Do more research before ordering from fleabay

[ebinmaine 67,309]

Just wanted to share a situation that's happened to me twice in 3 weeks now. 

 

Trina and I are very frugal and I spend (too much) time looking for the best deal on things quite often. 

Most times I win. Occasionally I don't pay enough attention or do enough poking around and I could do better. 

 

A few weeks ago I ordered a piece of metal. 

Days go by and a Home Depot box shows up. I DO buy from them but not that time. 

Turns out it's a seller on the fleabay that somehow does dropships. 

For a few seconds of data entry they gained about 30% or more. Maybe 12 or $15.?

 

Similarly... A few days ago I ordered a large pair of vise grips for the best price I could find at the time. From fleabay. 

 

Today arrives a flippin' amazon package!

 

Ok well fine. That seller gains $9.98 of my funds because I got complacent.....?

 

The first occasion I don't regret because that person had more knowledge than me on where to find what I wanted. Honestly I'm fine with that. 

 

The second time.... Well that's on me. Obviously I just didn't do enough research. 

Coming from me that means a LOT!!!

 

 

 

So pay attention folks!!!

 

Double check the triple checks. 

 

 

[JoeM 7,871]

Dude, internet reselling is big! 

Sometime those folks have sourcing agreements with certain vendors and get the order and/or cheap free shipping based on volume . Just imagine.....making 3$ on 200 transactions a day. Just redirecting a dropship. All can be done from the smartphone drinking coffee. 

In your case you got stung but i have already did the homework and the bay price was the best because of lower cost shipping.

 

[SPINJIM 1,981]

My car mechanic tells me that when an order is placed with Rock Auto, it frequently is shipped from Pep Boys or some other retailer.  I usually try to compare prices before ordering from ebay, and then I have to figure in the time and gas money that I'm saving by having it delivered.   At my age, time is valuable, and I hate going to a retailer, only to find out that they are out of stock on the item.  

   Jim

[ebinmaine 67,309]

31 minutes ago, JoeM said:

In your case you got stung but i have already did the homework and the bay price was the best because of lower cost shipping

Agreed. I'd do the metal purchase again. 

 

I have no problem paying for someone's knowledge. 

 

I just could have done that myself had I payed attention better. 

 

[ebinmaine 67,309]

14 minutes ago, SPINJIM said:

time is valuable, and I hate going to a retailer, only to find out that they are out of stock on the item

I just don't go without prior contact anymore. 

I ALWAYS call ahead or look and purchase online. 

[SPINJIM 1,981]

2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

I ALWAYS call ahead or look and purchase online. 

 

Have you ever tried to call ahead to check inventory at Walmart?  Lots of luck.

[ebinmaine 67,309]

35 minutes ago, SPINJIM said:

 

Have you ever tried to call ahead to check inventory at Walmart?  Lots of luck.

That's a place I very rarely go. 

I do buy online from them occasionally. 

 

[DennisThornton 4,769]

I usually spend lots of time to hunt and research, perhaps to extremes at times.  One thing is to know and buy the right product and another for if not the best, at least a good price.  Hard to put a price on product knowledge but sometimes I'm not sure I save enough to justify the time.  Hopefully the great buys offset the not so good but I usually escape the horrible blunders!  But not without some time spent looking.

[Handy Don 12,163]

Drop shipping and second-sourcing are gonna get increasingly common. This is the internet equivalent of "I'll have it here tomorrow from my distributor". Stocking stuff requires capital, space, and labor even before the shipping costs get in there.

Most of the electronics and furniture that Office Max and Office Depot are now selling ships direct from manufacturers' distribution sites. The price to you is still low in part because the distribution sites are volume shippers with low(-ish) labor costs and good pricing from the carriers. 

Costs for warehouse/distribution space in the NYC metro area have gone through the roof over the past couple of years fueling a building boom in the areas along interstate routes 50-100 miles out.

[ebinmaine 67,309]

3 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Drop shipping and second-sourcing are gonna get increasingly common. This is the internet equivalent of "I'll have it here tomorrow from my distributor". Stocking stuff requires capital, space, and labor even before the shipping costs get in there.

Most of the electronics and furniture that Office Max and Office Depot are now selling ships direct from manufacturers' distribution sites. The price to you is still low in part because the distribution sites are volume shippers with low(-ish) labor costs and good pricing from the carriers. 

Costs for warehouse/distribution space in the NYC metro area have gone through the roof over the past couple of years fueling a building boom in the areas along interstate routes 50-100 miles out.

Having been in the auto parts business in the past I've dealt with that type of stuff for 25 years plus. Same thing with the building materials that we handle now.  

 

What irritated me about my own self in this particular situation was that I paid nearly $10 extra for something I could have just as easily got off of the jungle site myself.

 

No discount. No Distribution Center with same low pricing.

I felt like this was a situation of somebody just sitting behind a desk or on their own couch taking advantage of the fact that people are too lazy to "look".

[DennisThornton 4,769]

I almost always include Amazon in a price search.  Even have a Chrome extension doing just that for me as I Google.  Amazon is not always the cheapest but usually has reviews worth a few moments.  I'm carefully not to put full faith in the reviews either!  Idiots buy and some review!

 

Single * reviews:

I ordered the wrong item!

Ordered the wrong size?

Wrong color!

Shipping delayed!

Wasn't what I wanted!

Didn't work!  (even though it worked for more than 4,000 others!)

Didn't come with batteries!

And countless other negative reviews that have NOTHING to do with the actual products!

[EricF 589]

You can't even rely on retailers to have an item stocked on time these days. We just bought a fridge from Lowes. Unless you want to walk out with one and put it in the truck bed and then deal with getting rid of the old one yourself, the best option is to have them schedule a delivery and haul the old one away for a small fee. They had 70 of the one we wanted, in stock, in the distribution center, ready to schedule for delivery on the following Saturday. Good, right?

 

Friday evening, they call and say that the distribution center didn't send the truck out. Won't be in until Monday. Have to reschedule for Tuesday delivery, mid-day. Okay...

 

Monday morning, they call and say the truck came, but it was the prior day's (delayed) truck, so the fridge won't come until Tuesday morning. Not inspiring confidence...

 

Tuesday morning, they call and say the truck is late. Again. But whenever it shows up, the fridge is supposed to be on it. Or ought to be. But they won't know until the truck arrives. Which might not be for a while.

 

Several hours and phone calls later, the truck has arrived. With the fridge. Well after noontime. Wife reminds them that the promised delivery window is passing quickly -- will they actually keep their promise? After a bit of hemming and hawwing, they decide to get it delivered. Around 7PM that day, finally. Probably would have gotten pushed out another day or more if the wife hadn't pressed the issue politely but firmly.

 

Seems like even if you go straight to the retailer, they're still at the mercy of shipping and logistics mess-ups.

 

I'm no Amazon cheerleader, but over the years, they probably have the best track record for delivering the right thing, on time. Although when they mess up, it's usually spectacularly bad with mis-routing and duplication. We've wound up with a few free items -- even a couple of high-value ones that way. (Amazon's response, once a delivery goes really sideways and they can't get any accurate info on it has been just, "We'll make good on the order, and if the other ever shows up, we don't care what you do with it.")

[rmaynard 15,428]

Shopping today is a lot different than when we used to order from the Sears catalog. Even then, many things were not made by Sears, but drop-shipped from the manufacturer. The thing that many fail to realize is the eBay does not sell anything. They are only a venue for others to sell. I have been known to look for the least expensive item rather than do a little research on the seller and know that I am getting a good deal, even if it costs more. My bad. I would guess that more than 25% of sellers on eBay are resellers. I wish eBay would do what Walmart does and state that the item in question is being sold and delivered by Home Depot, or Zoro, or Grainger's etc. It would save a lot of confusion. In such case, I would check directly with the supplier to see if they sell it cheaper. Do your due diligence before pulling the trigger.

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,296]

I will gripe along about my lovely shopping experience at Northern . Drew up my list items last night , check stock ( yea right) finish house husband duties this morning. Check stock again 3 items I wanted and needed for horses. Small hand model grease gun (looked at 3 different models  all showing 5 or 10 each in inventory at the store), 2 grease needles , a idler pulley , and wanted to check on deck wheels. 5 minutes later I am out the door ,15 minute drive walking in the place. Only one model grease gun on the shelve , I bought the last one , grease needles no problem . Idler pulley forget about it. Deck wheels stop employee ask about location (dumb and dumber are working today). Walk up to check out (dumb & dumber relative behind register eating chips ) all a sudden I hear "telephone number " . Then she says "what is your telephone number ! "  she rings up everything 2 mistakes ,she is still eating chips ,I pay for it finally ."You want a bag ?" Thought my head was going to explode. at least she was not talking on a cell phone. I have gotten to the point where I would rather order on line than stop in a store.

[ebinmaine 67,309]

6 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

. I have gotten to the point where I would rather order on line than stop in a store

I've been that way for several years now.

More and more often the last year or so if I need to go into a brick and mortar of any kind I try to look up and purchase what I want and have it WAITING.

 

 

[rmaynard 15,428]

On the subject of brick & mortar stores, this is something that I love to do when I get a cashier with green hair and more piercings than they have brains.

 

I purchase something with a price with tax that comes to an odd total such as $19.51.

Then I hand them a $20.00.

They enter $20.00 as amount tendered on the register, then I hand them a penny (so I can get back 2 quarters rather than 1 quarter, 2 dimes, and 4 pennies). I hate pennies.

Now watch them try to figure out what to do. 

[ebinmaine 67,309]

2 minutes ago, rmaynard said:

figure out what to do

 

🤤

 

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,296]

Lord help them , most have no idea how to make change . That interrupts their cell phone time. 

[ebinmaine 67,309]

4 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

 . That interrupts their cell phone time. 

I'm sure I've got some kind of a smart aleck response for what you just wrote but I'm kind of busy right now looking at Redsquare on my cell phone.,.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[squonk 41,038]

What I hate. Going into any store that sells lottery tickets. I don't think I need to explain why! 

[squonk 41,038]

33 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

I'm sure I've got some kind of a smart aleck response for what you just wrote but I'm kind of busy right now looking at Redsquare on my cell phone.,.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to restore a tractor with a cellphone in your hand! 

[squonk 41,038]

[tom2p 2,394]

just got a package I ordered from a private seller on eBay - 3mm yoga mat

 

I use this to line tool box shelves etc (my current go-to)

 

( I can get 4 and 5 mm yoga mats at some local retailers - cheap - but recently 3mm has been a challenge )

 

the package shipped from Walmart in Arkansas 

 

I checked the Walmart site for price - still less expensive for me to get the mat from the private eBay seller 

 

[ebinmaine 67,309]

1 hour ago, tom2p said:

still less expensive for me to get the mat from the private eBay seller

Yepp. 

 

I was talking about this with someone around here. 

There are Bunches of companies with specific purchase and sales agreements.  

 

 

[OldWorkHorse 3,045]

I ordered a kids toy from Walmart online cuz couldn't find it in stock anywhere and even on the jungle site said was outta stock but online Walmart had it. Ordered it and low and behold a amazon box shows up and I had no clue what it was till I opened my Walmart order in a jungle box... 1st time it's happened to me 

Edited May 5, 2021 by OldWorkHorse