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Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Just to try to figure out he they do something? Like how they package their product or what shipping methods they use?

I did this once because I could not figure out how a competitor was packaging the product. Found out he had a very novel and efficient way that i did not think of.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

I have never done this, but there is definitely nothing wrong with doing so, especially when you are trying to be top dog.

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I hope you did not use your working account to do so, as lifting your head up this way can get it noticed in all the wrong ways. or they may suspect that you are up to no good.

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Never using a selling account, but yes. Mostly to see their product. But also to fill orders if I oversold - although that is rare.

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no this was a couple years ago on my pre stealth banned account

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That's smart business practice. See what they do and top it. It would be best to not do it on the same account you sell the product on..

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I've bought from solefoodbk.....was not impressed!

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This is one of the best ways to overcome the learning curve for a new niche.. and as Jeff noted, it's good for resale as well.

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I hope you liked the empty box! :mad:

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My Cats loved the empty box! but for $129.00 it was a bit over-priced.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

I've bought from competitors quite a few times, normally using my other family member accounts just to keep it seperate.
I did it when I first started without knowing that he'd become my competitor!

I think if you are in a business of making money, then any advantage you can get- use it!
It's great to compare the product, see how they ship it and how well its packed etc.

Also, now I have almost surpassed most of them, maybe 2 or 3 biggest ones left, so I tend to keep an eye on new listing descriptions as well, just to see if they do something different and maybe I have room for improvement.
Usually I'm ahead of the curve, always trying to be one better then them, but every now and again I manage to add something, or tweak something.

Like I said, if you are in the business of competitive money making, you need to use everything to your advantage.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

I have and I am surprised at how crappy some people send items... Seems like mine is always overdone... Oh well....

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Prefer overdone to broken in the box.

5 stars for shipping for you

:cheer:

And Hi!

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

did you leave bad feedback, after you 'examined the novel packaging' hehe........

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Buy from competition - destroy them on claims - get refunded - own the niche market /end

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i second this....being absolutely cut throat is sometimes key when people start getting too competitive. Ive gone a step further and even trademarked a generic product just to vero people once apon a time. Im in it to make money. Screw ethics. Screw competition.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

THIS is why people hate business people, say we are out to get them, and abhor what we call the free market and capitalism. Because people like you, abuse it. . You can make money without being a complete dick about it. Blur the lines, sure, but whatever you do to others, just remember that feeling for when it happens to you. You'll be all :mad:, ugh, how dare they! But back to my point, make profit, but don't be an asshole.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Dont be mad. Its just business. If you dont want to compete then get out of the way. I didnt mean to put you in your feelings

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

I'm competing just fine. I love capitalism, and I want to see it keep going, and thrive, and everyone around me is increasingly vehement against capitalism. And they bring up all these bad examples, and I try and tell them that it's not a true free market, and that not everyone is like that. Then people like you come along, and show those people the bad ugly side of it and ruin it for the rest of us.

The worse your relationships with competitors are, the worse business for you and everyone else is. You didn't hurt MY feelings with that condescending bs. But when I see people come on and tell everyone to just forget about ethics ( who needs that anyways?!), and put money first.. Well, no, that's called being an asshole.

If you can't beat me with better prices, lower over head, better communication, and a better selling experience, then you don't have a clue what you're doing in business. It's sellers like you, that report other sellers, for made up reasons. Then those sellers get pissed off and report other sellers. If you can't see how that ruins ebay for everyone, then get out the way and let real business people through.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

I respect your opinion. In fact i do agree with some of what you say. But its EBAY one of the most un ethical unfair platforms on the net. Forgive me for not playing nice. I tried that before and guess what happened...i ended up here on aspkin trying to figure out how to get back on ebay.
Im not about fighting im about earning my living. If i decide i want to sell in a particular niche then guess what, its mine. Im going to eat from it until im full. If your in the way, your getting OUT of the way until im done. If you fight back and you win, then you win...its all fair man.

If i rubbed anyone the wrong way i apologize. But If i invest thousands to have a house full of inventory what makes you think im not going to sell it any way i have to?

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trademark a generic product? yes, but I ignore those threat emails and nothing happens, I know they are trying it on, get x1 every day, from same few people, most sellers can tell a real trademark that will stand-up on az...

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

The aspkin community is here to prevent ebay from screwing us over. And to get around everything ebay does to us. They are unethical and unfair, so we figure out ways to get around that. It's not to screw over competitors. There ain't a single section on this entire website about competitors, because it's not here to teach you basic business concepts.

Eat from it until you're full, that's fine. Do you not have enough business skills to eat till your full, without screwing over competitors?

I've been screwed over myself, so hey, maybe I'm biased. When I see people talk about screwing over other sellers, all I see is the people who screwed me over in the past.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

I always try to help out this community in any way i can. I offer advise when i can and try to stay positive. Dont take this so personal james. If you and i are selling in the same niche then were fighting for the same dollar.
At what point am i obligated to make things easy for you to make money that should be going in my pockets? Especially when your doing the same thing to me by lowering your prices? Your trying to kill me just by doing that so what am i to do?

Lower my prices and wait for you to do the same? Or just remove you and keep my prices high? Its just business. You keep using words that imply im sitting here with an evil grin or something..im not trying to hurt you. Im not even thinking about you. Im trying to sell my products. Thats it.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Read 48 laws of power.

In business the simple fact is what you are not willing to do someone will ALWAYS be willing to. You decide what end you want to be on. It's a moral thing a lot of times...

You either destroy your competition or wait for them to do it to you. That sounds harsh but on eBAy when it comes to niches, only one usually prevails and the other suffers suspension, or no sales.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Exactly! It's business not personal. Only people who own a business can understand the truth and meaning behind it.

Also to second on what you said when it comes to people cutting their price. By doing that you clearly have the intention to take what sales that they get/got and get it yourself. Or you wouldnt cut prices lower than theirs in the first place. If I see someone do this WHY wouldn't I take action to prevent them from doing this and getting away with it??

They know what they're doing. Why can't I play along? It sounds bad but it really comes down to looking at the reality of each situation opposed to doing what's "right". If you think someone isn't going to step on you if they have the chance to obtain what you have when it comes to business your crazy. There is always someone willing to.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

You talk about understanding business, yet are completely wrong about how business works, in the second paragraph.

A business owner sets their prices based on a few main things, not all of which need to be accounted for.
Overhead and cost of product
What competition has their price at.
Without competition, then it's at what the market will bare.

So, why wouldn't a seller cut their prices lower then someone elses in the first place? The price they had, was what they WANTED. When a competitor came in, the price changes to what the seller is able to afford to sell. The original price has nothing to do with the new competitor. The price evolved to include a new factor. If I lower my prices more than yours, then yeah I want to take your sales. So because you got a ****ty deal on your products, and can no longer compete with me, you're just gonna screw me over in another way? Get better deals, and or lower your overhead.

Jesus, maybe all my friends are right about what they view as capitalism. Just a bunch of people out to get everyone. I'll compete as hard as I can, with the tools that I have. I'll lower my prices below everyone. I'll call out every single seller to ebay, that is lying to customers or stealing my pictures.

Will I start buying things from competitors and negging them? No, that makes you an asshole who clearly can't compete in the market under his own footing, and should probably find another business.

Well, everyone else is screwing people over, why can't I!!! I swear, I've had this conversation with m 6 year old niece before. " well that boy stole a cookie, why can't i!!??"

Give a man power, and we'll see what their character is like, right?

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

your missing the point james. Im not on ebay to "compete" with anyone. Im on ebay to sell my products. If james happens to be messing that up for me, then james has to go!

If im heavily invested in a product, its GOING to get sold. Not at a loss either.
James is just going to get the hell out of my way thats all. james i think you need to find a new business because im making a killing eating guys like you for lunch. If YOU cant compete with how im running my show then YOU are in the wrong business. No hard feelings dude. Ill even buy your inventory even if it makes you feel a lil better lol

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I agree, it is like people who cut in on traffic lines, thinking their journey is more important.....do you join them and cut in too, so as not to be a chump, or do you film them and post their details on youtube.......hehe

I always think queue-jumpers lead to lack of civilization and chaos.....

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Its called survival of the fittest FYI.

I'm not even in a market that I need to do this, I'm just aware of the fact if I need to I will.

Like I said before, not trying to sound rude but your opinion to the next man/women truly probably could careless about.

Just saying...

I'm sure if you were in a market that you invested time and money in and made a LIVING off of you'd change your mind pretty fast. Its easy to say "i'm going to do the right thing etc etc" but when your backed into a corner and someone else is cutting your profit and or your actually loosing money ....you have to do something to fix it. If you don't well then you really shouldn't be in business in the first place. Its not for everyone. Few succeed, this is one of the main reasons.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Totally agree with you!

:lol: :spy:

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Interesting topic and interesting views. I guess all of you are right somehow.

I am lucky, in my niche people play fair so far. We all nearly sell the same product, but each of us does market the product differently. As long as I am boss for the product I sell, I play fair too, however if a competitor would come in, playing nasty I would get him out too.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

Pfft nice doesn't pay rent or make profit

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Wow i was thinking of the same analogy when I read this. On the streets these are also the "businessmen" that turn to violence as a means of eliminating competition. A line has to be drawn somewhere and lying against your competition to get them shut down is over the line and probably illegal.

Everyone on this forum is a potential competitor so why wouldn't we all be giving each other false information to hurt potential competitors? Why wouldn't we seek to shut this forum down all together to prevent it from helping potential competitors?

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

I did it this week for research.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

On hearing some of the comments on here I have a strong urge to offer my services to ebay and kill off all second accounts and we all know enough to know it is possible.

I have been on the recieveing end of this crap so many times and have so many accounts in cooling off stages of their life due to these attacks that it just pisses me off.

Sorry but to me if you do not have the ability to do business without this crap then you should find another line of work, as you're just making the whole market place a bleake place to be and giving ebay more fual to feed their attacks on the rest of us, so personally if one of those sellers works out who you are and you find your thousands of pounds of stock burning along with your house then let us know on here so I can give them a clap.

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

lol I'm never seen my name written so many times....

Do you have any idea how much competition I have?

I mean, some of the things you are saying, astound me. I have to compete with every single underhanded dirty trick you can think of pulling, short of what? If you kill my dog, should I kill yours? I mean, I have to compete with how you're running YOUR show RIGHT? That's an absurd way of thinking, and the reason that so many business people are hated, if not feared. They are looked at as the vermin of this world. A means to an end, that most people wish they didn't have to deal with. People like YOU.

In the real world, businesses that work together, last longer. You have two businesses gunning out for one another, spending money, stressing, attacking, taking hits. Back and forth, until what? Is this the ****ing hunger games? Only one can survive?

You seem to think I'm a pushover or something.

I'll have to state it louder I guess. I'm in it to win it! I'll compete. I'll lower prices. I'll lower overhead. I'll find better sources of inventory. I do not care if my competitor can't afford to do so, and goes out of business. That's the NATURAL course of a free market.

With what you suggest, we might as well not give a damn what we do. Just **** over everyone in sight. What's it matter to you? If they can't compete, they are in the wrong business.

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jeez, and there I thought i was the only decent human business man left out there.

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Yeah, survival of the fittest. Why are you out killing the competition? Literally? That's what the fittest did to survive.

You're right, the next man/women truly COULD careless about my opinion. I"m glad we at least agree there.

A majority of human beings, DO agree with my opinion. |
|I am in a market that I've invested time and money in. I have plenty of competitors. Some have drastically undercut me. Sucks for me. What should I do? Create an account, buy from them, and leave negative feedback? Report them to ebay? How do I compete exactly?

I won't lower my price below my cost. That's dumb. If you are at that point, you might as well leave that business.

It's easy to say I'm going to do the right thing. Sure. And while I say that, I will try my absolute hardest to not be an asshole, and a bane on this earth. You guys seem to have relegated yourself to a philosophy of " eh, **** it, get them before they get you!"

I was wrong about my previous analogy of my niece wanting to steel a cookie because she saw someone else doing it. It's more of, she wants to steel the cookie, because she's a thief and a liar. And you know what they say about thieves and liars. They think everyone else are also thieves and liars, so they are gonna lie and steal before anyone else gets a chance to. Survival of the fittest!

Re: Have you ever purchased from a competitor?
 

They don't leave negative feedback anymore as that leaves a mark on their account, and they can do much more damage with returns and then leave positive feedback and ding your DSRs
With most new starting accounts it takes three returns to have it on the back burner and they tend to do it over three month so as not to look too obvious.

Like I said I have a lot of accounts stuck in rest mode thanks to these dickheads and their attacks are always the same so I totally agree and wonder at what point do these people stop as it is so easy to get an address off ebay and if their income is all that matters then????

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Learned this lesson the hard way this week, two months of work down the drain.