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Why doesn't he also sell on eBay at the same price he lists at on Amazon? The arbitrage only works if there is a price differential between the two; by selling

Why doesn't he also sell on eBay at the same price he lists at on Amazon? The arbitrage only works if there is a price differential between the two; by selling direct on both platforms there is no price difference to arbitrage. The arbitragers have also done him the service of free research to prove that demand on the other platform exists : he can even look at the auction records to estimate how much demand there is.

giarc 10y ago
I was wondering the same thing but then thought perhaps Amazon fulfilment services are likely very attractive to him. But then he mentioned how he only had 1 return for rugs sold through his own site. So it sounds like he sells through Amazon and his own site, why not expand to eBay as well? Bad return policies maybe?
- ikeboy 10y ago
  He can use amazon fulfillment to fulfill ebay orders. See https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200240460 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId... It's a bit more expensive than selling on Amazon, depending on the item.
Finnucane 10y ago
The article says that he actually tried to do this, but was out-arbitraged--he couldn't make his own listings stand out from the copies.
- beamatronic 10y ago
  I am confused, don't shoppers do research and choose the item with the lowest price?
  - jccc 10y ago
    Enough of them don't that this eBay game becomes profitable. Consider the trouble and expense: All they're really doing is point-and-click throughout. You just need a few.
    - resolaibohp 10y ago
      You are correct about this. As someone who sells a product on eBay and also contends with the counterfeits who are actually cheaper than mine. I still get plenty of sales, as do the cheaper counterfeits. It seems like people do not pay much attention.
      - bitJericho 10y ago
        There's also people that know about counterfeits and avoid them.
  - mmagin 10y ago
    eBay doesn't generally help shoppers make a good decision. Beyond the fact that the web site is a mess, they don't seem to care at all about listings which seem to attempt to match searches with results that aren't what people are looking for. For example: listings only selling the original box an item came in and not the item, listings for a part or manual - both of which make "price: low to high" searches useless. Looking for certain used electronics (recently music synth stuff, in the past vintage test equipment), I tend to have to select a lot of filtering options: "North american sellers only", "Condition: Used", etc.
    - Tempest1981 10y ago
      Amazon has 1 page per product, with all sellers listed, even "used" iirc - nice. eBay is indeed a mess.
    - brokenmachine 10y ago
      The thing I find most annoying on ebay searches is sellers who list multiple items on the one listing. So if your search is ordered by price, it will show their listing first when in reality, the actual item you're looking for is much more expensive. I have no idea why ebay allows this to happen.
      - Grishnakh 10y ago
        Amazon is just as bad, if not worse. (Not trying to excuse Ebay here.) I'll frequently do a search on Amazon and see some ultra-low price on something, then click on that to see the product. Half the time, the product page will have a bunch of different options, and the ones you want all cost far more, and only the ugly pink one is cheap, or the one in extra-extra-small. Or sometimes, I won't even be able to find the one at that ultra-low advertised price. Or it'll be in the "other sellers" section, along with a gigantic shipping fee.
  - Grishnakh 10y ago
    No. People are stupid and ignorant. Ebay doesn't show the lowest-price option by default; its default is "best match", whateverTF that is. You have to explicitly choose "lowest price + shipping". I'm in the habit of always doing this, and generally researching things to death when buying online to make sure I get the best deal, but I know I'm not a normal shopper. Most people just see something that looks good and click on it and buy it.
- resolaibohp 10y ago
  The article only ever says that he made an eBay listing that said “All other eBay sellers are fake.” It never mentions what price he set it at.
st3v3r 10y ago
Now that's yet another marketplace they have to deal with. And when he was selling on Amazon, his product was in the Amazon warehouse. It wasn't until later that he began shipping things himself.

giarc 10y ago

I was wondering the same thing but then thought perhaps Amazon fulfilment services are likely very attractive to him. But then he mentioned how he only had 1 return for rugs sold through his own site. So it sounds like he sells through Amazon and his own site, why not expand to eBay as well? Bad return policies maybe?

ikeboy 10y ago
He can use amazon fulfillment to fulfill ebay orders. See https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200240460 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId... It's a bit more expensive than selling on Amazon, depending on the item.

Finnucane 10y ago

The article says that he actually tried to do this, but was out-arbitraged--he couldn't make his own listings stand out from the copies.

beamatronic 10y ago
I am confused, don't shoppers do research and choose the item with the lowest price?
- jccc 10y ago
  Enough of them don't that this eBay game becomes profitable. Consider the trouble and expense: All they're really doing is point-and-click throughout. You just need a few.
  - resolaibohp 10y ago
    You are correct about this. As someone who sells a product on eBay and also contends with the counterfeits who are actually cheaper than mine. I still get plenty of sales, as do the cheaper counterfeits. It seems like people do not pay much attention.
    - bitJericho 10y ago
      There's also people that know about counterfeits and avoid them.
- mmagin 10y ago
  eBay doesn't generally help shoppers make a good decision. Beyond the fact that the web site is a mess, they don't seem to care at all about listings which seem to attempt to match searches with results that aren't what people are looking for. For example: listings only selling the original box an item came in and not the item, listings for a part or manual - both of which make "price: low to high" searches useless. Looking for certain used electronics (recently music synth stuff, in the past vintage test equipment), I tend to have to select a lot of filtering options: "North american sellers only", "Condition: Used", etc.
  - Tempest1981 10y ago
    Amazon has 1 page per product, with all sellers listed, even "used" iirc - nice. eBay is indeed a mess.
  - brokenmachine 10y ago
    The thing I find most annoying on ebay searches is sellers who list multiple items on the one listing. So if your search is ordered by price, it will show their listing first when in reality, the actual item you're looking for is much more expensive. I have no idea why ebay allows this to happen.
    - Grishnakh 10y ago
      Amazon is just as bad, if not worse. (Not trying to excuse Ebay here.) I'll frequently do a search on Amazon and see some ultra-low price on something, then click on that to see the product. Half the time, the product page will have a bunch of different options, and the ones you want all cost far more, and only the ugly pink one is cheap, or the one in extra-extra-small. Or sometimes, I won't even be able to find the one at that ultra-low advertised price. Or it'll be in the "other sellers" section, along with a gigantic shipping fee.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  No. People are stupid and ignorant. Ebay doesn't show the lowest-price option by default; its default is "best match", whateverTF that is. You have to explicitly choose "lowest price + shipping". I'm in the habit of always doing this, and generally researching things to death when buying online to make sure I get the best deal, but I know I'm not a normal shopper. Most people just see something that looks good and click on it and buy it.
resolaibohp 10y ago
The article only ever says that he made an eBay listing that said “All other eBay sellers are fake.” It never mentions what price he set it at.

st3v3r 10y ago

Now that's yet another marketplace they have to deal with. And when he was selling on Amazon, his product was in the Amazon warehouse. It wasn't until later that he began shipping things himself.