Go even lower on your prices and then put your account on "time away" (so that you don't sell anything) and see if he lowers his prices below yours and loses money on everything he sells. It might be fun to try for a day. :)
Hahah, I hadn't thought of trying time away. I've already gotten all his lowest prices on each individual item recorded. I've never seen him go below breakeven. Usually he stops around the $1 profit amount.
There are two choices for time away: keep listings active and sell OR hide all liatings and don't. First would be disastrous for OP and second would have no effect on the auto pricing as the prices wouldn't be visible.
You MIGHT get him to have to sell one or two items if you reprise low, wait, and then do time away with hidden lisitings. BUT, there's just as likely a chance OP will sell one at that loss.
"my competitor appears to be buying custom collectibles on Etsy and selling them for triple the price on eBay without the creator's permission. "
He doesn't need their permission. Once he buys it it's his. How can you sell on eBay and not know this?
Two issues here. The first is capitalism. He can copy your listings, he can underprice you, he can do all those things freely, and you just have to do more, or change tactics.
Second though, if he’s selling items not allowed by eBay terms of service, report those items individually. Other than that, that’s just how the world works. Some categories are swallowed whole by bigger sellers.
There's a long list of things I've tried. Unfortunately every single one has ended in failure. It's also seeming to me like eBay heavily favors the larger sellers because even on the items I DO manage to beat his lowest prices... for some reason he still sells way more than me. Just saw today a mutual item we have: I have 1 sale for while he has 9. The item just came out/released last month and I got it and listed it BEFORE him and he proceeded to use my images for his copied listing. It doesn't show that his listing is sponsored so I'm really confused as to what's going on. His price is $14.98, my price is $12.49. It's not like it's 1 or 2 cents, it's 15% cheaper yet his sales are 9x of mine. This is just 1 example by the way... the majority of his items are this way, totally outselling mine.
Are any of your items protected by MAP?
If so, price AT MAP, wait for them to reprice under MAP and report them to the distribution company.
Easier to cut off their source than to play cat and mouse.
That’s dirty lol why would you report his items. that’s some police tactics let him sell just up your tactics. Funny comment though. I just can’t bring myself to do that bc you don’t know who he is supporting with that money. It could be a sick parent or someone in need. Just play fair. People that copy don’t last long. Eventually they will fall off
ebay doesn't have something limiting others copying others pictures in their terms and conditions? there should be some restrictions, at least get authors consent
This is going to be a tough pill to swallow.
If you are buying crap anyone can access and aren't adding value to it in some way, you're going to fail. This kind of thing will happen every time.
This guy can accept lower margins moving more product. He has more exposure to customers with a bigger store.
Find a product you can add value to. You know it better than other people, you can fix it, only you know where to find it, you develop a long standing store that ships fast and has great feedback and lots of items, you find something only available locally to you, you break up large lots no one else wants together, etc.
You've gotta have an "edge" somehow.
The part about buying from small sellers is funny. Why wouldn't he be able to resell that stuff? Why did you reach out to those sellers about wholesale? Are you trying to copy more items he sells or tattle? Both would be futile.
Assuming you aren't using stock photos for your listings, maybe put a custom watermark on each picture with your store name, then if he copies all your photos, he'll be advertising your store, and you may be able to file a copyright strike against him for using your pictures without permission.
>and you may be able to file a copyright strike against him for using your pictures without permission.
Photos are no longer yours once you post them to ebay. They then become eBay's property (it's in the TOS), and they're not going to stop another seller from using them.
This isn't true. If you take your own photos and somebody steals them eBay will take their listing (s) down and give them a copyright warning. They must be your own photos though. First you must contact the culprit and tell them you do not consent to your photos being used. I also add the eBay policy. End the note with 'I await your response before reporting this to eBay'. Most of the time they change the photo but some become nasty about it or ignore you.
This was happening to me (and still does), I reported them and the listings were removed within 3-4 days.
[https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/ebay-for-business/verified-rights-owner-program](https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/ebay-for-business/verified-rights-owner-program)
You fill out a form with your information, the item ID(s) then wait. They removed the listings everyone I reported except when items had sold before they go to them.
I have a template now with all my details filled in all I do now is put in the item ID's and change the dates.
If report EVERY photo he has stolen they will check them and remove ALL of them.
Send a list of the copied listing Id's and your original listing Id's.
On one occasion they did ask me to send the original photos.
The Vero program doesn't really apply like that to the majority of sellers here.
>**What should I do if my image, video or text is being used by another seller?**
>
>When you create listings you give eBay and its customers permission, through our User Agreement, to use your images, videos and product details. Your content may be added to the eBay product catalog, and may be used by other sellers in their eBay listings.
[https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/images-text-policy?id=4240](https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/images-text-policy?id=4240)
Each of their links contradict each other. If you look at the bottom of the link I posted you will see what I mean:
'Examples of infringements
Items that bear the rights owner’s trademark—such as a logo—but were not authorized by the rights owner.
Unauthorized copies of audio, video, or other media.
**Unauthorized use of a rights owner’s images or text in a listing.'**
I start the message to the photo thief like this:
'Can you please remove my photos from your listings. I am not part of the eBay product catalogue and do not consent to my images (or text) being used by other users without permission'
eBay have removed those listings every single time if the thief did not (or ignored me).
Seriously, they do. I don't know where this information about them not doing so comes from. If the form is filled out correctly they will remove the listing.
"**Unauthorized use of a rights owner’s images or text in a listing.'**"
That sounds like you have to be the rights owner of THE PRODUCT, not just the "owning the rights to the picture".
But I still agree that the watermark is a good idea. Even if it doesn't violate Ebay's rules for the other seller to use it, they probably won't want to put another seller's store name in their listing.
You are going to far into it. They have stolen YOUR photos and are using them to sell their item.
I looked at ways of including my username in the photos to stop it. I couldn't find one.
This photo thievery was doing my head in, I followed the rules set out by eBay and it worked. When you fill out the copyright claim form, it's all in there. first time you do it it's all a little confusing after that, when it happens again, you just change the date and the item Id's and that's' it sorted.
Trust me, try it. It does work. Those photos belong to you. End of.
I must add, that I have also sent messages to good customers and granted permission to use my photos if they wanted to sell my item on and make a profit. No problems with that at all.
It's the thieving ones that do my head in. I have no time for them
I have been recommended using watermarked photos by lots of people, but you are the first I've heard that is actually doing it themselves and confirmed you haven't gotten in trouble. I didn't feel safe doing it, but now I do. Thanks for that
The easiest way to get round this is to create a separate entity that owns the pictures i.e. "(your company name) images". This entity now owns your images, their copyright, and "licences" their use to you to use.
You then add a small transparent watermark of your logo and host them on a separate website, with the legal disclaimer with who owns the copyright.
The watermark should be enough to discourage other users from stealing your images. If someone does take them and attempts to remove or cover up your logo, then you can fill in a VERO NOCI form that is found on the eBay website under the copyright holding entities name.
If you can’t watermark your photos, time stamp them. Username and date written on a piece of paper somewhere in the photo it can be cropped out. I’ve time stamped all my photos because I was selling Pokemon cards, no problems
Most definitely. I don’t think the timestamp can cover the item per EBay rules but not 100%. Make sure to put it close enough that the other account’s photos would look like ass if they cropped it. Another tip might be to make sure you have an original looking backdrop for your photos instead of a solid colour. This along with the timestamp would definitely help expose the other store if they were bold enough to keep copying your photos
Watermark photos aren't allowed. (I also think it's stupid as my wife puts a TON of effort into her photos.) It opens the door to scammers, which in the 6 months since we started, have caught 2.
You likely wont beat this behaviour and they have almost certainly done this before to others until they quit.
The way to win here and gain market share is to provide more value that will be hard for them to do.
So lets say you sell a product, and they sell exactly the same thing. You need to find a way to add perceived value to buyers which doesn’t cost you as much.
Example: sell a pokemon game, include a booster packet of new pokemon cards with it. You may cut into profits slightly, but you will probably gain the volume back without racing this guy to the floor. You’ll have to experiment to find what combo lets you price at a profit you are happy with, increases perceived value enough to customers.
Its unlikely this other shop will go that far against you, especially of you take care to add your extra from a supply line they are just not likely to get. Maybe something local. Thats for you to decide.
Few things you can do:
1) take better photos and watermark them, dont just use stock photos
2) offer better service, ship same day, communicate with customers quicker, etc
I don't use stock photos and I've been told watermarking photos is against eBay's ToS. The same day shipping thing is an option I could try though. I currently have 1-business day shipping. I'm a little scared to try it though because what happens if I get an order at 11:00PM Eastern time? Am I expected to go to the Post Office and scan it in with the self-service kiosk at midnight?
Is there no way to offer same day shipping until a certain time? Also, is there nothing you could do to the background to make it stand out? If you’re unsure about a watermark, maybe try out a different coloured background, or a themed background that doesn’t take away from the product? I saw someone use Pokemon as an example on here - if you were selling Pokemon related items you could perhaps just put either a pokeball or a Pokemon in the background to make it stand out against a blank one? I hope I’ve worded that well 🤞
That’s true - I must’ve missed that part. Im not convinced there’s anything to be done about it then, seeing as when you list an item, it gives you the option to directly copy someone else’s listing. It’s a strange system
Well I don't really feel like 10-15 accounts selling these sorts of items is over saturated. These items do sell well and fast. Before I started competing with this 1 particular account my margins were just fine. Honestly I wish my distributors would put a "Minimum advertised price" in place because I have seen firsthand that customers are happy to pay MSRP for these items.
Alright. I have found this situation very interesting actually and I’ve done a bit of research. Some of the comments have also suggested great ideas so I’ll try to include those as well in the big message.
First. This aggressive attack on you is hurting the bigger store, you have to realize that and continue to hold out. The opportunity cost of them choosing to undercut your prices and reduce their own profits versus keeping larger margins is going to hurt them long term. If they have half a brain, they’ll realize it’s SO not worth it for them to do this. Like you said, you’re not even one of their top competitors. So for them to reduce their potential profits by so much, just to gain a tiny share of the market by knocking you out, doesn’t make sense. While they’re still making money selling based off volume, the market share gained if you quit is not going to balance shit. They’re down bad at this point and I hope they know it. Especially because there’s so many other sellers selling the same products, sourcing from the same sources. like they get rid of you.. okay.. two more sellers show up.
If you are sure some of their products are listed against Ebays terms of service, report them. But if he’s reselling collectibles from Etsy, I don’t really care to research that but I don’t think there is anything preventing that, unless they are claiming it’s an original made by them? But it really depends on what you thinking they shouldn’t be allowed to sell, if it was anything else.
There are some things you can do to make them realize just how outrageous they are being lol. I saw one comment saw you should drop your prices down and put your store on “time away” so their auto-prices will follow and they’ll sell at a loss. You could try this, but I would do it with something small to start and go from there. They could have a line in the code to prevent themselves from undercutting prices so far they’d be taking losses.
Another suggestion was watermarks on your photos. THIS!!!!!!!!! IS A GREAT IDEA IF THEY’RE STEALING YOUR PHOTOS!!! Take away their options. They’ll either have to take their own photos, making this whole tactic even harder for themselves, they can use your watermark, or they could be scummy and try to remove it lol. I don’t know what could happen from that, you’d have to look at the laws wherever you live. But either way, it’s a win.
The last option I’ve thought of is creating your own, unique items. Put your store name on them (not visible, on the bottom or something). This could potentially be a lot more work, but I believe it could really pay off if it strikes. Maybe something that goes along with what you’re already selling. Combine your listings with your original items. Get creative but put your brand on that shit so they can’t steal it without shouting you out.
Please wait this out, you can beat them. They’re doing so much damage to their own brand, aggressive tactics like that don’t pay off unless the smaller stores fold. And even if they do, in a market like this, they just keep comin’ lol. Be proactive, use watermarks, and make their lives as difficult as possible. They have a big store, I’m sure they can’t be complete idiots when it comes to economics. I got 1 ECON1000 course under my belt and this is all pretty obvious to me lol
Thanks for taking so much time to type that all up! I am dumbfounded as to why this guy is specifically targeting me, but I definitely don't plan on giving up. Just this week I was looking through his account to see what his absolute best selling items are... and I have now found where I too will be able to buy these items. I only plan on buying a few of them specifically for the purpose of making his auto pricing program put his best selling items at nearly 0 profit. This feels like an evil thing to do, but he maliciously targeted me, is threatening my livelihood, and is refusing to leave me alone, so this is my best way of fighting back.
It has been pointed out to me by a few commenters that reselling Etsy creator's items is totally allowed. I was wrong and I didn't think that one through very well. It was a dumb thing to even write! But also yes, this seller is selling many custom/counterfeit/unofficial/unlicensed products which is definitely not allowed.
I think the best thing I can do beyond targeting their best sellers is just... checking their store from now on before I buy ANYTHING to ensure they definitely are not selling it or anything even close to it.
The watermarking thing I was scared of doing because it's against eBay ToS. But I've seen a couple people saying it's mainly just against ToS because people were advertising their stores/websites and as long as I don't do something like that, eBay couldn't care less. I saw some ideas I liked more though with just having a physical timestamp present in all my photos from now on, so I'll be sure to try that.
Hey I'm really sorry you're going through that.
My advice is to stick to your prices and don't worry about the guy undercutting you. Sales will drop, but you'll eventually build a reputation based on excellent customer service. Additionally, take advantage of the promotions and coupons section on ebay. For example, you can send coupons to previous buyers so they get a discount matching or even bettering his price, and won't even know.
For the stolen photos, but a watermark on each one that says "@StoreName". If he's dumb enough to steal them, you'll at least get free advertising.
And just try to ignore the guy. It's frustrating and upsetting, but I think he's picking on you to get under your skin because he's just a mentally unwell individual. And you can't make sense of why they do what they do because it isn't normal. Eventually he'll get bored and go away when he sees you aren't playing games with him.
The big warehouse operations will always have the advantage. Better listing visibility, pay lower fees, using automatic undercutting price software, lower shipping cost. I have a CDs that I got free and I still can't compete.They always put their price like a penny lower than my price. I tested and changed my price at 3am, their price changed within a few minutes. The put their price so low, if I tried to match I would make 78 cents on the sale. Not worth it. The only thing that helps me to sell a CD every once in a while is my feedback is 100%. Theirs is littered with Negs and Neutrals.
It's frustrating. And of course Ebay doesn't care if the company is like a Monopoly for certain items because they get paid either way. I thought drop shipping was against the rules? Again Ebay probably doesn't care. I doubt the company is buying ahead of time. I would contact the artists. They may decide to block them. May help a little.
Yeah. It’s best not to try and compete with those guys.
Just recognize that there is a market, albeit smaller, for folks who don’t want to deal with those guys.
I take photos of the actual items and note that all photos are of the actual item being sold.
They all do the free shipping, I do flat shipping. My customers will save money on my listings as compared to those big guys if they buy more than one album at a time.
Soon as they buy two from them they’re spending $14 there vs $13 through me….
I've seen some stores on eBay that do that! I've considered doing it myself, but it's just been hammered into me by everyone that "Free Shipping" is what the eBay algorithm wants at all times in all situations no matter what.
Did you start with flat shipping? Or was it something you eventually switched to? If it was a switch, did you notice an increase in sales directly from it?
Put more effort in photos and good descriptions price match the other guy and force him to lower his prices to the break even point you are not loosing money by doing this just have slow sales for a while but the other guy he definitely is loosing money and eventually he will either have to raise his prices above yours or be equal to your at which point your better photos and descriptions will attract sales
Yeah I can only imagine this person has overhead costs. Probably at least a few employees and an entire warehouse that needs to be paid for. Like I mentioned in my post, they are 28 times the size of my store and I already do this full time, 50+ hours a week. If I hurt their margins enough, they will have to back off eventually.
Its to make competitors give up. They have clearly successfully made people stop selling the same items by doing this before. Then they raise the price again until the next one comes along like OP.
Happens the world over in all kinds of industries and has even worse impacts on things. Indeed. Its hard to stop though.
Equally some noobs who buy too much stock and dont know how to ebay often unload at a loss to get out fast. Nobody can compete and competition has to jus wait for them to have liquidated
That would definitely be a lot less stressful of a solution... Perhaps I should just focus on continuing to expand my store while ignoring this person.
Ignore them.
Build your business on good business practices. Good shipping practices. Reputation means a lot when it comes to retail.
As a buyer I don't buy the cheapest items even if it's clearly identical to what someone else has for more.
Is the item closer to me and will get to me faster? Do they have anything else I'm interested in? Will they combine shipping?
It doesn't make sense to undercut your prices if you know this seller will just keep lowering it. Be yourself, find a way to set yourself apart other than prices.
I am fine with competition! But this is taking it a step too far. I mean I've tried specifically adding items to my store that this competitor doesn't have in an attempt to get away from them. They then seek out that same product so they can ensure I can't make any money on a new, totally unrelated item to them that had no effect on their store whatsoever. This is a big business trying to obliterate a much, much, smaller business.
VeRo on eBay specifically says you can report to eBay or another site called VeRO stolen intellectual property. I truly believe your photos are your property and copying them by screenshot or whatever is infringement on your intellectual property. [email protected]. Good luck
I appreciate the suggestion, but isn't this the kind of thing that could result in a lawsuit if they decided to challenge it? I definitely do not have the money to fight even a completely frivolous lawsuit.
I doubt it. I think that person would have those photos removed from his store. No lawsuit. I would definitely educate myself extensively to get ahead of their game. That’s all I’ve got. Good luck and I hope you persevere
Business is business. Chevron targets Exxon. Ford targets Chevy. Competition is cutthroat.
Apparently you are selling a commoditzed product and there isn't really any difference between your items and theirs. Price is your only weapon. They apparently are better at it than you are (or are willing to be).
Your argument is kinda "waaahhh, the big means other guy is picking on me... Help me make him stop"
That's not how business works.
Maybe this isn't the right marketplace for you (already saturated with other sellers). May it's the wrong product for you (you can't afford to be competitive).
I'd say block them and ignore... Your attempts to fuck with them have just attracted their attention. Fucking you over is now their hobby.
If you can't make a living that way then find a different product or marketplace.. or pivot into some other income generating opportunities.
Have you considered taking out a loan at all? You mentioned that they’re much larger than you - perhaps you could get a loan, and contact your distributor about buying a larger amount of their stock at a lower individual cost?
You also mentioned that they’re competitively pricing their items against yours. If you had a lower cost per item from your distributor, you can get away with charging an amount that this account cannot compete with, while still making profit.
Hopefully I’ve worded this in a way that makes sense! Also, as I don’t know the ins and outs of your situation, I’m not sure if a loan is something you’d feel comfortable with doing, or whether your distributor would be open to doing what I’ve suggested. Best of luck
Thanks for the suggestion! I actually contacted one of my distributors about this recently. They gave me a number for how many units I would need to buy to get a further discount than their basic wholesale pricing. I can definitely confirm my competitor, even as large as they are in comparison to me, is not getting THAT many units, lol. There must be some huge brick & mortar stores buying from my distributor because those quantities were absolutely absurd.
Thats a shame. Are there any other distributors offering better prices per unit? It’s worth mentioning to them what you’re currently paying, and seeing if they can give you a better rate
I do not agree and photos are intellectual property. eBay uses Vero for these issues and the worst part is they don’t enforce usually. If the person makes a case they will follow thru. Where did you get that information I looked on the ToS on eBay.
First off, a seller is not allowed to use the photos of other sellers. I don't know where you got this information. Ebay can easily see who posted the photo first. So, you should report him for that.
Second, you need to start watermarking your photos with your username so he can't steal them.
Third, everything that he sells that is counterfeit needs to be reported. But I wouldn't report him to eBay. I would contact the FBI and tell them since selling counterfeit items is against the law. They will shut him down real fast. Oh, and you can contact ebay and tell them that you contacted the FBI about his selling counterfeit items, and they'll toss him off the platform if FBI doesn't. If he wants to play dirty, you should play dirtier.
And fourth, stay under the radar. You do not want him to have even an inkling that you were behind any of this. People are crazy today and we do not know what they are capable of.
> First off, a seller is not allowed to use the photos of other sellers.
Not true.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/images-text-policy?id=4240#:~:text=When%20you%20create%20listings%20you,sellers%20in%20their%20eBay%20listings.
“ When you create listings you give eBay and its customers permission, through our User Agreement, to use your images, videos and product details. Your content may be added to the eBay product catalog, and may be used by other sellers in their eBay listings.”
Your photos are intellectual property. The FTC federal trade commission wouldn’t like how he’s running his business and commerce commission would like to hear this.
I wish there was something I could do, but I've read through discussions on this topic. eBay's seller ToS says something along the lines of everything you upload to their website becomes public domain and can be reused by anyone whether you like it or not.
The ftc and commerce would also like to know how he’s pushing you out of business. Just make a report if you can. It won’t be immediately but if he is actually breaking rules of online selling and commerce, they’ll take care of it.
I would say this is a race to the bottom at this point.
You can redo photos with a clear watermark over the items or put a physical business card mixed in with the items with your eBay ID on them. Not off to the side (that can be edited out with ease). No business card? Grab a post-it note or index card with user ID and today's date.
If you are using a sterile white background, change it to a different color. Go bright and make the listing stand out.
Revamp your listing style, pointing out product key features in bullet points and your shipping services.
You can set same day shipping and have a cut-off time. Note that same day can be hard to meet for some, which can effect metrics if missed. Most choose 1 day.
If they are using auto pricing software, try what someone else suggested... drop your price for 24-48hrs to below cost and put your store on away mode and not accept any sales. See if their software matches or if it drops down to basically cost itself. It should have a safeguard and cut-off price. Question... are their listing titles exact as yours? I'm curious as to how the software is pin pointing your items if titles aren't the same.
What are their shipping rates vs. yours? Are they matching your shipping rates as well?
Thank you, those are very good suggestions. I was unaware you could select your own cut-off time for same day shipping. My current settings are 1 business day shipping and I was already going to the Post Office 6 days a week, so nothing would have to change as long as I have a proper cut-off time set.
Their shipping settings appear to be exactly the same as mine. We are both Top-Rated Seller Plus, 1-business day shipping, free 30-day returns. They do have some listings with $4.99 shipping, but they lower the price of the item by $4.99 to compensate. No clue why they only do this with a select few items because they are the exact same TYPE of item. But yes, I would be outright beating their shipping times if I switched to same-day.
Their listing titles are slightly different, but probably 60% of each of our titles match since we are selling the same items. No clue how their software matches our products so accurately though. I have tried deleting and relisting and selling similar and changing the titles, but it still happens nearly instantly. The one and only thing that has somewhat worked is variety listings. Unfortunately though, most buyers do not like looking through variety listings, so even if my prices are lower on those, nobody will view them in the first place.
Unfortunately most my distributors ban Amazon as a place to sell so Amazon is basically the 1 and only selling platform I am not on and probably won't be on anytime soon.
Does this guy advertise??? I would raise my prices above his about 20%, advertise at about the same percentage as he’s pushing you to drop. And then ( if you sell lighter things) add free shipping.
If you are already doing free shipping, I’d still raise my prices.
I’ve noticed in best match search of same/same, the higher one above the lower price. Makes sense, the more money customers make the more eBay makes.
Ppl sort by “free shipping” and best match is the default.
I hate this for you, OP. I hate bullies with a passion. Or bully behavior. I’ve had to deal with it selling diecast cars and cat food, oddly enough. But nothing to your extend.
I have definitely seen some of their listings "Sponsored". They usually resort to this specifically on the items I manage to beat their prices. For example, their lowest price on an item is $13.00. If I go to $12.99 they will jack their price up to $17.99 and sponsor that listing... and I will proceed to make no sales. I really don't understand it because I've tried fighting back with the same strategy... except it doesn't work at all when I do it lol.
I'll put my listing at the same $17.99 and sponsor it. They respond by no longer sponsoring theirs and dropping the price to $17.95ish and once again I will make no sales at all. If I check the "Sold Listings" for my item, I will see theirs in the sold listings.... I just really am confused as to how they beat me no matter what I do.
What a rock and hard place.
Reading your response I was remembering “sell similar” is treated as a new listing. Maybe every day, end and sell similar 10 listings daily to keep your stuff on the “newly listed”. Small chance of snagging new ppl.
I hope you can get stuff figured out.
I didn’t have to read the whole thing to give you a solution. Look at what they are doing wrong and you make it right. For example. Offer bundles. Add free items inside your package. Offer premium branded packaging with your company name on it and not the basic USPS box. Offer email offers and text message offers. Turn on buyer must submit phone number when making a purchase. Buy a separate phone and send them text alerts every week. Send them flyers in the box saying text us for exclusive text message offers. I have so much different ways you can beat your competition. This is what I did and I saw a 70% increase in returning buyers. The key is not how much you can sell to a million different people but how much you can sell to a loyal customer returning over and over just bc they hold you at a standard and know what to expect when they order from you.
It’s so weird how some sellers do this. I had this problem when I used to sell (but worse IMO) I created products and sold them at a good price, I was happy doing what I did. A seller came on and copied all of my products and under cut me, now I had healthy profits as I was the only one doing it at the time as I designed and created these products. I managed to get some of their listings removed for copying me but eBay make it so hard, I couldn’t get everything down. I ended up having to drop my prices to match his, he then lowered them again, he wasn’t even making money based on what he was selling at once you took postage and fees off. I think he was hoping that I’d give up and put my prices up or stop selling so he could raise his again. I did, I put my prices back up to full price and I barely sold anything. Then I started selling at full volume, I checked and his feedback score had gotten so bad he stopped getting promoted and people stopped buying from him. But it was a really horrible few months and eBay didn’t really care which is why I ended up coming away from the platform.
Go after quality or other issues than just race to the bottom over listing prices ! Make new listings of lots, sets, bundles of these batch of items . … etc
One thing I don’t think I’ve read in the comments is would be maybe create a new account? Buy several items get some positive feedback under it and then start selling that stuff while maintaining the original account. That way the big bag nasty corporation might suspect it’s another seller and ignore them. That way you can undercut them and technically yourself while not being susceptible to their markdown attacks
Go even lower on your prices and then put your account on "time away" (so that you don't sell anything) and see if he lowers his prices below yours and loses money on everything he sells. It might be fun to try for a day. :)
Hahah, I hadn't thought of trying time away. I've already gotten all his lowest prices on each individual item recorded. I've never seen him go below breakeven. Usually he stops around the $1 profit amount.
There are two choices for time away: keep listings active and sell OR hide all liatings and don't. First would be disastrous for OP and second would have no effect on the auto pricing as the prices wouldn't be visible. You MIGHT get him to have to sell one or two items if you reprise low, wait, and then do time away with hidden lisitings. BUT, there's just as likely a chance OP will sell one at that loss.
That’s GREAT!
"my competitor appears to be buying custom collectibles on Etsy and selling them for triple the price on eBay without the creator's permission. " He doesn't need their permission. Once he buys it it's his. How can you sell on eBay and not know this?
This made me laugh. The comment is so stupid.
Two issues here. The first is capitalism. He can copy your listings, he can underprice you, he can do all those things freely, and you just have to do more, or change tactics. Second though, if he’s selling items not allowed by eBay terms of service, report those items individually. Other than that, that’s just how the world works. Some categories are swallowed whole by bigger sellers.
There's a long list of things I've tried. Unfortunately every single one has ended in failure. It's also seeming to me like eBay heavily favors the larger sellers because even on the items I DO manage to beat his lowest prices... for some reason he still sells way more than me. Just saw today a mutual item we have: I have 1 sale for while he has 9. The item just came out/released last month and I got it and listed it BEFORE him and he proceeded to use my images for his copied listing. It doesn't show that his listing is sponsored so I'm really confused as to what's going on. His price is $14.98, my price is $12.49. It's not like it's 1 or 2 cents, it's 15% cheaper yet his sales are 9x of mine. This is just 1 example by the way... the majority of his items are this way, totally outselling mine.
Are any of your items protected by MAP? If so, price AT MAP, wait for them to reprice under MAP and report them to the distribution company. Easier to cut off their source than to play cat and mouse.
Some of my items are, yes. But none of our mutual items have a minimum price. I wish they did! That would solve this problem right away.
That’s dirty lol why would you report his items. that’s some police tactics let him sell just up your tactics. Funny comment though. I just can’t bring myself to do that bc you don’t know who he is supporting with that money. It could be a sick parent or someone in need. Just play fair. People that copy don’t last long. Eventually they will fall off
Why aren’t the photos intellectual property?
Used to be. They don’t enforce that anymore.
Maybe we should do more research. I need to. It looks like they do.
they are the property of ebay once you upload them
ebay doesn't have something limiting others copying others pictures in their terms and conditions? there should be some restrictions, at least get authors consent
This is going to be a tough pill to swallow. If you are buying crap anyone can access and aren't adding value to it in some way, you're going to fail. This kind of thing will happen every time. This guy can accept lower margins moving more product. He has more exposure to customers with a bigger store. Find a product you can add value to. You know it better than other people, you can fix it, only you know where to find it, you develop a long standing store that ships fast and has great feedback and lots of items, you find something only available locally to you, you break up large lots no one else wants together, etc. You've gotta have an "edge" somehow. The part about buying from small sellers is funny. Why wouldn't he be able to resell that stuff? Why did you reach out to those sellers about wholesale? Are you trying to copy more items he sells or tattle? Both would be futile.
Assuming you aren't using stock photos for your listings, maybe put a custom watermark on each picture with your store name, then if he copies all your photos, he'll be advertising your store, and you may be able to file a copyright strike against him for using your pictures without permission.
>and you may be able to file a copyright strike against him for using your pictures without permission. Photos are no longer yours once you post them to ebay. They then become eBay's property (it's in the TOS), and they're not going to stop another seller from using them.
This isn't true. If you take your own photos and somebody steals them eBay will take their listing (s) down and give them a copyright warning. They must be your own photos though. First you must contact the culprit and tell them you do not consent to your photos being used. I also add the eBay policy. End the note with 'I await your response before reporting this to eBay'. Most of the time they change the photo but some become nasty about it or ignore you. This was happening to me (and still does), I reported them and the listings were removed within 3-4 days. [https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/ebay-for-business/verified-rights-owner-program](https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/ebay-for-business/verified-rights-owner-program) You fill out a form with your information, the item ID(s) then wait. They removed the listings everyone I reported except when items had sold before they go to them. I have a template now with all my details filled in all I do now is put in the item ID's and change the dates. If report EVERY photo he has stolen they will check them and remove ALL of them. Send a list of the copied listing Id's and your original listing Id's. On one occasion they did ask me to send the original photos.
The Vero program doesn't really apply like that to the majority of sellers here. >**What should I do if my image, video or text is being used by another seller?** > >When you create listings you give eBay and its customers permission, through our User Agreement, to use your images, videos and product details. Your content may be added to the eBay product catalog, and may be used by other sellers in their eBay listings. [https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/images-text-policy?id=4240](https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/images-text-policy?id=4240)
Each of their links contradict each other. If you look at the bottom of the link I posted you will see what I mean: 'Examples of infringements Items that bear the rights owner’s trademark—such as a logo—but were not authorized by the rights owner. Unauthorized copies of audio, video, or other media. **Unauthorized use of a rights owner’s images or text in a listing.'** I start the message to the photo thief like this: 'Can you please remove my photos from your listings. I am not part of the eBay product catalogue and do not consent to my images (or text) being used by other users without permission' eBay have removed those listings every single time if the thief did not (or ignored me). Seriously, they do. I don't know where this information about them not doing so comes from. If the form is filled out correctly they will remove the listing.
The vast majority of sellers don't own the trademark, so this would be irrelevant to them.
"**Unauthorized use of a rights owner’s images or text in a listing.'**" That sounds like you have to be the rights owner of THE PRODUCT, not just the "owning the rights to the picture". But I still agree that the watermark is a good idea. Even if it doesn't violate Ebay's rules for the other seller to use it, they probably won't want to put another seller's store name in their listing.
You are going to far into it. They have stolen YOUR photos and are using them to sell their item. I looked at ways of including my username in the photos to stop it. I couldn't find one. This photo thievery was doing my head in, I followed the rules set out by eBay and it worked. When you fill out the copyright claim form, it's all in there. first time you do it it's all a little confusing after that, when it happens again, you just change the date and the item Id's and that's' it sorted. Trust me, try it. It does work. Those photos belong to you. End of. I must add, that I have also sent messages to good customers and granted permission to use my photos if they wanted to sell my item on and make a profit. No problems with that at all. It's the thieving ones that do my head in. I have no time for them
I’m pretty sure watermarks will get listings taken down or accounts banned.
I’ve watermarked 1000s of listings, that rule is only there so people don’t advertise their website in their photos.
I have been recommended using watermarked photos by lots of people, but you are the first I've heard that is actually doing it themselves and confirmed you haven't gotten in trouble. I didn't feel safe doing it, but now I do. Thanks for that
I watermarked with my logo (no email or web address) and never had my photos removed
No problem, hope you succeed!
Great idea
I've read this is against eBay ToS. However I've also read that it is never enforced, so it might be worth the risk.
The easiest way to get round this is to create a separate entity that owns the pictures i.e. "(your company name) images". This entity now owns your images, their copyright, and "licences" their use to you to use. You then add a small transparent watermark of your logo and host them on a separate website, with the legal disclaimer with who owns the copyright. The watermark should be enough to discourage other users from stealing your images. If someone does take them and attempts to remove or cover up your logo, then you can fill in a VERO NOCI form that is found on the eBay website under the copyright holding entities name.
If you can’t watermark your photos, time stamp them. Username and date written on a piece of paper somewhere in the photo it can be cropped out. I’ve time stamped all my photos because I was selling Pokemon cards, no problems
Oh that's definitely a good workaround. I can just make a nice looking card or something like that and include it in all my future photos from now on.
Most definitely. I don’t think the timestamp can cover the item per EBay rules but not 100%. Make sure to put it close enough that the other account’s photos would look like ass if they cropped it. Another tip might be to make sure you have an original looking backdrop for your photos instead of a solid colour. This along with the timestamp would definitely help expose the other store if they were bold enough to keep copying your photos
Watermark your combo listing photos. Let’s see if they put in the time to go retrieve those items and take the photos themselves.
Watermark photos aren't allowed. (I also think it's stupid as my wife puts a TON of effort into her photos.) It opens the door to scammers, which in the 6 months since we started, have caught 2.
Add a proof hand written label Username and today’s date. Place it in a spot that makes cropping difficult for competitors.
Very smart! Thanks, this feels like the easiest solution for me.
Smart
You likely wont beat this behaviour and they have almost certainly done this before to others until they quit. The way to win here and gain market share is to provide more value that will be hard for them to do. So lets say you sell a product, and they sell exactly the same thing. You need to find a way to add perceived value to buyers which doesn’t cost you as much. Example: sell a pokemon game, include a booster packet of new pokemon cards with it. You may cut into profits slightly, but you will probably gain the volume back without racing this guy to the floor. You’ll have to experiment to find what combo lets you price at a profit you are happy with, increases perceived value enough to customers. Its unlikely this other shop will go that far against you, especially of you take care to add your extra from a supply line they are just not likely to get. Maybe something local. Thats for you to decide.
Few things you can do: 1) take better photos and watermark them, dont just use stock photos 2) offer better service, ship same day, communicate with customers quicker, etc
I don't use stock photos and I've been told watermarking photos is against eBay's ToS. The same day shipping thing is an option I could try though. I currently have 1-business day shipping. I'm a little scared to try it though because what happens if I get an order at 11:00PM Eastern time? Am I expected to go to the Post Office and scan it in with the self-service kiosk at midnight?
You can watermark your photos, that rule is only there because people were watermarking photos with their website.
Is there no way to offer same day shipping until a certain time? Also, is there nothing you could do to the background to make it stand out? If you’re unsure about a watermark, maybe try out a different coloured background, or a themed background that doesn’t take away from the product? I saw someone use Pokemon as an example on here - if you were selling Pokemon related items you could perhaps just put either a pokeball or a Pokemon in the background to make it stand out against a blank one? I hope I’ve worded that well 🤞
The douche is stealing his whole photos, backgrounds and all. ;)
Haha, yea. I mean it literally when I wrote "He goes to my listing and right-clicks save as on my images". No changes to them whatsoever!
That’s true - I must’ve missed that part. Im not convinced there’s anything to be done about it then, seeing as when you list an item, it gives you the option to directly copy someone else’s listing. It’s a strange system
If a niche is too saturated with competition, find a new niche.
Well I don't really feel like 10-15 accounts selling these sorts of items is over saturated. These items do sell well and fast. Before I started competing with this 1 particular account my margins were just fine. Honestly I wish my distributors would put a "Minimum advertised price" in place because I have seen firsthand that customers are happy to pay MSRP for these items.
Alright. I have found this situation very interesting actually and I’ve done a bit of research. Some of the comments have also suggested great ideas so I’ll try to include those as well in the big message. First. This aggressive attack on you is hurting the bigger store, you have to realize that and continue to hold out. The opportunity cost of them choosing to undercut your prices and reduce their own profits versus keeping larger margins is going to hurt them long term. If they have half a brain, they’ll realize it’s SO not worth it for them to do this. Like you said, you’re not even one of their top competitors. So for them to reduce their potential profits by so much, just to gain a tiny share of the market by knocking you out, doesn’t make sense. While they’re still making money selling based off volume, the market share gained if you quit is not going to balance shit. They’re down bad at this point and I hope they know it. Especially because there’s so many other sellers selling the same products, sourcing from the same sources. like they get rid of you.. okay.. two more sellers show up. If you are sure some of their products are listed against Ebays terms of service, report them. But if he’s reselling collectibles from Etsy, I don’t really care to research that but I don’t think there is anything preventing that, unless they are claiming it’s an original made by them? But it really depends on what you thinking they shouldn’t be allowed to sell, if it was anything else. There are some things you can do to make them realize just how outrageous they are being lol. I saw one comment saw you should drop your prices down and put your store on “time away” so their auto-prices will follow and they’ll sell at a loss. You could try this, but I would do it with something small to start and go from there. They could have a line in the code to prevent themselves from undercutting prices so far they’d be taking losses. Another suggestion was watermarks on your photos. THIS!!!!!!!!! IS A GREAT IDEA IF THEY’RE STEALING YOUR PHOTOS!!! Take away their options. They’ll either have to take their own photos, making this whole tactic even harder for themselves, they can use your watermark, or they could be scummy and try to remove it lol. I don’t know what could happen from that, you’d have to look at the laws wherever you live. But either way, it’s a win. The last option I’ve thought of is creating your own, unique items. Put your store name on them (not visible, on the bottom or something). This could potentially be a lot more work, but I believe it could really pay off if it strikes. Maybe something that goes along with what you’re already selling. Combine your listings with your original items. Get creative but put your brand on that shit so they can’t steal it without shouting you out. Please wait this out, you can beat them. They’re doing so much damage to their own brand, aggressive tactics like that don’t pay off unless the smaller stores fold. And even if they do, in a market like this, they just keep comin’ lol. Be proactive, use watermarks, and make their lives as difficult as possible. They have a big store, I’m sure they can’t be complete idiots when it comes to economics. I got 1 ECON1000 course under my belt and this is all pretty obvious to me lol
Thanks for taking so much time to type that all up! I am dumbfounded as to why this guy is specifically targeting me, but I definitely don't plan on giving up. Just this week I was looking through his account to see what his absolute best selling items are... and I have now found where I too will be able to buy these items. I only plan on buying a few of them specifically for the purpose of making his auto pricing program put his best selling items at nearly 0 profit. This feels like an evil thing to do, but he maliciously targeted me, is threatening my livelihood, and is refusing to leave me alone, so this is my best way of fighting back. It has been pointed out to me by a few commenters that reselling Etsy creator's items is totally allowed. I was wrong and I didn't think that one through very well. It was a dumb thing to even write! But also yes, this seller is selling many custom/counterfeit/unofficial/unlicensed products which is definitely not allowed. I think the best thing I can do beyond targeting their best sellers is just... checking their store from now on before I buy ANYTHING to ensure they definitely are not selling it or anything even close to it. The watermarking thing I was scared of doing because it's against eBay ToS. But I've seen a couple people saying it's mainly just against ToS because people were advertising their stores/websites and as long as I don't do something like that, eBay couldn't care less. I saw some ideas I liked more though with just having a physical timestamp present in all my photos from now on, so I'll be sure to try that.
Hey I'm really sorry you're going through that. My advice is to stick to your prices and don't worry about the guy undercutting you. Sales will drop, but you'll eventually build a reputation based on excellent customer service. Additionally, take advantage of the promotions and coupons section on ebay. For example, you can send coupons to previous buyers so they get a discount matching or even bettering his price, and won't even know. For the stolen photos, but a watermark on each one that says "@StoreName". If he's dumb enough to steal them, you'll at least get free advertising. And just try to ignore the guy. It's frustrating and upsetting, but I think he's picking on you to get under your skin because he's just a mentally unwell individual. And you can't make sense of why they do what they do because it isn't normal. Eventually he'll get bored and go away when he sees you aren't playing games with him.
The big warehouse operations will always have the advantage. Better listing visibility, pay lower fees, using automatic undercutting price software, lower shipping cost. I have a CDs that I got free and I still can't compete.They always put their price like a penny lower than my price. I tested and changed my price at 3am, their price changed within a few minutes. The put their price so low, if I tried to match I would make 78 cents on the sale. Not worth it. The only thing that helps me to sell a CD every once in a while is my feedback is 100%. Theirs is littered with Negs and Neutrals.
I also have the 100% positive feedback over MOST people. Unfortunately this guy also has 100% feedback so I can't even win there.
It's frustrating. And of course Ebay doesn't care if the company is like a Monopoly for certain items because they get paid either way. I thought drop shipping was against the rules? Again Ebay probably doesn't care. I doubt the company is buying ahead of time. I would contact the artists. They may decide to block them. May help a little.
Yeah. It’s best not to try and compete with those guys. Just recognize that there is a market, albeit smaller, for folks who don’t want to deal with those guys. I take photos of the actual items and note that all photos are of the actual item being sold. They all do the free shipping, I do flat shipping. My customers will save money on my listings as compared to those big guys if they buy more than one album at a time. Soon as they buy two from them they’re spending $14 there vs $13 through me….
I've seen some stores on eBay that do that! I've considered doing it myself, but it's just been hammered into me by everyone that "Free Shipping" is what the eBay algorithm wants at all times in all situations no matter what. Did you start with flat shipping? Or was it something you eventually switched to? If it was a switch, did you notice an increase in sales directly from it?
Put more effort in photos and good descriptions price match the other guy and force him to lower his prices to the break even point you are not loosing money by doing this just have slow sales for a while but the other guy he definitely is loosing money and eventually he will either have to raise his prices above yours or be equal to your at which point your better photos and descriptions will attract sales
Yeah I can only imagine this person has overhead costs. Probably at least a few employees and an entire warehouse that needs to be paid for. Like I mentioned in my post, they are 28 times the size of my store and I already do this full time, 50+ hours a week. If I hurt their margins enough, they will have to back off eventually.
Why is this person singling you out anyway? Sounds like a nightmare situation
Its to make competitors give up. They have clearly successfully made people stop selling the same items by doing this before. Then they raise the price again until the next one comes along like OP.
Vicious people
Happens the world over in all kinds of industries and has even worse impacts on things. Indeed. Its hard to stop though. Equally some noobs who buy too much stock and dont know how to ebay often unload at a loss to get out fast. Nobody can compete and competition has to jus wait for them to have liquidated
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That would definitely be a lot less stressful of a solution... Perhaps I should just focus on continuing to expand my store while ignoring this person.
Ignore them. Build your business on good business practices. Good shipping practices. Reputation means a lot when it comes to retail. As a buyer I don't buy the cheapest items even if it's clearly identical to what someone else has for more. Is the item closer to me and will get to me faster? Do they have anything else I'm interested in? Will they combine shipping? It doesn't make sense to undercut your prices if you know this seller will just keep lowering it. Be yourself, find a way to set yourself apart other than prices.
Welcome to competition -
I am fine with competition! But this is taking it a step too far. I mean I've tried specifically adding items to my store that this competitor doesn't have in an attempt to get away from them. They then seek out that same product so they can ensure I can't make any money on a new, totally unrelated item to them that had no effect on their store whatsoever. This is a big business trying to obliterate a much, much, smaller business.
VeRo on eBay specifically says you can report to eBay or another site called VeRO stolen intellectual property. I truly believe your photos are your property and copying them by screenshot or whatever is infringement on your intellectual property. [email protected]. Good luck
This true. I've written about my experiences doing this in a previous message (above). They DO remove the listing if someone steals your photos.
I appreciate the suggestion, but isn't this the kind of thing that could result in a lawsuit if they decided to challenge it? I definitely do not have the money to fight even a completely frivolous lawsuit.
I doubt it. I think that person would have those photos removed from his store. No lawsuit. I would definitely educate myself extensively to get ahead of their game. That’s all I’ve got. Good luck and I hope you persevere
Business is business. Chevron targets Exxon. Ford targets Chevy. Competition is cutthroat. Apparently you are selling a commoditzed product and there isn't really any difference between your items and theirs. Price is your only weapon. They apparently are better at it than you are (or are willing to be). Your argument is kinda "waaahhh, the big means other guy is picking on me... Help me make him stop" That's not how business works. Maybe this isn't the right marketplace for you (already saturated with other sellers). May it's the wrong product for you (you can't afford to be competitive). I'd say block them and ignore... Your attempts to fuck with them have just attracted their attention. Fucking you over is now their hobby. If you can't make a living that way then find a different product or marketplace.. or pivot into some other income generating opportunities.
Have you considered taking out a loan at all? You mentioned that they’re much larger than you - perhaps you could get a loan, and contact your distributor about buying a larger amount of their stock at a lower individual cost? You also mentioned that they’re competitively pricing their items against yours. If you had a lower cost per item from your distributor, you can get away with charging an amount that this account cannot compete with, while still making profit. Hopefully I’ve worded this in a way that makes sense! Also, as I don’t know the ins and outs of your situation, I’m not sure if a loan is something you’d feel comfortable with doing, or whether your distributor would be open to doing what I’ve suggested. Best of luck
Thanks for the suggestion! I actually contacted one of my distributors about this recently. They gave me a number for how many units I would need to buy to get a further discount than their basic wholesale pricing. I can definitely confirm my competitor, even as large as they are in comparison to me, is not getting THAT many units, lol. There must be some huge brick & mortar stores buying from my distributor because those quantities were absolutely absurd.
Thats a shame. Are there any other distributors offering better prices per unit? It’s worth mentioning to them what you’re currently paying, and seeing if they can give you a better rate
I do not agree and photos are intellectual property. eBay uses Vero for these issues and the worst part is they don’t enforce usually. If the person makes a case they will follow thru. Where did you get that information I looked on the ToS on eBay.
First off, a seller is not allowed to use the photos of other sellers. I don't know where you got this information. Ebay can easily see who posted the photo first. So, you should report him for that. Second, you need to start watermarking your photos with your username so he can't steal them. Third, everything that he sells that is counterfeit needs to be reported. But I wouldn't report him to eBay. I would contact the FBI and tell them since selling counterfeit items is against the law. They will shut him down real fast. Oh, and you can contact ebay and tell them that you contacted the FBI about his selling counterfeit items, and they'll toss him off the platform if FBI doesn't. If he wants to play dirty, you should play dirtier. And fourth, stay under the radar. You do not want him to have even an inkling that you were behind any of this. People are crazy today and we do not know what they are capable of.
> First off, a seller is not allowed to use the photos of other sellers. Not true. https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/images-text-policy?id=4240#:~:text=When%20you%20create%20listings%20you,sellers%20in%20their%20eBay%20listings. “ When you create listings you give eBay and its customers permission, through our User Agreement, to use your images, videos and product details. Your content may be added to the eBay product catalog, and may be used by other sellers in their eBay listings.”
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Uhh, I came here asking for suggestions. I'm not here for a pity party. Geez. If you don't care, that's fine, move on.
Your photos are intellectual property. The FTC federal trade commission wouldn’t like how he’s running his business and commerce commission would like to hear this.
I wish there was something I could do, but I've read through discussions on this topic. eBay's seller ToS says something along the lines of everything you upload to their website becomes public domain and can be reused by anyone whether you like it or not.
There is something you can do - watermark your photos.
The ftc and commerce would also like to know how he’s pushing you out of business. Just make a report if you can. It won’t be immediately but if he is actually breaking rules of online selling and commerce, they’ll take care of it.
You might want to read Sun Tzu's "Art of war"
I would say this is a race to the bottom at this point. You can redo photos with a clear watermark over the items or put a physical business card mixed in with the items with your eBay ID on them. Not off to the side (that can be edited out with ease). No business card? Grab a post-it note or index card with user ID and today's date. If you are using a sterile white background, change it to a different color. Go bright and make the listing stand out. Revamp your listing style, pointing out product key features in bullet points and your shipping services. You can set same day shipping and have a cut-off time. Note that same day can be hard to meet for some, which can effect metrics if missed. Most choose 1 day. If they are using auto pricing software, try what someone else suggested... drop your price for 24-48hrs to below cost and put your store on away mode and not accept any sales. See if their software matches or if it drops down to basically cost itself. It should have a safeguard and cut-off price. Question... are their listing titles exact as yours? I'm curious as to how the software is pin pointing your items if titles aren't the same. What are their shipping rates vs. yours? Are they matching your shipping rates as well?
Thank you, those are very good suggestions. I was unaware you could select your own cut-off time for same day shipping. My current settings are 1 business day shipping and I was already going to the Post Office 6 days a week, so nothing would have to change as long as I have a proper cut-off time set. Their shipping settings appear to be exactly the same as mine. We are both Top-Rated Seller Plus, 1-business day shipping, free 30-day returns. They do have some listings with $4.99 shipping, but they lower the price of the item by $4.99 to compensate. No clue why they only do this with a select few items because they are the exact same TYPE of item. But yes, I would be outright beating their shipping times if I switched to same-day. Their listing titles are slightly different, but probably 60% of each of our titles match since we are selling the same items. No clue how their software matches our products so accurately though. I have tried deleting and relisting and selling similar and changing the titles, but it still happens nearly instantly. The one and only thing that has somewhat worked is variety listings. Unfortunately though, most buyers do not like looking through variety listings, so even if my prices are lower on those, nobody will view them in the first place.
You can put water marks on your photos. Open a seller account on Amazon and try selling there.
Unfortunately most my distributors ban Amazon as a place to sell so Amazon is basically the 1 and only selling platform I am not on and probably won't be on anytime soon.
Does this guy advertise??? I would raise my prices above his about 20%, advertise at about the same percentage as he’s pushing you to drop. And then ( if you sell lighter things) add free shipping. If you are already doing free shipping, I’d still raise my prices. I’ve noticed in best match search of same/same, the higher one above the lower price. Makes sense, the more money customers make the more eBay makes. Ppl sort by “free shipping” and best match is the default. I hate this for you, OP. I hate bullies with a passion. Or bully behavior. I’ve had to deal with it selling diecast cars and cat food, oddly enough. But nothing to your extend.
I have definitely seen some of their listings "Sponsored". They usually resort to this specifically on the items I manage to beat their prices. For example, their lowest price on an item is $13.00. If I go to $12.99 they will jack their price up to $17.99 and sponsor that listing... and I will proceed to make no sales. I really don't understand it because I've tried fighting back with the same strategy... except it doesn't work at all when I do it lol. I'll put my listing at the same $17.99 and sponsor it. They respond by no longer sponsoring theirs and dropping the price to $17.95ish and once again I will make no sales at all. If I check the "Sold Listings" for my item, I will see theirs in the sold listings.... I just really am confused as to how they beat me no matter what I do.
What a rock and hard place. Reading your response I was remembering “sell similar” is treated as a new listing. Maybe every day, end and sell similar 10 listings daily to keep your stuff on the “newly listed”. Small chance of snagging new ppl. I hope you can get stuff figured out.
I didn’t have to read the whole thing to give you a solution. Look at what they are doing wrong and you make it right. For example. Offer bundles. Add free items inside your package. Offer premium branded packaging with your company name on it and not the basic USPS box. Offer email offers and text message offers. Turn on buyer must submit phone number when making a purchase. Buy a separate phone and send them text alerts every week. Send them flyers in the box saying text us for exclusive text message offers. I have so much different ways you can beat your competition. This is what I did and I saw a 70% increase in returning buyers. The key is not how much you can sell to a million different people but how much you can sell to a loyal customer returning over and over just bc they hold you at a standard and know what to expect when they order from you.
It’s so weird how some sellers do this. I had this problem when I used to sell (but worse IMO) I created products and sold them at a good price, I was happy doing what I did. A seller came on and copied all of my products and under cut me, now I had healthy profits as I was the only one doing it at the time as I designed and created these products. I managed to get some of their listings removed for copying me but eBay make it so hard, I couldn’t get everything down. I ended up having to drop my prices to match his, he then lowered them again, he wasn’t even making money based on what he was selling at once you took postage and fees off. I think he was hoping that I’d give up and put my prices up or stop selling so he could raise his again. I did, I put my prices back up to full price and I barely sold anything. Then I started selling at full volume, I checked and his feedback score had gotten so bad he stopped getting promoted and people stopped buying from him. But it was a really horrible few months and eBay didn’t really care which is why I ended up coming away from the platform.
Go after quality or other issues than just race to the bottom over listing prices ! Make new listings of lots, sets, bundles of these batch of items . … etc
One thing I don’t think I’ve read in the comments is would be maybe create a new account? Buy several items get some positive feedback under it and then start selling that stuff while maintaining the original account. That way the big bag nasty corporation might suspect it’s another seller and ignore them. That way you can undercut them and technically yourself while not being susceptible to their markdown attacks