Seller listing when no product in stock!!

[decoretrocollectables]

I find it very frustrating, I pay money for an item only to discover seller doesn't have product in stock & then have to wait 11 days to get same??

Sellers should not be able to list if they don't have item in stock..

It has happened twice with one particular seller, I think I will buy these elsewhere from now on!!

[flashback_deals]

I think if a seller hasnt actually got the item on hand in stock, they should be honest, whether its on ebay or wherever

If I bought an item, I would presume the seller has it, if they dont, I would be cranky because I would have paid extra $$ to a seller to has

It is also deception to sell something you dont have, this is why eBay has the Pre-Sale policy - It allows sellers to list good they dont have, but many big sellers dont put it in because they fear they will lose sales. Instead they are quite happy to take the sale away from smaller honest sellers

[flashback_deals]

If they're out of stock, there is a reasonable chance they knew it, and left the listing running to avoid losing the sales history for rankings in 'best' match. Smart sellers just jack the price up so nobody will buy. In this case, if this is the reason, they are engaging in deceptive practices. Besides if the item location is stated as their normal storage location, and it's not there, then it's item location misrepresentation.

I think you are spot on there Dave

[the-kazbar]

I would be mighty peeved if I was only informed of an item being out of stock after I had to enquire about it, 7 days after paying.

We have all had the rare occurence of a misplaced item or the last of an item being damaged and therefore not available, but that is entirely different to running listings that the seller knows are out of stock.

Sellers have no excuse for continuing to run out of stock listings. An item retains its best match ranking even if it is relisted a number of days later (sometimes even weeks).

Managing stock levels is part and parcel of running a retail business. If you don't have it then you can't sell it. Simple as that. Its not fair to string a buyer along while a seller places a new order.

[mcbautoparts]

I assume you list the actual source of the stock you don't have. ie China vs Sydney or Melbourne or wherever you live. What is your ratio of items in stock vis a vis those you are currently out of stock of? Do you understand the term dropshipper?

Item location is the location of the item, not where you would like it to be in an ideal (unrealistic) world.

Do the items with the BIG letters state in stock? No? Why would anybody pre-order with the attendant hassles pertaining thereto?

@davewil, If I don't physically have the items myself, in my possession, but they are in transit from my supplier I will list it as a pre order in BIG letter stating no stock, expected arrival date XX / XX, etc  etc.

I normally keep enough of each item in stock however as most of my items are sourced from Japan, america and europe, it takes time and sometimes I get a rush on something and the next batch has not turned up.

Yes I do understand dropshipper, I am not a dropshipper. I like to have the stock myself to sell.

Item location is where
I live and where my item I sell are...

As to your last nit pick, I don't put in big letters, if they are in stock I simply clear the out of stock message from the listing. Simple.

Also I am not the customer so I cant tell you why anyone would pre-order but I will tell you one thing. It works. Everytime I have listed a pre-order I have sold items by it. Also if I do sell anything via pre order I will contact the customer and see if they did realise it's pre order as stated and if they didn't if will simply refund them. I have had not one problem with that yet. It has only increased my sales.

so there...

[mcbautoparts]

Managing stock levels is part and parcel of running a retail business. If you don't have it then you can't sell it. Simple as that. Its not fair to string a buyer along while a seller places a new order.

You can simply sell it. It is allowed, as long as you ship the item within 20 days of listing the pre order. But I do strongly agree on sellers not saying they are out of stock and then selling the item. Its easy to be truthful, and some people obviously find it time consuming maybe.

[sillysillysheep]

We never Ever list items until they have arrived on our doorstep, even if I know I have multiples of each piece in transit until i see it in my hand, it never hits out store.

PERIOD

If a customer buys from us, is will always be available.

[songqi13]

sometimes seller find item damage to stock item before shipping and have no same item to send

it better to wait to send good quality item to customer later or refund not send bad item to keep delivery promise to make unhappy customer

my company sell many hundred items every day and sometimes record keeping of in stock item get confuse so sometime we not have item in stock but think we have until go ship to customer

seller only can say sorry for mistake and offer later shipping when item in stock soon

[ford_prefect]

If a buyer commits to buying an eBay item, the seller will not tolerate a change of heart, or a request to cancel the sale, a claim of mistake or human error - yet they expect buyers to give them substantial latitude.

Why should it be different for sellers? If they commit to listing a product, they should have covered the basic step of making sure it is in stock. It is not good enough to say there was a simple mistake.

"Please try to remember that sellers are human." Really? Can you imagine if sellers held such compassion for buyers? 

[nonny_muss]

If a buyer commits to buying an eBay item, the seller will not tolerate a change of heart, or a request to cancel the sale, a claim of mistake or human error - yet they expect buyers to give them substantial latitude.

Why should it be different for sellers? If they commit to listing a product, they should have covered the basic step of making sure it is in stock. It is not good enough to say there was a simple mistake.

"Please try to remember that sellers are human." Really? Can you imagine if sellers held such compassion for buyers? 

I do, actually.  As a seller the only time I have issued an unpaid item strike is twice, once when I had asked for pick up of an item 4 or 5 times over several weeks and the other when someone bidded on an iphone and refused to pay, using different and conflicting excuses, and I was losing money by having to relist. (Not in fees, by virtue of 'supply and demand' issues).

The rest of the time I have cancelled the sale or removed the bid upon the buyers/bidder's request, and have done so with politeness, because I do understand mistakes are easy to make.  (I AM human!!). Like many members who both buy and sell on eBay I try to treat the other party the same way as I would like to be treated regardless of whether I am the buyer or seller. 

And I believe there are very many sellers who are the same. 

[purple.cow]

@davewil, If I don't physically have the items myself, in my possession, but they are in transit from my supplier I will list it as a pre order in BIG letter stating no stock, expected arrival date XX / XX, etc  etc.

I normally keep enough of each item in stock however as most of my items are sourced from Japan, america and europe, it takes time and sometimes I get a rush on something and the next batch has not turned up.

Yes I do understand dropshipper, I am not a dropshipper. I like to have the stock myself to sell.

Item location is where
I live and where my item I sell are...

As to your last nit pick, I don't put in big letters, if they are in stock I simply clear the out of stock message from the listing. Simple.

Also I am not the customer so I cant tell you why anyone would pre-order but I will tell you one thing. It works. Everytime I have listed a pre-order I have sold items by it. Also if I do sell anything via pre order I will contact the customer and see if they did realise it's pre order as stated and if they didn't if will simply refund them. I have had not one problem with that yet. It has only increased my sales.

It seems that davewil1964 has some of his own ideas about how to conduct business, and likes to tell everyone else how they should run their's, but it doesn't sound very clever to jack prices up just to put customers off buying them to me, in fact it sounds downright foolish because by doing so you could well turn the possible customer away forever if they believe you're just well and truly too high priced for the items concerned.

You seem to know what you're doing mcoptimus, and it works well for you, so just stick to it and good luck to you.