Sellers Rage

[djc01978]

I have been selling on ebay for a few years now.  An as of late its miserable.   As a small seller I don't have the ability to sell a product at walmart prices.  Yet that is what I have to compete with.

  I researched ideas of how to provide goods at prices that are on a more level playing field.   I found sellers using autods an paid for a subscription to try.  In the 3 weeks that I have used the system.  Ebay has flagged me due to how the autods works.  Despite the fact that products purchased have been processed, shipped, and will arrive within the proper timeframe.  Ebay, and PayPal claimed the fee.

As a result my account  gets throttled, and I get punished for trying to grow.  I am losing sales,  and as I'm not a business.   I have to pay full retail on select items,  and mark up enough to earn less than the tax I paid for the item.   Now I have to worry that I get hit with price gouging I get punished again. 

 Im angry cause small sellers already have the system rigged against them.   We have to pay fees, a store subscription,  shipping materials,  storage,  etc.  If I buy a item for 149.99 I have to sell that item for 209.99 with free shipping.  If that item is anymore than 15 I lose money, and compete with wholesalers who sell it for 129.99 free ship.  

As a seller that values their reputation.  I have to deal with scammers, and fraudulent buyers with little to no protection.  For fear that my feedback will be marked negative an my profile goes down.  Can anyone give advice on this.  I feel like ebay is forcing me out as a seller by the completely unfair competition.

[gracieallen01]

Just one comment - I'm not sure that buying retail, to sell at a profit, is a viable business plan for selling on ebay in particular.  Even the knockoffs are less than wholesale.

[reallynicestamps]

Ebay, and PayPal claimed the fee.

Well, yes.

The eBay fees are for the services they provide-- a world wide market and payment processing, respectively.

You pay fees for listing, for selling, and on your shipping charges, to eBay. These come to a little over 10% of your buyer's payment.

You pay 30c plus 2.9-4.4% for each payment processed by Paypal. This comes to a little under 5% of your buyer's payment.

What other fees are you paying?

I have to pay full retail on select items,

That's a mistake.

If you are paying full retail (plus your local sales taxes) you cannot make money on your items.

You need to buy at lower prices and sell nearer the manufacturer's suggested retail price.

That means shopping the end of line stores like TJMaxx, liquidators, jobbers, factory stores, thrift shops, etc.

Even just scouring the bargain bins and racks in department or specialty shops.

It may also be worth your while to get a state license to collect sales taxes on your sales, because that means you do not pay state taxes when you purchase (or the tax you do pay is deductible from your monthly remittance).

You could do more with both your titles and descriptions.

You have 82 keystrokes for a title which is your best advertising.

Use every one of them.

That Slave Leia figure doesn't have "COA" , "Carrie Fisher", or "autograph" in the title.

And it reads as if there are 33 figures at first glance. What is the "33" about?

shipping on this particular item will take time as the storage facility use is temporarily shutdown.

Then don't sell it.

If you don't have it in your hands don't list it.

And this one

WWE Fan Central Complete Set

Complete set of what? Put Action Figures in the title. Put Sealed or New in Box (NIB) in the title.

And you never name the wrestlers. Buyers will search for those names and won't find your listing.

paid for a subscription to try. In the 3 weeks that I have used the system.

Ebay has flagged me due to how the autods works.

Stop using it.

It was a waste of money.

We live and learn.

[djc01978]

I get that. Sometimes there are deals to be had in retail. Even if I buy from the wholesalers. I'm still buying for more than what they sell it for. I try to find deals in thrift stores, estate sales, garage sales, etc. However if I wanna grow I have to invest in more than niche items. An no matter what I buy or how. I have to sell for more than what I paid.

[cream_couture]

You aren't getting punished for trying to grow your business. You are being punished for violating eBay policy. Drop shipping has never been appealing to me because it puts your business at the mercy of others. Here is a link to eBay's policy on drop shipping:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/drop-shipping?id=4176

My advice is to research inventory that you can acquire below retail OR buy niche/rare products at retail price that aren't available to buy/ship everywhere and sell/ship them to those places (where you legally can). I typically recommended selling a product or genre that you are interested in or knowledgeable of. There are multiple ways of doing that without drop shipping.

If you want to become a small business, follow through on registering a business. Depending on the type of business entity (sole proprietorship, LLC, INC) you want to establish will determine the documents you need to file. No matter the entity type you decide, you can register for a vendor's license in your state. In my state it is only $25 and that can open you up to buying things wholesale at a lot of places.

There are also books, like eBay for dummies, that have recommendations for where to source product. When I first started out, I checked every eBay/eCommerce related book out from the library to learn more. Some books are outdated, but they still have relevant sources for product and good general information for running a business. 

Most transactions on eBay and other market places are easy and scam free. Just set aside a reserve for problem cases, don't sell above a dollar amount that you are willing to lose and pick a good shipping insurance (I use Shipsurance). Certain categories, like electronics, are subject to scams more often so I don't sell much in that category anymore. 

There are also other selling platforms that don't allow returns or accept returns on seller's behalf that I like to sell on, in addition to eBay. I'm not allowed to list them here, but you can research them. 

[djc01978]

So stick to garage sale finds, and thrift stores. It's the only way to make any money. If your able to buy an sell a nintendo switch for the same price as nintendo, walmart, etc with free shipping an still see profit. I would love to know how. At this point I can only buy Jeans to where I see any profit for a reasonable price, or sell niche items . I thrift, buy closeouts, etc. It doesn't sell enough to make any real business.

What fees? Are you kidding? PayPal, Ebay's 10% their store subscription fees, shipping cost, free returns at my expense, the cost of packaging materials, the gas I use to go out an source products, the storage I gotta pay for, etc.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi @djc01978  Sorry you are going thru this rough time.

eBay doesn't punish its sellers for growing their business; they punish sellers for not following the rules and policies. I don't believe that it's throttling that is happening here. You could be punishing yourself by insisting to use a drop shipping service that seems to have failed you. What happened that you got flagged by eBay? Was it price gouging? Sometimes that has to do with WHAT you are selling . Yes, that DS service may tell you what's hot on eBay that's in demand, but will it also tell you if that item is against eBay policy?

I am not that familiar with AutoDS, but do you need a service to point out hot items when you can go to sites like WatchCount.com for free and see similar info? AutoDS has done a great job marketing themselves. I don't know how much they charge, but they are clearly not helping your business much if you cannot source unique items for a low enough cost to make selling here worthwhile. You can't possibly hope to compete while buying full retail.

As for negative feedback, it no longer counts in a seller's metrics. It can be used by potential buyers, yes, but a single negative feedback likely will not hurt you as most buyers are savvy enough to know everyone gets one eventually. The most hurt that can be inflicted by a neg is an imprudent follow-up remark by a seller. That's where the real damage gets done. But that's not you, of course. So keep feedback in perspective and not fear it. Let the chips fall where they may with scammers. (And keep in mind that if a buyer uses FB to try to manipulate a situation, that kind of FB can get removed.) 

I sincerely hope that your circumstances get better. Best wishes to you.

[coolections]

So what I am understanding is you already know exactly how it works. You already know you cannot compete against a store price but yet you try it anyway then complain ? Know matter how much you complain what you are expecting is never going to happen. If you cannot BUY your items at a price LOW enough to pay fees, shipping etc and still make a profit then STOP doing it.

[bar-29368]

Better pictures on a few might help some.

Maybe change your camera angle as well, I was getting vertigo looking at some of them. Straight on is always better then looking down.

[djc01978]

It was used for 3 weeks since then all dropship items have been removed. I'm just gonna say f@ck it, and give up selling. Someone wants to make a serious offer for my entire store contents can make a offer. If you can be profitable at 1% ROI like walmart. I salute you. I however can't. At this point once all my product is gone. I can end this nightmare. I'm dishonest for selling an item for a maximum of 10% profit, and trying drop shop as a means to compete. An seller's selling fake beats from wish for $100 is ok.

Oh yea... If you see Beat wireless tour 3 airpods. They are fake. Beats has never made that model. You are buying a item you can get for $18 on wish.😂😂😂

[cynthealee2]

You also might want to try breaking your store up into categories.

You have everything listed in "other"... I can't be the only one that doesn't want to scroll through pages to see if I want anything you have.

Once you have categories you can create links in your listings back to those pages in your store... if they don't want that figure or figures they may want the others you have.  Same thing would apply to the clothing or the electronics ect.

Why do you have a storage unit if you are just starting out?  Why isn't you stuff in some bedroom, or closet, or basement?

For 400.00 they are going to want more and clearer pictures of that Leia and a better title than the catalog one.

[djc01978]

I will take all of you're advice. Im done offering free shipping, and the customer service. Know my position an stick to selling for little to no profit, or just quit all together.

[djc01978]

Too much inventory to store in my house.

[djc01978 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for all the help.  I'll take it as a solution if this thread can close.  I get it.  If you want more than 1% roi your a **bleep** price gouger,  become a business an buy wholesale to be undersold, and hopefully you one day make it to crippling debt.  

Thanks everyone for the advice.  I think I'll stick to selling my inventory out and shutdown.   As a 1% walmart model is a unrealistic goal for any seller that isn't walmart.  Let the thread die 

[reallynicestamps]

I'm dishonest for selling an item for a maximum of 10% profit, and trying drop shop as a means to compete.

You need to be able to mark up your items at least 100% to make anything anywhere near a profit, and to take a profit of 25-50% to have a consistent income.

Most jewelers for example mark up their stock by 400% and most of that goes to cover their costs.

Low value items need higher margins.

Markup and profit are different things.

One of my most profitable items was a block of stamps I was able to purchase for about 10c Canadian with a normal market value (face value) of 20 cents.

I was consistently selling it here for $9.99US for about a decade, a couple every month. Then the market died, as did most of the buyers who were old enough to remember the Arrow.