
Some sellers who do not drop ship as a product-sourcing strategy say eBay sent them a notice that they are violating its drop-ship policy and will lose their Top Rated Selling status. One seller reported the issue on the
Ecommerce EKG board and wondered if it was a technical issue.
eBay allows sellers to drop ship from wholesale suppliers, but not from retailers. Here's what eBay's
help page says about drop-shipping:
"Drop shipping, where you fulfill orders directly from a wholesale supplier, is allowed on eBay. Remember though, if you use drop shipping, you're still responsible for the safe delivery of the item within the time frame you stated in your listing, and the buyer's overall satisfaction with their purchase.
"However, listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not allowed on eBay. In such cases, we may remove your listings from search, display them lower in search results, or remove them completely from the site. We may also limit, restrict or suspend your ability to buy, sell, or use site features on eBay, and you could lose any special status and/or discounts associated with your account."
Another seller recently forwarded us a copy of the email eBay had sent them (the seller didn't have TRS status). Here's a copy of the notification from eBay:
Subject: Your Top Rated Seller status will be removed: Selling practices - drop shipping
policy
Your Top Rated Seller status will be removed: Selling practices - drop shipping policy
Hello,
We've determined that you haven't followed our selling practices - drop shipping policy therefore, we will be removing your Top Rated Seller status until your account is in compliance with the policy.
There is evidence on your account that you are purchasing items from an online retail or marketplace site after you sell the item on eBay and having that retailer ship the item directly to the customer. This is a violation of the terms and conditions section of our Selling practices policy, which states:
·Items you list must be in your inventory or you must have an existing agreement with a third party to fulfill the delivery of the item under the terms of your listing.
For more information on this policy, please go to:
Regards,
The eBay team
Sellers had reported getting such notices in January.
In April's
Spring Seller Update, eBay warned that sellers who used a retailer to ship directly to buyers would face reduced search visibility. As we noted at the time, the policy appeared to be an attempt to reduce incidents where buyers receive their eBay orders in Amazon packages (or Walmart and other retailers' branded boxes), which can lead to confusion and/or disappointment on the part of eBay buyers.