itsalovelydayforshopping ebay store

[glentek]

My Google searches for parts sometimes lands me on this ebay store.
https://www.ebay.com.au/str/HOME-GARDEN-AND-HARDWARE/ELECTRONIC-COMPONENTS/_i.html?_storecat=29060517017
They stock a wide range of hardware parts (seem to be from Bunnings) and electronic components.
The prices are insane, yet they have a 99.5% rating with 23462 points.
I can't believe anyone would buy from them, yet they seem to be doing well.
eg. 10 LM317T for $68.95
Two striker plates for a door - $30.95 vs same part at bunnings $1.75 each
www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gainsborough-STRIKE-PLATES-2Pcs-T-Type-Polished-Brass-Bright-Or-Satin-Chrome/262722495465
https://www.bunnings.com.au/gainsborough-polished-brass-d-strike-plate-to-suit-480-series_p4204353

How do you think they can charge so much and still sell items?

[Whales]

List their items from most expensive to cheapest and you find more interesting gems.

My initial thought was 'personal shopping service', but that doesn't quite line up with these items:





Thoughts include:

- auto listing software glitch, used wrong currency multiplier or source data
- algorithm that auto-marks-up stuff they don't have much of
- EDIT: one of these pics is for 3000pcs.  Maybe they have the quantity multipler accidentally changed on all of their items?
- Australian Crown group casino

[Whales]

Everything seems to be marked as "special order" needing "3 weeks" to get.  Perhaps personal shopper is more to the point?  Do they offer some special way of bypassing import laws to other countries or something?     That might be worth the markup?

Amongst the spam of auto-generated feedback there are occasionally some complaining about high prices.   I don't know, but I guess whatever this seller is doing it must be working.  Most of the buyers seem 'happy'.

[glentek]

In the feedback that Whales posted is a drill set for $162.95 - the exact same set can be found at Total Tools for $75.

I wonder if they just use a bot to trawl through online stores, list the same items at ridiculous prices and if someone is silly enough to order something,  a human jumps on their bike and rushes down to Bunnings and buys it?

[Whales]

I wonder if they just use a bot to trawl through online stores, list the same items at ridiculous prices and if someone is silly enough to order something,

How do they get the thumbnails?  My first reverse image search attempt failed, I might try another image search engine.

How do any of our theories explain the massive amounts of positive feedback?  Are they fake sales, eg sent for free to people for review, or completely bot-operated fakes?  The latter might explain the generic feedback text and would presumably only cost ebay + paypal fees (circa 10%), assuming they don't temporarily drop the prices anyway.

EDIT: RS components. 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Infineon-N-CHANNEL-SINGLE-IGBT-MODULES-106-4x61-4x36-5mm-1-55kW-300A-1Pc-Or10Pcs/254713024316

https://my.rs-online.com/web/p/igbt-modules/1702163/

[CJay]

  Do they offer some special way of bypassing import laws to other countries or something?     That might be worth the markup?

$4489 for a Wurth Inductor seems a little OTT though, I think I'd probably rather pay the duty.

Occasionally see weird stuff cropping up when sellers use auto generated listings with suggested prices, the software just takes the eBay algorithm suggested price so you get things like 10MHz analog 'scopes being listed at £2500 start price because the algorithm sees a bunch of Tek or Agilent MSOs that were listed the week before and recognises some combination of keywords and categories

[Whales]

Ooh, I like that.  Relying on eBay suggested prices.

Theory so far:
1. scrape RS components, Bunnings etc for product images, names, descriptions & prices
2. list item for very cheap
3. bot/worker buy the item, leave positive feedback
4. jack price up to MIN(source*x, eBay suggested)
5. camp

[CJay]

Ooh, I like that.  Replying on eBay suggested prices.

There's definitely money to be made doing that, I see loads of Farnell/Digikey/Mouser/RS parts being offered complete with markup, there's still a lot of people who believe 'hobbyists can't order from them' who'll pay a markup for those parts and there's always the ignorant.

There's also a thriving trade in stuff bought from pound/dollar stores:

https://www.poundland.co.uk/287394-kodak-xtralife-lithium-button-cell-8-pack/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8-x-KODAK-CR2032-CR2025-CR2016-3V-Lithium-Button-Coin-Cell-Battery-UK-Free-P-P/184592447785

[tom66]

There's an eBay supplier in the UK that's clearly scraped the entire Farnell catalogue and listed everything at roughly 10x plus postage.

To be honest with Farnell's current P&P pricing it's probably not too bad for a one or two off component order, as they now charge £10 (!!) on a small order.   It's almost cheaper to get things shipped direct from Digi-Key but unlike Farnell you know Digi-Key won't screw up your order repeatedly.   

[Syntax Error]

Buyer beware. Especially of sellers whose location is a generic UK, AUS or EU. Note, they always have that stock image of pretty things in a call center.

As for fake feedback, there are places online where, for a few Satoshis, you can buy a bot-built ebay/amazon storefront, complete with 1000+ rave reviews. The sales are 'real' via bot controlled customer accounts, often for auction items at a few cents. Then, either no goods are shipped or, random stuff is sent to real compromised customer accounts in a practice called 'brushing'*. Re-concatenate the following string: "Amazing seller. The best. Brilliant. A+++++"

@tom66 I've seen that seller you mention. Another seller, which I suspect is the same bot farm, is 're-listing' RS parts for... how much!? But they are Europe's leading parts supplier - from a bedroom in Dunstable.

@CJay I love those seller's who relist poundstore stock as if it's rare or hard to find. A 2SA transistor from 1972 is hard to find. As EEs we have genuine known sellers to buy those from.

* Brushing scam: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brushing_(e-commerce)

[CJay]

@syntax Error

Purchase price £1, postage 66p, printed label 5p, eBay fees, they're making about £1.50 per sale, easy money.