China and Hong Kong Based Sellers Claiming to Ship from Canada

[supersavingsstore]

Hi all,

I have been selling on eBay Canada for about 2 years now, and this is the first time I have really noticed this issue. Sellers from China and Hong Kong are putting Ontario or Toronto as the item location, but are actually shipping from overseas. The problem is they are charging prices that people over here charge, while only paying a fraction of the shipping costs. They are stealing business from many sellers over here and are internationally misleading customers, since many only want to buy domestically. I have tried reporting the listings for location misrepresentation, but they still appear to be live.

If anyone has a potential solution to this project problem, please let me know.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@supersavingsstore 

Hello  tyler@ebay 

This seems to be becoming a major problem that appears to be only getting worse. It's been reported here many times. Is it being seriously looked at as an unfair practice towards Canadian sellers? From the buyers side, factual distance is of extreme importance for any products they are hoping to purchase along with the actual shipping service to be used.

-Lotz

[supersavingsstore]

Yes, you are absolutely right. It is a lose-lose situation for all Canadians, as sellers are making less sales and buyers are getting their items slower and are being lied to. I hope eBay can solve this issue, for the sake of everyone who uses the platform.

[reallynicestamps]

The problem is they are charging prices that people over here charge, while only paying a fraction of the shipping costs.

So what we have is a price match but  lower costs, which is something WalMart, among others has been doing for many years.

The real problem is location and shipping time, plus the possibility that the customer will be charged duty and sales taxes plus the Canada Post service charge on their doorstep.

This is a problem, not for Canadian sellers, but for eBay.

It's eBay's problem because a buyer, faced with such bad service is very likely to lose confidence in eBay.  (He lost confidence in the company when he noticed the shipping address.)

That's not a customer who will return.

EBay seems to take note of Reports of misleading product location  but will not act on a single Report, which after all may come from a vigilante, be mistaken or the work of a competitor.

We know this from frantic posts by buyers who learn the sellers' accounts have been closed before they receive their products, although eBay seems more concerned about actual fraud (fake products, vapourware) than about slow delivery from overseas locations.

Now what can we as Canadian sellers do about it?

My first thought was, for sellers with B&M locations to have a picture of your shop in the listing.  Crude but like a poor picture in a gallery of catalogue photos, a rough proof that the item is actually in hand.

My second is doubling down on dropshippers. A lot of "Canadian" sellers, innocently or nefariously, put their own location rather than the location of the shipper (which they may not know).  EBay is getting tough on the AZ dropshippers, how about extending that programme?

My third is putting SHIPS FROM MARKHAM ON (or FlinFlonMB, or OakBayBC) in the title, the more specific the better (ie not Toronto but Don Mills). Wasted space to some extent .

Any other suggestions for sellers or for eBay?

[supersavingsstore]

Thanks for your reply.

I agree with you that this is also a bad situation for eBay, as buyers will quickly lose trust in the platform if they receive items from a country overseas. In terms of a photo of a store in the listing, I don't have a store, so that doesn't apply to me, but it's certainly not a bad idea. I am going to add a "Ships from Canada" or something similar in my listing description at the top, because I need the space in the title. I do believe that the sellers are not dropshippers, at least in my case, since they write their listings in broken English. I can also see their location when I click on their profile; it says "Based in China, xxxxxxx has been a member since xxxx." So eBay must know where they are located. I wonder if eBay could have a sort of policy where if the seller is putting the item location as somewhere that they aren't located, they need to somehow explain why the item is located there. Just an idea.

Anyway, I hope eBay will see this, as it is a growing problem and doesn't seem to be getting any better.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

The store photo a good concept in principle but easy to cheat. (Sadly some are always able to figure a way to bypass the rules and ruin it for others!!!) Similar to sellers that use stock photos for the majority of their listings that aren't WYSIWYG. Hopefully, your hardcore OAKC seller or sellers selling USED items, on average, use actual photos. If I do use stock photos, I make sure to note it clearly in the listing. Then no surprises for customers. eBay should know where items are shipping from especially any that use one of the various shipping platforms. Using Canada is inaccurate at best.  And less so when it's not Canada at all. Would be like using.. "My garage". Not dishonest but really not all that helpful. If the bots are able to screen for certain words, they should be able to screen for locations.

-Lotz

[femmefan1946]

There is a place for stock photos, particularly of mass merchandise items.

My thought would be that adding an obviously amateur or location specific picture would be reassuring to the buyer. 

It wouldn't have to be the first picture, just be there.

good concept in principle but easy to cheat.

True. But we have to fight the power!

If the bots are able to screen for certain words, they should be able to screen for locations.

Absolutely.

If the seller location is in Kazakistan and the shipping location is Flin Flon MB, at the very least the Sell Your Item form should throw up one of those Warning screeds we see when listing potentially Nazi or Native American items.

And any complaint as part of a Dispute that mentions a location disparity should be looked into as well.

EBay recently started paying dividends to stockholders for the first time. Being profitable will be more important in future. And losing buyer confidence also loses profits.

[supersavingsstore]

For me, real photos don't apply, but for a lot of people it's a good idea. I do think that bots should not have an issue finding location discrepancies, as they seem to catch a lot of other potential problems. I would really like to see eBay chime in on this matter.

[supersavingsstore]

eBay definitely should be able to have a screening system for location misrepresentation. It's pretty obvious that these sellers are doing it, since their feedback shows it, and they are not based in Canada anyways. Also, it seems that reporting them does nothing, which seems crazy to me. I'd really like if eBay could jump in here and say what they are doing to help stop this problem. Like I said before, it's not only bad for sellers; it's bad for everyone, buyers included.

[vinh2-82]

That trade is the market, you should accept it

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@supersavingsstore 

Perfect example:

Item location: CA, Canada

Free shipping

Canada

Economy Shipping

What courier??

Estimated within 4-18??? business days

Member since: 10-Jul-14 in Hong Kong

Economy is = to Priority Intl with GSP = Both ???? (Items are too large to be mailed letter)

This seller has items that are flagged as Canada & China. The example above: as stated.

-Lotz

[supersavingsstore]

This is exactly what I am talking about. It's very confusing for beginners buyers, although I feel more experienced ones will not trust CA, Canada as the location. Problem is, some buyers assume all packages coming from Canada will arrive somewhat quickly, so they don't worry to much about the "Economy Shipping." Again, really an issue that eBay needs to take a look at.

[femmefan1946]

@supersavingsstore 

For me, real photos don't apply,

If you are shipping from Canada, you have the items in hand.

Just snap a photo and mount it along with your 'catalog' photos.

It also makes sense to specify the shipping service since most domestic parcel services are tracked, which would give your Canadian customers confidence (even though tracking protects only the seller). I notice your Economy Shipping does specify LetterMail.

[femmefan1946]

@lotzofuniquegoodies 

Economy is = to Priority Intl with GSP = Both ????

Not to mention that GSP is only available to sellers in the USA and UK.

Priority is a meaningless term. Even USPS and Canada Post differ on what it means. It's just a name (Fifty Helens agree.)

[supersavingsstore]

Hi,

Yes, I do specify Lettermail, which I think helps, and I guess I can take a picture of the item. I more meant since I sell multiple of the same item, taking a photo doesn't make sense.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@supersavingsstore 

If you are selling the same and are able to take really quality photos it never hurts to take them. It may even set your product apart from the other similar items out them and attract customers. Colours could also vary from batch to batch, for the same item. This could prevent any differences of opinions with difficult customers.

-Lotz

[postit4me]

To add to this Canada Post is putting a scannable label over these items to make it look like it is from Canada. That is a huge problem when you complain the customer will not believe you due to this extra attention they are getting from Canada Post at no additional cost. You and I must pay top dollar for any item to go through the postal system shipped no. 1 which is priority shipping, most of our parcels are a 2 expedite or 3 regular shipping. Even letter mail is not shipped no. 1 standards in our own country.  Start the complaint at Canada Post for this preferential treatment to a country who is holding some of our citizen's hostage and bad-mouthing Canadian products such as pork and canola. This is just my opinion.  

[tyler@ebay]

Thanks for the tag @lotzofuniquegoodies.

Hi @supersavingsstore - we don't allow members to intentionally misrepresent the locations of their items (policy page here).  

For members in violation of this policy we have various consequences: from basic education on proper process to demoting their listings in search to selling restrictions. Repeated violation of this policy results in consequences of increasing severity. 

One thing I do want to point out is there are some sellers who may be located in a different area than their merchandise, if they house items across several shipping warehouses as an example. That is not a violation. 

If you do come across items you feel aren't following this policy please report them to us for review. Thanks!

[supersavingsstore]

Hi,

Yes, that's really unfair. Seems like buyers could be really easily fooled.

[supersavingsstore]

Hi,

I was already aware that eBay's policy states this as not allowed; however, that doesn't prevent sellers from breaking it. The sellers I am talking about are not sending items from Canada; they are intentionally lying to customers to make sales and charge high prices. Reporting the listings has done nothing, since, as I already mentioned, I have done so and the listings are still live. I think this issue needs to be tackled in a more formal way to prevent local Canadian sellers from leaving the site in pursuit of other places to sell items where fraud does not hurt people's sales. It is clear by the voices of the many other sellers on this forum that this is a serious problem that is not being taken care of in a proper way.