How do these vendors on eBay make any money at all?

[Turbonium]

So I'm looking for a Torx screwdriver. I found a bunch on eBay for just a dollar, with free shipping from China.

What gives? How is any money made here?

Or is it just a feedback-getting strategy?

 

[Rifter]

easy they make more on the shipping than the product. Ill bet the actual cost on the shipping is less than half what they will charge you.

 

[Turbonium]

easy they make more on the shipping than the product. Ill bet the actual cost on the shipping is less than half what they will charge you.

So I'm looking for a Torx screwdriver. I found a bunch on eBay for just a dollar, with free shipping from China.

What gives? How is any money made here?

Or is it just a feedback-getting strategy?

...

 

[motsm]

I've seen and purchased some of these items off of Ebay, and I'm always equally confused. If I tried to mail a letter to China, it would likely cost me more in postage then they are charging for a 10oz item and the shipping to the US. The few things I've ordered haven't been pieces of junk either.

 

[Rifter]

...

ok i failed at reading, in that case i would assume its a scam.

 

[Crono]

Well, firstly the items themselves cost a few cents to manufacture.

Then they don't individually ship anything individually from China directly to your house, or I'm betting they don't in most cases. They usually ship to a warehouse or shipping location in the United States, which costs next to nothing if you do it by shipping a ton (literally) by sea.

Then mailing in padded envelopes with bulk mailing discount from California to your house doesn't cost that much. Large businesses don't pay the same rate you and I do for small quantities of mail.

These companies make money on selling a lot of items, probably through multiple storefronts and sellers.

 

[arkcom]

They're normally shipped air mail. Very slow air mail.

 

[Raizinman]

I have ordered many times from China. Anything from cell phone batteries to small parts. I also wondered how they could sell so cheap. Yes, it took about 3 weeks before I would get it, but normally, the shipping time is in the ebay ad. I just figured there must be a truck load of these parts, and they ship it bulk rate of some sort, making only 5 or 10% on the whole thing. I suppose if you work on quantity, that would work. Overall, I have been happy with the things from China.

 

[Tsavo]

I ordered an iPad stand on Amazon and it arrived some weeks later from France. The cost of shipping alone nearly equaled the cost of the product.

I wrote it off as some kind of money laundering/crime thing.

In the case of Chinese goods, I'd wager lots of them are subsidized with the idea of driving foreign competitors out of business.

 

[phucheneh]

They're normally shipped container ship. Very slow container ship.

Fixed.

...I somehow doubt they're paying for your 99 cent cargo to be shipped via the slowest plane in existence. They make money because the product, if you round down, costs nothing to make. Then they ship thousands of them in our general direction.

It's like buying Walmart products at wholesale. On a consumer level...I can't say I hate it. Some of the stuff, shitty as it is, is well worth the [very little] money.

Torx screwdriver? Not worth it. Torx bits are prone to twisting/and or breaking depending on the size of the fastener and the amount of or torque applied. I've twisted high quality T30+ sockets. Chinese pot metal? Good luck.

It's easier to just buy something like this:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...-set-toolworks_10026829-p?searchTerm=bit+set#

and pitch the bits as they get damaged.

 

[arkcom]

Air Mail. This company even emailed a picture of my package before it went out.

Fixed.

...I somehow doubt they're paying for your 99 cent cargo to be shipped via the slowest plane in existence. They make money because the product, if you round down, costs nothing to make. Then they ship thousands of them in our general direction.

It's like buying Walmart products at wholesale. On a consumer level...I can't say I hate it. Some of the stuff, shitty as it is, is well worth the [very little] money.

Torx screwdriver? Not worth it. Torx bits are prone to twisting/and or breaking depending on the size of the fastener and the amount of or torque applied. I've twisted high quality T30+ sockets. Chinese pot metal? Good luck.

It's easier to just buy something like this:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...-set-toolworks_10026829-p?searchTerm=bit+set#

and pitch the bits as they get damaged.

 

[Turbonium]

Torx screwdriver? Not worth it. Torx bits are prone to twisting/and or breaking depending on the size of the fastener and the amount of or torque applied. I've twisted high quality T30+ sockets. Chinese pot metal? Good luck.

It's easier to just buy something like this:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...-set-toolworks_10026829-p?searchTerm=bit+set#

and pitch the bits as they get damaged.

I know what you mean, but I only need it so I can open up one dead hard drive. As long as it lasts long enough to unscrew 6 screws, I'm happy. It's only a dollar after all. So yea, I might end up getting it.

I'm just picturing some chinese guy eating noodles in front of his computer, and as soon as he sees me buy the screwdriver, he will open a crate full of them, take one out, put it in a padded mailer, and mail it out via ship. Then he'll use the dollar he just magically made on his amazing profit margin to buy more noodles. Lol.

 

[phucheneh]

Air Mail. This company even emailed a picture of my package before it went out.

...are they counterfeiting air mail?

I mean, seriously, beyond the cost factor...how do you make air mail take weeks to arrive? Something just doesn't add up. I had always explained the supercheap eBay stuff via the means I described above just because that's the only way it made sense; I know that it's MUCH cheaper per ton to send stuff via huge boats than it is via plane. You have turned my world upside down, sir.

As far as the torx thing; if you're literally talking about one screwdriver (fixed bit), I just don't see that much of a point when small screwdriver/bit sets (also Chinese) are so cheap and right around the corner. If you're the type to take things apart, it tends to pay for itself when you're in a situation where you need a T5/T8/1.3mm hex/some other absurd little size and you can say 'Aha! Chinese screwdriver set! Victory!'

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always wondered that too. I wonder how they even manage to ship for free. It probably cost a good $20-$40 just to ship. I know it does when I buy something from the US, so I can't see China being cheaper to ship from.

 

[PingSpike]

I'd bet that tons of small sellers just go in together on a container on a ship and then they have a receiver on the other side send them out. It still doesn't seem like there would be any money in it but that should grind almost all of the cost out. I'd imagine a lot of the parts are surplus or something. I suppose we can't rule out that the goods are simply stolen making the good cost zero either.

 

[bonkers325]

The Chinese e-Bay retailers consign the products from warehouses. I think it costs them somewhere like a penny per product per day that they "list". So it cost's them $1 to list 100 items for 1 day. If one of those items sells, then they basically listed 99 items for free. Shipping is negotiated between the consignor and consignee, which is why you usually see $0.01 items and $8.99 fees on e-Bay. The product actually costs the retailer $0.01 for the right to list, then they inflate shipping to cover the warehouse's fee and add on top for their own profit.

 

[Sluggo]

Volume.

If you make 5 cents on one screwdriver, it's difficult to make a living.

If you make 5 cents each on a billion screwdrivers, the low profit margin is easier to deal with.

 

[SheHateMe]

I remember ordering a Pandora battery for my PSP and a cover for my Nintendo DS back in HS.

I waited for about 4 weeks for it to get here. I ordered from Deal Extreme.

The price was right....but, I'd rather pay more up front for fast shipping than to pay less and for slooow shipping.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Well, firstly the items themselves cost a few cents to manufacture.

Then they don't individually ship anything individually from China directly to your house, or I'm betting they don't in most cases. They usually ship to a warehouse or shipping location in the United States, which costs next to nothing if you do it by shipping a ton (literally) by sea.

Then mailing in padded envelopes with bulk mailing discount from California to your house doesn't cost that much. Large businesses don't pay the same rate you and I do for small quantities of mail.

These companies make money on selling a lot of items, probably through multiple storefronts and sellers.

Nope, anytime I order like this, like the OP, they are straight from China, with china post.

 

[Jimzz]

China subsidizes their mail system so much there is very little cost for companies to use it even to ship to the US.
In the US we are fucking with the USPS; yet in China they see having low shipping rates help business’s sell their products and keep competition down.

 

[Puppies04]

I remember wanting a micro HDMI > HDMI lead as my GPU came with a micro HDMI port and an adapter that was sticking out too far at the back of my case. For a 3m lead is cost me something like £1.38 from ebay. Go to any local store and they were £12 for a normal lead and didn't even know what micro HDMI was. These are the same stores that are shutting down and claiming the "big bad internet" is to blame.

 

[yuchai]

China subsidizes their mail system so much there is very little cost for companies to use it even to ship to the US.
In the US we are fucking with the USPS; yet in China they see having low shipping rates help business’s sell their products and keep competition down.

This is the only answer that makes sense, IMO. I mean the ones talking about volume are correct too, but this is the critical piece that enables the whole thing.

 

[arkcom]

This is the only answer that makes sense, IMO. I mean the ones talking about volume are correct too, but this is the critical piece that enables the whole thing.

I would also assume it's subsidized. I couldn't send an empty padded envelope to china for less than $7-$10.

 

[Zee]

they also jack up the ratings on the ebay accounts by selling these things cheap and quick and sell the accounts for a good chunk of change.

 

[bradley]

I believe China and S. Korea both subsidizes their mail, and these sellers capitalize on that fact. The USPS even entered into a deal with China to subsidize and therefore quicken tracking smaller eBay ePacket mail to the US.

USPS Deal with eBay Helps Expedite Chinese Imports
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y11/m08/i31/s02

"The U.S. Postal Service entered into a deal with eBay and China Post last year to help Chinese sellers send small packages to the U.S. in a much shorter period of time than regular international delivery services. eBay revealed that the agreement has led to 30,000 parcels a day sent from its sellers in China, with package-tracking included. "