Drop Shipping on eBay is Not Just Impossible for Newbies!

You should know by my ID that I am VERY against selling on eBay using drop shipping. But, many new eBayers still thinks this is a low-risk low-cost way to get started in the eBay business -- and if you have not believed me in the past when I say it simply does not work, then maybe eBay's recent policy changes will convince you to stay away from drop shipping. One of the major benefits of drop shipping has been obliterated by eBay. :mad:

You see, drop shipping was about getting paid first and then using that money to buy the item and have it shipped directly to the eBay buyer. So, you list an item on eBay then someone buys it. Then you use the money they paid you (though PayPal) to buy the item, which the drop shipper then ships directly to the buyer.

Well, now eBay has started HOLDING FUNDS FOR 21 DAYS or UNTIL POSITIVE FEEDBACK IS LEFT! This applies to small sellers, new sellers, and sellers with less than stellar feedback.

Here are the details direct from eBay's website.

Quote:

---

Occasional holds on payment
27. Which sellers will have their payments held?
In a small percentage of cases where it has been determined the risk of dissatisfied buyers is higher, PayPal may delay release of the payment funds to the seller until the buyer has left a positive feedback or 21 days have passed without a dispute, claim, chargeback or reversal filed on that transaction.
To determine if a transaction may have a higher risk of dissatisfied buyers, eBay reports to PayPal a number of factors, including but not limited to:

Seller's % Positive Feedback in the last 30 days
Seller's Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 30 days
Final price for the item
Shipping & handling fee
Seller's eBay tenure as an eBay member
Seller's total number of Feedback


28. How will I know that my payment is being held?
Payments that are held will be shown as "pending" in your PayPal balance. PayPal will send an email notifying you when the hold is released. PayPal Money Market Fund customers will continue to receive income for amounts that are being held in your account.
29. When will PayPal release the eBay item hold?
PayPal will release the hold when the earliest of the following occurs:
the buyer leaves positive feedback,
3 days after confirmed item delivery* or
21 days without a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal filed on that transaction.
* This applies to US domestic transactions that are shipped by USPS or FedEx and either (i) use PayPal shipping labels to ship items or (ii) upload tracking information to PayPal via the transaction details page.

30. What can I do to avoid having eBay item holds?
Your payments WILL BE NOT HELD if you meet all the following requirements:
eBay Tenure: Greater than 6-months
Total Feedback score: More than 100
Dissatisfied Buyers %: Less than 5%

---

So, now assuming you are a newer eBay seller (and if you're established WHY on EARTH would you be considering drop shipping) you CAN NOT use the money they pay you to complete the transaction as it will be HELD.

You must use YOUR OWN money to complete the drop ship order as the funds will not be released for 21 days.

NOW MORE THAN EVER -- DROP SHIPPING SUCKS AND WILL NOT WORK ON EBAY!! BE CAREFUL!

I disagree that it is impossible to dropship on ebay. Difficult yes, but not impossible. You have to find the right supplier and use tools like Channeladvisor, etc.

I dropship a few of my items, only a few mainly because I buy items from other sources at better pricing. But one of my competitors who uses one of my suppliers, sells about 35k a month soley dropshipping. How does it work out, here is a copy of his feedback.

1 month 6 months 12 months
Positive 1086 6898 12228
Neutral 1 8 10
Negative 0 6 6

10 neutral and 6 negatives out of 12,228 is pretty good. I have dropshipped about 100 items from this supplier without 1 problem.

Anything is possible. But my article refers to NEW sellers ("Impossible for Newbies") on eBay using drop shipping w/ eBay new policies in place. Someone with 12,000+ feedback is not new.

Also, he may sell 35k per month but his net might be very small.

Dropship, why are you so down on eBay?

I would have thought that if you were dropshipping on Ebay then your feedback score would get to 100 very quickly.

dropship, I have been watching your posts for some time now before saying anything, much less posting. I have come to two conclusions:

1) You do not want anyone dropshipping on eBay; claiming that it is nearly impossible.--Obvious

2) The reason for this consistent naysaying is either: 1-You were burned on drop shipping, or 2-You have a deep fear of competition.

Now I'm not attempting to attack you; if you've had problems, please post about them so that we can all learn from your experience. I think I can speak for everyone in saying that we want to learn from people who have "been there." If you are worry about competition, don't worry, the internet is a very big place, and is, for the most part, a largely unsaturated market.

As to you marke, once you break the ten items sold mark with 100% feedback (very easy to do, just sell things around your house), you bypass the eBay hold clause that dropship is talking about. Notice how that policy is contingent on positive feedback?

How do I know? Well, I've sold computers, cell phones, air cards, and other used electronics from around my home to boost my feedback on my new eBay account. All of those items have a high likelihood for problems. I have never had an item payment held by eBay.