eBay

simplepleasures405 · ‎08-26-2018

muttlymob · ‎08-26-2018

They don't.

ted_200 · ‎08-26-2018

@muttlymob wrote:
They don't.

Well, if they're paying USPS domestic shipping rates they sure don't.

The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves.

muttlymob · ‎08-26-2018

Doesn't really matter whether they are paying domestic rates or not - even if they aren't paying anything for postage. Once you consider all fees, time, labor, etc., they aren't making money.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-26-2018

The SCAM system:

Vapourware.

There is no product and nothing is sent.

Preferably with a long (30-60day) arrival window.

If the buyer remembers he bought the item and complains, the seller refunds.

But most don't remember and don't complain.

The seller keeps the money.

Profit $10.

The HONEST system.

The seller expects most sales to be multiple items.

Beads, scrapbooking supplies, stickers, junk jewellry, for example.

If the buyer orders an average of ten items that's $10USD.

Since they are small they can be shipped letter rate.

Seller paid less than a nickel for the item, 60 cents (US domestic rate) for shipping all of them.

Profit$8.90.

I've left out a lot of things here, eBay and Paypal fees being the most obvious, but it can be done honestly and profitably.

ted_200 · ‎08-27-2018

Doesn't really matter whether they are paying domestic rates or not - even if they aren't paying anything for postage. Once you consider all fees, time, labor, etc., they aren't making money.

You have a warehouse full of dead end product / seconds sitting in China. They weigh next to nothing, you can ship them ePacket for 21¢. With Free Listings and micropayments, you can get them gone for under 20¢ in fees. Local landfill rates are high. The high STR helps your visibility on more profitable listings. If you can undercut the dropshippers / resellers at 1.99 and drive them out of the market, you can raise the price on the remainder later. Maybe somebody gets a bonus for meeting quotas, maybe you want to dress up your f/b for a future scam or pad sales to avoid "below standard" expenses.

The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves.

ted_200 · ‎08-27-2018

You can even do that with USPS rates with something like old stamps, if you skip the tracking... sell 30 items to one buyer that weren't going to sell anywhere else ever anyhow, ship them all for 50¢.

The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves.

drmurugesanr · ‎08-27-2018

Seems very funny!

Either such Sellers are utterly foolish paying heavily to eBay.com and PayPal or have made money unethically throwing away this way!

livadia · ‎08-27-2018

@simplepleasures405, they buy/acquire the items for pennies, they either are shipping via an e-Packet from China which costs them 21 cents per package, or the are "white-enveloping" the items from the US which costs them 50 cents. They make the least money when a buyer buys only one, but if they buy 10 in one go, the items are usually so light-weight they can be shipped in one envelope, the profit is much higher. They're interested in selling in high volume. While they may make only 20-30 cents profit on a single item, when you sell 10,000 of them especially in lots of 10 or more, you're talking clearing anywhere from $2,500 to say $8,000. Find several of such items that are similarly popular and can be marketed/sold the same way, and you're talking about a nice chunk of change.

fuzzface50 · ‎08-27-2018

Just remember wages vary from country to country and what might be peanuts to some might be a gold mine to others. One week wages here in the USA can equal a years worth of wages in another country.