The definition of dropshipping is that the seller / retailer does not have any stock of the product and instead orders the product from a supplier whenever a sale occurs.
Many have pointed out this usually occurs with middlemen and scalpers turning profit on goods available elsewhere for lower prices, but it also technically applies to print-on-demand and other manufactured at point of sale goods.
It’s usually over different websites and look like different levels of quality. For example, my friend bought a part of their Halloween costume on etsy, expecting something of decent hand made quality. Instead he got something mass produced from a factory drop shipped from Amazon.
That’s how modern business operates. Market t is statured and the market aint got a lot of new ways to make money so these “entrepreneurs” just trying to middle man everything 69 times
Best example is any e commmer transactions, so you regular buyer and seller but now you also got amazon, bank, visa, some advertising algo that sells your data…
Jfc I am just trying to buy a pair of fucking socks.
They’re taking your money without providing you any value. It’s dishonest and it’s against eBay’s terms of service (unless they are working directly with the supplier, which I highly doubt is the case.)
It says that a refund is offered and you can still keep it. I see absolutely nothing negative for you. But the answer from another user makes 100% sense. That for later scams as soon as a positive reputation has been built up.
If you just want to get it wrong.
In the message itself on the picture there is nothing negative about what OP said with no money back.
The answer of another user has explained how the scam is what makes 100% sense. Which also makes it obvious that it serves as an owner bribe. OP just didn’t point that out.
The negative rating and reporting is also correct. I didn’t say anything against that either.
Yes, from the individual person that is a perfect deal, nothing monetary to lose but they can get something. Only other persons will suffer. Which is exactly why everyone here calls it a bribe. Which is why you saying that completely neutral makes it look as if you think that is good and should be done.
What exactly are you arguing for or against at this point?
I’m just saying that his text doesn’t explain that others will be scammed later. The fact that he then writes no money back while in the text on the picture exactly that is offered does not make the actual fraud any more obvious. With the explanation it makes sense that it is used as a bribe but without the explanation it is not so obvious.
Of course, I do not condone fraud and welcome any action against it.
Lol
Did I say anything against it? No.
Did I suggest that the answer from another user makes more sense? Namely exactly what you are now also referring to, that it will be used for future scams.
I didn’t say anything against rating the seller badly because it is the right thing to do. That you should definitely report them.
I have not objected to anything. Only that it was said that there is no money back if the picture in the message clearly states that he can keep the item and have his money back. In the message is nothing negative for the OP itself.
It’s a way of farming sales and reputation, to build an account for later scamming with.
A brand new account running a scam gets picked up almost immediately as they’re watched closer. An account that’s been around for 5 years, selling products without reports of fraud, suddenly switching to scams stays under the radar longer.
You should suspect it for items with really long delays. They are waiting for a sale or new pricing. They sold you something they don’t have and don’t plan to send until they find it cheaply enough to hit their profit target.
Meanwhile you could have bought from someone who actually has it, direct from the original seller without extra markup, or waited for the same sale they are
A deliberately deceptive business practice that does nothing to help consumers and only raises prices? If you have to have it explained to you why that is bad, well I’m sorry, but you are beyond saving.
Why is doing literally nothing but adding cost a bad thing? 🤷♂️ they’re even selling on the same platform, it makes the actual-priced product harder to find or is just a full-on scam, pretending they sell higher quality products than actuality.
To be a little more clear from what op said, it’s when someone sells it from eBay to a person that didn’t shop around to see if the product was cheaper from other retailers. The ebay seller than buys it from another retailer where the product was offered for less money and then the seller has it shipped from that retailer directly to the buyers house. It’s bad in the sense of some eBay shoppers purposely want to avoid giving their money to a specific retailer (like amazon), or they just feel mad that they could have gotten the product cheaper to begin with.
I don’t mind this personally with ebay, I might be out a few extra dollars sometimes but at least I am supporting independent sellers and not having to waste time visiting and put my info into many websites. If they are violating the terms of service of Amazon Walmart etc. to do so, great, I support that. If they are waiting for sales to get a better price, fine, I wouldn’t want to bother with that myself.
If their lack of actually having the item resulted in me not getting it at all, I’d be a little pissed about it, but I haven’t experienced that. Overall I like ebay way better than other e-retailers.
Chinese knock off mass factory, makes stores and has the items.
They find a guy in America and say "Hey can you list our items on ebay, when you sell them, we’ll take $20, you can probably sell them for $50.
Guy lists item for $50, someone buys it, he then just e-mails the dropshipper and asks them to send it straight to the buyer. Sometimes he will have to give ebay a fake tracking number (because ebay doesn’t approve the practice).
Point is the drop shipper is just there to conceal the actual source of the product. That’s generally because they are sketchy in some other way.
A co-worker of mine at one point got into a drop shipping scam. She was selling golf clubs that way (she was selling them about 80% of expected retail, place she was buying from was charging her about 25% of retail. She didn’t know (but probably should have guessed) that the clubs she was selling were counterfeit, and she about had a heart attack when her 2nd customer called her out on it (she refunded him and took the loss).
Yes, and it’s basically a given that most of this crap is counterfeit, unless it’s a scheme as dopey as simply ordering it from Amazon and shipping it back to you. Which still isn’t a guarantee that it isn’t counterfeit, come to think of it.
That profit margin for the drop shipper has to come from somewhere.
And this is coming from someone who deliberately orders counterfeit crap. (Yes, knives, how did you guess?) But if you’re okay with that you may as well buy it directly from whoever is making the knockoffs in the first place via Aliexpress or whatever and pay a lot less in the process.
I’m out of the loop, what’s drop shipping and why is it bad?
The other replies are a bit wrong.
The definition of dropshipping is that the seller / retailer does not have any stock of the product and instead orders the product from a supplier whenever a sale occurs.
Many have pointed out this usually occurs with middlemen and scalpers turning profit on goods available elsewhere for lower prices, but it also technically applies to print-on-demand and other manufactured at point of sale goods.
I’m assuming that there’s no issue with print-on-demand and manufacture at POS; I know pretty much what I’m getting if I order a 3D printed dingus.
The seller just buys the item on Amazon and sends it to your address usually at an inflated price. They sell stock that they don’t own.
To play the role of the annoying five year old, “And why is that bad?”
They offer no service or benefit. They are a needless middleman.
Can’t people just buy directly then, why do they choose to use these dropshippers?
Usually people are unaware they are dealing with a dropshipper.
But if you compare prices, why wouldn’t you go for the lower price?
If you don’t compare prices, well, at that point it’s just on you tbh.
It’s usually over different websites and look like different levels of quality. For example, my friend bought a part of their Halloween costume on etsy, expecting something of decent hand made quality. Instead he got something mass produced from a factory drop shipped from Amazon.
Ah, well that makes more sense.
Dropshippers don’t advertise themselves as such.
That’s how modern business operates. Market t is statured and the market aint got a lot of new ways to make money so these “entrepreneurs” just trying to middle man everything 69 times
Best example is any e commmer transactions, so you regular buyer and seller but now you also got amazon, bank, visa, some advertising algo that sells your data…
Jfc I am just trying to buy a pair of fucking socks.
They’re taking your money without providing you any value. It’s dishonest and it’s against eBay’s terms of service (unless they are working directly with the supplier, which I highly doubt is the case.)
It says that a refund is offered and you can still keep it. I see absolutely nothing negative for you. But the answer from another user makes 100% sense. That for later scams as soon as a positive reputation has been built up.
“the thief gave me money to shut up, I see nothing negative for me”
If you just want to get it wrong. In the message itself on the picture there is nothing negative about what OP said with no money back. The answer of another user has explained how the scam is what makes 100% sense. Which also makes it obvious that it serves as an owner bribe. OP just didn’t point that out.
The negative rating and reporting is also correct. I didn’t say anything against that either.
Yes, from the individual person that is a perfect deal, nothing monetary to lose but they can get something. Only other persons will suffer. Which is exactly why everyone here calls it a bribe. Which is why you saying that completely neutral makes it look as if you think that is good and should be done.
What exactly are you arguing for or against at this point?
This was a great answer with an explanation. https://lemm.ee/comment/18878997
I’m just saying that his text doesn’t explain that others will be scammed later. The fact that he then writes no money back while in the text on the picture exactly that is offered does not make the actual fraud any more obvious. With the explanation it makes sense that it is used as a bribe but without the explanation it is not so obvious.
Of course, I do not condone fraud and welcome any action against it.
The point of it is that by exposing them they will have to create a new account to scam with.
Lol Did I say anything against it? No. Did I suggest that the answer from another user makes more sense? Namely exactly what you are now also referring to, that it will be used for future scams. I didn’t say anything against rating the seller badly because it is the right thing to do. That you should definitely report them.
I have not objected to anything. Only that it was said that there is no money back if the picture in the message clearly states that he can keep the item and have his money back. In the message is nothing negative for the OP itself.
If you take the bribe you are as bad as the one offering a bribe.
Take the full refund, proceed to leave the review as is. Best of both.
Take the bribe and update your review to inform people they’re bribing for positive reviews.
Even better
Lol I didn’t even begin to talk about that.
It’s a way of farming sales and reputation, to build an account for later scamming with.
A brand new account running a scam gets picked up almost immediately as they’re watched closer. An account that’s been around for 5 years, selling products without reports of fraud, suddenly switching to scams stays under the radar longer.
Great answer. Thank you.
You should suspect it for items with really long delays. They are waiting for a sale or new pricing. They sold you something they don’t have and don’t plan to send until they find it cheaply enough to hit their profit target.
Meanwhile you could have bought from someone who actually has it, direct from the original seller without extra markup, or waited for the same sale they are
They’re short sellers
Also you may be avoiding Amazon, but end up giving them your business against your wishes.
This has been my issue. I’ll order something from a seller and it shows up two days later, delivered by Amazon.
A deliberately deceptive business practice that does nothing to help consumers and only raises prices? If you have to have it explained to you why that is bad, well I’m sorry, but you are beyond saving.
Very kind and polite of you
Why is doing literally nothing but adding cost a bad thing? 🤷♂️ they’re even selling on the same platform, it makes the actual-priced product harder to find or is just a full-on scam, pretending they sell higher quality products than actuality.
The complexity of returns wouldn’t be ideal I guess, you don’t have the original receipt etc.
To be a little more clear from what op said, it’s when someone sells it from eBay to a person that didn’t shop around to see if the product was cheaper from other retailers. The ebay seller than buys it from another retailer where the product was offered for less money and then the seller has it shipped from that retailer directly to the buyers house. It’s bad in the sense of some eBay shoppers purposely want to avoid giving their money to a specific retailer (like amazon), or they just feel mad that they could have gotten the product cheaper to begin with.
I don’t mind this personally with ebay, I might be out a few extra dollars sometimes but at least I am supporting independent sellers and not having to waste time visiting and put my info into many websites. If they are violating the terms of service of Amazon Walmart etc. to do so, great, I support that. If they are waiting for sales to get a better price, fine, I wouldn’t want to bother with that myself.
If their lack of actually having the item resulted in me not getting it at all, I’d be a little pissed about it, but I haven’t experienced that. Overall I like ebay way better than other e-retailers.
Basically the way it usually works is.
Chinese knock off mass factory, makes stores and has the items.
They find a guy in America and say "Hey can you list our items on ebay, when you sell them, we’ll take $20, you can probably sell them for $50.
Guy lists item for $50, someone buys it, he then just e-mails the dropshipper and asks them to send it straight to the buyer. Sometimes he will have to give ebay a fake tracking number (because ebay doesn’t approve the practice).
Point is the drop shipper is just there to conceal the actual source of the product. That’s generally because they are sketchy in some other way.
A co-worker of mine at one point got into a drop shipping scam. She was selling golf clubs that way (she was selling them about 80% of expected retail, place she was buying from was charging her about 25% of retail. She didn’t know (but probably should have guessed) that the clubs she was selling were counterfeit, and she about had a heart attack when her 2nd customer called her out on it (she refunded him and took the loss).
Yes, and it’s basically a given that most of this crap is counterfeit, unless it’s a scheme as dopey as simply ordering it from Amazon and shipping it back to you. Which still isn’t a guarantee that it isn’t counterfeit, come to think of it.
That profit margin for the drop shipper has to come from somewhere.
And this is coming from someone who deliberately orders counterfeit crap. (Yes, knives, how did you guess?) But if you’re okay with that you may as well buy it directly from whoever is making the knockoffs in the first place via Aliexpress or whatever and pay a lot less in the process.
Me? Order an obvious fake of an overpriced knife so that I can decide if I like the design in person? Nah, never!
quickly shoves small box of counterfeits under bed
Ha-ha, your box of counterfeits is small…
It’s not the size of the box that matters, it’s how you use it!
At least, that’s what my mom told me