Ebay probs - help!

[matt21]

I sell items on ebay that are bought from a office equipment firm. They send direct from the factory to my customers, the customers pay me, I then pay them.

Had a lot of issues recently with quality. Once such item some inept person sent out the wrong product and my customer rightly was very angry. As such I had to offer his a full refund. The factory will only refund me the cost I initally paid to them. ie Im out of pocket quite a bit through ebay fees, Paypal fees and so on aswell as negative feedback, wasted time and loss of my profit.

I asked for a refund for the sale price but they refused. Is this reasonable or am I just being petty?

[SS HSV]

matt21 said:

I sell items on ebay that are bought from a office equipment firm. They send direct from the factory to my customers, the customers pay me, I then pay them.

Had a lot of issues recently with quality. Once such item some inept person sent out the wrong product and my customer rightly was very angry. As such I had to offer his a full refund. The factory will only refund me the cost I initally paid to them. ie Im out of pocket quite a bit through ebay fees, Paypal fees and so on aswell as negative feedback, wasted time and loss of my profit.

I asked for a refund for the sale price but they refused. Is this reasonable or am I just being petty?

You are whats known in the trade as a drop shipper. If you do not hold these items in stock you cannot monitor the quality, and therefore not look after your clients as you don't get to see the product before it ships.

You have two choices:

1) Inspect every product or pay someone else to do so for you.
2) Buy better quality products and ask more for them.

Sadly with ebay once one bad feedback occurs, the rest quickly follow suit. I would apologise in advance for the crap you are selling and offer their money back, pulling the advert, if you want to keep your business running. Alernately, carry on regardless and get more negs than a sample counter in a blood bank

Personally I run a mile from drop shippers that are just trying to trade without putting any capitol of their own in, as its poor business sense. In typical PH style, I would say GROW SOME, take out a loan, and start a proper business with a premesis and some staff that can ensure your customers are getting a quality product, hence building up a quality reputation. After you have done this you will begin to achieve repeat business which is the ultimate way to trade as you don't have to advertize.

This business lecture was brought to you free of charge by SS HSV's consultancy services

[matt21]

cheers mate, doing this as just a bit on the side. may not bother, not worth the hassle it would seem

[andy-xr]

Are you buying from a reseller or distributor? There's every chance seeing as you're reselling that you could go higher up the channel which might bring you more margin. More margin can either put more cash in your pocket, or be put towards delivery costs, so you get the item and sort out the delivery to your customer. Assuming you can get the credit of course

[matt21]

andy-xr said:

Are you buying from a reseller or distributor? There's every chance seeing as you're reselling that you could go higher up the channel which might bring you more margin. More margin can either put more cash in your pocket, or be put towards delivery costs, so you get the item and sort out the delivery to your customer. Assuming you can get the credit of course

hands are slightly tied.

its my fathers business and they asked if i would grab the ebay market which was previously untapped. They have asked me not to target elsewhere in order not to step on the toes of other dealers which I agreed to as it bought modest profits for little work. Now become a rite old PITA

[SS HSV]

I had exactly the same idea selling DVR's from China. Worse than the quality issue, I bought ten samples first, then based on the quality of those (they were good), I bought 800 pieces. They arrived on four battered pallets, and some of the cases were water damaged during shipping. Half of the DVR's which I sold came back with faults.

There's no hard and fast rule for a quick buck. Try buying a few small items and selling them for a few pence profit (including your ebay fees). Although you are not making a lot of money, you are effectively buying positive feedback and a reputation. Business takes time to build. Then look at what other people are selling on specialist products - my mate sells UPS data leads, they are £25 from UPC and he has a guy which makes them up specially for £8.. he sells them for £10 but sells loads. You are looking for a similar product but it doesnt have to be IT.

Have another go Mr. Business man.. what have you got to lose?