What are my rights when dealing with drop shippers?

[grindercb]

I've been selling full-time on eBay for about three years.  I maintain an actual inventory in my basement where I clean and prep all merchandise, take photos and store everything until sold.  On average about once every six months I get a drop shipper buying something from me.  They usually give themselves away by making lots of requests on the order, such as no receipt/packing slip/business card inside the package, nothing on the package to identify it as coming from an eBay seller, etc. This latest one went so far as to instruct me how to carefully pack the item, plus he wanted it re-tested and re-cleaned as well.  My question is that I've gone to the trouble of acquiring the item, cleaning and prepping it for sale, followed by packing and shipping it, so shouldn't I get some kind of credit from the recipient? I've Googled all over and looked up here in the eBay Community but don't find anything about my rights. There's some vague statements about me being responsible for shipping and customer satisfaction, but that doesn't seem fair since I've done all the work leading up to the sale.  Any thoughts?

[chariot_badges]

I have actually done this before.

If I get an order and I can't find it .. out of stock.   I don't cancel.   I find it on eBay and contact the seller and ask if it can be shipped with no extra paperwork inside the package.   I explain this is a dropship to fill an order that I am out of stock on.  

I don't ask for other 'special' stuff, like ship early ... 

Even if it costs me a net loss on the deal, I have been successful doing that several times.

Never had a seller turn me down.

Then I contact MY buyer and explain that I had to acquire their order from a 'colleague at a sister store' to ship and ask for a little extra patience.

When it works, it works fine.

[michael_kelly]

Am I missing something here? Someone is selling YOUR products without YOUR knowledge and you knowingly/willingly ship them to an unconfirmed address other than the buyers? That's crazy talk. 

1. drop shipping is frowned upon.

2. shipping to an unconfirmed address on ebay you forfeit any seller protection and again, is frowned upon.

[chapeau-noir]

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@chariot_badges wrote:

I have actually done this before.

If I get an order and I can't find it .. out of stock.   I don't cancel.   I find it on eBay and contact the seller and ask if it can be shipped with no extra paperwork inside the package.   I explain this is a dropship to fill an order that I am out of stock on.  

I don't ask for other 'special' stuff, like ship early ... 

Even if it costs me a net loss on the deal, I have been successful doing that several times.

Never had a seller turn me down.

Then I contact MY buyer and explain that I had to acquire their order from a 'colleague at a sister store' to ship and ask for a little extra patience.

When it works, it works fine.

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I've done that a couple of times - once a wonderful fellow seller who actually had the same item, same size helped me out, another time I got the item from the originating small store and had it express shipped to my buyer. Happy customers both times, which is my desired result. I'm not going to worry about bending the rules if I can achieve that.

[redlinear]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@grindercb wrote:

My question is that I've gone to the trouble of acquiring the item, cleaning and prepping it for sale, followed by packing and shipping it, so shouldn't I get some kind of credit from the recipient?

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You made a sale and you got paid, what more credit do you think you deserve?

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The actual customer that knows what they are doing.  
I have had recipients actually call me, FURIOUS....because they thought I was scamming them.  
And me, not having any idea what's going on because I thought they were the actual buyers that ordered the items from me. 

[redlinear]

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@inhawaii wrote:

What do you mean having to "deal" with them? Why not treat them like anyone/everyone else?

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Hi, I found your website on-line while looking for some genuine stihl ball cap, orange with gray letting.
Your website is really impressive (and I have no idea your 14 years old and I'm probably bothering you in the middle of an on-line gaming session).
Anyway, I see you have those ball caps listed at $42.00 each.
Here's my info.

When Junior is done with his game, he gets on eBay, and buys a ball cap from you, just like his customer wanted...gray with orange lettering.

Your name's in the package when it arrives. 
Now you're getting $42 worth of bashing laid out on several really popular arborist forums.
And if you find out,  You have no idea why.  (because you shipped exactly what was ordered)

[jbbowers12012]

HI,  Same here in New Jersey - We just treat it as any other sale.  Never an issue.   Good Luck!  (J.B.)

[itsjustasprain]

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@michael_kelly wrote:

Am I missing something here? Someone is selling YOUR products without YOUR knowledge and you knowingly/willingly ship them to an unconfirmed address other than the buyers? That's crazy talk. 

1. drop shipping is frowned upon.

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@michael_kelly : No. Drop shipping is not 'frowned upon' on Ebay. Retail arbitrage is what they do not permit. Drop shipping is a contracted arrangement between the seller and a fulfillment company. Not a great business model but is allowed on Ebay. Retail arbitrage is just buying an item from someplace else after selling an item you do not have.

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@michael_kelly wrote:

2. shipping to an unconfirmed address on ebay you forfeit any seller protection and again, is frowned upon.

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No. Seller protection against an Item Not Received claim consists of shipping to the address received with the payment. That does not have to be whatever the buyer registered as his address when signing up for Ebay. A buyer is perfectly entitled to have his purchase shipped to someone else or somewhere else. He just needs to provide that address with his payment.

[jg.mason]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@jg.mason wrote:

Your right is to be happy with the sale.

I've had a few over the years and looked at their listings and found a couple other of my items they had listed.

I wish I had drop shippers on all of my items it's like free listings on multiple sites. I'm happy with my pricing so not at all worried about them making a few dollars on my item after all the goal here is to make the sale.

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OK, then why the concern?  

You can report them to Ebay if you want.  That is an easy thing for you to do.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084

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Why would I report them, I like them. I do get a little concerned about your reading comprehension sometimes. 🤣

[itsjustasprain]

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@jg.mason wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:
OK, then why the concern?  

You can report them to Ebay if you want.  That is an easy thing for you to do.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084

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Why would I report them, I like them. I do get a little concerned about your reading comprehension sometimes. 🤣

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Reading between the lines here I think Mam may have misread your reply as actually coming from the OP.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@grindercb wrote:

I think I deserve a satisfied customer coming back to my store for repeat business, that's what I think I deserve.

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If the buyer likes your item, you HAVE a satisfied customer. If 'his' buyer likes your item and wants more, this 'drop shipper' WILL BUY more. 

So, it's a win win. Not sure why you are making it a bad thing. 

[ryry-jj]

I draw the line when after the purchase they tell me how to package the item. 

[gloryglorygifts]

Is it the same buyer that you think is using you to dropship? Try doing a google search with your exact title and see if your pictures and title show up on another marketplace. If you want to shut the guy down, block him.

If not, just pack and ship as you normally do. Good luck to you! 

[mam98031]

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@michael_kelly wrote:

Am I missing something here? Someone is selling YOUR products without YOUR knowledge and you knowingly/willingly ship them to an unconfirmed address other than the buyers? That's crazy talk. 

1. drop shipping is frowned upon.

2. shipping to an unconfirmed address on ebay you forfeit any seller protection and again, is frowned upon.

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@michael_kelly 

What is it that you consider an "unconfirmed address"?  Seller are covered under Seller Protection if the ship with tracking, to the address the buyer gives as the ship to address when they make payment and you ship within you stated handling time.  

Buyers can have you ship anywhere they want.  I've bought stuff and had it shipped to my kid at college, my Mom in another state, etc etc.  

Drop Shipping is fine.  Done the right way and there is no problems.  What they are discussing on this thread is Retail Arbitrage which use to be against the rules here on Ebay.

Ebay has never "confirmed" ship to addresses.  I'm unsure where you are getting that from.

[redlinear]

Just now got this. I have to ship it.  I should probably go ahead and enclose a return label. UGH

"Buyer's note: Hi I've purchased this item for someone else, So I have this simple request if you can do blind ship or avoid sending invoice with package that would be helpful for me. If you have any concern kindly text me or call me Thanks"

[a_c_green]

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@redlinear wrote:

"Buyer's note: Hi I've purchased this item for someone else, So I have this simple request if you can do blind ship or avoid sending invoice with package that would be helpful for me. If you have any concern kindly text me or call me Thanks"

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An invoice is a demand for payment; the buyer is thinking of a packing slip. Just choose the "It's a gift" option when printing the packing slip, and that will omit all the pricing details, leaving only the Ship From: and Ship To: addresses, which you want as a backup in case the outside label gets obliterated.

As your buyer wants it shipped someplace else, he will probably never know whether a packing slip was included, and the presumably happy recipient will not care either.