eBay

seaworldfloridamanatee · ‎10-26-2019

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.

alanti1966 · ‎11-01-2019

There are a lot of people that run this type of operation, As long as you are making your money let it be, your making money on the product correct?

yoonix1 · ‎11-01-2019

Never been a drop shipper. It looks like you know quite a lot in this matter, and may be you're one of them. I don't care who you are. Drop shipping is like spreading your tents on a parking lot next to a mortar and brick store, not having any merchandise, selling this other store products, and sending your "customers" inside to get them. I do not underestimate the drop shoppers efforts to make money through this "scam", but do not forget how much work and own investments takes to build a real retail business by real retailers.

gbstore* · ‎11-03-2019

I was a drop shipper long time ago before i create my brand,All of you are speaking bull.....t. If you have your own item and you are manufacturer the easy way to make a ton of money without to spend ton of money for ADS FB AMAZON e.t.c Is to let DS to use your item

Q.Why to do that
A. Because DS are selling for you,they are working for you because you are the manufacturer.Let them to sell for you let them to create your item history.

Q About the return
A if some DS dry your inventory for example 500pcs, who care if you have 2-3 returns DS 90% of them do not return item. 90% of them are Power Seller +Top rated seller.

if you sell item 10.99$ ds must sell it around 13.72 to have 0.11$ profit so you are selling 10.99$ with good profit DS is with low,an he sell like crazy tips from me rise the price 13.70$ you are the king

now many DS are selling my brand i follow them stores and i know what to sell where to invest,
No need so big drama,be smart this is a game and this game will be more aggressive in future.

And at last Amazon and Ebay are linked if is not eBay amazon will not sell if is not Amazon eBay will be like desert

d.c.enterprises · ‎11-10-2019

Respectfully, eBay has instituted a near prohibition on drop shipping altogether. Whil you and I may have a definition of Authorized Seller or Retailer, it's eBay's definition that counts, period. Of course, eBay is "soliciting" us to resell something we just bought, what better way to make money than by legally being the middleman over and over again FOR THE SAME ITEM !

div_style · ‎11-10-2019

Wow! I wish I had a hundred buyers like that!

List more, sell more. Goodwill that other, uh, stuff.

Feeling sleepy? There's an app for that.

reallynicestamps · ‎11-10-2019

@seaworldfloridamanatee

I'm not clear about your product.

Is this something reuseable which would only be purchased once?

Do you have other products that would be purchased regularly to use your product properly?

If so, I would be annoyed at being used as a supplier for this guy, but I would also be including my packing slip with my eBay ID and my eBay price in the parcel I ship to his customer --- who paid more.

And I would have my own price list for related supplies packed in with the product.

Perhaps even a coupon for X% off his next purchase.

The annoying reseller just gave you a new customer and lost his own.

Serves him right.

Some posters have mentioned returns, but I don't think with this kind of personal equipment that returns are allowed by eBay. Refunds are another question. Have you had any problems with either?

7606dennis · ‎11-10-2019

Actually, eBay has granted themselves the non-exclusive rights to anything uploaded to the site so a seller can use anything that eBay deems to add to their catalog.

I'm not sure whether or not the seller is violating any rules against drop shipping or not, but you could block the seller from buying from you by putting them on your BBL. However, you may need to block all of their ID's for this to be truly effective. Of course, you may simply consider raising your price so as to make it less profitable to use you as a drop shipping source. After all, there appears to be a market for your item at the higher price if he can sell them, right?

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

mam98031 · ‎11-10-2019

@d.c.enterprises wrote:
Respectfully, eBay has instituted a near prohibition on drop shipping altogether. Whil you and I may have a definition of Authorized Seller or Retailer, it's eBay's definition that counts, period. Of course, eBay is "soliciting" us to resell something we just bought, what better way to make money than by legally being the middleman over and over again FOR THE SAME ITEM !

The absolutely have not done that. You just need to do it within the rules of Ebay and you are fine. They are cracking down on those participating in retail arbitration which while it is loosely consider drop shipping it isn't a good way of running a business.

An "authorized Seller or retailer" is NOT the same thing as a drop shipper working within the rules of Ebay. I'm very much aware of Ebay's definition of a drop shipper.

Definition of Authorized Seller: A retailer or manufacturer who is authorized to sell directly to the consumer and in order to become an authorized retailer you will need to be appointed by the manufacturer or distributor.

Ebay's policy on Drop Shipping is as follows:

Drop shipping, also known as product sourcing, is when you buy stock from a supplier and work with them to send items directly to your buyers without ever handling them yourself.

Drop shipping, where you fulfill orders directly from a wholesale supplier, is allowed on eBay. Remember though, if you use drop shipping, you're still responsible for the safe delivery of the item within the time frame you stated in your listing, and the buyer's overall satisfaction with their purchase.

However, listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not allowed on eBay. In such cases, we may remove your listings from search, display them lower in search results, or remove them completely from the site. We may also limit, restrict or suspend your ability to buy, sell, or use site features on eBay, and you could lose any special status and/or discounts associated with your account.

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

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

d.c.enterprises · ‎11-11-2019

I find that most of the sellers that have seen waaaay too many youtube videos on making billions by dropshipping are mostly using stock photos and stock manufacturer verbiage. You can spot them a mile away, how many times have you searched for a commercially available item and you see listing after listing with the same main picture and practically the same item description, same on Amazon. You can do a word or text string search on G**gle and you'll find not only eBay sellers but Amazon sellers all selling the same item via dropshipping with the same stock pictures and same stock description.

I've considered trying a couple of dropship listings on a dormant eBay account (in case it goes south on me.....) but if you look at dropshippers on every platform they are racing to the bottom price-wise and would have to sell so many of the items to make any money it doesn't seem worth it. On the other hand, maybe you're only making a dollar on each item and maybe padding the shipping and handling for another 50 cents, but money is money. McDonald's may only reportedly make 8 cents on a hamburger but it sure adds up when you're selling billions and billions of them.

You can buy online at Walmart, Target or Home Depot and they don't give a hoot about where you wanted an item shipped to as long as the credit card info is legitimate and verifiable. Of course buyers could be miffed when they get a Home Depot or Walmart box delivered but that's their fault for not doing more research, I'm here to sell to buyers, not educate them.

fuzzface50 · ‎11-11-2019

Just read the opening post only.

I wouldn't do a thing. Why would I shoot a salesman selling our products and making us money? be different if they used your pictures and description and was selling someone else product. Nothing like having extra listings out there advertising for you that you are not paying for.

we do the same thing with our b/m business, we don't care if someone buys from us to resell, we actually encourage it. Nothing like salesman working for you on commission base only.

mam98031 · ‎11-11-2019

@d.c.enterprises wrote:
I find that most of the sellers that have seen waaaay too many youtube videos on making billions by dropshipping are mostly using stock photos and stock manufacturer verbiage. You can spot them a mile away, how many times have you searched for a commercially available item and you see listing after listing with the same main picture and practically the same item description, same on Amazon. You can do a word or text string search on G**gle and you'll find not only eBay sellers but Amazon sellers all selling the same item via dropshipping with the same stock pictures and same stock description.

I've considered trying a couple of dropship listings on a dormant eBay account (in case it goes south on me.....) but if you look at dropshippers on every platform they are racing to the bottom price-wise and would have to sell so many of the items to make any money it doesn't seem worth it. On the other hand, maybe you're only making a dollar on each item and maybe padding the shipping and handling for another 50 cents, but money is money. McDonald's may only reportedly make 8 cents on a hamburger but it sure adds up when you're selling billions and billions of them.

You can buy online at Walmart, Target or Home Depot and they don't give a hoot about where you wanted an item shipped to as long as the credit card info is legitimate and verifiable. Of course buyers could be miffed when they get a Home Depot or Walmart box delivered but that's their fault for not doing more research, I'm here to sell to buyers, not educate them.

I think that is more of an assumption than anything you could actually know about each seller. Maybe they have gone to youtube and maybe they haven't. And I think making "billions" is a huge over exaggeration.

Some drop shippers do it successfully and some don't. Those that enter into it thinking it is easy money typically don't last long. There are lots of assumptions about drop shipping, but that doesn't make those assumptions factual. There are responsible ways of doing it and there are irresponsible ways of doing it. Just as in most jobs.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

krazzykats · ‎11-11-2019

If you are getting the price you want, what's the big deal?

KrazzyKats • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1998

d.c.enterprises · ‎11-16-2019

How is this a free ride? It's actually a somewhat risky ride if you get too many marks against your selling account. You as seller got the price you asked for, check. You could have sold it for more like your buyer now seller did but you didn't, check. You were charged no more or less fees from eBay or PP due to the buyers intentions, check. The seller paid the associated selling fees due at time of sale to thier buyer, check. You think eBay and Paypal, who are collecting multiple commissions on a single item, are going care about this? You need to learn the difference between "disallowed", "prohibited" and "clever". eBay is not a socialist marketplace where everyone is equal and the other guy isn't entitled to make more money than you or prohibited from coming up with better ways to source and sell. Thousands and perhaps millions of online businesses worldwide sell products they don't physically have in their possession before they sell them. Other sellers exist here to make money, not to make sure you make money!