Why are presale items allowed on eBay?

Question

I don’t understand why eBay allows sellers to list items as “presales” when the site that the item is coming from doesn’t even have them available yet. Maybe this is a hot take, but you shouldn’t be able to sell an item that you don’t own yet.

kh-shawn · Answer

Hi everyone, Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic. Thank you for understanding.

mrdutch1001 · Answer

@kh-shawn ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2025!

mrdutch1001 · Answer

@trekkadozo and you have responded to a thread from 2025 to which the OP left the bldg and never returned so no further discussion needed!

trekkadozo · Answer

Likely some are actual stores with an ebay store associated. The other reason could be ebay reaches regions where other distributors may not ship to. See First Sale Doctrine. This is also why sellers can markup prices for rare items not available in some regions. So essentially you are purchasing the item in behalf if a person who cant purchase it themselves directly.

marnotom! · Answer

Perhaps the bigger question is, “Why do people purchase from presale listings when the site that the item is coming from doesn’t even have it available yet?”

femmefan1946 · Answer

It's very like the form of "retail arbitrage" where resellers take orders for goods that do exist elsewhere (for example on Amazon) then have that seller ship to the reseller's customer.

This does not include dropshipping where the reseller has a contract with the supplier.

Which is the tricky bit.
How to tell which reseller is contracted and which is hoping.