Never Let eBay Pack and Ship Your Items, Reader Advises

by: Ric

As a seller, I feel eBay already has more than enough ways to throw me under the bus without entrusting them to pack and ship my items.

by: Steevo

Remember the guy who sold DVD movies with fulfillment by Amazon, who got sued by a movie company over a forged movie? If you let someone else ship for you, you lose control of everything.

The allegations at the time was that Amazon didn't keep same items separate from separate sellers, and if they had 15 sellers who were selling 400 copies of the same movie, they were all just thrown together. So it was impossible to find out which seller sent FBA the fakes.

I never heard what happened to that. Does anyone know?

If you let ebay ship for you what's to say they might not do the same, and just ship any one of those to the next customer?  

by: Tula

No thanks! I've seen how other places package and ship things and prefer to do it myself to ensure quality. Besides, Ebay will likely foist any blame for problems back onto the seller, anyway. It's like those international mail-forwarding services who try to blame the seller for problems, when they are not responsible for the part of the delivery that happens after the item is sent to the domestic location. It's also why I won't use GSP. I prefer to have at least *some* control over my packages and what countries with whom I'll do business.

by: Don Wagner

''As a seller, I feel eBay already has more than enough ways to throw me under the bus without entrusting them to pack and ship my items.''

That already sums up everything I would have said.  

by: ignatz

Possibly, if these two criteria were satisfied:

1) Reasonable cost
2) Termination of any seller responsibility at the dropoff point - i.e., as long as the seller delivers the item intact and as-described to the dropoff point, the seller receives his money and can't receive negative feedback or defects.

Realizing that #2 is a pipe dream, the REAL answer would have to be "No!"

by: aim04744

Not a chance. Ebay cant touch anything without messing it up. Every attempt it makes at trying to be like Amazon makes it look like the generic product version of Amazon. Yes we know it is cheaper, and they say it is made with the same exact high quality ingredients, but we know it isnt and it jut does not taste the same. And never will.

Instead Ebay should be out there trying to be itself and not copy what made someone else successful. Is there money in copying a successful business? Some. But there is more money is being a successful business on your own merits. Some day I hope Ebay has a CEO who gets that.  

by: sickandtired

NEVER IN EBAY'S WILDEST DREAMS will they be allowed to touch my stuff.
 
I have had several occasions to be in a UPS store had have seen the packing area and employees actually packaging items.

They are supposed to be professionals - it is part of their business - and I considered the job they were doing to be substandard. I would not trust them to handle a delicate item.

Almost everything I mail is fragile and I take extreme care in how I wrap and box items.  I do not have problems with items damaged in transit and I intend to keep it that way.

Also, customers are already peeved about the cost of postage which is all I charge.....wait till they are asked to pay a packing fee on top of that....

NOT GONNA HAPPEN !!!!!!!

by: iheartjacksparrow

There is no way on this earth I would want anyone associated with eBay to pack and ship my items. I'm obsessed that the items I mail show up at the recipient's house in the same condition that they left my house. Since eBay employees don't seem to have a conscience with regard to any of their actions, I don't expect them to care if my merchandise shows up broken or mangled. And knowing eBay, they'll choose the biggest box available and ship at the most expensive method possible so they'd be in line for higher fees based on the cost to ship.  

by: pace306

2 yrs ago, right here I told people that eBay was looking into an FBA solution.

Everyone laughed but ... now we see its true.

Of course its really a money ploy, but then again isnt Amazons as well?

If it got rid of negatives, defects, and returns and the price was reasonable - then count me in..... maybe.

On Amazon I can count on sending in items for FBA, being %2 less then everyone else and then getting "the box". The box = moving a mountain of goods. IF eBay promised the same thing then maybe (again assuming the pirce was right).

eBay doesnt have a good enough UPS or Fed Ex deal ... I forsee a DHL deal in teh works (but I digress).

So far based on the sucess of eBays programs and how they deal with sellers .... "no way jose" since there would be no protections and very little to no benefits.

by: ellisdtripp

eBay has f$cked up every other aspect of the ebay experience, now they want to f$ck up packing and shipping as well. To quote Dirty Harry, "Marvelous!" I would rather sh*t my pants in a crowded elevator than let ebay do this for me!

by: OnlyPollyPocket

Ebay would (and has) screw(ed) up a soup sandwich.  I value my reputation and my customers too highly to allow ebay anywhere near my merchandise.

My answer is a resounding ABSOLUTELY NOT!

by: Barbbie

NEVER!

by: Ihatethebay

Are you effing kidding me?? Let John Don'twannaknow get his dirty and inept fingers any closer to my merchandise than they already are????

by: LasVagueness

Echo "never."

by: ConnecticutGal

Ebay is seeking "value-added" lines of business.  One would hope that this would be so fees don't have to increase.  I suspect they already do this for Chinese sellers.

So, here's a question for all of you -- is there a "value-added" line of business for ebay that would make sense for   us sellers?  Offhand, I can't think of one just now but maybe someone else can.

And, uh, no.  I would never have my fragile items packed by someone else even if the liability stops when I would drop it off.  Call me wild and crazy, but I actually like to pack up my items for shipping.  

by: Mimi

@ellisdtripp - your comment made me spit 7-Up all over! LMAO. Yep, chalk me up as a no as well. Not ever, no how.  

by: comet

Oh hell NO!!!!!!

by: RichieC

Really?

by: BargainzBabylon

I can see the value for the occasional seller of perhaps a few things a year, but for regular sellers, even hobby sellers, it seems redundant.

In any case, calling packing and shipping fulfillment a "world first" is overstating things a little. It's not like it's a life-saving procedure or scientific breakthrough, and it's really nothing new.  

by: leathermermaid8

Not if you expect your items to actually GET to their buyer.

Ebay is NOT Amazon and it never will be.  They can't take care of the sellers they have now unless they're huge to begin with.  And most of THOSE sellers also list on Amazon, too.  They can well afford it.

Ebay had a good thing going, ruined it and are hunting for ways to bring in revenue.  Period.  This is the same company that's already loaded with glitches and has some of the worst customer service on earth.  You kidding me?

I'm not sure I would buy anything they "fulfilled," either.  If I want dropshipped goods, Amazon does a better job.