Discussion Forum: Thread 352669

 Author: eracine View Messages Posted By eracine
 Posted: Jan 14, 2024 11:18
 Subject: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 211 times
 Topic: General
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eracine (12973)

Location:  USA, Massachusetts
Member Since Contact Type Status
Jul 12, 2011 Contact Member Seller
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Store: Need a brick or 2
Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

How do they keep there "store" inventory accurate or listings? I am
assuming it works because of the frequency of the orders and other sellers mentioning
it in the forum. Just sold a HP figure for $3 so was theirs listed for 4 or
5? How are they making money?

Just curious if anyone has the answers.

Have a blessed day

Eric
 Author: wildchicken13 View Messages Posted By wildchicken13
 Posted: Jan 14, 2024 11:49
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
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 Topic: General
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wildchicken13 (875)

Location:  USA, Illinois
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Aug 11, 2014 Contact Member Seller
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In General, eracine writes:
  Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

How do they keep there "store" inventory accurate or listings? I am
assuming it works because of the frequency of the orders and other sellers mentioning
it in the forum. Just sold a HP figure for $3 so was theirs listed for 4 or
5? How are they making money?

Just curious if anyone has the answers.

Have a blessed day

Eric

How does drop shipping work? The short answer is: it doesn't.

The long answer is:

I used to do stuff like that, but I found it was not a good way to make money.
But yes, you sell a minifig for $4-5 and you buy it for $3 somewhere else. So,
you make $1-2 profit.

People on the internet don't have time to compare every available listing
in order to get the best price, or to read feedback to see if someone may be
a drop shipper. So, the buyer may be totally unaware that they could have simply
ordered the exact same minifig for $3 somewhere else.

It's up to you if you want to honor the drop shipper's request and leave
out the packing slip, or if you want to put it in anyway and risk losing business
from the drop shipper (many of whom are regular customers) but potentially gain
business from the end customer.
 Author: yorbrick View Messages Posted By yorbrick
 Posted: Jan 14, 2024 12:35
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 69 times
 Topic: General
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yorbrick (1182)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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Apr 11, 2011 Contact Member Seller
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Store: Yorbricks
In General, eracine writes:
  Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

How do they keep there "store" inventory accurate or listings? I am
assuming it works because of the frequency of the orders and other sellers mentioning
it in the forum. Just sold a HP figure for $3 so was theirs listed for 4 or
5? How are they making money?

Just curious if anyone has the answers.

Have a blessed day

Eric

If you are charging $3 plus say $2 shipping, they are probably selling for at
least $10 with free shipping. It is amazing how much some people will pay and
don't know about BL. A few years back, an amazon seller (not located in the
UK) started drop shipping polybags to UK buyers from me, at 2.5x my price. They
were charging £15 for a Reindeer polybag and people were obviously paying it.
I was the only one in the UK with that polybag so I upped the price. He sold
a couple more before removing it from his amazon store. Presumably £10 plus postage
didn't leave enough margin for him.
 Author: McBricks View Messages Posted By McBricks
 Posted: Jan 14, 2024 19:17
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 75 times
 Topic: General
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McBricks (7874)

Location:  USA, Kentucky
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Jan 23, 2006 Contact Member Seller
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Store: Father & Son Bricks
Hey Eric! Long time since I've heard from you. Hope you are doing great.
I have had about 25 orders with the "Please dont put a packing slip in with
the order" messages. Most of the buyers who put this in there said they did
not want their wives to see how much they were spening on Legos. Seriously. "I
dont want my wife to see how much I spent". I'm cool with it. Take care
Eric. James





In General, eracine writes:
  Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

How do they keep there "store" inventory accurate or listings? I am
assuming it works because of the frequency of the orders and other sellers mentioning
it in the forum. Just sold a HP figure for $3 so was theirs listed for 4 or
5? How are they making money?

Just curious if anyone has the answers.

Have a blessed day

Eric
 Author: PlanetEarthToys View Messages Posted By PlanetEarthToys
 Posted: Jan 14, 2024 20:05
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 65 times
 Topic: General
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PlanetEarthToys (113)

Location:  USA, Arkansas
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Aug 24, 2021 Contact Member Seller
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Store: Planet Earth Toys
In General, eracine writes:
  Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

How do they keep there "store" inventory accurate or listings? I am
assuming it works because of the frequency of the orders and other sellers mentioning
it in the forum. Just sold a HP figure for $3 so was theirs listed for 4 or
5? How are they making money?

Just curious if anyone has the answers.

Have a blessed day

Eric

drop shipping example:

you have an item for sale for $20 + shipping, i sell your item in my store for
$25 + shipping & have you deliver it to my customer.

you get the full price + Shipping that you are aking for the item, i get $5 for
selling it via my network of customers.

simple.
 Author: Dkcas85 View Messages Posted By Dkcas85
 Posted: Jan 14, 2024 21:20
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 58 times
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Dkcas85 (84)

Location:  USA, Kentucky
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Jun 21, 2023 Contact Member Seller
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Store: Dot's Bricks
If im correct it violates Bricklink policy to dropship. If you run a store you
have to have inventory on hand. I know stores have been banned in the past for
this

In General, eracine writes:
  Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

How do they keep there "store" inventory accurate or listings? I am
assuming it works because of the frequency of the orders and other sellers mentioning
it in the forum. Just sold a HP figure for $3 so was theirs listed for 4 or
5? How are they making money?

Just curious if anyone has the answers.

Have a blessed day

Eric
 Author: peregrinator View Messages Posted By peregrinator
 Posted: Jan 14, 2024 22:31
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 67 times
 Topic: General
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peregrinator (771)

Location:  USA, New Jersey
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Jan 21, 2003 Contact Member Seller
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Store: Faber Family Bricks
In General, Dkcas85 writes:
  If im correct it violates Bricklink policy to dropship. If you run a store you
have to have inventory on hand. I know stores have been banned in the past for
this

It does violate BL terms to have a store on BL that fulfills orders by drop-shipping,
but it doesn't violate BL terms to sell on say eBay by drop-shipping from
BL.
 Author: yorbrick View Messages Posted By yorbrick
 Posted: Jan 15, 2024 04:12
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 75 times
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yorbrick (1182)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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Store: Yorbricks
In General, Dkcas85 writes:
  If im correct it violates Bricklink policy to dropship. If you run a store you
have to have inventory on hand. I know stores have been banned in the past for
this


It is nearly always sellers on other sites using price differences between that
site and bricklink to make their money.
 Author: zorbanj View Messages Posted By zorbanj
 Posted: Jan 15, 2024 01:44
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
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zorbanj (806)

Location:  USA, New Jersey
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Store: ZorbaNJ's Bricks
Here is a thread about a German Drop-shipper store that was shut down:

https://www.bricklink.com/messageThread.asp?ID=283219

See especially these 2 messages from the above thread:

https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1250217

https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1250231

The other drop-ship model is to list items, usually sets, on eBay or Amazon that
you don't own and then fulfill a sale by buying on Bricklink and having the
items shipped directly to the buyer.

LEGO is a gated brand on Amazon, which means you must apply and be approved to
sell. Practically speaking unless you were grandfathered in before LEGO was gated
you can't sell on Amazon. Works well for an Amazon LEGO drop-shipper because
if a buyer pays the ridiculous prices for older sets being charged on Amazon
the seller makes a tidy profit.



In General, eracine writes:
  Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

How do they keep there "store" inventory accurate or listings? I am
assuming it works because of the frequency of the orders and other sellers mentioning
it in the forum. Just sold a HP figure for $3 so was theirs listed for 4 or
5? How are they making money?

Just curious if anyone has the answers.

Have a blessed day

Eric
 Author: cosmicray View Messages Posted By cosmicray
 Posted: Jan 16, 2024 07:01
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
 Viewed: 53 times
 Topic: General
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cosmicray (3489)

Location:  USA, Florida
Member Since Contact Type Status Collage
Oct 1, 2000 Contact Member Seller
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Store: Cosmic Toys
In General, eracine writes:
  Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

Someone is listing items on another venue (Amazon, eBay, etc). They list them
there, and pretend they hold inventory (when they do not). When a sale arrives,
then they want you to do the shipment (from your inventory).

Keep in mind, they are selling elsewhere, at a much higher price, and have virtually
zero overhead (because they have nothing invested in inventory, you do).

Telling you to not include paperwork is to protect them from site rules where
they are listing/selling. Once upon a time, if paperwork showed a lower price,
Amazon (under the A-Z rules) would force the sales price to match the paperwork.
The other reason is that they do not want the buyer to know that you (or BrickLink)
even exist. They are likely violating the site rules elsewhere, requiring them
to either hold inventory, or to have a formal agreement with you to do drop shipping.

Nita Rae
 Author: yorbrick View Messages Posted By yorbrick
 Posted: Jan 16, 2024 07:33
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
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yorbrick (1182)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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Store: Yorbricks
  The other reason is that they do not want the buyer to know that you (or BrickLink)
even exist.

They soon will if you include an advertising slip with the order you are shipping,
advertising your bricklink store.
 Author: MMillere View Messages Posted By MMillere
 Posted: Jan 16, 2024 09:20
 Subject: Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?
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MMillere (5307)

Location:  USA, Georgia
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In General, eracine writes:
  notes saying please don't leave a packing slip ect.


Eric, these are not always drop shippers.

I have several Grandparents that order for their grandkids. Gets sent to one
of 3 addresses every time.

And Yes, I also have several drop shippers as customers.

I figure I sold the item for my price, so I am happy.

So far, knocks' on wood, I have not had a problem

Milissa