Stealing Listings

[seaworldfloridamanatee]

I know e-bay have changed their rules about other sellers taking your images and text and using them as their own but one seller I have discovered has taken this a stage further.

They have at least 3 of our products for sale using exactly our pictures and text but they do not personally have any stock. They sell for an higher price than ourselves but when they sell one from their listing they then purchase one from us and then ask it to be shipped to their buyer. They are using multiple buying accounts with a slight change to the name. We only just worked this out.

They have a shop and upon investigation of products on there I have found other sellers they are doing this to as well. Is this a violation of e-bay rules or just this seller being a cheeky so and so???

I am just waiting for them to order another one from us but what would you guys do?

I can ban the buyer but this would not stop her actions as it looks as though she has been doing this a long time.

All her products show she is operating from multiple different countries. Her listings shows our address so makes good profit without ever touching the product she sells.

[hurryagain]

@mam98031...

You would be the best person i know to respond to this.

[mam98031]

You should take the time to call Ebay and report this.  It is a SERIOUS violation of Ebay policy.  It is called Retail Arbitration the form of Drop Shipping that Ebay does NOT allow.  Ebay is currently actively cracking down on these types of sellers.  So PLEASE report them.

If you don't want to call Ebay and if you use social media, you can report them there.  But please take a moment to do so.  If for any reason this doesn't work and they don't stop them, come back and tell us.  There may be more we can suggest to help you.

Help

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[ckudika]

It seems like it breaks several policies. Namely the new drop-shipping policy that prevents people from doing exactly this or drop-shipping by purchasing from Amazon.  Basically sourcing from either marketplace to 'drop ship' at a higher price is a violation and should cause their listings to be hidden or pushed down really far in search, if Ebay catches it.

It also violates the images and text policy

Also, block them. Then next sale they get they will not be able to order from you

[hurryagain]

@seaworldfloridamanatee 

@mam98031 

thank you for your time on replying to this post.  I knew I had the right person in mind!...

(☎ - ringing yet?)

[seaworldfloridamanatee]

Thanks for the reply.

We believe this seller is based in Australia due to some of her listings and the time of day due to the 10 hour time difference between there and the UK and the time she makes her purchases.

I have already sent a message to some of the other sellers that she is dong this to in order to warn them.

[mam98031]

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@ckudika wrote:

It seems like it breaks several policies. Namely the new drop-shipping policy that prevents people from doing exactly this or drop-shipping by purchasing from Amazon.  Basically sourcing from either marketplace to 'drop ship' at a higher price is a violation and should cause their listings to be hidden or pushed down really far in search, if Ebay catches it.

It also violates the images and text policy

Also, block them. Then next sale they get they will not be able to order from you

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@ckudika 

The Drop Shipping policy is NOT new nor has it been re-written.  It is the same as it has been for years.  Ebay has just recently decided to be more aggressive in enforcing it.

To breach the policy has nothing to do with pricing.  Sellers are free to price whatever they are selling as they see fit.

Also purchasing from Amazon to fulfill an order on Ebay isn't always a breach of the Drop Shipping rule.  If the seller has inventory in Amazon FBA, then that would not breach the Ebay rule because they are shipping their own inventory held at an Amazon warehouse.  This is allowed. 

But if they are purchasing from another Amazon seller and having them ship to their buyer, that is retail arbitrage and it is not allowed per the Drop shipping rule.

[mam98031]

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@seaworldfloridamanatee wrote:

Thanks for the reply.

We believe this seller is based in Australia due to some of her listings and the time of day due to the 10 hour time difference between there and the UK and the time she makes her purchases.

I have already sent a message to some of the other sellers that she is dong this to in order to warn them.

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They still have to adhere to the rules no matter where they are located.

It is good to give your fellow sellers a heads up, but they can't do any more than you can.  You need to get the information to Ebay by using one or ALL of the links I gave you above.

[ckudika]

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@mam98031 wrote:

@ckudika 

The Drop Shipping policy is NOT new nor has it been re-written.  It is the same as it has been for years.  Ebay has just recently decided to be more aggressive in enforcing it.

I remember a notice going out a few months ago that said the policy was changing in that drop-shippers basically had to have a formal drop-shipping arrangement with their source, and that copying other sellers listings from either marketplace and sourcing from those would result in their listings being demoted, not necessarily blocked or removed

To breach the policy has nothing to do with pricing.  Sellers are free to price whatever they are selling as they see fit.

Indeed this is true but it would not work out well if they didnt raise the price

Also purchasing from Amazon to fulfill an order on Ebay isn't always a breach of the Drop Shipping rule.  If the seller has inventory in Amazon FBA, then that would not breach the Ebay rule because they are shipping their own inventory held at an Amazon warehouse.  This is allowed. 

Ok. This scenario obviously doesn't apply to this seller in question

But if they are purchasing from another Amazon seller and having them ship to their buyer, that is retail arbitrage and it is not allowed per the Drop shipping rule.

It technically is allowed, but the listing will be demoted and show up very low on search

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[mam98031]

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@ckudika wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

@ckudika 

The Drop Shipping policy is NOT new nor has it been re-written.  It is the same as it has been for years.  Ebay has just recently decided to be more aggressive in enforcing it.

I remember a notice going out a few months ago that said the policy was changing in that drop-shippers basically had to have a formal drop-shipping arrangement with their source, and that copying other sellers listings from either marketplace and sourcing from those would result in their listings being demoted, not necessarily blocked or removed

To breach the policy has nothing to do with pricing.  Sellers are free to price whatever they are selling as they see fit.

Indeed this is true but it would not work out well if they didnt raise the price

Also purchasing from Amazon to fulfill an order on Ebay isn't always a breach of the Drop Shipping rule.  If the seller has inventory in Amazon FBA, then that would not breach the Ebay rule because they are shipping their own inventory held at an Amazon warehouse.  This is allowed. 

Ok. This scenario obviously doesn't apply to this seller in question

But if they are purchasing from another Amazon seller and having them ship to their buyer, that is retail arbitrage and it is not allowed per the Drop shipping rule.

It technically is allowed, but the listing will be demoted and show up very low on search

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The announcement was that they were gong to more actively enforce the policy.  The policy is what it has always been.

If Ebay were to go against it's own policy and deem something Retail Arbitrage that isn't, as a seller I would be definitely going after Ebay.  But I haven't read anything that suggest what you have stated is true.  And I just don't know why Ebay would punish a seller that isn't breaking any rule as they are selling their own stock, it is simply being warehoused at Amazon to which they pay Amazon for that service.

Where did you read that they were going to punish these seller too as I'd like to update myself.  Things tend to change often around here, so I'm only trying to have a better understanding.

@ckudika 

[muskingum_relics]

This same thing happened to me a few years back when ebay was ebay ! I had a friend inform me that someone had a item of mine listed that I had decided to keep. I looked and sure enough there it was posted for sale in New Mexico and I am in Ohio. Right away I called ebay and reported this and looked into my recently listed Item I had taken down and they said they would take care of it and they did ! A few hours later I looked for the listing and it was off of the listings and it also stated that that seller was no longer a registered user. Ebay did its job well and got rid of them for at least as long as they may have figured out another way to get back on. I was happy that ebay removed their account ! To me a thief is a thief and they should be punished ! At that time I felt ebay did the right thing !

[gbstore*]

Why are you crying, as you said they sell your product , and they bought from you, so you are on profit. This is good for you the only thing you can do and is good for you, dont do noting leave them to sell, You dont lose the best seller on ebay are Drop-shipper, many amazon seller are making profit and ranking because of Drop shipper. Drop-shipper did eBay place with many item before that was like a dessert. Watch what they do and optimize your listing give good price which they cant. Amazon has same sellers they do eBay to Amazon Dropping you cant stop it, If you want to be UNIC do your own web page, Amazon and Ebay are not sure place, they are unstable if you do respect your business, do not leave Ebay Amazon, to rule your business. I had very successful item on amazon ,one day they decide to lock my account, and asked for invoices, so i gave them. and in 2 month one beautiful sunny day i have stop to sell it. Amazon deal behind my back with manufacturer. Now amazon sell it. Here is same sh....

[gasnut]

I think you have discovered a "Drop Shipper"
Drop Shipping is one of those shady Loop Hole business practices IMO... but they can make $ with no inventory

[mam98031]

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@gasnut wrote:
I think you have discovered a "Drop Shipper"
Drop Shipping is one of those shady Loop Hole business practices IMO... but they can make $ with no inventory

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And why do you say that?  If done properly it can be something that works out very well for both the buyer and the seller.

What makes it shady?

Why is it a loop hole when it is expressed in the Ebay policy it is allowed if a seller has an agreement with a vendor in place to act as their wholesale drop shipper?

Drop shipping doesn't mean that a seller doesn't do any work to earn the money they get from sales?  If a seller is doing it correctly, it is a whole lot of work.  Your seller has every right to expect to be paid for services rendered just as anyone else does when they perform a job that is outside of the home.  I'm unsure as to why you think a seller working from home has less right to be paid for their services than someone else?

Sellers that drop ship still have to create listings, manage listings, process orders, answer customer questions, update tracking numbers, send customers tracking numbers, monitor inventory quantities available, revise listings for pricing, revise listings for availability, etc. etc.  The only thing that a drop shipping seller isn't doing that one with their own stock is they are not packaging and physically shipping the item.