EBay is overrun by Amazon dropshippers and destroying my business

[mixedbagmosaic]

Try this:  Search "iridescent stained glass sheet". 

When I did that search just now there were 86 results.  72 of the listings were items dropshipped from Amazon or other online venue.

Then I searched "stained glass mosaic tiles" and 1110+ and the odds got a little better, but approximately 1/3 of the listings were dropship items.  I believe that is because of several hang-on sellers like me that have been doing this for a while.

Some of these dropship sellers had huge inventories of all types of items.  One in particular was a top rated seller with 6900+ items listed in their store, 99.4 positive 11750 FB.  However, when you read the negative and neutral feedback, many of the complaints mention items that came from Amazon some with an Amazon gift receipt,  no tracking number or bogus tracking number, incorrect items shipped, slow or no shipping and lost items.

The photos and descriptions are almost always the exact same as the Amazon listing.  Some get clever and put a banner in copied photos to make it their own.

I tried reporting items and every response message thanked me for my report and said this was a bot message and soon I received another message saying there was no violation of eBay policy according to their bot.

This has really gotten out of hand on a huge scale.  EBay needs take the initiative to get this under control.

[mam98031 · Accepted solution]

Drop shipping is not against the rules of Ebay if done properly.

Sometimes sellers sell both here and on Amazon.  And some of those sellers have their inventory stored in the FBA program Amazon offers.  So when the Ebay sellers ships something they sold here it comes out of an Amazon warehouse, but it is the sellers stock.

There are lots of sellers that sell on both Amazon and Ebay.  

I hope things work out for you.

[chpgts]

That is the greatest myth.  So how does a Ebay seller who has inventory at Amazon get Amazon to handle the transaction at no cost?   

Amazon dropshippers do not own any inventory.

Amazon dropshippers did not have any control over how a order is packed and a gift receipt is sent in package to hide the actual selling price.

What I do not understand is the response from buyers who purchase from some dropshippers and then are dissapointed for being (in somes cases) overcharged and multiple delivery problems.

It is their own fault because for not paying attention to the numerous negative feedback listed.

This creates a unfair advantage for other sellers who purchase and own their inventory and it is against Ebay policies.

And yet hundred of buyers still purchase from these sellers. I think Barnum's quote is correct "there is a sucker born every minute"

[chpgts]

You are 100% correct!

[inhawaii]

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@mixedbagmosaic wrote:

Try this:  Search "iridescent stained glass sheet". 

When I did that search just now there were 86 results.  72 of the listings were items dropshipped from Amazon or other online venue.

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How do you know what's being drop shipped?

Did those 72  listings say "This item is being drop shipped"?

[theteamsetguy]

@chpgts ,

FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) is not free. Amazon charges a fee to the seller to store, pack and ship a sellers inventory.

For many sellers its cheaper to use FBA than hiring employees, and renting warehouse space.

[theteamsetguy]

@chpgts ,

https://supplychain.amazon.com/?ld=PS_US___Branded-terms_amazon-fulfillment-service&ld=PS_US___Brand...

[cardsforauction]

Can't you do the same as these other sellers so the playing field is almost equal?  If not, good luck, competition is everywhere and hope things pick up for you. You may have to come up with a gimmick, reason why people should buy from you instead of the others. You may want to mention that in your item description or eBay store For Example:  Why We are Different, Why Buy From Us, We Are High Quality, No Hassle Purchases, etc. 

[broto_64]

The real issue is listing duplication clobbering up the search results and it's not just Amazon, Walmart's doing it too and I'm sure there are others. For those who remember the dotcom bubble and subsequent crash of around turn of century it's become spam wars all over again (minus the popups and the flash banners).

I don't see this ending well either, but the world will survive, somehow.

[chapeau-noir]

According to Joe K. at Marketplace Pulse, those FBA fees are not cheap.

 

[mam98031]

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@chpgts wrote:

That is the greatest myth.  So how does a Ebay seller who has inventory at Amazon get Amazon to handle the transaction at no cost?   

Amazon dropshippers do not own any inventory.

Amazon dropshippers did not have any control over how a order is packed and a gift receipt is sent in package to hide the actual selling price.

What I do not understand is the response from buyers who purchase from some dropshippers and then are dissapointed for being (in somes cases) overcharged and multiple delivery problems.

It is their own fault because for not paying attention to the numerous negative feedback listed.

This creates a unfair advantage for other sellers who purchase and own their inventory and it is against Ebay policies.

And yet hundred of buyers still purchase from these sellers. I think Barnum's quote is correct "there is a sucker born every minute"

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It is fine that you don't agree, but that doesn't make it a "myth'.  It only means you don't agree.  I can live with that.

I never said that they get Amazon to handle the transaction at no cost.  You won't find any statement like that in my post.  You are trying to add something that I never said.

Anytime a seller ships something out of their FBA inventory held at an Amazon facility, the seller pays a fee and they pay shipping.

I also did NOT say anything about "gift receipts".

"This creates a unfair advantage for other sellers who purchase and own their inventory and it is against Ebay policies."  Which policy?  Be specific please and a link would help.

[robbie31415]

Still there are floods of categories of amszon "dropshippers". Not FBA sellers using amz for fulfillment.

Stock image, from far oversees. Using the same description template created by a particular automation listing dropshipper software.

They are pretty obvious. They are against policy but you know what is also against policy? Text in images, copyright images.

Ebay has chosen to ignore and not enforce such policies unless they make a problem for them such as high INR or disgruntled customer.

Ebay makes a lot of money from the Amazon "dropshippers". Not much incentive to purge them out.

[annadryl]

I've had a few items arrive via Amazon over the years but lately it seems Walmart is more of the thing now. Ordered on ebay but dropped of by my local store. Sellers use their WM account to pay and it's "shipped" from a mile away. That bugs me way more. That's valid to Report.

The Amazon thing is kinda old news. Then again, the WM thing is 'newer old news'. There is probably a word for that...

[luckythewinner]

EBay is overrun by Amazon dropshippers and destroying my business

Someone drop-shipping from Amazon and making 15% is paying full retail price on Amazon, and then paying eBay 13.25% + 30 cents of the total, and then tacking on 15%. And that is before considering refunds and returns! 

A $50 item would have to sell here for $74.59 in order for the drop shipper to make 15%.  

If they are destroying your business by selling on eBay at 49% over the same retail price that anyone can get by going to the biggest retailer on the internet, then the issue might be your cost structure and not the drop shipping. 

[bashort]

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@mam98031 wrote:

Drop shipping is not against the rules of Ebay if done properly.

Sometimes sellers sell both here and on Amazon.  And some of those sellers have their inventory stored in the FBA program Amazon offers.  So when the Ebay sellers ships something they sold here it comes out of an Amazon warehouse, but it is the sellers stock.

There are lots of sellers that sell on both Amazon and Ebay.  

I hope things work out for you.

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Some signs that will very likely determine if the items in question are being drop shipped from Amazon to ebay or just sold on both is that if they are drop shipped the ebay price will usually be at least 35% or so higher than the Amazon price to cover ebay fees and leave a tiny margin, also they will be Amazon prime items with free shipping on ebay. And the seller will have 10's of thousands of listings with stock photos.

And the feedback will be littered with "seller canceled sale" and came from Amazon ect

From a couple of drop shippers that I studied they tend to price all items with the same add a set % method.