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selling on EBay - possible manufacturer objections

lisavetalisaveta subscriber Posts: 8
edited October 2007 in Marketing
Hi, I have been selling a product made by a French manufacturer, bought (by me) from a wholesaler, on EBay.
I once called Gone But Not Forgotten (disc. makeup warehouse) to place an order, and when I mentioned I sell on EBay, they told me they`d never sell to me. This is a background anecdote, the reason for my following concerns.
I have been successfully selling Product 1 from my wholesaler for 3 months (on EBay), all is going well. When I first made contact with him, I told him I had a shop, and gave him my ebay user id as its name. I AM a retailer, just decided not to mention EBay due to the other experience.
I am about to receive Product 2 from him in about 2 weeks. Ideally I would "presell" to bring in some funds and beat any others who plan on selling it via that market, but I am hesitating.
So, in short, I hesitate to tell my wholesaler that I sell on EBay for fear that he wouldn`t sell to me anymore, though, if he would just say "I don`t care" it would alleviate my worries, but it`s a risk I`m unwilling to take. (Not sure if this is rational?)
Other products from this manufacturer show up routinely on ebay, especially in Europe, so a part of me thinks there`s no worry. There is a German EBay seller who has a very large inventory of its products.
I read on the EBay Answer Centre boards about something called something like "Right of Sale" where if you haven`t signed anything saying you won`t resell, you can resell anything, legally. Obviously my wholesaler knows I am reselling.
So, am I being unnecessarily cautious, or is EBay a big stigma manufacturers don`t want their products associated with? And therefore my wholesaler would refuse me, shutting down what I can foresee being a good little business, that I really care about? Anyone?!

Comments

  • lisavetalisaveta subscriber Posts: 8
    Maybe I should develop my own site. I have own, but it just points people to my EBay listings right now. My stumbling block is: how do people know they can trust me to buy from my own site? On EBay i have feedback, and I think people feel more protected there by that. Or are there enough internet-paypal savvy people out there that buy from indiviual websites? I suppose it depends partly on just how professional your site looks.
    Do you think a supplier would be more likely to sell to someone with their own site, than to EBay? I.e. , less stigma?
  • lisavetalisaveta subscriber Posts: 8
    Thanks Hersh. What do you mean: "and a lot of returns and refund one another."? Thanks for your tip, I am going to act on it, even though right now I don`t have check-out on my site. Or do you think I should wait till I have check-out? So you told your wholesalers point-black you were selling on EBay? My ads, text and photos are really good, I have nothing to be ashamed about, as far as I`m concerned I am a credit to the manufacturer. Are you still in the UK?
  • lisavetalisaveta subscriber Posts: 8
    What`s your email? I would like to send you a link privately.
  • LizardWisdomLizardWisdom subscriber Posts: 0
    Finding quality suppliers for your eBay business is the hardest part about running an eBay business. We are eBay PowerSellers and we run into the issue of suppliers not dealing with us because we sell on eBay. In fact, if we just say we are online retailers, this is enough to turn them off.
    The best place to find good, quality suppliers who will deal with you, the eBay seller, is WorldWide Brands One Source. They are an eBay Certified Solutions Provider who has already pre-qualified thousands of suppliers who will work with online sellers. Check them out, it is worth it!
    Also, if you want more information about selling on eBay, please check us out at Lizard Wisdom.
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