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cosmicray
Posts: 7286
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 Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:47 am Post subject: When is a seller actually drop-shipping ? |
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There is a seller on eCrater. They claim to be located in Iceland. Their terms pages says ...
| Quote: | International Buyers – Please Note:
a) Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility.
b) Please check with your country’s customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying. Note that we ship some items directly from our suppliers in Asia!
c) Air-mail shipping time is normally 8-20 days |
Some number of the feedback comments mention the shipment came from HK.
Everything they sell is electronics based (not items I would associate with Iceland).
The About page says ... | Quote: | | ******* are a Scandinavian company, and is a distributor for few selected Asian companies. |
Is this seller actually dropshipping ? |
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thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat
Posts: 10159
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| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:02 am Post subject: |
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| In my mind they are drop shipping. But....I've always been confused about the new guidelines. |
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AtMemoryLane
Posts: 510
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| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:21 am Post subject: |
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"A rose by any color smells the same"
Drop shipping is drop shipping is drop shipping. |
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cosmicray
Posts: 7286
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| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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| I look at it like this ... Either they are located in Iceland (which says they really are drop-shipping) or they are really located in HK (and they're trying to mask their Asian operations). Either way, I think they are flouting one rule or the other. |
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SammysSupplies
Posts: 1631
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| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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| I have wonder about that rule, how is it enforced? I thought after they had banned drop shippers, it was listed in the rules. But, I can't see it anymore, maybe they have decided against it? |
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tigercreekgifts
Posts: 6293
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:15 am Post subject: |
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Sounds like drop shipping to me. If their products are being shipped from any location other than their own or a small warehouse they own down town, they are drop shippers UNLESS they happen to say they are a national or multi-national company and have warehouses or shops located in different countries. I've ordered from sellers that have 5 locations & have stated if their PA warehouse is out of XXX items, they will be shipped from their KY warehouse instead. That's fine.
I have noticed quite a bit of sellers here that are obviously drop shipping as they all have the exact same items, same photos, same descriptions & titles so I've wondered if ecrater has done away with the no dropship rule. There are several sellers in the metaphysical section I know for a fact are drop shipping & I know what company they use because I almost signed up for their drop shipping program once before. They all are using that drop shipper's photos & descriptions. I'm the only one that has the same items but I have mine on hand so I use my own photos & my own descriptions. |
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator
Posts: 4620
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:17 am Post subject: |
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The eCRATER Terms of Service state:
| Quote: | 4.5 What is not allowed to post?
...
- Items from drop ship service networks |
The way I personally read the rule is that drop shipping is allowed as long as it isn't from a drop ship service network. If I want to sell items made by an individual located at a different location and I'm going to have that person do the shipping to my customer after the sale, that's drop shipping. However, the individual isn't a "drop ship service network".
If I want to sell items from a company that's primary business is supplying items to be drop shipped by other sellers, that's probably a "drop ship service network". The items from the individual are probably only going to be sold by a select few sellers. The items from the big company that makes it's money by supplying product to sellers to drop ship to their customers are going to be offered by lots and lots of sellers. These items are usually going to use the same stock photos and the same description and offered by a ton of sellers. It would be easy to find a search that every result returned was for the same item, same photo, same description with only the price, seller and shipping cost being different.
I've never seen a list of disallowed "drop ship service networks" and the statements above are my opinion only. I think I remember someone from eCrater saying at one time that the process of drop shipping wasn't against the rules, it just depended on your drop shipper. However, it's just my memory and I couldn't find anything in the forum, so I could easily be wrong.
I would think if you question if a store is in violation of the terms of service, send an email to the eCRATER staff.
If you are an eCRATER seller who is considering using a drop shipper, contact eCRATER staff first. |
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SammysSupplies
Posts: 1631
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:42 am Post subject: |
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Ok...guess I was blind. I look through that several times. Thank you Sheila Dee.
Last edited by SammysSupplies on Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:49 am; edited 1 time in total |
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SammysSupplies
Posts: 1631
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:44 am Post subject: |
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| ooops, double post |
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ecrater-moon
forum admin
Posts: 571
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cosmicray
Posts: 7286
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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The key phrase being this ... | Quote: | | *Please note that we are not allowing products from drop ship service networks. A merchant can be a drop shipper as long as products are not from these type of networks.* |
Which suggests that anyone with a private supplier/seller relationship is a drop-shipper, but not involving a network. They are selling something they may not have physical possession tho, so the issue is still a bit cloudy.
I guess what is missing here, is where the item(s) are physically located, as eCrater is only displaying where the seller is located. The seller indicates they are in Iceland, but the customers are reporting shipment from HK. |
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ecrater-moon
forum admin
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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There is no issue here. If the products are from a drop shipping service network ( as listed in the example) Then the drop shipping is not allowed. If the merchant is selling these products, we may ask them to send photos of the items in their possession. As is states
"A merchant can be a drop shipper as long as products are not from these type of networks."
em |
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MoonwishesStore
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| Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:31 am Post subject: |
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Sorry, clear as mud to me, but then I don't drop ship and have no interest it doing it.
I see sellers here selling multiple quantities of the same goods and with stock pictures, which I know are stock pictures because if you do a search of the products, you see the same photos everywhere and not being sold on multiple venues by the same seller, but many sellers. I would find it hard to believe that they have all that inventory in their physical possession as well. One seller that I saw would have had to shell out in the neighborhood of $50-100K to have all their inventory in their own possession with receipts to match. Point 2, 3, and 4 from the referenced page from ecrater above. |
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cosmicray
Posts: 7286
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| Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| ecrater-moon wrote: | There is no issue here. If the products are from a drop shipping service network ( as listed in the example) Then the drop shipping is not allowed. If the merchant is selling these products, we may ask them to send photos of the items in their possession. As is states
"A merchant can be a drop shipper as long as products are not from these type of networks." |
I am still (somewhat) confused, as the two statements appear to be conflicting.
I think I understand what a 'network' is, and why it's something that's not wanted here.
If someone is drop-shipping (but not part of a network) they (by definition) do not hold inventory. The warehouse (located at a different palce) holds the inventory, and handles the shipping. Now, it may be possible that the seller has samples of the inventory, so they may meet the minimum requirement (for unique images). The people using the networks probably never held inventory, only a membership and stock images to upload.
At the end of the day, the issue that I mentioned above still exists: that the product page here shows a location, but the item is being shipped from elsewhere (and presumably by someone else). In the instance that started this thread, the seller could have easily indicated a US location, still drop-shipped from HK, and met the site requirements. That would have been more egregious than indicating Iceland, but with the same result. The problem remains that the product page should give the buyer a clue where the product is physically located, and will be shipped from. Where the seller is located only comes into play for currency conversion issues.
If it is inconvenient to put a physical location on each product listing, then there needs to be some indicator on the product page that the item ships from a different country. Where the item ships from has issues involving duties, etc.
ETA: After reviewing one of the listings, I now see that the listing (old style store listing) says "Seller's Country". The listing does not mention where the item is located. The current style marketplace and store listings say "Location". It is not clear which location that is, but apparently that is the seller's location. |
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tigercreekgifts
Posts: 6293
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| Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:31 am Post subject: |
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I took me a while but I understand what ecrater Moon was saying now. So the sellers in the metaphysical category are not in violation then. They do not have their items on hand but the company they use for drop shipping is not a service network. They sell their products at retail to normal customers but if you pay a yearly $200 membership fee you can get those items drop shipped to your customers. They have one warehouse location in Minnesota & offer several new age classes and holistic services on site. They donate a lot of their profits to charities.
I have a wholesale membership with that company but I don't use their drop shipping service so I don't pay the $200 yearly fee. I bet those other sellers have no clue there's a cheaper way to get those same products from that company & actually have those items in your possession. But I'm not gonna share my secret, it allows me to offer the exact same items at cheaper prices than theirs & I can use my own photos & descriptions because I have the items in my home & have sold many of them. |
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