Having some issues using a POD integration

[Anonymous]

I just starting using Printful integrated with my Etsy shop and I've, so far, been very happy with it. It's a great way for us creative types to get our stuff out there to a larger base. When I learned I could integrate with eBay, I jumped on the chance since I have a store here and I love selling on eBay. Well, since eBay considers anything  related to dropshipping to be all kinds of shady there are immediate restrictions:, a cute little yellow flag warning that shipping could take up to six weeks, (wrong, this is an American company that most certainly does no such thing.) I understand eBay being cautious with dropshipping since a lot of places are overseas and are notoriously unreliable. I do wish eBay would update their policies to exclude Print On Demand services based in North America from being painted with the same brush as those that are strictly dropshippers from overseas.

Also, we are precluded from checking off the little box that says immediate payment. I don't even understand why that's an issue but there is no customization allowed.

Look, I know dropshipping from overseas is a huge business and I know how long it takes to have stuff delivered, I've been known to shop on Wish. I just think there could be an easing up on some of these restrictions if using a domestic Print On Demand service. Wrongly telling customers their item could take up to six weeks automatically removed any chance of holiday sales.

Anyone else have any experience with this sort of thing? I'd like to hear your thoughts please.

[Anonymous]

Just a quick update, it occurs to me that I'm registered on eBay Canada. I wonder if that makes a difference.

[slippinjimmy]

It seems to me you might be conflating POD (print on demand) with Pre-Sales.

Lead times for POD if you are using a good service should be VERY short, pre-sales on the other hand can be up to 30 days before the product release.

eBay has no problem with dropshipping or dropshippers, pre-sales on the other hand cause no end of problems because many buyers don't understand them.

The warning flag appears for ANY listing that has a handling time greater than 3 days, has nothing to do with dropshipping, pre-sales or POD. Also doesn't matter that you are in Canada because you are showing a US item location. What does effect the delivery estimate is that you indicate "economy" shipping, if you change that to "standard" the delivery estimate will be reduced, if you change the handling time to 3 days the flag will go away.

You can set the handling time and delivery method (economy, standard, express etc.) at the item level so if you can ship some items faster those items can have a shorter handling time while others that you might be shipping from another source can have a longer handling time or different shipping service level.

You just need to specify handling and a shipping level that you can actually live up to.

[slippinjimmy]

Well, since eBay considers anything  related to dropshipping to be all kinds of shady there are immediate restrictions:

It's only related to new sellers, regardless of your business model all new sellers have limits and restriction, if you apply for an increase, eBay may ask for more information about your products, if you mention dropshipping (in any form) you are sending a red flag for potential issues.

It's because every day thousands of new sellers who simply don't have a clue what they are doing sign up because of some bogus get rich by dropshipping scam, a business plan that 9 times out of 10 will go down in flames causing grief for buyers and for eBay.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for responding. I'm not new, I've had my shop for a little over a year now and it so far has a good rating. I work really hard to keep customers happy, like most other sellers of course. I'm not sure if I can change the postal times , ebay won't let me change anything else from my Printful listings but it's good to know its not because I'm on eBay Ca. Print on demand works very much like dropshipping, in fact they are dropshippers but they are not overseas and the biggest difference is you design something, like tee shirts, integrate your store and they do the rest. I would also like to know why I cannot check off the little box for immediate payment. I really do appreciate your help thank you.

Oh and I hear you about the get rich quick stuff for new sellers. I learned that lesson the hard way too about a year ago. Those youtubers make it sound sooooo easy.

[Anonymous]

Nope, it won't even let me make the changes the system suggests. When I went to revise, there were suggestions of adding "type" and "water resistant" but it won't let me do that either nor will it let me make the changes to shipping you suggested. The error message says something about inventory based listings. Not sure what that means or what I can do about it. Help please?

[Anonymous]

Let me rephrase that, does anyone have any other suggestions please?

[Anonymous]

Sorry it's a bit frustrating when people assume you're an ignorant amateur who doesn't understand the difference between types of platforms but I may not have explained myself very well either. Printful is a POD and dropshipping service. Their deliver time is short, so far any of the orders I have put through Etsy have been under two weeks. Their handling time is around five days from submission to printing, cut and sew and shipping out. They're great about notifications when the item ships and the customer gets it just a few days later.

However they are new to eBay integratioin so perhaps they've been assumed to be like the rest of the overseas dropshippers, slow and unreliable, well they're not. I believe eBay should take another look at domestic POD services because you can bet if one is using eBay it won't be long before others follow. The thing I love about using a Print On Demand service is, for artists and creative types such as myself, it's a way to supplement our income and get our designs out there.

I was already selling on eBay for over a year now and I have a good rating but having my POD products flagged for long shipping times means a guarantee of no Christmas sales. I really do understand why people might assume somebody has fallen for the hype online about getting rich quick with dropshipping, been there done that, didn't end well but I learned a lesson.

So how about it eBay, maybe find a better way to let people know their item will likely take longer than 10 days but it won't take six weeks, we're not talking about Wish here. Also why in heck can I not set my payment for paypal to "immediate payment?"