Is this even legal?

[Pseudoty]

So I figured out that another eBayer was buying my item e.***. DS then relisting it without paying me telling me he had to wait to get paid on Friday when my auction ended on Sunday and clearly states payment required in 2 days. Then he would sell it at a profit and have me ship it to his winner. This was fine for him until a MISB was only a NISB when damaged in shipping allegedly. So he opens a case with eBay and they find in my favor and tell him to send me back the item for a full refund. Thing is he doesn't have it because he relisted it and eBay knows I provided them the item number.

Can he even list something for sale that he does not posses? I am thinking there has to be some type of interstate commerce law or drop shipping grey area. My auction ended 12/22 he relisted 12/23 I still do not have access to the funds.

If this is OK what would keep someone from listing all go Lego LEGO Shop at Home catalogue at a profit then when they sell something just have lego ship it to the winner for free?

Sorry if this makes no sense not much sleep with this on my mind

[Guest TabbyBoy]

Even though listing items that are not in hand does my head in, drop shipping is not illegal.  Who is this buyer, let's name and shame the r-sole?  I can't see him making a profit accounting for the approx. 14% in eBay/PayPal fees unless he's using a stolen credit card which means you may also suffer a PayPal chargeback.  At least you don't have to refund him if you don;t get the item back.  Have you mentioned a 20% restocking fee in case the box is damaged?  Since you have his address, do you know big guys nearby with a baseball bat? ;-)

[Quacs]

So I figured out that another eBayer was buying my item e.g. DS then relisting it without paying me telling me he had to wait to get paid on Friday when my auction ended on Sunday and clearly states payment required in 2 days. Then he would sell it at a profit and have me ship it to his winner. This was fine for him until a MISB was only a NISB when damaged in shipping allegedly. So he opens a case with eBay and they find in my favor and tell him to send me back the item for a full refund. Thing is he doesn't have it because he relisted it and eBay knows I provided them the item number.

Can he even list something for sale that he does not posses? I am thinking there has to be some type of interstate commerce law or drop shipping grey area. My auction ended 12/22 he relisted 12/23 I still do not have access to the funds.

If this is OK what would keep someone from listing all go Lego S@H catalogue at a profit then when they sell something just have lego ship it to the winner for free?

Sorry if this makes no sense not much sleep with this on my mind

 

What he's doing is dropshipping and it's perfectly legal, although it appears he got pinched by selling something that wasn't in his possession (always a risk for dropshippers).  I'm not sure what eBay's policies are, but I would assume this is acceptable to them as well.

 

That said, to me there are two big takeaways from this - first if the drop-shipper isn't using a stolen CC, then the auction format you are using is providing someone else the opportunity to reap maximum prices for your sets.  I would suggest ditching the auction format for most items (rare and highly sought after items should probably continue as auctions) and go with BIN listings, especially anything that is for sale in retail outlets.  The risk is that you may sit on your sets longer.  As justafrog consistently says: to maximize profit, auctions are for buying and BIN is for selling.

 

Second, you can (and in my opinion should) cancel this (these?) sale(s) if he hasn't paid within the proper time frame.  I assume you haven't shipped any sets he hasn't paid for, so if they're still in your possession and he's passed the payment window, ask eBay to cancel the sale. 

 

If this seller is selling your product for anything near the price you have listed (within 15% of your sold price), you should also report this seller to eBay as a possible dropship scammer.

 

My caveat - I have no idea what your selling history, or goals are for you eBay listings so please consider all aspects of this decision with regard to your own situation before making any decisions.

 

EDIT - if you cancel the sale and/or report the drop shipper, make sure to block him on eBay.

[superbrickman]

I've only had to deal with multiple addresses a couple times. Each time the buyer opened a case, and each time eBay ruled in my favor because I was just following my own policy: I ship only to the confirmed mailing address on file with buyers' PayPal accounts.

I know, this probably rules out those sending gifts to others, but I think even eBay encourages shipping only to PayPal-confirmed addresses anyway, so I can't go wrong there.

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

[justafrog]

Provided the payment from PayPal shows "okay to ship" and that you have seller protection, it doesn't matter at all if the PayPal address is confirmed, both eBay and PayPal will back you up on it provided the tracking shows delivered.

 

Additionally, if you have eBay messages from the buyer requesting that you ship to a different address (for a gift, they forgot to change their address and they've moved, whatever), you are covered at least by eBay because they can see the messages from the buyer requesting the address change. I'm not sure about PayPal, however, so this is much more of a discretionary call for a seller.