Ebay - advertising unavailable items

[Osem]

I'm not a big Ebay user but in the last few months I've tried to buy an item twice and on both occasions been successful only to receive an email a day later with an excuse for the fact that the item is no longer in stock. The first time it was a bid on a single new item and the second was a 'buy it now' transaction and in this case the seller is still advertising the items and showing 4 as available. On both occasions the sellers offered alternative items which I didn't want.

It's not a major issue, just an annoyance really, but I don't like the idea that sellers are misleading people by showing items which aren't available as still in stock. Is there anything which can be done about this?

[Taf]

I have been watching an item for a week weeks now. It gets listed for a week, then vanishes just as the auction is due to end. Then it gets relisted for another week, oddly marked "out of stock" ?

[papa smurf]

been buying for years with no major problems -i always check feedback before i buy -a couple of years ago i bought a phone battery but later had an email saying this was no longer available seller had been removed .

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

been buying for years with no major problems -i always check feedback before i buy -a couple of years ago i bought a phone battery but later had an email saying this was no longer available seller had been removed .

Had that a couple of times.

I rarely use ebay anymore, its kin of a last resort if I really cannot find an item anywhere else.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

been buying for years with no major problems -i always check feedback before i buy -a couple of years ago i bought a phone battery but later had an email saying this was no longer available seller had been removed .

Both the sellers in question are listed as big business sellers with good reputation (95% plus) so I'm at a loss to understand why this has happened twice now.

[Chrysalis]

An explanation I can offer is one of two things.

1 - seller has multiple shop fronts, and the stock is shared across them all, if they got too many orders across all the shop fronts then they have to disappoint some buyers, I had a seller confirm this happened to me when he said he sold too many across amazon and ebay to fulfill orders.
2 - Some retailers advertise stock of the wholesaler instead of their own stock, so you place an order, and then they order from the wholesaler (this is also why sometimes delivery times can be quite long), sometimes the wholesaler doesnt actually have the stock so again the seller fails to fulfill.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

An explanation I can offer is one of two things.

1 - seller has multiple shop fronts, and the stock is shared across them all, if they got too many orders across all the shop fronts then they have to disappoint some buyers, I had a seller confirm this happened to me when he said he sold too many across amazon and ebay to fulfill orders.
2 - Some retailers advertise stock of the wholesaler instead of their own stock, so you place an order, and then they order from the wholesaler (this is also why sometimes delivery times can be quite long), sometimes the wholesaler doesnt actually have the stock so again the seller fails to fulfill.

I think that is what is called drop shipping

https://www.shopify.in/guides/dropsh...g-dropshipping

[Taf]

Originally Posted by Taf

I have been watching an item for a week weeks now. It gets listed for a week, then vanishes just as the auction is due to end. Then it gets relisted for another week, oddly marked "out of stock" ?

I bid for the item again, but was beaten by someone else again.

This morning I get "another chance to buy" at the winning bid level.

Somehow I get the impression the vendor is bidding himself to push the price up, then offering it to the next highest bidder if no-one beats his bid.

---------- Post added at 10:57 ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 ----------

Originally Posted by Taf

I bid for the item again, but was beaten by someone else again.

This morning I get "another chance to buy" at the winning bid level.

Somehow I get the impression the vendor is bidding himself to push the price up, then offering it to the next highest bidder if no-one beats his bid.

And it has been relisted minutes after the auction ended...

[techguyone]

Originally Posted by Osem

Both the sellers in question are listed as big business sellers with good reputation (95% plus) so I'm at a loss to understand why this has happened twice now.

Good reputation isn't 95% + it's 99 - 97% minimum, any less, walk away, it's not like there's a shortage of sellers.


We both buy & sell a lot on Ebay, with very few issues, you do need to see if a user has been around for a while and you do need to check their rating too.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

An explanation I can offer is one of two things.

1 - seller has multiple shop fronts, and the stock is shared across them all, if they got too many orders across all the shop fronts then they have to disappoint some buyers, I had a seller confirm this happened to me when he said he sold too many across amazon and ebay to fulfill orders.
2 - Some retailers advertise stock of the wholesaler instead of their own stock, so you place an order, and then they order from the wholesaler (this is also why sometimes delivery times can be quite long), sometimes the wholesaler doesnt actually have the stock so again the seller fails to fulfill.

Judging by the format and wording of the messages from the 2 sellers, I have a sneaky feeling they are one and the same and I think option 2 may be what's going on.

Anyway I received a Paypal refund today but the same seller is still showing 4 available for dispatch within 1 day and an express delivery date as 28th Sept.?

[Osem]

I think I've found out what happened. The same seller withdrew the items after I complained they were still being advertised and has now re-advertised the same item for about £100 more than I 'purchased' it for. I reckon they just withdrew the items from sale so they could relist them at a higher price. The familiar stock room error explanation I was given was just an excuse.

[Niner]

Originally Posted by Sirius

I think that is what is called drop shipping

https://www.shopify.in/guides/dropsh...g-dropshipping

Good explanation.