Lots of eBay sellers also sell on Amazon and/or may use the Amazon Fulfillment Services. That has nothing to do with having an Amazon Prime account. In your case, the "gift" invoice/packing slip suggests that the seller ordered from Amazon directly (not from an "affiliate" vendor) and simply had the item drop-shipped to you. If the value of the order exceeds $35, Amazon gives "free shipping." It is also possible that your seller redeemed some Amazon coupons or gift cards.
As an example, I do not have a Prime account but I sometimes buy directly from Amazon, mostly books and CD's. I always wait until my order totals $35 or more and then also redeem an Amazon coupon. Sometimes I don't have to pay any actual money! I get the coupons from various sources, including a couple of "rewards" programs for taking surveys or otherwise earning "points." Mostly, the stuff I order is for me or a member of my family.
Occasionally, I have filled a web customer order (though not eBay) if drop-shipping helps speed up delivery. I recall one instance where I had 5 books in stock -- originally purchased from the publisher -- and sold the last one, then got a sixth order the very same day. Since I only needed a single book, I located the title on Amazon at a competitive price, redeemed a rewards coupon and specified my customer as the recipient. The resulting packing slip always reads "gift" when the ship-to address is different from the sender's billing address. The customer got his book quickly, I even made a small profit and the rewards coupon cost me nothing but a few minutes taking online surveys. The alternative would have been to prepare a 6-book minimum order from the publisher, have the books sent Media Mail or UPS Ground to me, and then finally fill the customer's order about 2 weeks later.
Now, for my own eBay auctions I don't bother with drop-shipping from Amazon or any other source. I sell mostly pre-owned goods anyway, but I simply prefer to handle my own inventory and shipping to meet a customer's needs. And sometimes I order things on eBay and have them sent to friends or relatives, either as gifts or on their behalf. Years ago, one friend asked me to buy as many pieces of a certain glassware pattern as I could find at a decent price. He gave me a $500 advance and said "go spend it and let me know when you need more money." I bid and bought on eBay, had the items shipped to whatever address (my friend traveled) and everything worked out beautifully.
Personally, I refuse to buy from 3rd-party vendors on Amazon. I did once -- for an out-of-print book -- and received so many spammy e-mails overthe next
3+ years that I swore I'd never do it again! I broke that rule just once, but the vendor happened to be the producer of a specialized DVD and he was marketing the product only on Amazon. Besides, I had met him previously and was present at the original recording session.
~~C~~
My Glass Duchess
Quoting Mom: In polite society, "hey" is for horses.
