Will Amazon Crack Down on eBay Drop Shippers?

by: pace306

Its called arbitage and every large seller who has tons of goods in FBA does it.

Thats why alot of those good sellers have bad ratings - since Amazon sometimes is slow to post shipping info or tracking.

Its been going on for years and it will take everything Amazon has to try and stop it ... question is - is it worth it.

Between the cost of FBA itself, the pickpack fees and the monthly storage fees - are those fees enough to offset the cheap shipping Amazon uses ... I guess they made their decision!

by: brokentoys19

As indicated by the link, this has been going on a very long time. The web is full of tutorials, ebooks and videos teaching folks to do it. It got even more exposure when they exposed that ebay's biggest troll guy doing it. From there it's not much of a leap to understand that bypassing ebay is the way to go, and that besides the world's biggest ebay troll and scammer, there are multitudes of others on ebay doing the same.

When buyers get an ebay item in an Amazon box, is that a good reason to file INAD/SNAD complaint? (then send back a box of rocks or whatever, taking advantage of ebay's "faulty returns" policy?)

by: Tiffee Jasso

It's my opinion that Amazon does not care if it supports the shipping costs for Ebay sellers. This has been going on since Prime was created. At the rate the company is pursuing it, they might stop the shipping loss fees within the decade. What they ought to do is crack down and haul the big boys into court for breech of contract plus damages. That would stop most.  

by: Chicago48

I don't understand the discussions about Amz shipping Ebay products.  I re-use AMZ prime boxes all the time to ship but I take the Prime label off or cover it up.  Is this what sellers are doing?

by: RKTOYS

I don't have anything to add other than that it's worked in the other direction for me.  People seem willing to pay a premium to buy from me on Amazon versus eBay.  That, more that anything, is how I know that Cassini is beyond broken.

by: Wes Dodd

Amazon needs the sales revenue too much to ever crack down on the practice. Doesn't matter how much they lose on the shipping, they need an ever increasing amount of sales revenue to report every quarter, to try and keep the stock price up so Amazon management can continue raking in tens of millions of dollars a year selling off the stock.

by: Sellerofall

This article is referring to sellers on ebay like honeyroastedpeanut who have 36k feedback a month and only drop ship from prime with a little mark up. I am assuming they will find a loophole soon enough.

by: Santini

Amazon shipping is free for $35 and over purchases for non-prime purchases so this seems like a weak crack down, if that's what it's intended to be.

by: iheartjacksparrow

@Chicago48 - I believe this is what is going on:

eBay Seller advertises a turquoise widget for sale. eBay Seller doesn't actually have any widgets in their inventory. Buyer buys the turquoise widget, so eBay Seller quickly places an order on Amazon for a turquoise widget with free Prime shipping, indicating that the widget is a "gift" so Amazon mails directly to eBay Seller's buyer.  

by: toolguy

I have had 2 eBay items come from Amazon Fulfillment as a Gift this year.

One seller had the item on both Amazon and eBay at the same price.

I bought it on eBay and the seller had it shipped from his inventory at the Amazon warehouse.

Smart eBay sellers ripping off Amazon ~ I LOVE IT

by: Santini

toolguy, how is Amazon being ripped off? That's just multi-channel fulfillment service that Amazon provides. As long as you don't offer an item for less than you list it on amazon, they're ok with it, they still profit.

by: blackmail

Ripping people off is stealing in any form, ebay sellers or not this is exactly why ecommerce is dropping, and people do not trust buying products off the internet it has turned into a nightmare for buyers, ebay has taught everyone to steal from others. anyone who willfully steals should be ashamed of themselves    

by: comet

The one thing I do like about Amazon is the sometimes astonishingly FAST shipping--

Last week my son ordered a trailer hitch --not a light weight item--on 30 July at 1 PM Eastern;  and it was noted that shipping might bring it to him--in NY State--from the Left Coast---by THIS Tuesday.  The following AM "Before I had my second cup of coffee"  the item was AT HIS DOOR.  

Now it IS possible that the seller has various items "stashed"  at Amazon warehouses but STILL--free overnight shipping on a heavy object?  

I am NOT claiming that ebay sellers need to emulate this;  it just is a pleasant surprise when things turn up earlier than indicated (and I think Amazon has a more realistic take on this ANYWAY).  

This "drop shipment"  by a seller on Amazon OR ebay tho--I dunno;  seems in one way clever and one way underhanded.  I guess it is one measure tho that this super fast shipping on MOST items from Amazon is a plus to some re-sellers.  

by: shut1968

I got news for ya ''blackmail''.. we get ripped off far more on Amazon than we ever do on eBay.. at least on eBay we can block bad buyers, on Amazon we have to take orders from them no matter how bad our experience in the past with them has been or take a metrics hit for canceling the order. I for one don't care if sellers use Amazon Prime for drop shipping, GOOD for them if they do, if they pay their membership fee then so be it, sooner of later this inflated ''bubble'' of ''Free Shipping'' offered and pushed by Amazon and everyone else is gonna bust, you cannot continue to offer the lowest price anywhere and give out free 2 day shipping as well and think your gonna make a profit in the long run, it's only a matter of time before it catches up. Online sales aren't down because someone drop ships from Amazon to eBay, or vice versa.. who gives a crap if they bought something on Ebay and they get the exact item they purchased in the stated condition in an Amazon box.. they got what they paid for, anyone who bitches about it just anally retentive and out to cause problems anyways. If Online sales are down it's because people are slowly realizing.. you can get  the same or better deal and have a tangable item in your hand instantly if you shop at a normal brick and mortar store. You can't get any ''faster'' shipping than walking into a store and purchasing it, loading it into a cart an taking it home.

by: ajeweler

@ Blackmail

I would have to agree with you a thief is a thief put lipstick on them they are still a thief.

I believe that freebay has made it easy for buyers to target sellers to get money off items, items free, switch items and/or scam sellers sort of a buffet for thief's.

with this being said, I believe that there are hundreds or thousands of freebay sellers who list things that brick and mortar stores sell, freebay was built on vintage antique collectables not new items that you can go to walmart and just buy those sellers are the very ones that overcrowd the market


now that the sellers are getting beat daily by freebay Some sellers feel it is ok to pass the buck sort of speak to anyone or any venue to make up their losses hence using what they learned from freebay and carry it over to other venues.

it is still stealing if you are using amazon to ship free your freebay listings anyone taking benefits without paying compensation is stealing, lead by example be honest with people

by: Will

Many years ago, I used Prime as a drop shipper for my eBay items. I ended up receiving an email from Amazon, questioning my buying activity, as it looked suspicious to them (they weren't wrong), since I had marked all of those items as "gifts". Ever since the email, I do it sparingly now, since my Amazon membership means more to me than other venues.

by: Volvo351

Well, apparently some eBay sellers are counting on buyers not e-shopping for the best price - ie. buying the item directly on The River.  

by: shut1968

@Volvo352

That's because many don't.. believe it or not there are plenty of people out there who do not like Amazon, I personally spend a few thousand a year online shopping... and not 1 penny of that goes to "The River", If I don't find what I'm looking for on eBay (very rarely) then I will shop the stores in this area... and if the item has a stock photo I won't buy at all. I want to see what I am buying before I purchase it.

by: TomH

@ Pace306
''Between the cost of FBA itself, the pickpack fees and the monthly storage fees - are those fees enough to offset the cheap shipping Amazon uses''

To answer the question in one word: Yes. If you have the item in FBA and run the numbers correctly with the right items, it can work very well. (I am not talking about using Prime against Amazon Prime rules, rather about using FBA as a warehouse and drop shipper; which is quite OK with Amazon.)

For me and others, not having to pack and label and ship individual purchases is worth a good deal  

by: thebobman

How is this possible. Everything I sell on Amazon is being sold for more than I can sell it for on ebay.

One example: I sold a projector bulb for $42.98 on amazon today. I can buy them at any time on ebay for $10-$18 each. If I could actually trust sellers to ship on time, I could sell 2-3 of these a week without even having to touch them.