What I was selling no longer available- buyer still wants it...

funnymoney_3

I was dropshipping goods on Ebay, and had a steady flow of orders going through. Now, however, I have several orders (some large) which some buyers have paid for, and others havn't, and the goods are no longer available at anywhere near the price they previously were. I have tried explaining this to one of the buyers who has spent over £1000 in one order, but she has refused to mutually agree to cancel the transaction via the unpaid item method (she hasn't paid), and is now threatening legal action! Am I screwed? Do I have to provide the goods??
I could be £k's down if I do...
Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks in advance,

soolin

She can't force you to sell her the goods but neither can you force her to agree to a mutual NPB claim to get your fees back.

If you get too many seller complaints you may get a slap on the wrist, but if you get a lot of negs you will lose future business. Unfortunately you have found the drawback to dropshipping, your FVFs on this lost sales are going to be high, plus you have annoyed your buyers, and basically you are stuck.

Soo

funnymoney_3

Thanks soo- not as bad as I thought then.
But what about those that have paid? Does that constitute an obligation for me to fulfill?

soolin

funnymoney wrote:

Thanks soo- not as bad as I thought then.
But what about those that have paid? Does that constitute an obligation for me to fulfill?

I know some will disagree with me here, but my answer would be that morally yes you should fulfil their orders, but realistically you can't be forced to do so. I would suggets though that you refund ASAP and grovel, but do not attempt to reclaim your FVFs doing a mutual as you will just really irritate your buyers and are more likely to get neg feedback.


Soo

dinglebert

Let me get this right. You were selling goods on ebay that you didn't own, hoping to make enough money from the sale to then go out and buy the goods and keep the profit.

You've taken money from some people and are now refusing to supply the goods which you admit you can still get but not cheaply any more and you're looking for folks on this forum to give you moral permission to let lots of bargain hunters down.

Mmmm let me think about that one

funnymoney_3

Errr. to put things into perspective, if I did fulfill the order I would be precisely £511 down now, as opposed to £200 up. And that's just this one order. I cannot afford to do it just to avoid dissapointing some bargain hunters. They knew I was dropshipping, it's not like I said I had the goods at my home.
They were BIN, so hope didn't really come into it.
I'm not looking for moral permission, just practical advice.

dinglebert

funnymoney wrote:

Errr. to put things into perspective, if I did fulfill the order I would be precisely £511 down now, as opposed to £200 up. And that's just this one order. I cannot afford to do it just to avoid dissapointing some bargain hunters. They knew I was dropshipping, it's not like I said I had the goods at my home.
They were BIN, so hope didn't really come into it.
I'm not looking for moral permission, just practical advice.

How did they know you were dropshipping and did not already own the goods?

Agutka

If people just communicate and are nice and polite, then I don't see the harm in changing your mind about buying or selling. It's the rude or ignorant psychos that ruin it for everyone.

You have an excellent reason not to provide the goods and sound like you are not just ignoring your buyers. You're not stealing from people, noone will be left out of pocket, just out of bargain. Refund those who have paid, send lots of apologetic emails, explaining the lack of goods and take the negatives on the chin. Good luck sorting this out.

And don't do it again *slap wrist*

funnymoney_3

dinglebert wrote:

How did they know you were dropshipping and did not already own the goods?

In my item description it said something along the lines of;
Items will be shipped directly from my supplier within 2-3 days of purchase etc etc.
I just needed some advice as this woman does seem very irate, I think she really wanted the items. To be threatened with legal action over those sorts of figures was quite scary TBH. Just needed to know where I stood.
Thanks for the reassurance Agutka.

dougk_2

If you have a large number of orders is it not possible for you to negotiate with your "suppliers" for a better rate? Is there a comparable alternitive you can offer (not knowing what sort of items you were selling)?

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Surely when dropshipping you should still ensure that the items you list are actually available? I completely understand where this particular buyer is coming from and I too would be extremely annoyed.

funnymoney wrote:

if I did fulfill the order I would be precisely £511 down now, as opposed to £200 up.

Considering it was your own fault for listing items that were unavailable can you not afford to take a loss and fulfil this buyers order and possibly the others who are yet to pay? If you fail to fulfil these orders then those buyers could report you for being a non-performing seller.

I personally would rather take a loss than upset a lot of buyers who could potentially (depending on the number of buyers involved), ruin your reputation on eBay as a seller.