eBay

richard1rst · ‎10-19-2022

There is a particular wholesaler (I know we can not name and shame) from whom I have bought inventory over time running well in 5 figures. In the middle of 2019 they opened a store here on eBay in their own name. They are selling goods at less than the price that they charged me wholesale. They claim they are closeouts. But they are not closeouts to me - I still have some in stock that now I am hard pressed to sell. Which is at least one small reason sales are down.

For example, there are coffee mugs that they wholesaled at $5-$6 each that they are selling here $3.65 WITH FREE SHIPPING !. A coffee mug properly prepared for shipping weighs 1 pound plus. Standard shipping would be $8-$10. They are not even covering their own cost. How in the world do you compete with that?

I have to wonder how many other of my suppliers are doing the same thing - especially if they were smart enough to at least mask their true name.

They are, of course, free to run their business any way they wish. Just as I am free to stop buying from them - which I have done. That explains the phone calls I am getting from their sales desk asking why they haven’t heard from me in a while. When I explained they seemed surprise at the news. Their own company is undercutting their own commissioned sales people?

Before you make that next purchase you might want to check to see if your wholesalers are doing the same to you.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

hartungcards · ‎10-19-2022

You could always buy up their closeouts, which would take the ones you can't compete with off the market.

richard1rst · ‎10-19-2022

In theory that is fine but there are 467 listings each with quantities. And that would only encourage them to list more and it becomes an never ending cycle.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

hartungcards · ‎10-19-2022

Well, then you have two choices.

1) Lower your prices to compete with them, or...

2) Don't even try to compete with them.

Cheaper stuff than what you're trying to sell shows up on here all the time. It comes with the territory, and it happens to everybody. You either react to it or just ignore it.

wastingtime101 · ‎10-19-2022

This is not directly related, but it's adjacent to your OP.

I have mostly stopped selling at Amazon because every time I listed a product there that did well, sold like gangbusters for $30 a pop, Amazon would source the same product and sell it themselves at $15. It not only killed my Amazon sales, but had a direct effect on my eBay sales where I had the item listed for $24 (for some reason I could always get higher prices at AZ than eBay). I couldn't compete and didn't want Amazon to keep killing the online market for my products, so I removed most of my business from Amazon's marketplace.

Not sure why your supplier would list 2# mugs for $3.65 free ship instead of just marking the wholesale price down and selling them off in bulk to their wholesale customers. Would love to hear their logic behind that decision.

GLORIOUS!

bashort · ‎10-19-2022

I have found buying from a wholesaler to resell on ebay to be near impossible, if it is not them retailing themselves then it is that the big players get so much better of a deal because of volume. And then you have map, oddly things sold by Amazon appear to be exempt from MAP. Mostly the margins are so thin that it is just not worth it.

gloryglorygifts · ‎10-19-2022

I know that one of my wholesalers pays for ads on here. If I do a search for the items that I've bought from them the ad is blatantly obvious under all the listings that pop up on each page search. I pretty much stopped purchasing from them and now stick with the ones that I know I'm not in direct competition with on here. Yes, there are other vendors on here that sell the same products, but I'm pretty sure they aren't my wholesalers because of the location of the items. I hate when I sse ads right in the middle of my listings or promoted items that are the same under neath them. This place can be very frustrating.

meme6253 · ‎10-19-2022

It's DOG EAT DOG!!

chapeau-noir · ‎10-19-2022

One wholesale lot I purchased sent me nearly a gaylord full of Amazon rejects under the guise if "brand name clothing". Weird unsalable Chinese and Korean super cheap stuff that even I couldn't move, and I'm good at moving unknown brands and Asian market items.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Wherever law ends, tyranny begins" -John Locke

aqeeqsouq · ‎10-19-2022

@richard1rst

Are they (The wholesaler) selling their items in wholesale or in retail??

("Winter Is Coming")

richard1rst · ‎10-19-2022

@aqeeqsouq wrote:
@richard1rst

Are they (The wholesaler) selling their items in wholesale or in retail??

They are selling them one at a time, openly to anyone on eBay which is to say exactly the same way any of us sell our goods. BUT they are selling for far less than wholesale prices. But where wholesale pricing usually requires a minimum quantity to get the price they, as mentioned, are selling one at a time to anyone.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

johnrj1226 · ‎10-19-2022

Guess your wholesaler was a pretty good seller. Some days you win, some days you don't in a free market economy.

"I have the right to remain silent but I didn't have the ability." Ron White, Fritch, Texas
"Stay away from negative people, they have a problem for every solution." A. Einstein
"The Devil made me do it!" - Flip Wilson
"If the band can only play loud - they ain't no good - peps too!" J.R. Johnson

aqeeqsouq · ‎10-19-2022

@richard1rst

@richard1rst wrote:
@aqeeqsouq wrote:
@richard1rst

Are they (The wholesaler) selling their items in wholesale or in retail??
They are selling them one at a time, openly to anyone on eBay which is to say exactly the same way any of us sell our goods. BUT they are selling for far less than wholesale prices. But where wholesale pricing usually requires a minimum quantity to get the price they, as mentioned, are selling one at a time to anyone.

A Wholesaler who "officially" registered as wholesale business, Is it legal for them to retailing their inventory beside wholesaling (in United States)??

("Winter Is Coming")

coolections · ‎10-19-2022

My guess is most all wholesalers eventually do close outs and sell cheap cheap cheap. There are some sellers that sell things for 1/4rth of other sellers all the time. One reason why smart buyers search lowest first and skip default. It is what it is as Ebay is a free marketplace.

maxine*j · ‎10-19-2022

@aqeeqsouq wrote:
@richard1rst

Are they (The wholesaler) selling their items in wholesale or in retail??

Retail. At one time in the U.S., the commercial code made a clear distinction btween wholesalers and retailers and what each could, and could not do, in commerce. That began to fall apart with Price Club and similar outfits which got around the issues by having "memberships." Now, it's a complete free-for-all and, yes, so-called wholesalers sell wholesale to anyone and everyone, while also selling directly to consumers in the retail marketplace. It's race to the bottom.

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