Ina Steiner EcommerceBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on ecommerce.
by Ina Steiner, Editor of EcommerceBytes.com
Tue Nov 16 2021 21:40:57

When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

By: Ina Steiner

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eBay sellers are still using Amazon as a drop shipper, according to a buyer who was describing what they called one of their worst buying experiences.

In a thread on the eBay discussion boards yesterday, the buyer said they thought it was strange when an Amazon driver delivered their eBay order in Amazon packaging. But when the item they'd purchased from eBay was defective, they went digging for information about the product.

In describing their revelation upon searching Amazon for the product, the buyer wrote: "All of a sudden it dawned on me...this is why the shipment came from Amazon. The seller had simply purchased the item on Amazon, doubled the price, and had it shipped to me. Really dishonest and unethical I thought. I then did some research, and quickly discovered this is against eBay policies, but is not all that uncommon unfortunately in certain circumstances."

When the buyer complained, the seller asked for proof of the defect. The buyer then placed a return request through eBay, which was accepted immediately - "and sure enough, the return label sent by the seller had the return going to an Amazon return center," the customer wrote.

The buyer left a negative review for the seller after receiving a refund, but they became upset when eBay removed their feedback within the hour. Another poster on the thread explained in part, "Because you were refunded you could not leave negative feedback that would stick. The item is no longer paid for, and if you mentioned a dispute in any way that too would qualify the feedback for removal."

Regardless of whether the seller violated eBay's policy or not, if buyers learn they overpaid for an item, it's vexing to them - especially if they feel they've been duped.

And while some sellers may blame the buyer for not comparison shopping, the fact is, buyers who feel fooled may think twice before purchasing on the platform again.

Another eBay user asked in the discussion thread if there had been a gift receipt in the package. "That would indicate that the seller violated both eBay and Amazon policy and had the CD shipped through his Prime account."

But they also noted there were a growing number of sellers who sell on both eBay and Amazon and use Amazon for fulfillment. 

The eBay buyer confirmed there was an Amazon gift receipt inside the package, indicating the seller may have used their Amazon Prime account in order to get free shipping. 

There have been a number of cases of law enforcement going after marketplaces sellers who commit fraud. It's possible Amazon could decide to report sellers who fraudulently use their Prime accounts to ship commercial orders to buyers. Though why Amazon seemingly hasn't found a way to stop such shipping abuse is a mystery.



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Readers Comments

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

This user has validated their user name. by: Rexford

Wed Nov 17 08:52:52 2021

"Regardless of whether the seller violated eBay's policy or not, if buyers learn they overpaid for an item, it's vexing to them - especially if they feel they've been duped."

Do they feel the same way when, immediately after their purchase, eBay shoves a listing of the same or similar item at a lower price?

Buyer saw the item, obviously was willing to pay the price, but then complains when he or she discovers they could have had the item for less.  I am guessing that this is a big reason that eBay orders are cancelled quickly after the purchase.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: eBaySince2006 This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 17 09:58:10 2021

This has been going on for an eternity. eBay doesn't enforce it and Amazon doesn't enforce it either. The buyer got the item they paid for, and got their refund for the return. There's no story here.  

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: pace306 This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 17 10:26:16 2021

What’s the difference where it came from?

Is it a thing for buyers to to routinely quiz sellers about where the items come from?

Is a fedex driver or ups driver better then an Amazon one?

As for rice - as stated above- he agreed to it - so what’s the issue.

How would any buyer know what a sellers margin is?? Maybe it was a gift, maybe it’s a promo item, maybe they are just cleaning out an attic OR maybe they buy from a dealer or distributor where the margins are much less??

Much ado about nothing

If it’s defective then there’s a policy for that, if not then you own it - enjoy it and use it well

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: toastedmutt This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 17 13:40:15 2021

More common as more sellers list on multiple platforms.  Items purchased on Amazon are delivered by USPS.  An Amazon seller who also lists on eBay and Etsy may have their merchandise shipped from the Amazon warehouse where their inventory is stored.  

I have a bigger issue with other drop shippers on eBay.  I ordered an item from eBay and it arrived directly from LTD Commodities.  The public can buy directly from LTD at a cheaper price.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: ValueAddedResource This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 17 19:15:43 2021

" I ordered an item from eBay and it arrived directly from LTD Commodities.  The public can buy directly from LTD at a cheaper price."

@toastedmutt - That could likely be triangulation fraud, it's a huge problem on eBay.  Fraudsters compromise and take over eBay accounts, list items for sale they don't have, and when the item sells they "drop ship" it from a legitimate ecommerce site using stolen credit cards. The legitimate ecommerce site ends up holding the bag when the credit card chargeback rolls in and they end up losing both the item and the money.

I personally reported 150+ compromised eBay accounts that hit one company for over $160K in triangulation fraud and eBay did very little help.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: DingDong This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 17 20:12:18 2021

I had a couple of purchases from eBay and came in an Amazon Prime package. The price was higher on eBay, but I was okay with that. IT's seeing that Amazon packaging.

I never like Amazon since they do gateway of products and such.
I tried reporting this seller to Amazon since it's against their policies and you can unless you have an Amazon account.
I kept going around and around, sending to various Amazon emails and stating that I DO NOT have an Amazon account and they kept sending be back to the same spot to enter your Amazon account.  Idiots.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: Mazdaman This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 00:23:27 2021

I agree with "Rexford" - too many buyers shop for price AFTER ordering from eBay, THEN they squawk.  We've had buyers tell us they found it for less, and when we asked where they found it, IT WAS ON OUR OWN WEBSITE.  Of COURSE it's less - we make the item, and we have no eBay fees on our website.  The fact that the buyer came to the website AFTER purchase (and often, after receipt of the product with NO complaint about the item or damage) indicates a Buyer's Remorse issue.

We've even had buyers go ahead and purchase an item from the website (or some other site), and return an item to us WITH A DIFFERENT SERIAL NUMBER than what was on THEIR item.  We've explained this to the eBay reps, but most can't comprehend that anyone else could possibly sell for less than THEY do ;-).  So the question is, perhaps we should cut out the middleman (eBay) and just sell on our website!  Yes, it's ironic and rhetorical, but it seems now that our sales eBay's site have been eclipsed by our other venues, including our own site, so all we're using eBay for now is "exposure" it seems.

It's going to be an interesting holiday season, as eBay is running out of schemes to inflate their revenue figures, but sellers generally know their revenue figures right away.  And it isn't looking good for what eBay contributes to that.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: Eagle This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 01:03:11 2021

@mazdaman, We experienced the same thing adding an Etsy store. Only trying to get added exposure with Etsy. Our best year with Etsy was only 10% of our total sales mixed with our website. Then, by chance I was checking our placement on Google for keywords. Appeared we were in competition on first pages results. Either our website was placed right above the Etsy store or visa versa. When Etsy kept $15 after refunding an Etsy order because customer found Etsy store on Google. Customer had thought she was buying from our website. I was at end due to Etsy trying to tell me how to run my business and keeping or charging $15 for refunding customer it was all I needed to break camels back. I shutdown our Etsy store the same day. Turned out to be a good thing because that extra 10% sales put us in a higher tax bracket. This happened 2 years ago and haven't looked back since

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: Markdownsandmore This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 04:04:08 2021

My guess is that the item wasn’t defective at all. When the buyer realized it came from  Amazon they shopped it there and realized they could get it on Amazon cheaper and entered a return with defective reason code because the seller doesn’t allow free returns. Sad.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: HarveyG This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 09:09:17 2021

To those that reply what doe it matter:  Some people prefer not to support Amazon so they purposely shop elsewhere.  .  .  It also matters because eBay arbitrarily and capriciously enforces its policies.  Regarding the original post.  I have had this happen multiple times.  The item is simply drop shipped via Amazon's Fulfillment service.  The seller has no item and has no idea if the item they are selling is actually the item being shipped.  They've never seen it in person.  I have reported the seller's to eBay to no avail.  .  .  They don't care.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

This user has validated their user name. by: Bidonmine

Thu Nov 18 09:51:32 2021

Here is another scenario... I have accidentally oversold items or, had an item go missing after sold or had to replace an item. I purchased the item on Amazon and had it shipped to the customer. No fraud, no triangle, no double pricing, just honestly trying to meet my obligation.  

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: I Must be Crazy This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 11:13:58 2021

One thing is probably certain, the buyer in the article will probably NEVER look on eBay first for anything.

I don't think it matters to Amazon, the item gets sold somehow through their platform. Based on the outcomes I am seeing here, the recipient goes and finds the item for less on Amazon, returns it through eBay, and buys it for less on Amazon (or any other site for that matter). Seems like a win for Amazon. Not only do they end up with the final sale, but the buyer was just given first hand evidence that they can find it for less on Amazon.The only entity harmed in that whole deal is Ebay.

The big dummies don't realize that if it is cheaper on Amazon, then it is likely cheaper on eBay as well. But since they probably hid half of the less expensive items, in order to extract more profit pushing the one that was twice the price, this happens. And yes, people don't like the feeling of paying too much. They feel suckered. Would not have mattered one bit if the buyer never knew it came from someplace else.

I recall reading somewhere in Amazon's selling policies that sellers agree to keep their Amazon prices on a par with other selling venues. That way you can't offer it on Amazon for more than another venue. I am sure they are able to effectively enforce that policy. Ebay needs to do a better job of policing where the items are shipped from, and where returns are going if they want to stop this activity that only hurts their site in the end.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: ByeByeEbay This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 15:20:08 2021

My feeling is you pay for a service and product. If the item is delivered safely and is the correct item delivered within or even faster than the time frame, you got what you paid for.  I just want my item, I don't care where it comes from.  People too often want to just be negative and use any reason to hurt someone else whether with words or feedback.  If you won't say to a person's face you should not put it up.  With that being said when you don't leave a 5, or on some sites a 9 or 10 it hurts the seller or employee.

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: Snapped This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 16:33:37 2021

Buyers (and many sellers) have been raising a bit of “noise” for years about this.  

But eBay refuses to require the item indicates it’s ship from origin location (zip/country).  Alternately that it is disclosed as being drop shipped.  

eBay doesn’t want to ‘discourage’ anybody who doesn’t want to patronize such a seller.  

Which ironically will crease the likelihood discouragement is the least of what will happen.

Because they are not very eCom bright, those eBay guys.  But you knew that, right?

Perminate Link for When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van   When Your eBay Order Arrives in an Amazon Van

by: DingDong This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 18 18:53:33 2021

''HarveyG To those that reply what doe it matter:  Some people prefer not to support Amazon so they purposely shop elsewhere.''

I am one that does not support Amazon, Quick Trip, Home Depot and several others. I will not buy from them.  There are quite a few people I know don't do business with certain companies.



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