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Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

As of April 2018, Ebay.com has decided to change its search algorithm to favor non-dropshippers over dropshippers. This can be found on google by search and seeing that a called company called SalesFreaks actually tried to sue Ebay for these changes. Ebay lawyers confirmed, the search algorithm was created to discriminate against dropshippers..

Here is the question, what methods does Ebay.com use to determine if someone is a dropshipper? Have measures can we take as dropshippers to murky Ebays detect of us? An obvious one that comes to mind are locations of image urls. Any thoughts?

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

I don't get it. People act like ebay works for them. They provide you with a selling platform, not the other way around.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Don't know what method they use, but US seller , tracking number from china.. short investigation

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Why do ebay hate dropshippers that much?

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Because people shop ebay ... not Amazon, home depot, aliexpress etc etc so they want their customers to buy from the seller that they are buying from, not from the sellers source.

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I think it has more to do with the negative experience associated with dropshipping. Many dropshippers aren't transparent about delivery times etc. so a buyer in the UK buying from a seller in the UK, doesn't expect the item to take 30 to 35 days to deliver. So it opens up a lot of INR cases.

Then you have item pictures not matching the actual item received, again opening up a lot of cases.

I think it only works well when you have a reliable supplier, and your up front with customers about shipping times.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

They compare item location on your listing to where the product is being delivered from. Once bot finds enough discrepancies between item location and shipped from they flag your account.

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I was doing really well with one of my drop shipping accounts for about a month and suddenly all sales came to a complete stop. So they are definitely able to flag accounts. And I am sure this happens to all accounts they find “risky”.

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So it seems it is no so much who are you using as a dropshipper, rather ebay is looking where you have the item location and where the item is shipped from (using tracking information I presume?)

Anyone knows how this applies to a Ebay listing location of "multiple warehouses USA?" Are we in the clear if this is our shipping location and we ship from various places in the USA?

Where exactly were you dropshipping from?

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

I think it is definitely a combination of item location and whether your product ships from is matching however they are also scanning your API tools. I connected a repricer / monitor tool they will also flag your account as being a drop shipper. I was told by merchant support that another way they will catch you is of a buyer opens return and you provide return label that does not correspond with your item location.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Yes, I have read this as well. One article I read was a buyer who hooked up with SalesFreaks and all of a sudden their sales began to tank. Do you have a reference or citation to Ebay monitoring your API tools?

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

The location theory is clueless speculation.

I have accounts that appear to originate from all over the country and none of them get bagged for dropshipping.

None of us would be able to operate stealth if this were true.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

I personally used SF for a long time now and other tools such as autoDS , pricematik, hydra lister + sku grid. And to clarify salefreaks did not sue eBay.com, they sue eBay Israel which is just a small branch. I don’t have to have citation, it is obvious to anyone who has been drop shipping for a while that it is one way for eBay to flag your account. It’s a no brainer.

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There is always someone who hasn’t been been flagged yet but the fact that I among other sellers were flagged, combined with eBay Israel admitting to lower listings of accounts that are drop shipping is more than just a speculation at this point. Merchant suport told me that in fact they do not flag accounts but listings based on item location. So whether they are also clueless or lying I can’t be sure.

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Does anyone know is this dropshipping discrimination applies to Ebay USA sellers or is it only Israeli sellers?

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I recently restricted my account for the same reasons. eBay is very detailed about the tests they will accept. I provided screenshots of the "My Orders" section of my Alibaba account. I did not receive any physical or electronic invoices for the things I bought on Alibaba. However, I thought that the letter about the conformation received from them was connected to the photos in the section of my order, clearly showing the items I was selling. eBay would not agree with this, and after long discussions I decided to refuse.

However i did some mistakes over there but ebay dropshipping is much more easy about that i have read an article which was very much effective for me.

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I wouldn't be surprised if eBay banned dropshipping in the near future. It's already "semi banned"

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I hope they will do so. Dropshippers drive legit and real businesses out of business while making very silly profits. Better get a regular job than destroy an entire micro-economy for no benefit except for a Chinese store somewhere.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Please elaborate

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I think it's more so "out of country" locations. And the miserably slow shipping that accompanies those account types.

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Of course. Let's suppose I have spent time researching a product on Alibaba and finally came up with a plan on how to bring it to the market (Amazon or eBay). Now I go buy the product and spend money on importing, storing, shipping...etc. A Chinese vendor somewhere in China has the product on Aliexpress.com, someone in the US for example sets up a dropshipping business and starts selling that same product making a very tiny profit on each sale.

Because Chinese vendors have the stupid philosophy of "sell a million item to make a million dollar", that dropshipping model was brought into existence.


The end result of all of this is the following:

1. That guy in the US made a laughable profit.
   
2. I was driven out of the market because I can't offer the ridiculously low prices that Chinese vendor is offering.
   
3. The Chinese vendor wins the game.

All of that comes with a risk for eBay btw (This is basically why the disfavored dropshippers and not because they care about anybody). Shipping times are usually outrageous, products are not as described...etc


On the long run, it is far better for eBay to have good local small-medium sized businesses that are capable of providing good customer service, quick shipping and quality products that having ****ty items with ****ty quality, but low prices.

Now you might say, but hey, is not that how the market is supposed to play out? The answer is a plain NO! The Chinese don't want anyone but their own people selling on Aliexpress.com for example. At the same time, they get involved in import tax evasion schemes and they bring havoc to local businesses in the US and the EU.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Chinaman make item. Chinaman sell item. Screw you stupid American.

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Chinaman steals ideas and technology because he is too inferior to come up with his own. Chinaman is allowed to sell his copied item on American markets. Chinaman will be shown the door sooner or later.

Let Chinaman enjoy his few years of fame and ⊗⊗⊗⊗ sense of prosperity.


The real stupid man is the Chinama who is clueless without the theft of technology. The technology that the western man always comes up with.


The Chinaman was scared to death by a TV personality called Trump. When the real men of the west arise again, Chinaman will be taught a lesson so hard that Chinaman will never be able to stand up on his feet again.



You go ahead and mark my words boy.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

@walkingupwards:

In this case you would have WAY faster shipping times than the guy who dropships from China. Yes you will be more expensive but will also ship much faster (4-7 days vs. 14-21 days AT BEST) and offer easier returns. These are huge factors in a purchase decision, it's not just about price.

Also I feel you are narrowing dropshipping to the "China to US" model when in reality a big chunk of that business is "local source to local marketplace" (Amazon US to eBay US, Walmart US to eBay US, Walmart UK to Amazon UK and so on). I'm not sure if you're familiar with the dropshipping softwares out there but they almost always start supporting local sources to local marketplaces, then eventually add Chinese/international sources down the road.

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You're right. Local dropshippers mean local competition with local pricing levels. Dropshippers from China are the ones I was talking about.

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Chinese wins the game because they ship to the USA for almost free, the government has an agreement with USA to deliver Chinese goods that arrive here, I can ship from Hong Kong cheaper than I can from me to the next city and also can track the Chinese shipment through USPS.

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Trump's hell-bent on ending that treaty. Will probably see all the incredibly low-priced ~0.99 cent Chinese goods start selling at 3 dollars and up.

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Let's see what comes out of Trump. I had some hope in the man, but later came to the conclusion that the system is so rigged, that an uprising might be necessary to shake up the deeply rooted corruption we are living in :ballchain:


The EU should follow suit on that postal agreement and nix it immediately.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Hi guys i recently found a guide on this "https://www.withintheflow.com/dropshipping-on-ebay/" is this the right should i follow it's procedures ..?

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Just FYI,
let me explain why eBay discriminates against drop-shippers.
The direction eBay wants to go is from item based selling to product based selling. Their ultimate goal would be a Amazon like experience where each product exists ONCE in the search results For example:
Search 'Nest' on eBay and click on the button called "Group similar listings". What happened? From 1048 search results we got now 62...

Another example:
You want a 'Apple iPhone X - 256GB - Silver (Unlocked) A1901'. When searching for this a buyer doesn't want to see 10k listings, they prefer seeing ONE. So they create a virtual product (in this case www.ebay.com/p/239160803 ) and connect it via backend passively to items that carry the correct item specifications, like brand MPN GTIN UPC... sellers can also actively choose such items in the selling flow.

The problem with most drop-shipped items is that they don't carry such identifying specifications as GTIN or even MPN, so no products can be made for those..and if a product is made it's usually not a 'good' one. Many different listings basically have the same product on sale but under different brand names and/or identifiers, which also leads to duplicate products who fight for the same listings.

This just results in a bad buying experience so they try everything to rank drop-shippers lower. Saying this, I know that people still make a living via drop-shipping on eBay so never give up!

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Flow like water, not sink like rock.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Drop shipping is still alive. Did close to 30k on brand new acc.

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this totally triggered me lol:surrender:

//Rant Start//
Well,i HATE, this is really mindblowing that ebay got rid of so many filters and useful search functions already, that i can not even find the items i want anymore!

eBays Filter and search system was so good, and still is at least partly. but why should i now search through this useless product box to find that one item where i like the seller, maybe is near me and even has a phone number.
right now i can still search for this more or less, on amazon i cant.. on amazon, only Amazon shipping is a reason to buy from.

To catch up on my first sentence.. Why does ebay want to become something that you have to spend hours to find what you want?!
IMHO eBay should give more banners and mails with tips to use the search, instead they get rid of it.. well.. nice :violin:

quick example if you do not know what i talk about.. "smartphone Android -samsung -iphone -huawei -sony -broken -glass -cover -cable -case" with "price lowest first" would give me a result with EXACTLY what i want about 6 months ago.. a damn cheap phone.
but nowadays the "-thingxyz" terms are almost completely ignored.. well done, i got no time fo that, gotta find things quick.

eBay wants to be like amazon? WHY?! eBay was always better than amazon for what eBay was for.. find the things I WANT, not what Amazon wants to show me.
ever tried sorting items by price lowest first on amazon?! it adds 200 useless unrelated things to the result and removes the things you actually search for, plus it removes things from the results that showed up at the "amazon recommended" sorting.
why should ebay want to be like this?

Second, when buying on Amazon, if it is not shipping through Amazon, why even bother buying on Amazon?!
//Rant end//

So to sum up, ebay wants people to not buy on eBay anymore or what?!
if a customer wants an item that is shipped from his country.. god damn it, use the fkn country filter, it's not that hard!
This is what gives ME a bad buying experience.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

eBay looks where the money is, and it's not from C2C sellers. It's from big sellers/stores who sell manufactured goods. all products that can or should be identifiable with some kind of GTIN, UPC, MPN and brand combination.
Dunno about the search that's secret like google search algos, but yea for now the product thing is more for sellers less for buyers

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

Damn straight.

Re: Ebay.com DropShipping Search Algorithm 2018
 

still they could have kept the search for people wanting to find things..
Yes, it is about the on site time as well.. but i like ebay more the less time i spend on there to find stuff as i am on there most of the time anyway.. and i almost buy everything only from ebay, except food