Sellers not disclosing their actual location
Summary: ironskulls shared a story about an experience with a seller on eBay who claimed to be in California, but the product shipped from an international location, requiring them to return the item to Canada at a high cost. adamcartwright suggested contacting eBay about the issue before resolving the case. kathiec advised that eBay doesn't allow such misrepresentation and noted that sellers can't require returns to different locations. kensgiftshop mentioned the seller might be dropshipping from Aliexpress, which is prohibited. eburtonlab recommended using filters and checking delivery dates and seller profiles to better assess the actual shipping locations before purchasing.
I am wondering how it is eBay approvable (maybe it is not) of sellers noting they are selling from a specific location, more specifically, at a certain country, and that not being where they are actually located or shipping from. Example;
I made a purchase from a seller that claimed, per their store location, to be in California but when I received the product, it came in an international "speedy pack". I had an issues with the product and when I reached to the seller for a possible return, they sent a label (NOT pre-paid) from Ontario Canada. So my cost to try and send back was way more than the purchase price ($23 to send back on a $14 product). After much deliberation I had to finally settle on a partial refund of no more than 50%, for a product I was just throwing away anyway.
I do not have an issue with international sellers, I have bought products from overseas, but there was always a disclosure they were actually an international store. When the seller does not disclose, it is deceiving to a buyer if a refund or return is requested.
Wondering if eBay is aware of this and/or if it is acceptable.
mudshark61369
·1 week ago@ironskulls ,
Trying to weed out China based sellers is hard because they often ship from warehouses in the U.S. Though sometimes those locations are out of stock, so they come from China. However, there are things to look for on their listing pages and in their feedback profile that gives them away. Open the link below and read the reply by mudshark61369 to learn what to look for.
https://community.ebay.com/forum/buying-57914/topic/why-is-ebay-backing-china-sellers-with-a-lie-in-there-post-there-location-171054/#M526369
eburtonlab
·1 week ago@ironskulls
Probably the best way to deal with sellers that misrepresent item location is to avoid them whenever possible. The "US only" item location filter selects items that are listed as being in the United States; however, as you have seen, not every seller that lists items in the US ships from the US as they should.
Before ordering you should check the estimated delivery dates -- that is a good indication of how far away items actually ship from. Generic shipping options or DHL may be a sign of an international shipment. Also, going to a seller's profile page or feedback page will tell you where the seller's account was registered. Although some overseas sellers do use US warehouses to ship their items (and some registered US-sellers may employ drop-shippers), if a seller is registered overseas, that raises the likelihood of an item shipping from outside the US, particularly for multiple quantity commodity items. Checking seller feedback closely will often reveal if there are problems with long shipping times, canceled orders or other supply chain warning signs, particularly if buyers that encounter problems with drop-shippers leave feedback indicating that.
kensgiftshop
·1 week agoThat seller is dropshipping from Aliexpress, which is not allowed.
kathiec
·1 week agoA couple things to know: eBay does care about sellers misrepresenting their location. But the location listed in the listing is the item location, not the seller's location. This is particularly relevant with sellers who are dropshipping.
Second, eBay prohibits a seller from requiring a return to be sent somewhere other than the item location in the listing. If they do you can open a not as described return.
adamcartwright
·1 week agoI would have contacted eBay about that location deceit before resolving the case, if I were you.