Caught an eBayer dropshipping

[traditonalproducts]

Purchased 2 wheels for my lawnmower last Saturday. The Amazon package arrived Thursday. Item was packed and delivered by Amazon.  Filed a complaint. In addition their eBay site states no returns. OK right.. Amazing how these individuals keep selling on eBay but I guess its hard to monitor 1000's of eBay sites unless one files a complaint. Good luck out there. 

[gurlcat]

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@orangehound wrote:

A common way that you can identify a drop-shipper is the price you pay on eBay will be higher than what it is on Amazon ... and, a lot of the time, the seller will be from a third world country.

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Sorry but you say that like there's only one listing price of each thing on eBay and on Amazon, and like you can actually tell what country a seller is from on eBay.  Neither of those things are true.  

@universalscreenarts @ajs_coins_and_alchemy @itsjustasprain 
I have yet to see anyone give DEFINITIVE, IRREFUTABLE evidence you could use to identify and report against-policy sellers.  I'm not having the vocabulary argument about "dropshipping" vs. "retail arbitrage", as it does not matter, just the kind that we all know violates policy.  I am also not asking how to identify such sellers before purchase; I know how to reduce the likelihood of buying from them but it's not foolproof, so I want to know how to i.d. them when the item arrives.  

[gurlcat]

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@b86fiero wrote:

It's very annoying to buy from an eBay seller then receive the merchandise from a different site.  Happened to me too many times so I cancelled my Amazon Prime membership and told Amazon why. 

I prefer to purchase on eBay to support our fellow sellers who contribute to keeping eBay alive.

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Agree 100% and then some.  I am opposed to that company for numerous reasons, I don't want them getting one penny of my money, and yes the experience of thinking one is buying on eBay but receiving something from Amazon (or Walmart for that matter) is a very bad one for eBay.  Nobody likes feeling tricked.  How could it not result in some portion of those buyers leaving eBay for that reason?  Like why SHOULD they buy here?  

I think it's extremely stupid of eBay to allow FBA, if only because of the confusion it creates and how hard (if even possible) it is to tell whether a purchase will be, or was, pro-policy FBA versus anti-policy dropshipping.  

By the way, being tricked into business with a company one may prefer to avoid is just part of the bad buyer experience.  It also dramatically increases the likelihood of sales being canceled for out-of-stock, wrong item shipped, wrong quantity shipped, excessively slow shipping, etc.  Just one of the many reasons I don't mess with Amazon is how often those things happened to me, often things I purchased for gifts or time-sensitive projects ... and that was when I ordered them DIRECTLY from their website!  So their listings being copied and pasted here just adds to that chaos!  

[traditonalproducts]

maybe I like using ebay not Amazon. What does that have to do with it.

[traditonalproducts]

I don't believe I overreacted nor filed a frivolous complaint. You are assuming they are in the right & I assume they are in the wrong. My tracking within eBay does not even show it shipped nor I received it. There is a tracking number but when I click it it states "we could not find the number you are looking for". Here is the supposedly tracking number:  TBA313467978859. The package comes with no shipping receipt, as I always provide one, no return address basically nothing. Regardless of all this, I will let eBay sort this out. I would have gotten a hit from eBay for not shipping out. 

[flexmotoring]

Just FYI, you can tell what country a seller is from on eBay. If you click on the feedback profile on desktop view it will tell you what country they're registered in. You would be surprised how many Chinese sellers are on eBay. The mega sellers are mostly Chinese in our industry. They have a huge pricing advantage being in the country they make the stuff because regulations and labor are too costly here. Can sell of 1/3rd our prices, sometimes even more. 

On Amazon you can also see their location by the address displayed on seller profile.

The only ones you can't tell would be Chinese who have registered a US based business. Most of them are out of California due to the port there. The remainder are mostly incorporated out of Delaware

[traditonalproducts]

well I guess u r right here. I do now. Regardless,  there is a tracking number but when I click it it states "we could not find the number you are looking for". Here is the supposedly tracking number:  TBA313467978859.

In addition, it indicates my item has not shipped nor has been delivered. I have never cross shipped utilizing Amazon so I would think if eBay shows no shipment after 5 days they would get dinged.

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

Good question. I don't know how to identify and honestly not sure that I would/should care if I received something from the violation type seller. Is there a reason I should care??? ... other than I may have paid more than I could have??? 

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

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@traditonalproducts wrote:

I don't believe I overreacted nor filed a frivolous complaint. You are assuming they are in the right & I assume they are in the wrong. My tracking within eBay does not even show it shipped nor I received it. There is a tracking number but when I click it it states "we could not find the number you are looking for". Here is the supposedly tracking number:  TBA313467978859. The package comes with no shipping receipt, as I always provide one, no return address basically nothing. Regardless of all this, I will let eBay sort this out. I would have gotten a hit from eBay for not shipping out. 

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You're entitled to your opinion but you are clearly making some (bad) assumptions. I wouldnt report sellers for things based on assumptions.

TBA tracking number is a Amazon tracking number. Amazon was the carrier. You say no shipping or delivery updates but they uploaded the TBA number? They did their job, they uploaded the tracking number. If eBay's tracking integration failed thats eBay's fault or Amazon's fault not the seller. TBA is a legit number, just sounds like eBay's integrated services failed to communicate between the servers.

"The package comes with no shipping receipt" .... seriously? That's not a policy violation. You choose to provide one, no oje is required to. I don't.

No return address? Uhh its fulfilled by Amazon. Its coming from an Amazon warehouse. You don't need a return address. Why do you feel that YOU need the seller's return address?

You wouldve gotten a hit for not uploading the tracking. This seller uploaded tracking.

You're making a heck of a lot of complaints that, again, sound frivolous to me. If you don't like the seller's actions, don't buy from them. Nothing you've stated is any evidence of  a violation of eBay policy ... I would just mind your own business and not buy from this seller if their practices upset you so much

[sumsum70]

                maybe I like using ebay not Amazon. What does that have to do with it.

What it has to do with is you are filing complaints against a seller who probably didn't do anything wrong. If your mower parts came from one the three most recent feedbacks you received as a buyer, those are all mega-sellers who appear to be decent sellers for the most part.

You know why they are mega-sellers? Because they don't rely on ONLY eBay to make money. That is probably the dumbest thing anyone selling new merchandise could do. So you like to support eBay - guess what, you did. Your package came from an Amazon warehouse, but eBay still got their 12.9% (or more) cut of the proceeds.

There is a lot anyone could complain about on eBay, but getting what you purchased within the time you were supposed to get it is not one of them.

[itsjustasprain]

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@gurlcat wrote:
I'm not having the vocabulary argument about "dropshipping" vs. "retail arbitrage", as it does not matter, just the kind that we all know violates policy.

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It does matter. It is ALWAYS better to know the meaning of words getting tossed around because otherwise the listener will eventually realize that you do not know what you are complaining about. You may have a valid complaint about retail arbitrage (which Ebay does not allow) but if you go at it while complaining about dropshipping (which Ebay DOES allow) then you are simply shooting yourself in the foot.

Look at the OP for instance - his title for this thread is that he 'caught' an Ebayer dropshipping when in fact dropshipping is fine. The REAL issue here is whether the seller also owns the account on Amazon that sent him his order.

[inhawaii]

You got what you wanted

at the price you wanted to pay

in a timely manner.

I would be upset too.

[glorybells]

@ajs_coins_and_alchemy ,

 I totally agree with you.  That’s an Amazon tracking number.  If it’s not working for OP, it could be a software integration or OS error.

The bottom line is, there’s no solid, irrefutable evidence that the seller did anything wrong.  There’s every likelihood that the transaction was within eBay policy.

[eburtonlab]

What I don't understand is how sellers can use their Prime membership to sell an item cheaper on ebay than it is on Amazon.

That might be a case of a new seller trying to drum up business by selling at a loss to get some feedback and experience. Or a veteran seller trying to quickly make up for some bad transactions that have dropped the seller into Below Standard status.

Or it might be a triangulation scam where the "seller" is paying Amazon with a stolen credit card.

[reallynicestamps]

Here is the supposedly tracking number:  TBA313467978859.

The seller , in a Dispute for Not Received , could upload that number, which will show delivery, and win the Dispute.

That this seller did not do this, which would require manual uploading, is really not a problem unless there is a Dispute, in which case uploading it at that point wins the Dispute.

[gurlcat]

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@ajs_coins_and_alchemy wrote:

Good question. I don't know how to identify and honestly not sure that I would/should care if I received something from the violation type seller. Is there a reason I should care??? ... other than I may have paid more than I could have??? 

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I asked because I care.  I don't expect anyone else to.