Is there a way to conceal item location in a listing?

[davesrecordshop]

Is it possible to withhold the item location within a listing? Where it states: "Shipping" there's a line underneath it that states "Located in: X" and if it is possible, I'm hoping to conceal that. Thanks in advance.

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

Shipping location is mandatory. Here's the item location policy:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/item-location-misrepresentation-policy?id=4244

[soh.maryl]

Have to ask:  Why?  

[aproudparent2010]

Just curious why you want to conceal your location?

[itsjustasprain]

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@davesrecordshop wrote:

Is it possible to withhold the item location within a listing? Where it states: "Shipping" there's a line underneath it that states "Located in: X" and if it is possible, I'm hoping to conceal that. Thanks in advance.

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If your ultimate goal is to ship from one location but collect returns at another - you can do that. Your Ship From ZIP needs to show the ZIP code that it ships from for correct postage calculation - but all that will show on the label is the ZIP code alone so it will not reveal the location of your warehouse or whatever. You can plug in a Return address on the label that can be a different location if you want.

[nobody*s_perfect]

If you set up your listing with a flat price for shipping, rather than with calculated shipping, you can edit the location ZIP Code and the "Town, state" entry to just read "United States." This strategy is mostly used by large sellers who have warehouses across the country and thus ship from multiple locations.

If you live in a small town and just want some privacy, it would be better to use the ZIP Code of a nearby larger city so buyers have some idea of where their item is coming from.  As long as the first 3 digits of the ZIP Codes are the same, then the calculated shipping cost will be the same.

[mtgraves7984]

You could also set up all of your addresses here.

[lux-libri]

I occasionally see some imaginary location like "God's Country,  USA."

I understand eBay's policy,  but how do some sellers seem to get around it?

[house*of*paws]

@lux-libri 

Sellers who use drop-shippers are permitted to use ‘USA’ for the Item Location because they may not know from which warehouse the item will be shipped.

[wastingtime101]

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@house*of*paws wrote:

@lux-libri 

Sellers who use drop-shippers are permitted to use ‘USA’ for the Item Location because they may not know from which warehouse the item will be shipped.

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Building on your post ...

I've seen a lot of accounts get nailed for putting USA or United States in the location field. Some were reinstated only after they provided eBay with copies of their contracts with their drop ship suppliers. Other sellers weren't able to recover and they were permanently banned from selling for violating the item location policy.

I don't know to what level eBay monitors and takes action. I've seen eBay take action on the item location policy with greater frequency the past couple years. Unless I'm mistaken, there was even mention of it in a 2020 Seller Update.

[valueaddedresource]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@house*of*paws wrote:

@lux-libri 

Sellers who use drop-shippers are permitted to use ‘USA’ for the Item Location because they may not know from which warehouse the item will be shipped.

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Building on your post ...

I've seen a lot of accounts get nailed for putting USA or United States in the location field. Some were reinstated only after they provided eBay with copies of their contracts with their drop ship suppliers. Other sellers weren't able to recover and they were permanently banned from selling for violating the item location policy.

I don't know to what level eBay monitors and takes action. I've seen eBay take action on the item location policy with greater frequency the past couple years. Unless I'm mistaken, there was even mention of it in a 2020 Seller Update.

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@wastingtime101 you hit the nail on the head. @lux-libri I wouldn't say it's explicitly "permitted" for drop shippers, it's more like they just haven't gotten caught yet and/or eBay has simply not taken action on those accounts.

I expect enforcement of the location policy and drop shipping policies may ramp up now that the INFORM Act is in play as well.

[wastingtime101]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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I expect enforcement of the location policy and drop shipping policies may ramp up now that the INFORM Act is in play as well.

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That's probably a fair assessment.

I remember when the location policy was updated a few years ago it affected not only drop shippers, but large businesses that had 2-3 warehouses across the US that did their own shipping.

I expect those sellers are large enough that they could work with a team at eBay, but in the beginning several of them were facing suspensions because their location wasn't clearly defined, or because they used the location of one warehouse but might ship from a different warehouse depending on buyer location and were caught up in drop shipping violations even though they weren't drop shipping.

eBay, to my knowledge, hasn't set up their system to allow for multiple item locations on the same listing. So those "getting away with it" have either not been caught or undergone some kind of vetting and approval process with eBay.

[valueaddedresource]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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I expect enforcement of the location policy and drop shipping policies may ramp up now that the INFORM Act is in play as well.

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That's probably a fair assessment.

I remember when the location policy was updated a few years ago it affected not only drop shippers, but large businesses that had 2-3 warehouses across the US that did their own shipping.

I expect those sellers are large enough that they could work with a team at eBay, but in the beginning several of them were facing suspensions because their location wasn't clearly defined, or because they used the location of one warehouse but might ship from a different warehouse depending on buyer location and were caught up in drop shipping violations even though they weren't drop shipping.

eBay, to my knowledge, hasn't set up their system to allow for multiple item locations on the same listing. So those "getting away with it" have either not been caught or undergone some kind of vetting and approval process with eBay.

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@wastingtime101 it's a legitimate conundrum for sellers who really do have multiple locations. Back in 2020 eBay was working toward a solution for those sellers by developing a multi-location function that could be accessed through the API.

Unfortunately I believe that initiative was abandoned - they've removed all mention of it from the help pages, though you can still find the info that used to exist through the web archive.

https://web.archive.org/web/20201128155756/https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/estimated-d...

It was also mentioned by VP Shipping Erik Selberg in a video from eBay's developer conference in 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0gxKVgMcw8

devon@ebay kyle@ebay could you check in with the shipping team to see where this stands and if there is anything in the works to address this issue for truly multi-location sellers, please?

[coolections]

The question is "why"  would you want to hide ? As a buyer I would want to know where the seller is from.