Why doesn't eBay stop sellers who direct dropship from AliExpress?
Summary: marzun_uk raised concerns about a growing number of eBay sellers engaging in unauthorized dropshipping from AliExpress, highlighting issues like lack of quality control, misleading listings, and long shipping times. They suggested that eBay needs stronger verification mechanisms to prevent this practice, which undermines trust. *vyolla* mentioned regional privacy regulations, while 4_bathrooms clarified that this practice is retail arbitrage, which is against eBay's policy. They advised that affected buyers should report these violations. Discussion participants also shared ways to identify dropshipping, such as examining receipts and shipping origins.
I've noticed a growing number of sellers on eBay who are running pure dropshipping operations directly from AliExpress. Here's how it typically works:
A buyer purchases an item from an eBay seller.
That seller has no actual stock — they simply go to AliExpress and order the same item, using the buyer's address as the shipping destination.
The AliExpress seller ships the item directly to the buyer.
The eBay "seller" never sees, touches, or checks the product themselves.
What's more concerning is that this doesn't seem to be a one-off issue — I think new sellers like this are showing up on a daily basis. It feels like these accounts are being created faster than eBay can catch or remove them.
This causes several serious problems:
No quality control – Since the eBay seller never handles the item, they have no idea if it's damaged, low quality, or completely different from what was listed.
Fake or misleading listings – Product photos are often taken from AliExpress and don't match what actually arrives.
Long, unpredictable shipping times – Buyers think they're buying from a local/regional seller, but the item is actually coming from overseas, sometimes taking 20-40 days.
Loss of buyer trust – When customers realize what happened, they lose confidence in the platform, not just the individual seller.
Unfair competition – Genuine sellers who hold real inventory and maintain quality standards get undercut by dropshippers who take zero risk.
Growing scale of the problem – Since new dropshipping accounts seem to appear daily, this isn't a small, isolated issue anymore — it's becoming a pattern that affects the overall trust in eBay as a marketplace.
This is a big reason why many buyers say they trust Amazon more — because Amazon has stricter policies against unverified dropshipping, and enforces quality/authenticity checks more consistently.
My suggestion: eBay should introduce stronger seller verification, require proof of inventory or fulfillment source, and flag/restrict accounts that are clearly reselling directly from AliExpress without adding any real value or quality assurance. Given how many new sellers like this are appearing daily, eBay needs a faster, more proactive detection system — not just reactive reports from buyers.
Has anyone else noticed this trend of new dropshipping sellers popping up constantly? Would like to hear how eBay support has responded to similar reports.
upda8077
·2 days agoI have had the same problem, its annoying as hell, the item is say in london, you order it, it takes a while to get to you, when it arrives you realise it has come from aliexpress. I could of bought it cheaper than ebay prices myself from aliexpress.
(but I dont recommend it, aliexpress have a bad habit of never refunding and you have to do a chargeback if something arrives broken or does not arrive at all, so ebay are better for that reason alone)
But what can you do, I have reported sellers before for doing this, but its always the same with ebay, "Not in violation of our policy", thats ebay for you.
4_bathrooms
·4 days ago · EditedWhat you describe is not dropshipping - dropshipping implies an existing agreement between a wholesale supplier and a retailer. Dropshipping is allowed on eBay but what you describe is retail arbitrage which is most definitely not allowed:
"However, listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not allowed on eBay."
That policy exists on all of eBay's regional websites; just change the .co.uk top level domain to .com, .de, .fr etc. to see the policy on any of eBay's websites.
If you're a buyer who has been affected by a seller engaging in retail arbitrage you can report the seller for violating the above policy - you just need to upload evidence with your report and eBay will take it seriously. This is one policy that eBay actually does police when violations are pointed out to them.
suelel1968
·4 days ago@4_bathrooms Interesting. How do you tell the difference as a customer?
jonatjonatjonat
·4 days agoOne way would be if it came with a receipt from say Argos rather than the seller you purchased from.
Though I’d assume anyone smart enough to be getting away with it will identify companies who don’t include receipts.
4_bathrooms
·3 days agoAs @jonatjonatjonat pointed out the inclusion of a receipt from the other seller would be one way. When it comes to AliExpress (mentioned by the op) most sellers include a promotional retail-style receipt with the goods that not only shows who the actual seller was but also what the eBay seller actually paid for the item.
Also, most sellers on AliExpress ship direct from China; very few use UK-based fulfilment houses as is typical on eBay. When an eBay seller states an item will be shipped from Manchester but it turns up with a China Post-issued CN22 attached showing it shipped from Shenzhen it is obvious the seller at least engaged in item location misrepresentation.
*vyolla*
·4 days agoYou're registered in Pakistan so your home eBay site would be eBay.com, where there are different consumer regs as regards privacy, so maybe post this on the .com Community boards?
marzun_uk
OP4 days agoI get what you mean, but this issue isn't about regional privacy rules — it's about eBay's overall policy (or lack of one) on dropshippers reselling directly from AliExpress. That's a global problem across all eBay sites, not just Pakistan or one location.