Amazon or eBay? Doesn't matter...

[Gem99ultra]

EBay or Amazon? Doesn稚 matter. Let me explain

Friday I noticed spouse was running low on Tide 3:1 pods. So, I figured I壇 surprise her and order some ahead of time, saving her having to haul them in from the grocery store.

So, being diligent, I compared prices on Sam痴 Club, WalMart, Amazon, and eBay. EBay turned out to be 25% cheaper for the exact same item. Naturally, I ordered them on eBay. Delivery was stated to take 2 weeks, but not being in a rush, I壇 rather save the money than to have Tide Pods sitting on our shelf sooner.

Today I get my order for the Tide Pods not from eBay as ordered, but from Amazon! Thinking that maybe my feeble brain was failing, I double checked to be sure that I did order on eBay as I thought not Amazon. Nope I did order and pay on eBay, but the order was delivered by Amazon. And not in 2 weeks as expected, but in 2 business days.

Go Figure.

 

[kcflhrc]

So what's the problem?

 

[atsah]

Some people on ebay sell for Amazon as well, if it shipped from ebay it would have taken the same amount of time.. I have had that happen once in the last year, I have ordered probably 100 items from ebay. Sellers on Ebay seem to take better care of the customer.

 

[4570Man]

I ordered a gallon of glue from amazon. I knew it was a few dollars cheaper at Lowe’s but I didn’t want to go pick it up. It came in a Lowe’s box.

 

[ovrszd]

I consider ebay a "sales service". They'll sell anything for anybody. They own no products and have no warehouse stock.

I consider Amazon a distributor. They stock huge amounts of product that they purchase wherever they can make the best deal. They produce or manufacture nothing.

I read nothing here that surprises or shocks me.

 

[handtools]

Same thing just happened to me today, I was also surprised to get an Amazon delivery for an item purchased on Ebay.

 

[ovrszd]

I don't shop ebay a lot. But doesn't it tell you the seller/shipper in the fineprint when ordering??

If so, wouldn't you know who is sending the item to you before it gets there?

 

[TheMan419]

I have ordered things on Amazon that are sold and shipped by a third party. Then it arrives in a Walmart or Costco box or whatever. That person is playing a good game. They are advertising cheaper on Amazon and just drop shipping from somewhere. Take a bit of an advantage off of someone being lazy and just ordering from amazon.

 

[ovrszd]

I've bought a couple items thru ebay that I got cheaper than I could from the distributor that sent them. I don't understand that at all.

 

[atsah]

I don't shop ebay a lot. But doesn't it tell you the seller/shipper in the fineprint when ordering??

If so, wouldn't you know who is sending the item to you before it gets there?

Yes it does but it can come either way.

 

[KubotainNH]

I have ordered things on Amazon that are sold and shipped by a third party. Then it arrives in a Walmart or Costco box or whatever. That person is playing a good game. They are advertising cheaper on Amazon and just drop shipping from somewhere. Take a bit of an advantage off of someone being lazy and just ordering from amazon.

Yep, happened to my wife this way. Ordered on Amazon but didn't notice it was a seller not Amazon themselves. It shipped directly from Walmart who was selling it quite a bit cheaper. She won't do that again.

 

[TheMan419]

Yep, happened to my wife this way. Ordered on Amazon but didn't notice it was a seller not Amazon themselves. It shipped directly from Walmart who was selling it quite a bit cheaper. She won't do that again.

Yeah I have the walmart app on my phone now too. So I check both. Have to account for differences in shipping costs though as well. Filters I use for the water at the house are quite a bit cheaper on Walmart if you order enough to qualify for free shipping. So I get them 6 at a time.

 

[Diggin It]

There are a couple of possibilities.

1. Some sellers use what's called Fulfilled By Amazon. They ship a quantity of product to AMZ for warehousing. They take orders on various marketplace sites and then submit the information to the AMZ FBA system which pulls and ships the items.

2. Less honorable sellers will take orders from marketplace sites, then use their AMZ Prime account to place the order and have it shipped 'free'. You can usually tell these by the 'Gift Receipt' included in the box. This is a violation of the Terms Of Service of both sites and offenders can lose their Prime account if caught. They can also be suspended from eBay.

 

[Diggin It]

I've bought a couple items thru ebay that I got cheaper than I could from the distributor that sent them. I don't understand that at all.

They may have distributor contracts. Or they may have some kind of rewards points or Gift Cards they can't cash out. You give them the 'cash', they use the points to 'buy' the item.

 

[kc5dlo]

I rarely use Amazon simply because They have warehouses locally and therefore have to charge me state sales tax on everything. Going thru Ebay usually saves me the tax. The last few months I have got several shipments that were purchased thru Ebay and shipped and delivered by Amazon. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a power cable for my new Mobley on a Saturday from Ebay and Amazon delivered it on Sunday.

 

[Diggin It]

^^ We all know that we're supposed to report and pay the tax at the end of the year, right?

Also, all marketplace sites are beginning to add ST, though it may take a while to roll out across the country.

 

[Oldoak]

I don't fuss about it. Don't really care who sells or ships (Amazon/eBay) the product I want as long as the price is right and I receive it in a reasonable amount of time. :confused3:

 

[Jstpssng]

^^ We all know that we're supposed to report and pay the tax at the end of the year, right?

Also, all marketplace sites are beginning to add ST, though it may take a while to roll out across the country.

When I did my taxes last year I quipped to my accountant that I was probably the only person in the state who actually declared taxes on sales from out of state; She said no. CPA's pay it also.
It's pretty hard to write something like my logging winch off when you aren't declaring it on your sales tax form.

 

[TractorGuy]

I have had some ebay purchases delivered in Amazon packaging. Ebay sellers will almost always ship within a couple of days. Amazon will delay shipping to non-prime customers for a week or longer.

I bought a cooler last year and the seller had it drop shipped from Walmart. I looked it up at Walmart before I went to ebay looking and the guy lost money on it unless they offer some kind of third party deal I haven't heard about.

I have tried o start checking Walmart first but most of my online buying is on ebay. I do get some car parts from Rock Auto.

I rarely buy through Amazon any more. I did get a bucket of anti wear coating last year that they mis priced about $300 cheap. They actually shipped that faster than most tings I've bought from them. It came with a packing slip to them for $200 over what I paid. I went back a day later to order another bucket and they had the price corrected.

 

[Diggin It]

I have had some ebay purchases delivered in Amazon packaging. Ebay sellers will almost always ship within a couple of days. Amazon will delay shipping to non-prime customers for a week or longer.

I bought a cooler last year and the seller had it drop shipped from Walmart. I looked it up at Walmart before I went to ebay looking and the guy lost money on it unless they offer some kind of third party deal I haven't heard about.

They don't really delay as such in some form of penalty or incentive to subscribe. They don't really say what their practices are, but there is a theory that they 'fill a truck' with orders before it leaves the dock. If your order happens to be the first one in an empty truck, it might be a few days before it leaves. If your package happens to be the last one into a full truck, it might leave the same or next day.


There is also the triangulation thing. You pay the guy with your good money, but he pays the retailer with a stolen credit card or hacked bank account. You get your item, he gets your money, the retailer files with their bank who may or may not credit them. We all pay in the end in the form of higher prices and bank rates.