pass-through purchases via Amazon - reveal it!

[warthog1956]

I am posting this as a general flag and beef to see if we can't get a group-opinion notice to eBay about this issue. I have, I think, written to them before about this but haven't pursued it. What continues to bug me badly about buying stuff on eBay is the hidden practice of sellers simply doing a quick reorder of what you're buying over to Amazon, thence shipped direct to you from Amazon. I am to the point where I'm pretty much ready to cease buying anything through eBay, and have switched over to Etsy or Newegg or similar sites more and more for needed junk because I'm generally certain that the stuff will not be bought through Amazon. Once in a very blue moon I will buy something from Amazon but only if it's really really needed and can't be found anywhere else. Aside from that I am averse to buying from Amazon as are millions of other people now on an increasing basis, for all the known reasons.

To me, all eBay sellers should have it LOUDLY POSTED they are simply an "Amazon reseller" and that shipment will be via Amazon. Period. If you agree please confirm on this thread and maybe we'll get some reform. Thanks.

[wooden_flower]

@warthog1956 

'Drop shipping' by buying from amazon or any other retailer any selling an item here is against policy. So a seller can't state he is doing this. eBay knows that it happens, but must rely on buyers to report it.

It would be nice if a seller discloses his use of fulfillment by amazon - not drop shipping but having amazon hold his inventory and ship, but there's nothing to keep sellers from lying about it.

I always check prices on amazon, walmart, home depot, target and eBay. If the eBay price is higher by enough to cover the fees, then I do not buy it here to avoid the aggravation. I also check the seller's registration country - a seller in Sri Lanka or other country with item locations in the US is usually one of these unwanted drop shippers.

[warthog1956]

Hi wooden_flower, thanks for the info. Well for being against policy there sure are a hell of a lot of them doing it. How do you report it, and what would eBay exactly do? It's pathetic to me that someone would resort to drop-ship-ordering from Amazon just to make a few dimes and I can't get that religiously ired about it because I am not what I would call a steady "consoomer" of little household stuff, but halting this practice is one way to cut down on the Amazon empire and send a message. Cheers, WH

[wooden_flower · Accepted solution]

@warthog1956 

To report this activity, on this page select violated policy - https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022  then select other.  In the box write 'seller purchased from amazon and had them ship to me to fill my order'.

eBay doesn't tell us exactly how they punish such sellers, but we have had plenty of sellers ask here why all of a sudden they are not selling anything. It seems one step is to put these items at the bottom of search results 🙂

[warthog1956]

Aha! Great, thanks for the link, I will use it whenever it might happen again 🙂

[glorybells]

There’s also the possibility that the seller is simply storing their inventory with Amazon, and it’s shipped through Amazon even though they aren’t purchasing it there, but it’s already their inventory.

[warthog1956]

Thank you Glorybells - I guess that makes another reason not to buy through eBay, because I wouldn't ever be able to tell the diff would I? I commented to the seller before I did this community thread, telling them I wasn't crazy about the Amazon drop-ship, etc, but didn't get a comment back. So I take the silence as complicity. None of this is terribly important, like I say, there are lots of other sites now to buy misc junk through.