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?

[kensgiftshop]

I've had a few of those and I ship the same as always, I don't change anything and never had a problem.

[ittybitnot]

Any thoughts?

@grindercb 

One thought was perhaps the "buyer" was actually sending it as a gift for someone.   Ever use Google Lens?  If the "buyer" is using you to dropship, and has no agreement with you, then they are engaging in what eBay calls retail arbitrage, which is against policy.  Nothing will be done even if you find their listing and report it. They could be selling someplace else anyway. 

I agree with @kensgiftshop, to ship as you normally would.   

[slippinjimmy]

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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?

[buyselljack2016]

You got paid the amount that you were asking.

Ship as requested.

What more do you need?

[fashunu4eeuh]

I would consider this to be like any other sale. As such, you would not be entitled to additional remuneration. But to take this a step further—

He bought and paid first and then made the requests? Then you are under no obligation to accommodate his instructions. If he made the requests first and you agreed, then you do have an obligation.

How important is this sale to you? If you are willing to forgo his business patronage in the future, and feel these additional tasks are imposing on you unnecessarily, you can always message the buyer with your polite regrets that you cannot accommodate his requests.

If he bought first and asked second, then you could point to eBay policy that, after the sale, buyers cannot expect additional services, or anything not included in the listing (see policy link below). But before you make that point, decide if you want him as a repeat buyer, cuz he may not be pleased you’ve quoted the Abusive Buyer policy.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/rules-policies-buyers/abusive-buyer-policy?id=4374&norover=1&mkev...

[dbfolks166mt]

     I agree with the others. To me a sale is a sale and I pack and ship. About the only time I even look at a buyer closely  is  if there is some issue with the transaction such as an address that I cannot generate a label for. On occasion I will get a request to not include anything additional inside the package which I assume is because it is a gift for someone. 

     Your only responsibility is to your buyer that the package arrives at the address the buyer had connected to their account when you shipped it and that they receive the item they ordered in the condition it was advertised to be in. If your buyer is selling the item to another individual they are responsible to that individual. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

100% of my shipments get the standard Ebay priced packing slip and I might respond to a buyer's message and tell them so, or not.

I do not let any buyer tell me how to pack. I have chosen my packing materials to protect the items while minimizing time to pack and package weight. Never have complaints from any buyers who think they need to tell my how to pack, which have been verified when they return the item.

I use Ebay branded packaging materials most of the time.

If there is another seller who can make a profit marking up my price, I am upset because I left money on the table. I price for retail and never intend for someone to resell my items for a profit for at least the next 25 years.

[caldreamer]

I used to have someone who bought tons of my computers over the years to resell (he scratches my back and I scratch his).   The important thing is that you get money in your pocket.

[grindercb]

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

[itsjustasprain]

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@grindercb wrote:

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.

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I get this occasionally in my selling account - okay - not the part about RE-testing and RE-cleaning which is just silly. If their requests about packing are not too over the top and are not less protective than how I usually ship things then I might accommodate them there (in some cases you just know they are expecting to see those details) but it is sometimes obvious that they have gotten burned by sloppy sellers in the past and are simply hoping to get their purchase undamaged so I can understand where they are coming from.

As for the packing slip - I never ship without one sealed in with the item (usually a ZipLok bag enclosing the purchase inside) but I do also always use the 'Its a Gift' checkbox that suppresses the pricing details so it does not show the price paid or anything else. If the package is going to a different name and address then the buyer will probably never know that a packing slip was actually in there anyway.

[inhawaii]

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

[mam98031]

You can always say no and block them if you don't want to sell to them.  Otherwise, it is just another sale.  And as ALWAYS, sellers are responsible for the package to the address the buyer gives you on the payment.  It doesn't change because you think they are committing retail arbitrage.

If this is something that really bothers you and you don't want the sale, simply block the buyer and don't sell them anything.  This doesn't have to be a big issue.  It is completely your decision.

[jg.mason]

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.

[mam98031]

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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