Using ebay as "payday loan"

zerog

Seeing this more and more frequently: sellers list items BIN for less than the normal price, but with 15 or 20 working day dispatch times, sometimes longer.

If you message them they will say they don't have the item yet but are waiting for a "work bonus" etc. Sometimes they even say this in the item description. They are not "dropshipping" as the amount they would get after paypal fees is not enough to buy the item. They usually use a photo found on google.

As far as I can tell these sellers are genuine. I report the listings but they never get pulled, and the sellers usually get positive feedback a month later.

soolin

As long as they have the correct dispatch time on the listing and declare if it is not currently in stock (although the latter is rarely enforced) they are doing nothing wrong on ebay or in UK law.

A true payday loan scam on ebay is where they take your money and wait for you to claim INR , then claim item was lost and refund. That usually gives them a couple of weeks breathing space and use of the money.

forgotmyname

Some sellers dropship and make a pennies profit or maybe even a loss. It happens. If they get a positive then maybe they did deliver.

Just needed to wait for the item to be on sale on Amazon or from a supplier? Not seen any for a while but there used to be lots of threads from ebay buyers who were upset their goods arrived from Amazon and when they looked it was actually cheaper on Amazon.

Without knowing what the item is it's impossible to know its true value.

SuperPikachu

I got caught out (slightly) once. I bought a book off of somebody and when it arrived it was brand new unopened in an amazon box with my name on the label as an actual printed amazon label! I thought "What an idiot, I didn't shop around!" and checked on Amazon and the guy had made £1 ...

Really bizarre thing to do. I left him no feedback

vacheron

SuperPikachu wrote: »

I got caught out (slightly) once. I bought a book off of somebody and when it arrived it was brand new unopened in an amazon box with my name on the label as an actual printed amazon label! I thought "What an idiot, I didn't shop around!" and checked on Amazon and the guy had made £1 ...

Really bizarre thing to do. I left him no feedback

I had the same, I wanted an item for a relative who was staying at our house and who was leaving the next day.

Amazon wanted about £8 for next day delivery, however there was a seller on eBay who was selling it for £3 more but with free next day delivery.

I ordered from him at 7PM on a sunday and there was a knock at the door at 9am Monday morning and there it was. Amazon box, my name.

The guy clearly had an Amazon Prime account (this was in the early Prime days) and was willing to drop-ship it to me for a very small amount of profit after eBay fees.

I can't understand the "bizarre" delivery method deserving no feedback. In my mind, I recieved what I purchased at the price stated within the stated delivery time, who cares what route it took?

That seller got a nice big positive from me that day!

fewgroats

This is more of the nature of a pawn shop.

soolin

SuperPikachu wrote: »

I got caught out (slightly) once. I bought a book off of somebody and when it arrived it was brand new unopened in an amazon box with my name on the label as an actual printed amazon label! I thought "What an idiot, I didn't shop around!" and checked on Amazon and the guy had made £1 ...

Really bizarre thing to do. I left him no feedback

Since the seller did nothing wrong why wouldn't you leave positive feedback?

Sharon87

People may be doing this because they've got Amazon vouchers and want cash, even if it's only a £1 profit, it means they'll get cash as oppose to vouchers they may not need. I know cashback sites like Quidco offer more value to take amazon vouchers as oppose to cash, so it could be something along those lines.

GabbaGabbaHey

SuperPikachu wrote: »

I can see from your response to me in the other thread you have no empathy for others.

I that the fact that Soolin has been (at time of writing) Thanked 45,575 Times in 27,678 Posts says that she has significant empathy for others, and provides far more help and assistance than you are ever likely to!

twhitehousescat

I buy a lot of parts for classic motorcycles , many of the parts are made by a UK company (hi-level) the same stock photos are used on all the ebay ads . one of the sellers admitted to me that hi-level posted direct to customer , so in effect all the ebay sellers are drop shipping items they do not own

over the yrs I have wittled the sellers down to about 2 or 3 , and if for some reason the item has disappeared from sale by majority , I ring seller to ask them to check stock level with hi-level before I order

as well as a decent seller I compare selling price before choosing

drop shipping at its best with sellers competing on prices

RFW

SuperPikachu wrote: »

Firstly the person did not even own the item they were selling and did not state anywhere in the item description that the item would be coming from Amazon
Secondly they charged me postage for something they clearly got for free as they had Amazon Prime

Although that happens a lot it's not certain to be the case. I have stock stored with Amazon that I sell on Ebay. Amazon ship the product to my customers. I pay Amazon to fulfill the delivery.