"Drop Shipping - learning about that has finally explained all those scam..."
scam pyramid schemes that I've had to halt acquaintancehips & unfollow or mute multiple social media feeds for.
But the idea kind of amazed me, and when I listened to a recent related planet money episode https://goo.gl/xQPP4B and heard the black couple in Houston talk about their scheme, I immediately knew the two were related. Then I read the article the pod was based on https://goo.gl/Rusn6V and it explained my inclination in depth. In a few sentences the article explains more about "MLM" than any pyramid recruiter could in any masked recruitment conversation.
So now I'm cautious in my online shopping to avoid middlemen. I put it to practice and feel like a winner...
This weekend I have an event and need a tux, I've always rented and thought I'd do he same, but on a whim I took a look on eBay. Accidentally, by placing a nominal bid as a placeholder, I bought a Christian Dior tux for $12.99 + $12.00 shipping. Until trying it on I was still planning to rent, but the thing both fits well looks new--even the lining in the pants show no signs of wear. I was so excited about the come-up, I sourced the rest of my tuxedo accessories online and pieced the thing together for a total of about $120.
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
12. "RE: damn...DAMN....*lightbulb moment*.. i'm bout to GETDISMONEY....." In response to Reply # 6
You'd have to have money on hand to deal with the purchases and transaction fees. Then you'd have to slowly build up your reputation, which since this report went out will be very suspectible to dramatic crashes Then you'd also have to make sure you were targeting the right products and aware of their transportation times Probably want to set up an llc to protect you. And then make sure you have tons of free time to adjust on the fly.
It's a lot more "work" than not and while the couple said they grossed a million dollars a year, I'm sure that's both dramatically inflated and also not solely sourced from doing this.
------ “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
legsdiamond Member since May 05th 2011 79947 posts
Mon Sep-19-16 11:55 AM
20. "ole girl who made the earring? " In response to Reply # 15
I think she lived in Raleigh.
pretty sure they weren't upselling tho, they just copied her style and sold them and took all the profits.
**************** TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*
3. "The article explains a scheme in which a guy invents a very successful " In response to Reply # 1
product, sells it online via his own Amazon store for $9.99. Later, he finds out his product is mysteriously being sold very frequently on eBay for $15.99. The order ships via his Amazon store directly to the Ebay Purchaser, while the Middleman did not have to deal with any of the logistics and made $5 profit. The Middleman software tools, which automate and optimize the product search, percentage increase, product posting, and cash collection process are essentially what those Pyramid schemes do.
5. "I couldn't follow how it hurt Amazon guy" In response to Reply # 3
It seemed like he was only hurt due to excessive returns coming from the eBay guy. Are there really a lot of people who will return something they bought because afterwards they see the price a little lower elsewhere? Particularly if the price difference isn't huge.
If returns weren't an issue, it would look like eBay guy is doing him a favor
9. "Even after you open it? Use it? lol" In response to Reply # 7
You got to charge it to the game after you click buy. You had the opportunity to price shop before. It isn't fair to hurt the seller just because you didn't do your due diligence.
11. "Eh. What if a product is bad or poorly described. " In response to Reply # 9
There's a number of reasons why people will shop online rather than the store, but that doesn't mean they have to give up the benefit to refunds or refund. There exists a mechanism for return for this very reason.
------ “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus
8. "his issue has to be a stubborn personal one" In response to Reply # 5
it's the only way I could see a businessman losing out on $120K profit a year, after considering the Amazon return fees, and wasting time handling his own logistics.
10. "He lost 10k in two months. " In response to Reply # 5
He's assessed a fee on every Amazon transaction. Selling and returning. So their profit margin ended up cutting into his. He's since started selling directly from his site. However between the lawyers, cost of shipping, and manual labor of boxing he's probably still at a loss. In addition to the continuous cease and desist letters.
------ “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus
17. "you know where this would REALLY work? (I don't mind sharing idea)" In response to Reply # 0
is with Ikea... if you live near an Ikea, you'd probably be on the serious come-up listing their stuff, going to buy it, shipping it yourself.
Hell...even doing an Ikea Uber service... PLENTY of times in the past I needed something from there and didn't have the proper sized vehicle, or patience to even go deal with the crowd and time it take to buy something there....
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
General Discussion
