Can i sell someones else item ,they are selling, for more money

[jayg.buyandsell]

am i alowed to list say "earphones" on my ebay for $5 or $10 and when someone makes a purchase i use the money i received and order the same earphones for $1 from china on another persons ebay listing and instead of putting my address for delivery i put the person that payed me for a pair. Then the china earphones get sent to the person that bought from me and i still have a profit of $4 or $9 depending on how much im going to resell them. And it means i dont have to hold any stock or start with any money.

The ebay store that is selling them from china for $1 dont miss out because they will be making profit and so will i. Is this a win win and is it allowed or would it even be worth it.

Thanks.

[padi*0409]

---

@jayg.buyandsell wrote:

The ebay store that is selling them from china for $1 dont miss out because they will be making profit and so will i. Is this a win win and is it allowed or would it even be worth it.

Thanks.

---

Yes, it's allowed and called "dropshipping" BUT it's a very risky proposal in that you are reliant on the Chinese supplier to post the goods out for you. It's far better to have your own stock of the items and not be reliant on a third party.

[sandypebbles]

Not win win for people like myself who do not want to buy complete and utter garbage 

Thank you for the warning

[lyndal1838]

Yes, dropshipping is allowed.

You will have to put the correct item location in your listing and it is definitely a disincentive for buyers.

You are at the mercy of your seller.....if he does not send the item or it is held up in the mail it is your account that is going to take the hit.

As mail is very slow at present due to the coronavirus it is dollars to donuts that it will not be smooth selling.

Is it worth it....not in my opinion.   Dropshipping has always been fraught with problems and never as much as it is now.

[sandypebbles]

Plus, don't forget the money will be on hold for 21 days if the buyer is paying by PayPal, so how will you work out using the $10 (minus the fees) you get to buy the $1 earphones at first ?  

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

---

@jayg.buyandsell wrote:

am i alowed to list say "earphones" on my ebay for $5 or $10 and when someone makes a purchase i use the money i received and order the same earphones for $1 from china on another persons ebay listing and instead of putting my address for delivery i put the person that payed me for a pair. Then the china earphones get sent to the person that bought from me and i still have a profit of $4 or $9 depending on how much im going to resell them. And it means i dont have to hold any stock or start with any money.

The ebay store that is selling them from china for $1 dont miss out because they will be making profit and so will i. Is this a win win and is it allowed or would it even be worth it.

Thanks.

---

The rules and things you will need to seriously consider:

You have to state that the item location is China (you can't tell people the item is shipping from Australia, just because that's where you are). This also means you have to give reasonable postage estimates - if you don't, your selling career will be fraught with problems from buyers who are expecting quick delivery. Consider, also, that you will be selling exactly the same items for say $10, with exactly the same dispatch / arrival times that buyers will be able to see they can get for $1, if the products you mention are on ebay like you said. 

The packaging can't include an invoice or other materials from another seller - if a buyer purchases from you and receives a package with an invoice from a different company, with the price you paid on it, not only are they going to be quite unhappy, it's a breach of eBay's rules and if a buyer reports it, or eBay detect it in another way, your account can be shut down.

Such purchases - if you pay via PayPal - will not be covered by buyer protection after 31st July - PayPal are withdrawing buyer protection on items that people buy with the intention to re-sell, and it applies to single item purchases. If you establish yourself as a dropshipper, this pattern will be very easy for PayPal to see. That means if your buyer claims item not received or item not as described with you, you will not be able to turn around and dispute with the seller you purchased from. 

[everard6920]

I agree with everyone else's sentiment in that I don't think it's a great idea.

If you're really keen, I think you'd be better off importing them yourself from the seller, so that you actually have the product yourself. Then you have the advantage of being able to post it from here in Australia, and have overall control of the transaction.

There are just too many things that can go wrong, otherwise. What you're planning to do might work in the short-term, but I feel like you will inevitably run into major problems.

[gutterpunkz05]

Is the person you intend to buy from a retailer, an independant seller or a wholesaler.  As I understand it you can drop ship from a wholesaler/manufacturer,  but that you can not sell an item then purchase it for dropshipment from another retailer.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

your post reminds me of Ricky, who wanted to list Playstations on eBay and if someone bought one he would then buy one from the USA.  He had ‘express post’ as his shipping method but had a 30 day handling time.  He thought the 30 days was sufficient for the item to get to him before express shipping it to his buyer.

Just remember that every listing has “Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing “ which means that if a problem arises with your $1 purchase it counts for nothing in a buyer claim/dispute.  The buyer has a transaction with you and not the seller you buy from, so you are responsible if your seller fuc stuffs up the order.  You are also responsible for accurately describing the item.  If your buyers feel the quality is not up to scratch on the cheap $1 Chinese earphones, then you leave yourself open to a refund request on every single transaction. Not only that, but if one of your buyers makes a claim for the item being Not As Described you would not be able to make the same claim on the seller you bought from.  That is not a business model for making money, it will certainly fail.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I think you are very optimistic in thinking this is a win win opportunity.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

@jayg.buyandsell

actually, if you have a product in mind for your business venture then the first thing you need to do is buy one of the items from one of the sellers you are thinking of buying from.

This will not only let you see how long it takes to ship to Australia, it will let you assess the quality of the item and see if it is $1 sh!t from China or a $5-$10 quality item from China.

Also remember that you need pictures of items you sell.  Were you intending on lifting those pictures from other listings?  Be mindful that many Chinese sellers watermark their pictures.

Spoiler

the more I think about it the more I think the Opening Post is a windup.