else's residence every time >
Have they misdelivered the items to the same wrong address every time, or do they scatter them all about, like strewing seed on the field?
nie12aae
OP1 year agoIt's the same addresses. It's more than one. Ive talked to drivers, talked to customer service, and I leave detailed delivery instructions. Still it never gets to my house. The blue truck cannot figure it out. USPS cant always figure it out. It is a frustrating geographical oddity.
eburtonlab
Mentor1 year agoeBay has strategically elected not to require the disclosers and pushes the burden of proof off on the buyer.
Even if eBay made it a requirement for sellers to disclose that, some sellers are engaging in retail arbitrage -- waiting until an item is purchased from them on eBay before placing a retail order through a third party -- which is against eBay policy.
Sellers that are already violating one eBay policy are unlikely to think twice about violating another policy to hide that fact.
So, to an extent, it will always be incumbent on buyers to take additional steps to identify sellers that are drop shipping and avoid them if that is what buyers want to do.