drop shippers have ruined my buying
Summary: flashfyre shared concerns about packages being misdelivered due to unvetted couriers involved in drop shipping on eBay, especially in rural areas. They called for a "verified shipper" badge on eBay to ensure legitimate delivery practices. Other participants provided advice on checking sellers' feedback to identify drop shippers and recommended filing chargebacks for fake tracking scams. They agreed on the problematic nature of unvetted couriers and discussed potential solutions like a verified shipping system. Concerns about security and the reliability of sellers were a common theme.
Earlier this month I noticed a disturbing trend. I would receive an alert that my package had arrived but it was not on my porch.
Out of three deliveries, all three showed official delivery photos (UPS or FedEx) to a nondescript building in my zip code, not my home.
1/3 actually arrived hours later.
2/3 never arrived.
1/2 lost item sellers sent me an unofficial photo of a cardboard box on my porch, not the much larger item purchased, which would have matched the official box photo.
My conclusion : eBay is now infected with some type of drop shipper, b2b shipping system that uses unvetted couriers for the final delivery.
I live in a rural area so the idea that an unvetted courier is going to drive 40 miles to deliver a package for a couple bucks just means they will take or discard the package.
Recently I found some NOS parts I wanted, so I asked the seller if he is a drop shipper or using the official eBay end-to-end labeling. He is a drop shipper.
So I guess the large commercial stores are still reliable, but everyone else is now suspect, and I just don't have the time or patience to ask a seller about their shipping practices and assume they are honest.
At this time I consider the eBay platform unusable until some type of "eBay verified shipper" badge is implemented -- no unvetted couriers.
1950rek
·2 weeks agoflashfyre, as long as fees are collected, cheerleaders will make excuses.
Problem is, you can't stick a flower in an ash can and call it a vase...
pickapaper
·2 weeks agoPlease explain what you mean by "unvetted couriers". Is someone other than USPS, Fed-X, or UPS delivering your packages?
If having people on your property is a problem for you, then it seems the logical conclusion would be to either not buy things on line, or if you buy a lot of stuff, maybe you could rent a post office box in town and have things sent there.
flashfyre
OP2 weeks agoAn unvetted courier typically gets a "gig economy" job through an online app. They get a couple of bucks per package.
The so-called "last mile" of shipping is often the bulk of a shipping estimate.
burky79
·2 weeks agoYes, I bought an item last Christmas that went down exactly as you describe. I purchased it because the item location was listed as just a few hours away so I was sure it would arrive on time but it ended up being shipped from China and changed hands to another courier when it arrived. Then a "last mile" delivery driver (I forget the company name) left it on my porch at 2AM in a bag.
flashfyre
OP2 weeks agoYes, very similar issue. I wish it hadn't happened twice in two weeks.
I feel for the sellers who likely, unknowingly bought into the scheme.
Very disturbing to see official, legitimate fedex / ups delivery photos of some random building within my zip code, and eBay happily marking the package as "delivered".
burky79
·2 weeks ago · Edited"UniUni" is the company I was trying to remember. Basically the equivalent of a Grubhub driver. Luckily I think their tracking is what was used on eBay, any maybe it was updated at some point. I don't recall. It all just seemed like way too many questionable steps for something to have gone wrong.
Also, at least in my case I don't think it was drop shipping. I think it was a seller in China pretending to be in the U.S. But I did try drop shipping on eBay years ago from a reputable service and regretted it. Way too many risks with items going out of stock unless you keep a personal inventory just in case. And the competition was so great that you barely make anything.
kensgiftshop
·2 weeks agoChecking the sellers feedback will sometimes let you know if they are dropshipping.
The last seller you left feedback for is dropshipping from Walmart and probably other retail sites.
flashfyre
OP2 weeks agoI doubt large companies like walmart or amazon carry the kind of NOS items I search for on eBay.
Also walmart and amazon use legitimate couriers. The 1/3 package that made it through originated from a city hundreds of miles away from the seller and not a major retailer.
My guess is the seller has bought into some kind of pallet busting b2b scheme. They seemed genuinely confused by the situation.
pickapaper
·2 weeks agoWhen you do not receive items and tracking shows they were delivered somewhere else and the package is the wrong size, you have probably been the victim of the "fake tracking" scam.
You cannot file an "Item not Received" claim on eBay because tracking will show that something was delivered, even though not correct.
Your best bet is to go to your payment source such as your credit card or Paypal and file a chargeback. Tell them you are the victim of a fake tracking scam.
In the meantime, it is recommended that you vet your sellers better before buying from them. Look at their feedback to see if they have any negatives and if they responded, to see if there is any indication of problems with the seller. Look for any tell-tale signs that the seller is not a good seller.
flashfyre
OP2 weeks agoThere was no problem with the two refunds, but I am not going to keep struggling with this.
I do not want unvetted couriers on my property, especially the porch pirate who took a picture of a small, empty box on my porch.
The thought of my purchase culminating by leading a porch pirate directly to my property and into my neighborhood is kind of disturbing.
The sellers seem genuinely astonished and have high ratings. My guess is they have bought into some kind of arbitrage b2b scheme, not of their design, maybe part of the "pallet liquidator" craze seen on youtube.
The scheme might actually work in urban areas, where an unvetted courier can deliver a couple dozen packages within a couple hours.
janet9988
·2 weeks agoThanks for letting us other buyers and sellers know.
mudshark61369
·2 weeks ago@flashfyre ,
You can avoid sellers who drop ship by opening their feedback profile page. The last seller you received feedback from has several negative and neutral comments saying items came from Walmart. Most of the very high feedback number sellers are drop shippers and on their profile pages you will see feedback for all sorts of unrelated items Auto parts, Vitamins, Garage door lubricant, Songbird feed cakes... etc. If many of their feedback are for Private listings they are very likely China based.
No matter what a seller's feedback percentage is check their profile page. Some very high volume sellers have 99%+ ratings, but with hundreds of negative/neural comments. A low volume or occasional seller can have a low percentage for just one negative.
Getting to a sellers feedback profile page has become harder than just clicking on their feedback number. Now you have to:
Scroll down a listing page until you see the seller's username in a large font. To the right it will be a few comments, and under them a See All Feedback button. Click on it. On the page that opens you will see the following line above some comments.
Click on the switch back to classic view button. That will show you the seller's country of registry and has the box with the number's of neutral and negative feedback a seller has received. Those numbers can be clicked on to read only those comments. To see their most recent comments,
Once the classic page opens in the same location as the Switch back... button is:
Click to change it to Most recent otherwise you may see comments from Last 6 months or over a year ago first.
flashfyre
OP2 weeks agowalmart uses legitimate end to end shipping.
The sellers have probably bought into some kind of pallet busting scheme that tries to go cheap for the last mile, hence the large number of positive feedbacks if the recipient lives in an urban area and the cheap courier can deliver dozens of packages within hours.
The sellers seem genuinely confused by tracking that proves delivery but is not here.
The real fix is an eBay "end to end seller" badge where the seller agrees to use a legitimate shipping label.
UPS and Fedex already have a means to enter an address and validate the endpoint of a tracking number. That needs to be tested by eBay -- not just the zip code.