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Selling/Shipping On ebay Questions

by Craig Fenton
10 replies
Hi Warriors:

Hope the weekend has gotten off to a great start.

Some questions about selling/shipping on eBay please.

When somebody sells on eBay without having the product in their possession and then purchases it elsewhere to be shipped to the customer does the buyer end up seeing an invoice from where the seller purchased the item?

For instance you sold (we can use anything) a TV and a radio.
You then go to Amazon for the TV.
You go to Honest Drop Shipper for the radio.

They ship the item to Jane/John Doe. Is there a way that this could be done without Jane/John seeing the invoice from Amazon and Drop Shipper? If they see we paid 100.00 and sold it for 158.26 they could be pretty upset.

Secondly for people who use that method does the customer get upset seeing an item being shipped to them from another company and not the original eBay seller? You buy from Mr. Smith and it's sent from Arnie Amazon.

When you are creating an Ebay ad does the body of ad help in terms of it getting seen in the searches or is it based on the words in the title only?

Finally please for the average eBay seller what percentage of auctions will result in the sale? If they list 10 items how many should sell.

Thank you as always for the information,
Craig
#ebay #questions #selling or shipping
  • Profile picture of the author festi9
    Hi,
    i would suggest using a whitelable drop-shipper as they put your company logo and your price on the invoice so that the customer dosen't come to know the actual price .

    I have been doing this from last year and there is still no problem with my customers.

    I prefer to use combination of text and graphics in ads.
    The sale Depends on the type of auction i.e product that you are selling.
    if the product is high in demand then the ratio is 7:10 and if there is no demand then the ratio is 0:10.

    you will need to find a product that is in daily use and people search for the most and provide them a reasonable price you will end up selling then up all.

    Hope this helps
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Festi9:

      Thanks for the information,
      CF
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  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    [QUOTE=Craig Fenton;8859668]When somebody sells on eBay without having the product in their possession and then purchases it elsewhere to be shipped to the customer does the buyer end up seeing an invoice from where the seller purchased the item? If I see a deal some where that I can make a profit... I order it myself. When I put it up on e-bay it is in my possession. That's just what I do.

    Secondly for people who use that method does the customer get upset seeing an item being shipped to them from another company and not the original eBay seller? You buy from Mr. Smith and it's sent from Arnie Amazon. I would get a bit pissed myself... not so much at you, but my self for not finding the deal.

    When you are creating an Ebay ad does the body of ad help in terms of it getting seen in the searches or is it based on the words in the title only? The title is without question the primary search text used. Understanding how some of my items stay on the top of the search listing is something of a mystery to me.

    Finally please for the average eBay seller what percentage of auctions will result in the sale? If they list 10 items how many should sell. 10! but honestly I get stuck re-listing the odd ball stuff, car parts, or baseball cards. This Christmas I was re-listing Lego product, and eventually sold all of it AFTER Christmas, which I found to be rather odd! But my regular stuff, HDMI cables and RF Modulators, I hardly ever relist those, and if I do, it automatically does it 3 times. ( I don't think either of those have been auto listed more than once though )


    Hope that Helps!
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    Success is an ACT not an idea
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    • Profile picture of the author solartime
      It certainly depends on the supplier as to whether or not your buyer will end up seeing your invoice. Many companies will ship to your customers as private label and will include only a shipping warehouse address (usually there's). And if your customer gets nosy and wants to do an internet search on the return address in many cases it will expose the name of your supplier company and their location. Then your customer will know.

      Some places however knowing this will go one step further on your behalf. And allow you to request that only your return address be included on any shipping information such as the outside of the box and the included invoice. This is the better option if you want them to remain unseen, but sometimes more costly in the long run.

      Yes, you are probably correct. That if your invoice exposes your suppliers wholesale cost then your customer will probably not be very happy to see how much more they had to pay.

      "When you are creating an Ebay ad does the body of ad help in terms of it getting seen in the searches or is it based on the words in the title only?" Try to put your key word in the title if possible. If you have additional information that is not appropriate for title or will not fit into the title, then yes it will help to add it in the description. Ebay has a search feature to also search within the description. Therefore adding additional information in the description will also be of assistance for coming up in the searches, if they select that option.

      "Finally please for the average eBay seller what percentage of auctions will result in the sale? If they list 10 items how many should sell." This will answer will vary greatly depending upon what items are being sold. As of late a lot of people aren't seeing many sales and many are looking for alternatives to selling on ebay. Then there are those who still feel it is worth the time, effort and expense to continue with ebay. So again it will vary from item to item and seller to seller. Exactly what is being sold/at what price and how many others are selling the same or similar items.
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      • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
        Hi Solar Time:

        Thanks for such a quality post.

        One thing that still perplexes me is many people have mentioned over the years that they list on eBay and don't buy the item until the have a customer. Without the white label drop shipping companies it would seem that their customer would always have seen the place the item was actually purchased and the invoice. Yet there are folks that claim they have been doing that forever. It is perplexing since you would think it would cause bad feedback ratings, higher returns, and no repeat customer.

        The only thing I could think of is maybe the source they are using has for a few bucks more a Gift Option. If you click that they understand it is a present and will not show any transaction amount.

        Have a great day everyone,
        Craig
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  • Profile picture of the author ServicesForIM
    Almost all dropshippers will ship the item in your name. The downside is the price is usually higher than wholesaling. Many companies also charge between $1 to $4 to add your name in the invoice. I hope your new business does well.

    Kate
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Kate:

      Thanks for the nice wishes.

      I am not sure if I will be venturing into the eBay selling business. The reason being I worry about what I had asked before and have pasted below once again.

      One thing that still perplexes me is many people have mentioned over the years that they list on eBay and don't buy the item until the have a customer (they all were not using white label method). Without the white label drop shipping companies it would seem that their customer would always have seen the place the item was actually purchased and the invoice. Yet there are folks that claim they have been doing that forever. It is perplexing since you would think it would cause bad feedback ratings, higher returns, and no repeat customer.

      Any thoughts on the above and what steady sellers on eBay do to work around this when they are not all using white label drop shippers?

      Thanks,
      Craig
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  • Profile picture of the author UnkwnUsr
    Amazon has a free gift option also if you contact the seller you can tell them not to include an invoice and most will do this for you. The real complications arise if and when the buyer wants to return the item or get a refund.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel J
    You may be interested in THIS thread. It is an extensive discussion on a "system" that was created for the purpose you mentioned. I personally have only used drop shippers a few times. The idea is really great (no upfront investment, no need to store inventory) but there are inherent problems (dealing with returns/restocking fees, unreliable drop shippers, running out of stock really low profit margins etc). Dropshipping in itself is not a bad option- I know people who do quite well with this. Personally though, I find that investing in products up front is the quickest way to maximum profits. Storing them with Amazon and having them do all of the payment processing shipping, returns etc (FBA- fulfillment by Amazon) is SIMILAR to dropshipping, except that it eliminates most of the problems mentioned above. The downside is the up front investment (but even this can be minimal to start.) Amazon can ship items for sales on their own website AND Ebay or elsewhere. It's worth looking into! Hope this helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
    Hi Daniel:

    Thanks for the great information.

    There are logistical issues for sure if somebody doesn't have the actual merchandise in their home and is using a 3rd party such as Amazon or the Drop Shipper. On the surface it is great that you could list an item and then purchase it when you have a sale but I would never want the customer to see the price I paid and if they found it was from ABC Amazon Approved Seller they would know next time to buy from them. the returns too could be an issue.

    Thanks again for your time,
    Craig
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