Ask Me Anything about selling on eBay

[ricktosell]

Paypal request supplier info and invoice to review before they can lift my account. How likely will my account be reinstated if I send them a fake invoice with legit supplier like Zappos if I'm selling shoes?

 

[toml3030]

Paypal request supplier info and invoice to review before they can lift my account. How likely will my account be reinstated if I send them a fake invoice with legit supplier like Zappos if I'm selling shoes?

If they have enough complaints that you sold fake shoes, been selling brands that don't distribute their product through 3rd parties, or you got VEROed, the decision has already been made to ban you and asking for invoice is just a formality. If not for those reasons, sending fake invoices should work. If you have raised sufficient suspicions they may call the supplier and check that the invoice is legit.

 

[ricktosell]

If they have enough complaints that you sold fake shoes, been selling brands that don't distribute their product through 3rd parties, or you got VEROed, the decision has already been made to ban you and asking for invoice is just a formality. If not for those reasons, sending fake invoices should work. If you have raised sufficient suspicions they may call the supplier and check that the invoice is legit.

Thanks. Finger crossed. I sent them a fake invoice and Paypal said they will get back to me within 2 business days. Some people say PayPal is too lazy to call supplier and supplier won't give out customer info. I hope it goes that way.

 

[toml3030]

Some people say PayPal is too lazy to call supplier and supplier won't give out customer info. I hope it goes that way.

A lot of it depends on what you sell. If you send in fake info for Louis Vuitton or Apple products you will 99.9% get banned.

 

[Gigidus]

I can't list an item located in China. When i try to do the shipping calculations it always says: wrong seller zi code. And beside that, the dropdown menu of the shipping companies are only US based. What is the problem?

 

[toml3030]

I can't list an item located in China. When i try to do the shipping calculations it always says: wrong seller zi code. And beside that, the dropdown menu of the shipping companies are only US based. What is the problem?

1. It may be because you're not entering the Chinese postal code. They don't use it that much, but they have a six digit zip code.

2. You may avoid this by charging flat shipping, instead of doing shipping calculations.

 

[maozzi]

@toml3030
Wow man, this is great. I started reading two days ago and just finished. I read pretty much every single post and probably will go back and re-read it in time. It's so helpful and informative. I really appreciate the time and effort put into the tread.
Now if I do have questions? Indeed, a lot but most are not going to get answers probably I won't ask those, no worries.
Whatever to the topic let me start with a few.

1. I know you have several ways of sourcing your merchandise but in my case when I think about selling a product I usually go on a few online wholesale websites that I know of. But usually here is where the problem starts. Because I usually see that the wholesale price is even higher than ebay price. Yes, some of these sellers are from Asia but some are in U.S. So how do you overcome this? Do you have different finding wholesaler strategies or you go on those websites such as dhgate and make your first purchase and in time with the connection you make the price drops down? I remember you stating that you pay your wholesaler about 2-3 months after you receive the products. How even is this possible?

2. Somewhere in the posts, you said buy cheap sell for more is not the way anymore. Looks like I am pedaling against the river. What strategies are you following other than producing your own merchandise?

3. You are mentioning using tethering devices such as phone or hotspot. Why don't you use regular modem internet? You can reset and get a new IP if it's not static. Am I wrong?


Thank you very much

 

[Imogen Charley]

can I see sample?

 

[toml3030]

Now if I do have questions? Indeed, a lot but most are not going to get answers probably I won't ask those, no worries.

No, ask away. I will answer if it helps. But remember, The important thing is to how to think the right way, not what copying what I do. I am 100% convinced that if I brought everyone into my office for a week and taught everyone everything, 99% of the people still couldn't make it work.

1. I know you have several ways of sourcing your merchandise but in my case when I think about selling a product I usually go on a few online wholesale websites that I know of. But usually here is where the problem starts. Because I usually see that the wholesale price is even higher than ebay price. Yes, some of these sellers are from Asia but some are in U.S. So how do you overcome this?

1. That's because people who set up wholesale websites are also selling themselves on eBay and Amazon. Most of those people are just the middle men. What I do is deal with only people who actually manufacture, not middle men.
2. Since I can do my own manufacturing in US, I manufacture hot new items here to keep total control of it. Only when I'm 100% sure that the items are going to sell, then I import it, since everything you send to China to produce is going to be copied in a few months.

Do you have different finding wholesaler strategies or you go on those websites such as dhgate and make your first purchase and in time with the connection you make the price drops down? I remember you stating that you pay your wholesaler about 2-3 months after you receive the products. How even is this possible?

I never contact anyone through DHGate or Alibaba. 99.9% of people selling there are also selling direct on eBay/Amazon, and/or reselling products made by someone else. The best contacts I have are from word of mouth from competitors or them contacting me. My niche isn't huge so if people start moving any sort of volume the word gets out pretty quick.

2. Somewhere in the posts, you said buy cheap sell for more is not the way anymore. Looks like I am pedaling against the river. What strategies are you following other than producing your own merchandise?

The idea is you should cut out as many people other than you making money between the producer and the consumer. Strictly retailing is still a good way to get into the game, but I think the time to make real money in it is rapidly closing for people who are not making a real business of it. You need to get big in a niche and move volume, and then inventory and ship yourself to make a long term living at it.

3. You are mentioning using tethering devices such as phone or hotspot. Why don't you use regular modem internet? You can reset and get a new IP if it's not static. Am I wrong?

Depends on where you live and what ISP you have. Some ISP's in small towns have a very limited range of IP's which greatly increases your chance of getting linked. And just restarting a phone is a lot more convenient that juggling multiple routers.[/user]

 

[maozzi]

@toml3030
Thank you very much for the prompt response. I really appreciate it.

1. You said you never contacted anyone through DHgate or Alibaba. And I agree with you on your comments about the sellers on those websites are also selling on eBay and Amazon. So my assumption is contacting some local wholesalers might even be better than contacting those who sells on those websites from China. Do you agree with me? You said your competitors became your source for wholesalers. But did you have any experience with local wholesalers and if yes, how did it go? Do you suggest any other reliable online wholesalers?

2. As an example, if you were willing to sell a certain product what would your strategy be to locate the best wholesaler?

3. I use Time Warner Cable in a Texan city with one million population. Do you have any idea how would be the IP range pool? Do you know how I can learn about the IP range of a provider?

Thanks in advance.

 

[toml3030]

1. You said you never contacted anyone through DHgate or Alibaba. And I agree with you on your comments about the sellers on those websites are also selling on eBay and Amazon. So my assumption is contacting some local wholesalers might even be better than contacting those who sells on those websites from China. Do you agree with me? You said your competitors became your source for wholesalers. But did you have any experience with local wholesalers and if yes, how did it go? Do you suggest any other reliable online wholesalers?

Local wholesalers are okay, depending on the product. I have used them for stuff I sell in my retail store. You want people who just wholesale, not retail on the side. I would rather have multiple local wholesalers to buy stuff to sell online and use them as my inventory rather than dropshipping in my niche if I were to get started today.

2. As an example, if you were willing to sell a certain product what would your strategy be to locate the best wholesaler?

I would just visit them. They should have a catalog of items they keep in stock at all times. You make a deal with them on price and just buy one whenever you sell something online.

3. I use Time Warner Cable in a Texan city with one million population. Do you have any idea how would be the IP range pool? Do you know how I can learn about the IP range of a provider?

Should be okay in a city that big. What I did was to make an excel sheet and keep track of IP every time I used my tether. After about 300 logins, I found out that there were no duplications so I felt safe at that point.

 

[kubikdanon]

@toml3030

Here's the question I've got.. I am selling fake shoes on eBay.
I've listed like 8 listings. 2 of them were sold, where the rest got removed and I got a message from eBay saying that my listings were removed because something is against their policy.
THIS IS a FRESH account. So I don't think someone reported it.
How do they find out that I sell fake? Do they automatically do it or is it a manual process? What are they even looking at? I see TONS of people selling fake shoes on eBay, and they get away with it, seems like.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Paulix]

They don't figure out you selling fake products.
What i understand they are designer shoes so they are VERO products (high risk).
They can ban your account forever for this also it's a fresh account and i figure out you don't have any selling feedbacks.
Do you ?
If you have you can call them and tell them you didn't do nothing against they policy a d explain that the products are Authentic and my selling feedbacks proof that.
Also you need to find a support that know what you saying not one that read from a script they shitty rules.
If you don't have nothing and its a fresh account i'm afraid you need to make another eBay account and to start selling slowly cheap items not VERO products.
Hope you find this thins important.
Cheers!

 

[toml3030]

How do they find out that I sell fake? Do they automatically do it or is it a manual process? What are they even looking at? I see TONS of people selling fake shoes on eBay, and they get away with it, seems like.

The #1 factors are exactly what you are selling and account strength. A new account selling high risk items is just asking to be banned.

 

[Nigel67]

Nice post, I'm also selling on ebay from 2006, in Europe.
I started selling cloned phones and I was doing very good, now i decided to try make this my primary (legal) source of income so I opened a business and using my old real account with no limits I'm listing 15 thousands of items from a dropshipper. This dropshipper works very good, until now I had any problem with them, the stock is sync every 2 hours and they stay 99% on time with shipping. Ofcourse I have a lot of cometitors but most of them are not really good so I think I can manage to get a living with this.
BTW I have a question for you: last month I had to cancel some orders for being out of stock (my mistake) now my defect rate is more than 5%, so I need to manage to get lower as possible before the 20th of this month. I'm doing some promotions on low value items to try to make volume, but other than this I don't have any other ideas. Do you have any advice?
Thanks

 

[toml3030]

my defect rate is more than 5%, so I need to manage to get lower as possible before the 20th of this month. I'm doing some promotions on low value items to try to make volume, but other than this I don't have any other ideas. Do you have any advice?

There's no real shortcuts. As I tell people, "there are quick ways to do things on eBay/Amazon and the right way to do things, and most of the time they're not the same"

 

[Mark Lewis]

So I saw these $1 kylie jenner lip kits on dhgate and thought I could make a huge profit on them. It doesn't say that they're fake, but since they're $1 I think it's to be assumed. I bought 96 of them for $133. But now I'm reading stuff that says ebay is very strict about selling fake products and I don't want to risk it. However, in the reviews on dhgate, many people have said that the products are very close to perfect and that they resell them. I'm wondering how they resell them without getting in trouble? What other websites could I use to sell these without risking getting in trouble? Will I get caught if they really do look exactly like the original product? I see many other people selling them on ebay for less than the originals are sold for so I'm assuming they're also selling fakes otherwise they would never be able to make a profit, but I'm not sure. I don't know what to do help!

 

[toml3030]

many people have said that the products are very close to perfect and that they resell them.

...and I'll bet at least half those "reviews" are posted by the seller. Think about it. If I'm selling that, and making good money at it, why would I help potential competitors?

I'm wondering how they resell them without getting in trouble?

Selling fakes can always get you in trouble. There is no such thing as 100% risk free selling of counterfeit items. Account selling history lessons that risk greatly, as well as researching what you sell and staying away from products with active VERO takedown operations and products with no grey market. The risk isn't getting caught for selling fakes, the biggest risk is eBay or Paypal asking to send proof of where you got them, and anyone sending anything from DHgate will probably be banned.

 

[SeldomSeen]

Hello everyone I'm new to BHW. Came across this thread and just want to say its been very informative. I'm no noobie when it comes to eBay but knowing that I don't know everything lead me here and after reading this thread over the last few days I definitely have a better understanding of some things.

 

[315jny]

your Top 3 drop shipping sites to use with ebay?