How are ebay sellers pricing so low for brand new?

[McFaire]

I was shopping for a Vice Versa kit and found several sellers on eBay pricing the kit at about half of the Amazon price, with free shipping and free returns. Listed as brand new, in perfect condition. I checked the ISBN and these listings are for the kit, not the deck-only. Four-day shipping instead of 2-day, but up to $14.50 less than the big A.

I'm wondering how these sellers can price so low. Does anyone know?

Maybe they are selling factory seconds without disclosing that?

ty

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

they probably don't have any overhead or pay taxes on the profit. 

selling seconds, if they were even available to buy wholesale would only ruin their feedback.

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by AJ-ish/Sharyn

[McFaire]

I ordered one, so we'll see.

Makes me wonder what wholesale price must be if they can discount 50% off A and still offer free shipping, free returns.

(PayPal issues 1099s nowadays so these big sellers can't avoid reporting the income anymore, if $20k or more in sales and 200 or more transactions.)

[DevonCarter]

I'm not sure about this particular situation, but I'm very wary of Ebay - TONS of counterfeits of everything imaginable on there. I haven't gone looking for this deck, but generally I will check Wish.com and other "direct from China" places and if the deck is on there at a ridiculous low price, I assume it's been counterfeited and am extra careful about where I buy it from. 

Of course it could also be a store liquidating inventory just trying to get it gone, or someone willing to make a bare minimum of profit, plus the lack of overhead costs on Ebay. I am just always extra careful there.

[McFaire]

Interesting, thanks.

A liquidator seems probable in this case, since a kit is a bit cumbersome to counterfeit. I hadn't thought of that. A store going out of business would take whatever they could get, especially bulk inventory to a liquidator. And the quantities involved are few.

I will post back here after it arrives.

[fire cat pickles]

If you look at the last four digits of a bar code, it will give you the suggested retail price of any product. This price is approximately 250% above wholesale price.

Edited May 1, 2019 by fire cat pickles

[DevonCarter]

13 minutes ago, McFaire said:

A liquidator seems probable in this case, since a kit is a bit cumbersome to counterfeit. I hadn't thought of that. A store going out of business would take whatever they could get, especially bulk inventory to a liquidator. And the quantities involved are few.

It probably is most likely a liquidator, or a store selling off inventory, or something along those lines.

Although kits aren't necessarily too cumbersome to counterfeit - sometimes it's not so much counterfeiting as "selling out the back door". Print runs always have overages, and it takes very little for a less-than-ethical company to simply print more of something with very little or no cost to themselves, and then sell those on themselves. Copyright laws are different in different countries.

I'm a little extra paranoid because I come from the ball-jointed doll community, where recasts and "factory" dolls sold without the sculptor's permission are rampant to the point that some sculptors are putting in tons of extra parts and pieces just for the purpose of making the dolls hard to copy. It's difficult to sell a secondhand doll without a certificate and it's box, and even those things are being counterfeited in some situations. People are asking for copies of order receipts and stuff now, and anything on Ebay that's not from a known dealer or collector is suspect.

I'm definitely NOT saying that this situation is a counterfeit, it most likely isn't. Just for the record, it's not a bad idea to be a little suspicious (as you are!) when a price seems too good to be true. Especially on Ebay.

[McFaire]

37 minutes ago, fire cat pickles said:

If you look at the last four digits of a bar code, it will give you the suggested retail price of any product. This price is approximately 250% above wholesale price.

Things have changed so much in recent years. But I think it varies a lot depending on the type of product and size of the order, which is why so many indie stores have failed. They can't get the same pricing as major retailers. But for books, Amazon was paying 40% of retail to small publishers the last time I was involved. Which is the same as wholesale x 250%.

[McFaire]

I bet I receive the deck-only, even though the photo and ISBN are for the kit. Returns are free though.

We shall see.

[FLizarraga]

Rule of thumb: If it's super cheap and posted from Eastern Europe, it's probably a counterfeit. Lately, some of those sellers are even letting you know beforehand that their decks are not originals. Case in point: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tarot-of-Ceremonial-Magick-78-cards-Jean-Duquette/163650319188?hash=item261a51b354:g:QEAAAOSwz3JaFw62

Note how the seller warns: "This deck is not the original, the production of Ukraine, good quality."

[McFaire]

6 hours ago, FLizarraga said:

Rule of thumb: If it's super cheap and posted from Eastern Europe, it's probably a counterfeit. Lately, some of those sellers are even letting you know beforehand that their decks are not originals. Case in point: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tarot-of-Ceremonial-Magick-78-cards-Jean-Duquette/163650319188?hash=item261a51b354:g:QEAAAOSwz3JaFw62

Note how the seller warns: "This deck is not the original, the production of Ukraine, good quality."

Thanks for the tip.

It was one of big US eBay booksellers. I have a feeling they have an incorrect listing with the ISBN and photo of the kit, and the pricing of the deck-only, and probably shipped the deck-only.

[McFaire]

Package arrived. It is the correct legit item, kit with full color book, 8" x 5" box with magnetic closure, with LoS logos and ISBN, sealed inside and out, all cards present and accounted for.

 

I think there is something wrong with the Amazon listing because their price is $30. The eBay seller has it for $15. So I was comparing the two and got suspicious. But the suggested retail is $31.95, so Amazon was high.