paws4God
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posted on October 16, 2004 04:39:06 PM new
I think I have this figured out correctly but I could be wrong. Here is the story.
I sell a older teapot in a popular brand that is no longer in business so the pattern is no longer available. Stupid me I sell it for way too little. Replacements.com has it listed for $149 and I sold it for much less. I finally get the payment for it today in the form of money order. The envelope return address is Portland OR but inside the envelope is another envelope that has written on the outside "please send w/ shipment to: Replacements LTD Greensboro NC" with address of course. Inside that envelope is an inventory slip from Replacements LTD where the buyer of my auction has filled out all the information on the teapot and I am to send it with the teapot. The invoice has his supplier number on it.
I guess he bought this from me and is selling it to replacements. That is fine but a little strange as far as I'm concerned. Anyone every had this experience with a buyer?
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AintRichYet
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posted on October 16, 2004 04:50:11 PM new
jeezowee ... talk about cuttin' out the middle man! LOL
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glassgrl
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posted on October 16, 2004 05:23:29 PM new
gawd! don't it make you kind of want to say "whoopsie! I dropped it while I was packing it and it broke into a million pieces and here's your money order back"? THAT would teach them a lesson!
wonder if this could be a Replacements buying ID?
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cashinyourcloset
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posted on October 16, 2004 05:56:01 PM new
Replacements has to have a huge inventory, considerable data processing capability, packing, shipping, etc. I don't have a problem with them making a profit. They buy stock cheaply, but they have to carry it for days, weeks, months, perhaps years, and maybe never sell it. I couldn't begin to guess the value of their inventory, or the complexity of their inventory system.
It's America.
A while back I sold a Tiffany vase for $2500 to a dealer. Unfortunately the vase had a crack, otherwise it would have gone for around $12,000. The dealer had established a clientele where he could sell the vase for around $5000. Should I resent his profit? No; he has his expertise and network of resources, I have mine. I shook hands with him and told him I would give him a heads up next time I found a similar item.
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paws4God
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posted on October 16, 2004 06:07:19 PM new
No, this isn't a different ID of replacements as the buyer is in Portland.
I don't resent in the least someone making a profit. The price the buyer will get from replacements is smaller than the profit I made on the teapot. I was just saying it was/is a different slant of buying on ebay. If someone is smart enough and can keep up with all the patterns of what replacements do and don't need more power to them. There are many patterns they don't buy because they aren't popular and they don't have requests for. It is amazing that anyone could keep up with what is in demand. Granted he is also hoping the condition really is what I stated in the auction and will get paid for the teapot so he is taking a risk also. I'm not on top of things enough to see opportunities like the one he has found. He probably does this quite often and its fine by me.
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stopwhining
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posted on October 16, 2004 06:34:48 PM new
hey,everyone makes some money!!
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
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max40
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posted on October 16, 2004 06:41:39 PM new
I like the buyer's ingenuity. His expertise and doing his homework has a value. I know it's tough to see someone else profit so easily from your labor, but I have to give the buyer credit. I would have done the same thing you did, as I don't have the time or inclination to check Replacements buy list before auctioning items off.
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longtime1
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posted on October 16, 2004 06:56:31 PM new
Paws....that is an interesting twist. You have an obligation to ship the item to the bidder, not to Replacements. I suspect that in your TOS you do not state that you'll be happy to drop-ship to wholesalers. No Way. It's kind of ballsy for the buyer to ask you to do this and I would politely refuse. Tell the buyer that you ship only to the buyer. Let them go ahead and incur the added expense and time of shipping to Replacements. After all, just imagine the complications that could arise if Repalcements claims the condition is not up to there standards, not to mention the possibility of a loss. You could be caught in the middle of an insurance squabble. Just simply write the buyer a nice e-mail saying that you do not drop-ship and ask them for their address so that you can ship to them.
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japerton
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posted on October 16, 2004 07:11:13 PM new
I'd follow glassgirl's advice, but as usual CIC has wisdom to impart.
No one but Replacements bought it, so you have to ask, how many relists are you willing to cough up to reach your "price?"
It is my perpetual dilema!
(Rule number one: don't tell a story under a new id that you told under your old one)
~~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~~
Avatar wish list....
...and he must possess a kind eye...
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Reamond
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posted on October 16, 2004 07:20:32 PM new
You have an obligation to ship the item to the bidder, not to Replacements.
As long as the buyer paid the agreed shipping amount, you have an obligation to ship to where the buyer has instructed. To do otherwise is nothing but petty.
This is no different than a buyer requesting the item be shipped to someone else as a gift.
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paws4God
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posted on October 16, 2004 07:20:47 PM new
I did check replacements list price on the teapot before listing but it isn't a popular pattern so I started at the least I would take and let it ride.
longtime---That is an interesting thought on damage enroute or maybe they say they never got it to the guy who bought it from me. The buyer did include the faxed invoice from replacements that I am to enclosed with the teapot. I don't think I was supposed to open the envelope though since it was sealed. I did it without thinking. I thought the payment was in the inner envelope. I will ship to replacements though since it makes me no difference and have received payment.
I checked to see what his other buys are and they are all china so I guess this is what he does to make extra money. Pretty goo thinking I guess.
[ edited by paws4God on Oct 16, 2004 07:21 PM ]
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Libra63
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posted on October 16, 2004 08:30:35 PM new
Here is a delima for your buyer. What if Replacements thinks your teapot isn't of the quality that they sell. I doubt if replacements has sent the check to the buyer yet until it is examined by them. I am sure replacements is somewhat picky about their items. Maybe sanmar can tell us what condition the merchandise has to be for replacements to accept it. Be sure that you put delivery confirmation on your package so it can be tracked. You didn't say did your buyer put insurance on it? Is there anything in her feedback that says she does this?
interesting
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OhMsLucy
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posted on October 16, 2004 08:42:24 PM new
Hi all,
My inclination right now is I wouldn't send the teapot to Replacements. I'd send it to the high bidder and let them send it on.
At least they weren't using PayPal, which would leave you open to a chargeback for not sending to their confirmed address.
As Libra says, what happens if Replacements doesn't like the condition?
I'm waiting to see what Sanmar has to say.
Lucy
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paws4God
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posted on October 16, 2004 08:46:54 PM new
There is no way of knowing if the buyer usually requests insurance. I thought about the condition since I think replacements is very picky. The teapot is in excellent like new condition but they are so called "experts" and may see it different. Guess that is a risk this guy takes on these things.
On some of the items he has bought in the past he did fairly well. He paid about $10 a piece for some dansk plates that replacements sell for $79 so that means he probably got $20. My understanding is that they pay you 1/3 of what they have it listed as. If it is a high demand pattern they might pay more I don't know. Seems like fluffy said they paid regular sellers like herself a slightly higher price than a one or once in a while seller to them.
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sparkz
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posted on October 16, 2004 09:04:15 PM new
I tend to agree with Lucy and Longtime. Replacements is not your customer, the winning bidder is. Reamond has a point also. During the Christmas season, we all ship to addresses other than the high bidders because they are gifts and it saves the customer a few bucks on shipping. This is definitely something that should have been cleared with you before he bid. But on the other hand, if he had tipped you off, you could have nuked the auction and dealt with replacements yourself, leaving him out in the cold. I guess there is no good answer to the question. You might as well pack it well, insure the hell out of it, and ship to replacements and we'll all cross our fingers and hope for the best. Let us know how it all turns out, as I don't recall this exact type situation ever coming up before and I for one would be interested in the outcome. Also, it will give you a good idea of what a white rat in a lab feels like 
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
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Roadsmith
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posted on October 16, 2004 09:14:33 PM new
I agree with Lucy, Longtime, AND Sparkz!
And there's another twist to this. I live in Southern Calif. Priority shipping to Portland is much less than the east coast. (I'm assuming you'd send the teapot via priority?) For me, there'd be much higher shipping costs, which I'd want the original buyer to cough up.
-------------------------------
Andy Rooney on "cripes":
My wife's from the midwest. Very nice people there. Very wholesome.
They use words like 'Cripes' 'For Cripes sake.' Who would that be; Jesus Cripes? The son of 'Gosh' of the church of 'Holy Moly'? I'm not making fun of it. You think I wanna burn in 'Heck'?
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sthoemke
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posted on October 16, 2004 09:17:15 PM new
I'd request the buyer pay for tracking and insurance - then it shouldn't be a problem to ship it anywhere they want. If not, I wouldn't mail it to a 3rd party.
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OhMsLucy
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posted on October 16, 2004 09:50:05 PM new
Good point, Roadsmith.
I hadn't even thought about the potential shipping cost increase.
Lucy
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tabletopitems
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posted on October 17, 2004 08:46:52 AM new
It is VERY good thinking - but it is also against Replacements Ltd buying rules.
They emphatically state that you can't drop ship merchandise to them.
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paws4God
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posted on October 17, 2004 12:40:58 PM new
If this is against Replacements rules hope the package gets there and is accepted. Guess it would come back to me if it isn't. I am sending it FedEx ground so it won't be insured. I will request a signature however just to make sure it is received. I stated a flat shipping rate on the auction so it will be ok on the cost. I send most things that are over 4 lbs FedEx now since it cheaper.
Sure hope I think to let you guys know why I get FB from the buyer. The only FB left by him was a neg to a seller who didn't send product and is no longer a registered user. No other FB left by him. Thing is if anything goes wrong I can rip him for asking I ship it to replacements instead of him.
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Libra63
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posted on October 17, 2004 09:39:03 PM new
If and when you leave your feedback you could mention "Winning bidder asked that product be mailed to Replacements.com". That would give heads up to the next seller....
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stonecold613
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posted on October 17, 2004 10:24:07 PM new
As long as the buyer paid the agreed shipping amount, you have an obligation to ship to where the buyer has instructed.
Reamond,
You are 100% wrong. If I have an item and the buyer is in Oregon, and the zip code listed on ebay is for Portland, then I am going to figure the shipping amount for Portland. For example the shipping cost may be $10.00. To ship that same item to North Carolina, could be $25.00 because of distance.
I would refuse this payment and resend another invoice reflecting the proper postage for the different zip code than listed on ebay. Actually, I have done this before. Mostly on buyers that do want me to ship as a gift to a different address. It shouldn't be a problem once you explain why.
http://www.rense.com/general51/dump.htm
Democrats support anyone but Kerry in 2004.
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