Most direct sales companies prohibit consultants from selling their products on eBay. On any given day you can do a search of just about any direct sales product and find them for sale or bid on eBay. Hmm. Go figure.
Many direct sales companies also have someone(s) at the corporate level who is responsible to attempt to shut down these prohibited auctions. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes not. If some consultants want to sell on eBay badly enough it’s not too difficult to have a friend list the items or to conceal their true identity.
All too often I see forum posts and hear consultants complain and whine about the eBay sales. These very consultants spend far too much time trying to bust eBay sellers and not nearly enough time concentrating on selling their own products to their own customer base. If these very people would invest as much time and energy in their own business as they do into the eBay sellers, they’d have more time to figure out all the places to spend their commission checks.
Consultants should really stop worrying about eBay sales and consider all the reasons why eBay is not a threat:
- eBay bidders shop there to get a bargain; not to pay full retail. Direct sales customers typically don’t mind paying retail; and if they don’t want to, most sign up to become a consultant. Ebay shoppers are not our customers. They will likely never be our customers and therefore eBay is not taking away our sales – they never were our sales.
- Consultants who sell on eBay typically lose money, or at best, break even. Consider all the costs involved with the initial cost of goods sold. On average, consultants get items at roughly 25% less than retail. Then there are eBay and PayPal fees to consider. And don’t forget that many items sell for less than retail anyway on eBay.
To illustrate, let’s look at a $30 item. And let’s assume that it sold for $20 on eBay (which may be generous depending on supply and demand). Based on our assumption of 25% discount/commission, the consultant was able to purchase it for $22.50, but let’s just round up to $25 to include tax and shipping the consultant paid. The consultant would need to pay $.25 basic insertion fee if the starting price was $9.99 or less, and 8.75% final value fee of $1.75; plus don’t forget PayPal fees of $.88. So now the consultant has $27.88 invested into the $30 item that sold for $20. The consultant lost almost $8.00 by listing it on eBay.
Tell me again why consultants are worried about these folks?
But”¦ but”¦ it’s just not right! We’re not supposed to sell on eBay and she’s doing it and it’s just wrong; she out of compliance and corporate better do something about it and and and “¦
Knock-knock
Who’s There?
Scot
Scot who?
Scot nothing to do with you, so go sell your wax (or jewelry or kitchenware).
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