Can You Really find Everything on eBay?

There's a notion that anything you want can be found on eBay. Is that really true?

What about the ultimate eBay control from product suppliers - no selling on eBay period! This is how many suppliers deal with eBay selling now days. It used to be an occasional thing but now I'm seeing it more and more in my product sourcing adventures and online selling ventures. Wholesale suppliers simply forbid selling on eBay.

Why do they do this? One part of it is that they can't guarantee profit margins in eBay auction listings. In eBay auction listings, the pricing starts from the low end up. Sellers usually start pricing on auction listings as low as possible and let the bidders work their way up to the final price. The final price may or may not provide a healthy profit margin. This is a problem for set pricing models because the actual ending price can't be determined in advance in auction listings. So suppliers forbid eBay as a selling venue in order to protect their pricing structure.

Another side of that is that many suppliers see eBay as a 'bargain basement' marketplace and they don't want their products associated with this marketplace. They see eBay as somewhat of an erosion of their brand. While some large brands (like Apple) can afford not to care, other smaller brands simply don't want to be part of the eBay marketplace.

I recently ran across a supplier who had only one selling restriction in their terms: No Selling on eBay. Period. They didn't mention any pricing or other restrictions, just eBay by name. So if you plan to sell on eBay as your home based business, you may find your supplier pool getting more limited in the future. When you do contact new suppliers, make sure to check their Terms and Conditions about eBay selling.