jeffweico | 11-13-2011 06:00 PM | You can STILL dropship. What they are eliminating is the ability for a seller to operate with NO CAPITAL. Dropshipping is meant to lower a seller's risk of being stuck with merchandise they cannot sell.
Unfortunately, too many people have taken it a step further, wanting to put up NONE of their own cash. They want to collect the money, take their cut, then buy the item from the dropshipper. These are usually the same people who feel that their responsibility ends there. If an item is not delivered, they don't want to take responsibility for it - they want the buyer to take it up with their dropshipper. And they NEVER want to issue refunds under ANY circumstances. So, eBay gets left holding the bag, so to speak, if the deal goes south.
To dropship RESPONSIBLY you have to realize a few things... - The deal is between YOU and the BUYER. Your customer should NEVER be told to contact the dropshipper.
- YOU are responsible to the buyer for making sure the item is delivered, undamaged, on time and as described.
- YOU are responsible for any refunds.
- If the dropshipper turns out to be a scam artist, YOU are the one who is out the money - NOT eBay and NOT your buyer.
- Credit cards are only supposed to be charged when merchandise is SHIPPED. So you do need at least SOME working capital.
Keep in mind, I am NOT saying this is what the OP was doing. I'm just saying this is the major reason that eBay has such a problem with dropshipping. |