In a way it is demeaning, even though it’s what I used to do.
I would class a “reseller” as an opportunist middle man that purchase new product cheaply from wherever they can, be that wholesale, auction (surplus or old model stock), shop sales (January or Black Friday), ex-catalogue distributors, or even other online platforms to re-sell on eBay for a mark-up.
Because most of this stock is still brand new and unopened in retail packaging but critically has not come to market via an approved route (traditional wholesaler or authorised distributor), the manufacturers often won’t honour a warranty claim to the end customer.
In my case as a small business seller I offered my own warranty on these products as well as on our used/refurbished products to cover that off.
This also applies to the second hand market where items are bought from car boots, markets and charity shops to sell on online.
In contrast, a “retailer” would buy the product either direct from the manufacturer or via the manufacturers approved outlets (trade only wholesaler etc.) and as such would be able to offer the full original manufacturers warranty as well as give official product support, in the same way a customer might seek assistance if buying from a B&M shop.
In my experience and of course depending on the product, the manufacturer will have vetted the retailer before allowing their products to be sold and sometimes control the minimal selling price etc (I.e. insist on RRPs). They will often advance product on a sale or return basis too.
So in a nutshell: A retailer is more of a commercial partner to a manufacturer (a bit like a franchised car dealership) whereas a reseller is purely opportunistic, takes all the risk themselves and has little or no link to the product manufacturer (like an independent dealership).
I stopped this type of trading a couple of years ago when the trade only wholesaler and one particular auction I was using started selling to the public directly. They reduced their minimum quantity requirement of a pallet down to, in some cases individual lots…!
This immediately removed the need for a middle man by allowing the public to buy individual goods directly at not much over wholesale but well below retail prices (but gambling on having no warranty).
This virtually killed my business model over night and came about when many eBayers suddenly threw in the towel leaving them seriously over-stocked.
Two years on the prices being paid is sometimes higher than what you see on the high street so the opportunity has gone.
