When eBay was founded in 1995, it took the world by storm giving consumers a platform to sell their unwanted junk. Over the years, the company has gone through several transformations. It acquired PayPal before divesting PayPal as an independent company. It also acquired Skype Technologies in October of 2005 before selling it to Microsoft for $8.5 billion in May of 2011.

Today, eBay is much different than what you were used to five years ago. Many of those changes have to do with the growth of Amazon but you will be surprised to find out more about the core of those changes. And, you’ll discover that selling on eBay has become significantly more difficult due to Amazon but not for the reasons you may suspect.

Has Amazon taken the majority share of e-commerce sales and traffic? Yes, but this is only a minor problem in the bigger picture. One of the main reasons you’re unable to find success on eBay in 2020 is Amazon, eBay, and Amazon drop shippers. In 2019, it was announced that eBay had banned Amazon drop shipping and some headlines claimed they were “aggressively banning dropshipping/arbitrage accounts”.

Unfortunately for legitimate eBay sellers, this is not the case and it is the reason you’re having difficultly selling on eBay.

What Is Amazon To eBay Drop Shipping?

First and foremost, you should learn about the basics of Amazon drop shipping to eBay. It starts with an Amazon Prime account. Once someone buys Prime, they use website scrapers to steal massive amounts of data from Amazon. This includes Amazon’s listing pictures and details.

Then, they begin transferring this information to eBay and listing the items for seale. Oftentimes, they increase the prices significantly. Once an unsuspecting eBay buyer purchases one of their items, the fraudster buys the item from Amazon, uses the gift service, and has the item shipped to the buyer’s address.

What is eBay’s policy on drop shipping?

“Drop shipping, where you fulfill orders directly from a wholesale supplier, is allowed on eBay.” More importantly, it goes on to say, “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.”

According to the terms of service page, partaking in activity that is against eBay’s policy could lead to “administratively ending or canceling listings, hiding or demoting all listings form search results, lowering seller rating, buying or selling restrictions, loss of buyer or seller protection, and account suspension.”

How It Impacts Sellers

While eBay and Amazon are against such behavior, it will continue negatively impacting eBay buyers and sellers. The unfortunate truth is that both companies benefit greatly from this arrangement until problems arise. So, how does it negatively impact your ability to sell on eBay?

In 2020, eBay sellers have to understand what type of competition they’re up against. When selling any item, there is a good chance that another eBay seller is dealing with the same merchandise. If they’re using retail arbitrage, you’ve likely paid the same amount for the item in question and shipping costs are mostly equal across the board.

The situation is harder for legitimate sellers because the Amazon to eBay drop shipper has innumerable advantages on their side. Some of those advantages include:

• Don’t buy until it is sold.
• No risk of buying something that won’t sell
• No packaging, tape, bag, shipping supply costs (Amazon covers this)
• No shipping costs (Again, Amazon pays it)
• Extra money to dominate eBay’s promotion system

Unfortunately, whether known or not, eBay and Amazon are in cahoots to create an unfair eBay selling platform for legitimate eBay sellers. Since you’ll need to buy the item, store it in your warehouse, package the item, and pay for shipping, you’re at a major disadvantage.

Amazon to eBay drop shippers do not face these risks. This gives them the ability to pay for nothing except Amazon Prime. Many times, they can earn as much as $40 a pop for simply placing an order and giving Amazon the buyer’s private information.

As an eBay seller, you’re out of luck. You’re up against Amazon and you just can’t win. You must hope that the drop shipper has excessively increased the price so you can sneak in there and earn the sale. Otherwise, you just cannot compete with the Amazon machine.

How It Impacts Buyers

At the end of the day, some eBay buyers may not see a problem with buying from Amazon to eBay drop shippers. Nevertheless, there are numerous risks. First and foremost, these individuals usually reside outside of the United States and they legitimately do not care about their customers.

So, you may get a refund but it’ll take much longer since eBay will have to step in. Simultaneously, buyers have to worry that the seller will order the wrong item. In many cases, Amazon to eBay drop shippers will order similar but cheaper products to push their revenue even higher. And, you’ll have to be concerned that they’ll make a typo and deliver the item to a different address.

And then, there are many consumers who want nothing to do with Amazon. Whether you’re boycotting the e-commerce giant because of its political stance, you hate how treats it workers, or you just don’t trust Jeff Bezos, you want to stay away from Amazon. There is nothing wrong with that and you should be able to avoid them but you can’t.

Sadly, even when shopping on eBay, you may not be able to do that. Many will agree that this is a breach of confidentiality since you never approved the drop shipper to pass your private information to Amazon. Plus, these scammers are greatly increasing the prices of the items they’re selling and some charge shipping despite it being free from Amazon.

You may turn the other cheek. But, how are you going to feel when you realize you could’ve saved $20 by purchasing it from Amazon or elsewhere? You just can’t trust eBay to provide you with solid deals because the prices are being inflated so drop shippers can make a quick 20 bucks at your expense.

Not to mention, this is often funneling large sums of money outside of the United States. It is unknown what these funds may be used for. Sometimes, the item is out of stock or higher on Amazon so the drop shipper won’t be able to fulfill his end of the bargain. Instead, your order will be canceled and you’ll have to start the search once again.

Finally, these individuals are often unethical. If they’re willing to carry out such a scam, what will they do next? You’ve given them your phone number, address, name, email, and so much more. If you’re getting annoying robocalls, there is a good chance one of these individuals was involved.

 

Summary

eBay was once a thriving community where buyers could trust sellers and vice versa. Then, it became riddled with fraudsters and scammers. Today, the platform is being killed by Amazon. And, both companies seem complicit. With so many negative feedbacks for sellers partaking in these activities, you can easily find eBay sellers doing it.

Couldn’t eBay do the same, honor its terms of service, and ban these individuals? How about Amazon? Shouldn’t it do its part to protect the American consumer? With one Prime member shipping 100s of items to 100 different addresses, it would seem Amazon would be aware of the problem.

Nevertheless, both companies benefit financially from these individuals while people like you get shafted. Unfortunately, this is not going to change until it creates problems for both companies. As an eBay seller, you have little hope when competing against these individuals because you’re competing against Amazon.

And, it isn’t just eBay. They’re doing it on Walmart, Bonanza, and other marketplaces as well. What do you think about this situation? Be sure to join us in the NayZayerz forums so you can speak your mind freely without repercussions.